War. The wizarding community had been pushed into a state of open warfare. Another civil war had begun between the purebloods and the wizards who supported equality. There was full blown panic after it had been reported that the Minister of Magic himself, Cornelius Fudge, had witnessed Lord Voldemort in the Atrium of the Ministry. He was not the only one though; a hand full of aurors and other Ministry employees had arrived just in time to achieve a glance at the Dark Lord before he disappeared. As hard as the Minister pulled all his political strings, he was not able to prevent the news from leaking. The next day the headlines of every wizarding publication, not just in England, but everywhere around the world, read the same: "He Who Must Not Be Named Returns!"

There were screams of disapproval and outrage in the Ministry the day the reporters had published their stories. The screams weren't coming directly from people though. No, they were echoing from the hundreds of thousands of howlers that had landed in the Minister's office. If it were not for the seriousness of the times, it would have been a hilarious situation to most people. It looked as though half the birds in the world had started migrating to England with envelopes ready to berate and harass Cornelius Fudge. Security was forced to continually replace the silencing charms around the building to prevent noise carrying over into the muggle world. The sight became even more humorous when Fudge had finally had enough and sealed himself in a broom closet to prevent anymore letters from reaching him.

Things quickly continued to deteriorate for Fudge. Albus Dumbledore was quickly reinstated to the Wizengamot after the desperate pleas from the public for him to return. The public quickly had a change of heart with regards to Dumbledore and Harry Potter. The news of the Dark Lord's return was enough to smother the flames that the press had created against them. In the first session of the Wizengamot since Dumbledore's return, he quickly called for a vote of no confidence in Fudge and was backed by the majority of its members. Not only had Fudge tried to deny the return of Voldemort, but when it came into the light that Lucius Malfoy had been caught and identified as a Death Eater during the events in the Department of Mysteries, the members of the Wizengamot were furious. It was widely known that Fudge had pocketed millions of galleons from Malfoy in exchange for political influence. He didn't put up too much fuss on the way out as he was quickly escorted out of the Ministry by several aurors.

News of Fudge's removal was greeted with approval from the public. The only problem that was left with his removal was there was no one in the position acting as Minister of Magic. Dumbledore adamantly refused to fill the position as he had done on many previous occasions and while there weren't a plethora of candidates vying for the position of Minister, there were enough to create division and slow workings in the government. Unfortunately, someone was well aware of the problems within the Ministry. That person was Lord Voldemort himself and he was taking full advantage of the situation. The previous year he had done everything to keep his anonymity and keep the wizarding world in the dark. Since the news of his return had spread, he was no longer afraid to show off his capabilities. His followers were striking with a vengeance, even without the Death Eaters who had been apprehended at the Ministry. It was now a common occurrence everyday to hear of muggle houses in multiple numbers bursting into flame in the same neighborhood. The number of bodies found lying on random street corners were increasing at an alarming rate as were the number of missing persons. With the disarray inside the Ministry, it was almost impossible to keep tabs on the known Death Eaters and to investigate the attacks. The muggles were rapidly growing suspicious of the events transpiring. The only one that knew anything of what was going on was the Prime Minister and he was only given general details. He was trying to pass off the killings as random acts of violence or terrorist attacks from well known groups, but it was hard to explain how many of the victims were found dead without any signs of distress.

If the problems of the aurors were bad, it was nothing to the muggle authorities. It was becoming a common twisted practice of the Death Eaters to imperius the police and have them abuse and attack innocent citizens. There were full blown riots in the streets by common citizens who couldn't comprehend the actions of the people who were sworn to protect them. The skylines of London were streaked with columns of thick, black smoke. If it was the Dark Lord's purpose to create chaos he was succeeding admirably.

These were the reasons why Albus Dumbledore was walking down the halls of the ministry in the middle of summer holidays. Having been reinstated as Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he would normally have been in his office preparing for the coming year of education. He should have been starting his yearly tradition of searching for a new occupant for the position of the Defense Against the Dark Arts, but now there were more pressing matters at hand. What he wouldn't give to be relaxing in his office, enjoying the relaxing trills of Fawkes. There was no more time for such guilty pleasures any longer. He had known that this war was coming, but unfortunately the blindness of Fudge had lost any time that they would have had for preparation. The violence was in full swing already, it had started faster than in the previous war and that bared bad news for everyone.

He continued his long trek down the winding halls of the Ministry, reviewing the events of the recent weeks in his head. One topic was more prominent then the others, that being young Harry Potter. He thought to himself of how many mistakes he had made when it came to Harry. It was one of the hardest moments in his life, in a life filled to the brim with hard moments, informing him of the prophecy. They were words, just words, but the meaning behind them held the fates of everyone in the world. The pain he witnessed in the young man's eyes when he informed him was almost unbearable. No young man should be forced to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. Dumbledore had thought that keeping the contents of the prophecy from Harry would allow him to enjoy his childhood, but how wrong he had been. Of all the mistakes he made, sending him to the muggles to live with was probably the worst of all. How could any family have treated a child as they did, especially one with the compassion of Harry, who would jump in front death itself to keep someone from harm. He should have listened to the pleas of Minerva and left Harry with a magical family, or even Sirius. If he had handed over Harry to Sirius he may never have gone after Pettigrew and been sent to Azkaban.

He had thought that mistake may have been forgotten when Sirius escaped and was reunited with his godson, but unfortunately it was not to be. Harry had been right, if he had known about the prophecy and not been left in the dark he would most likely have not gone to the Ministry and Sirius would still be among the living. The guilt for taking the one father figure Harry had had in his life away would remain with him forever. He would have to push that to the back of his mind for now, because now there was work to be done.

