"I don't really know what you mean, Minister."

"Well, of course, to you it will matter enormously," said Scrimgeour with a laugh. "But to the Wizarding community at large . . it's all perception, isn't it? It's what people believe that's important."

Harry sighed inwardly. He really wished adults could sometimes just get to the bloody point already. He had more than his fill of all these convoluted conversations with Dumbledore already.

"Minister, what is it you want from me exactly?"

Scrimgeour fixed him with a piercing stare. "Straight to the point, I see. Very well, Harry. I shall be as straightforward as I can: the Ministry has, of late, been experiencing a bit of a problem with. . . morale, shall we say. The public at large is losing faith in the institution, faith in their government. I was hoping you could help me fix that."

"How?"

"You are a symbol, Mr Potter," the Minister said bluntly. "Whether you like it or not, whether you choose to believe it or not, the fact remains that to the British Wizarding community you are still a symbol of the common man's fight against He-who-must-not-be-named and his followers. I'm asking that you use your fame, your influence to help the Ministry. Help us recruit more people to fight the good fight, help us keep up the morale of the public. Help us win this war, Harry."

It took all of Harry's self-control to not roll his eyes at this melodramatic little speech. But then, the man was a politician. What else could he expect?

"So basically you'd like to give the impression that I'm working for the Ministry?"

"Working with the Ministry," Scrimgeour corrected. "I want you to work with us, Harry, not for us. . . a temporary alliance if you will."

Harry's first instinct was to tell the man to go to hell (politely, of course). After all the shite the Ministry had pulled last year, after that farce of a trial, after Umbridge. . . he just didn't want to have anything to do with the blasted Ministry anymore!

But something made him hold his tongue. A small voice in the back of his head, the part of his brain that dealt with logic (and for some reason sounded suspiciously like Hermione) spoke a single word. . . . .

Reckless.

He frowned to himself. Was it really fair of him to lash out at this man just because of something his predecessor did? Would it not be hypocritical of him to judge Scrimgeour on the actions of Fudge? After all, it's not like he was one of Fudge's supporters who'd been openly slandering him last year. Even Dumbledore had hinted that the man was a no-nonsense former auror who had what it took to fight Voldemort. Would it be right of him to rebuff a man who was asking, rather politely, for a little bit of help in the war?

Besides, wasn't it Dumbledore himself who always preached about staying united in the face of the Dark? What was there to gain by choosing to distance himself from the government when Harry needed all the help he could get? He was destined to fight against Voldemort for Merlin's sake, and Dumbledore wasn't exactly helping him prepare for that, either.

"Of course, I wouldn't ask you to do this without offering anything in return," Scrimgeour seemed slightly unnerved by the long silence. "You will be given permission to commandeer any resources you feel would help you in the fight against You-Know-Who. For instance, we could allow you to get your Apparition license early, maybe even give you a license to make emergency portkeys. Also. . ."

"Could you train me?"

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry," Harry flushed slightly. "What I meant was: could. . . could the Ministry arrange for me to receive some defense training from one of you aurors?"

"My dear boy, of course we can," Scrimgeour said brightly. "I can arrange for the best of our Auror Academy trainers to spend some time with you, say. . . every weekend?" At the boy's encouraging nod, he continued. "They could floo into Hogwarts and teach you at any hour of your own choosing. It'd be the least we could do."

"Thanks, Minister. For that and. . . well, I really appreciate the Apparition and portkey thing as well." Harry felt a bit bad that he was practically extorting the Minister for Magic, but then he was rather desperate for help. Training from an auror, and licenses for apparition and portkeys. . . all these things would help him greatly in the fight against that Snake-faced wanker. Dumbledore's sessions would hardly help him survive a direct fight with one of Voldemort's inner circle, let alone the Dark Lord himself.

He started slightly when he realized that Scrimgeour was still talking. ". . . time to time, for instance, that would give the right impression. And of course, while you were there, you would have ample opportunity to speak to Gawain Robards, my successor as Head of the Auror office. Dolores Umbridge has told me that you cherish an ambition to become an Auror."

"Umbridge?" Harry snarled in anger. "She's still at the Ministry? After everything she did?"

"Yes. . well, Dolores is a rather valuable member of the Ministry, Harry." Scrimgeour looked at him cautiously. "I understand that the two of you had your differences last year. . . ."

"Differences!?" Harry said incredulously. "Is that what you call what she did? Having differences?"

He raised his right fist. There, shining white on the back of his cold hand, were the scars which Dolores Umbridge had forced him to carve into his own flesh: I must not tell lies.

Scrimgeour's face went white. "Merlin, what. . . what is that. . . .?"

"Dolores did this to me," Harry spat. "She forced me to write these lines in my own blood all of last year during detention. And you call this 'having differences'?"

"She used a Blood Quill on you?" Scrimgeour asked in shock. "That's a very serious allegation, Harry. I assume you have evidence to back it up."

Harry stared at the man in open surprise. Did he honestly think that he would make up something like this? "What do you want, Minister? You want a memory, you want me to testify under Veritaserum. . . I'll do whatever you want, if you're willing to do something about that woman that is."