He walked past the cubicles that made up the auror offices which were filled with a flourish of activity and made his way to the door that read Head of Magical Law Enforcement. The large mahogany door was opened just a crack and the sound of a quill scratching furiously could be heard coming through. Knowing it was rude to come barging in unannounced, he knocked on the door and waited for the affirmative to enter. After hearing a curt voice telling him to come in he pushed the door open slowly and peered inside. The office of the Head of Magical Law Enforcement greatly reflected the personality of the person who occupied it. There was a sparse amount of furnishing and a few family photos lining the walls, but other than that there was not much else. Amelia Bones was a women who was not to be taken lightly. She was a powerful witch who was dedicated to just two things, her job and her family. With no Minister of Magic to head the government, she was the one currently charged with keeping the community safe and it was visible it was taking a toll on her. The stress she was feeling practically radiated off of her and the normal strict, all business countenance she kept on was gone. She looked up from her work as the commanding presence of Albus Dumbledore entered her office.

"Hello Albus," she sighed wearily, "what can I do for you?"

"Good morning Amelia, I hope I'm not interrupting, but I was wondering if you had time to talk this morning?"

"Well, you happen to be in luck seeing as the Death Eaters seemed to have taken a break from their activities for at least a few hours. Honestly Albus, things are starting to get bad. I've heard rumblings that You Know Who is up to something and it has disaster written all over it. We have no idea at all as to what he did this previous year while he was hiding."

Dumbledore walked further into the room and settled himself into one of the straight back chairs across from Madame Bones' desk. "My source from within the Death Eaters had been able to provide some information, but not much. His main objective was to retrieve the prophecy which I have discussed with you already, but it seems as though recruiting was his secondary goal. The numbers he has amassed are most disturbing. He has won the support of the giants and vampires, along with the majority of the werewolves."

"Is this just in England?"

"No I'm afraid not," Dumbledore said lowering his head and rubbing his eyes under his half moon glasses. "In the last war he was happy to stay isolated in England, but I fear that he has more ambitious goals in mind now. In his last reign he was still learning, still gaining knowledge and power. I believe he had reached the peak of his magical power before he went after the Potters, and now he has his body and all of his power back. Now I believe he will try to make good on his threats to purge the world of the muggles and muggle born witches and wizards. This is no longer just England's war."

"It will spread even faster," Madame Bones started, "because in the state our Ministry is in he could walk in here and claim power. Our resources are so stretched thin and disorganized it is hard to accomplish much of anything."

"Ah, now we have moved to the reason for my presence today. I have been reluctant to back any candidate for the Minister because of my influence on the people. I wanted the people to make up their own minds as to who to support, but there is no more time for thinking. You understand whoever I support will be named Minister?" He waited for a second for her to nod her head in understanding. "The person who I want to the lead the Ministry is you Amelia."

She stared at him for a second with her mouth hanging open slightly in shock. After she had regained her composure somewhat she responded, "Are you serious, no one even nominated me for the position. No one is going to vote for me."

He smiled and answered, "Yes they will. You are the best suited for the job and the person I would trust the most in the position. The others who are vying for the job are doing it for all of the wrong reasons. Like Cornelius, some are doing it for the prospect of power and others like Amos Diggory are doing it out of pure want for vengeance. Neither are people who I would want to follow. I have known you for many years, and you have run this department with steady efficiency, the same sort of efficiency that our world requires now."

Madame Bones sat back in her chair and held her head in her hands. If it was possible to see in her head, the wheels turning and processing the information would stand out. It was completely silent in the office for several long minutes. She looked up and peered around her office considering things. Finally, looking back at Dumbledore, she straightened her posture and cleared her throat.

"I'll do it, be it though reluctantly," she stated strongly. "Now what is it that you want out of this deal." She smiled at the wide eyed look on his face. "Come now Albus, as you stated before we have known each other for years, and I know there is something that you are going to request."

Dumbledore simply laughed and said, "So you caught me. You don't have to worry though, for what I am asking has no bearing on me. It is my students who I am concerned about. When you take office there is one thing that you must do quickly. That is to remove the ban on underage magic. The children must practice and be able to protect themselves away from Hogwarts without fear of punishment. Along with this you must destroy all of the tracking equipment used to detect underage wizards. If, Merlin forbid, the Ministry is taken, those things would be a way for Lord Voldemort to track down the children and we cannot allow that to happen. That is the only stipulation I have, the rest I leave in your very capable hands."

"I can deal with that. I'm sorry to kick you out Albus, but I really must get back to work. I'll see you at the next Wizengamot gathering and let us pray that this works out."

Dumbledore stood up from his chair and made his way to the door. "Just have faith Amelia, everything will work out." He opened the door and quickly made his way back towards lifts. Finally making his way to the atrium he used the floo to make it back to his office. Looking around he saw Fawkes on his perch resting peacefully, softly trilling with every breath. Feeling like something was out of place he turned towards his desk where a relatively large parcel was sitting on his desk. He made his way over swiftly and picked up the box. Sitting back in his chair he removed the lid. Looking down his eyes went wide with horror and he dropped the box. Out of the box, rolling onto carpeted office floor, came the severed head of Severus Snape. Trying to regain control of his breathing and lower his heart rate, Dumbledore grabbed the desk in front of him in a strangling hold. That is where he noticed a letter that had been lying beneath the parcel. Quickly picking it up, his eyes flashed with anger as he saw the initials L.V..

Dumbledore

I found your spy, he will be the first of many to die

You're Next

I Am Lord Voldemort