"Yes, I do believe we will be needing your testimony, Harry." Scrimgeour pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Merlin, what was that woman thinking!? Using a Blood Quill on a minor. . . in a school, no less. . . bloody woman. . . . "

He looked at Harry once again. "Exactly how many detentions did you serve with her, Harry?"

"Dunno. More than a dozen, I guess. . . . "

"A dozen!?" Scrimgeour sputtered in outrage. "What the bloody hell. . . . !? Why didn't you say anything about this to anyone?"

"I did. I went to Professor McGonagall, my head of house. She told me to just keep my head down and not antagonize her."

"Did you specifically mention that she was making you use a Blood Quill?" Scrimgeour asked sharply.

Harry winced slightly at that. "Well. . . no. . ."

"Why not?"

"Well. . . I didn't want to give Umbridge the satisfaction. . . . " He mumbled, looking at the ground.

Scrimgeour let out a deep breath. "That was incredibly foolish of you, Harry." At the boy's incensed look, the former auror narrowed his eyes. "A Blood Quill is a Class Two Restricted Artifact. The unauthorized use of such an object on any person carries a sentence of no less than two years in Azkaban. Using a Blood Quill on a minor would be worth no less than fifteen years. . . ." He shook his head sadly. "You should have complained to the Ministry immediately after your first detention."

"As if that would've worked," Harry said bitterly. "Fudge would have simply found a way to pin it all on me."

"Contrary to what you may believe, Mr Potter, the Ministry isn't the personal playground of the Minister." Scrimgeour's voice was rather cold now. "We do have our rules and regulations, and we have good people willing to go the extra mile to uphold the law."

Harry was about to snap off an angry retort when the older man gave a huge sigh and shook his head. "I don't blame you for not wanting to speak up about this, not after what happened last year anyways. That trial you were put through for underage magic use was a travesty of justice that should never have happened. Amelia Bones, my superior at the time, was furious with Fudge back then. I have no doubt that she would have helped you, if you'd tried to approach her." He looked at Harry again. "How many other students did she use the quill on?"

"Quite a few, I guess."

"Do you understand now, Harry? If you had spoken up back then, don't you think all those people would have been spared that? Don't you think your silence only served to embolden her, convinced her that she could do whatever she pleased?"

Harry hung his head in shame. He knew that Scrimgeour was right. He'd let his stupid pride get in the way, refusing to listen even when Ron and Hermione had insisted that he tell somebody about it. But he hadn't listened, and Umbridge had only gotten bolder, going further and further to push him to his breaking point and causing unnecessary suffering to others in the process."

"You know," Scrimgeour said suddenly. "There's a muggle philosopher, Edmund Burke, whose work I'm rather fond of. He had this saying: The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." He laid a gentle hand on Harry's shoulder. "Turning the other cheek is all well and good Harry, but only when you and those around you can afford it."

"Now, I fully intend to prosecute Umbridge for her crimes. I assume you would be willing to testify in open court, should the need arise?"

Harry hesitated momentarily at the idea of speaking up in front of the Wizengamot, but then he looked at his scars and realized that he couldn't stand back and let her do this to anyone else. His resolve hardened. "I'll do whatever it takes, Minister."

"Good lad." Scrimgeour nodded in approval. "We'll also need the names of the other students who served detentions with her."

"I'll get in touch with some of the folks I know. The rest. . . ."

"We'll track em down and get their statements. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Harry."

"Don't mention it, Minister. And thank you for. . . everything, I guess."

"It's a pleasure to be of service, Harry. I'll get in touch with you once we take Umbridge into custody. It'll take a couple of days to gather all the evidence, but I'm pretty sure it'll be an open and shut case." They shook hands. "I take it you won't have any problems with giving a simple statement to the Prophet when the time comes?"

"Er. . . . "

"They won't be asking much from you, Harry. Just a small quote." Scrimgeour again fixed him with that trademark piercing glare. "Umbridge is not without her own supporters in the Ministry. We may need to exploit your fame a little to make sure she gets convicted. Think you'll be up for it?"

Harry hesitated slightly, but then nodded. If he had to use his fame to get that hag punished, then he would do it. After all, he was the Boy-Who-Lived (or the Chosen One) whether he liked it or not. Maybe it was about time he put his celebrity status to good use.

"Like I said, Minister: I'll do whatever it takes."

"Good lad." Scrimgeour gave him a wry grin. "You know Harry, this just might be the start of a beautiful relationship."

Harry grinned as well. For once, he actually agreed.

AN: So yeah, things are going to go into AU territory from this point on. DH is going to be completely disregarded.

Of course, this doesn't mean that Harry's gonna become a pawn of the Ministry now. No, he's just gonna be less trusting, a little more cunning and more proactive in this story than he is in HBP.

I've always felt that Scrimgeour was a grossly underutilized character. Bad enough that Amelia Bones is killed off-screen early in HBP, but then Scrimgeour turns into just another version of Fudge. It's hard to imagine that a former auror and veteran of the First War would act like a publicity-obsessed idiot when Voldemort is busy murdering people left and right.

Harry's conversation with him was probably the most creepy part of HBP for me. The way he talks to the Minister makes him come off like some brainwashed kid who's blindly parroting what his master's taught him. Then the whole thing about proudly proclaiming himself as "Dumbledore's man" *shudders slightly*

Reviews would be greatly appreciated :)