Summary: It was a beautiful and sunny day and Kingsley Shaklebolt needed a break from work. Seeing a huge commotion outside a Muggle cinema, he curiously wanders in. The date was 2001 November 4. Familiar? Crap.
Kingsley was humming.
It was a beautiful and sunny day outside, so he decided he needed to stretch his legs for a bit. Hell, what with the wars and the reconstruction period, as well as his election to a term as Minister of Magic, he hadn't been able to enjoy life since...well, Kingsley couldn't really remember when to truthful.
It was that bad.
He had casually told his undersecretary Percy Weasley that he was heading out for a walk, and exited into downtown London through the phone booth despite Weasley's protests. He took a big, deep breath, closing his eyes and smiling, enjoying the sunlight for just a moment.
For it was that moment (and others like it) for the billions of humans on the planet that the war was fought. It was fought to maintain peace and prosperity for our time, to ensure our children would grow up in a calm, stable world, and to enable the planet's inhabitants time to enjoy life.
It really should be a crime to keep someone locked up miles underground to work through paperwork feverishly and without breaks, even with the use of magic. He needed some time off to forget about all the Death Eaters that still needed catching (and who were still causing trouble) and to forget about all the rubble that still littered Hogwarts Castle (which stubbornly refused to be moved with the use of magic). He needed to forget about the stack of paperwork on his desk, to sign Granger's new legislation on rights of the accused in trial, or to sift through and confirm the names of people to be sent to Azkaban, or...
Yes, Kinglsey really needed a break.
But beautiful and sunny days were just too perfect that anything could go wrong. There is a brilliant Muggle saying that Kinglsey had come across one day that made him smile in both the obviousness of its statement and the bluntness of its message.
Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. –Murphy's Law
Which is why he was currently fretting over Draco Malfoy's assignment as an undercover agent to root out the remaining Death Eaters who were on the run.
The year was 2001 and it was November 4th, three years since the war ended. It was a Sunday. And it was perhaps the worst date Kingsley could have possibly chosen to take a relaxing stroll through downtown London, intent on enjoying the freedom of anonymity and of constant work.
For Murphy's Law was hell-bent on proving itself correct today on an unfortunate Kingsley Shacklebolt. For you see, November 4th, 2001 may have seemed like a normal day to the happily ignorant Kinglsey, but it was a day that would see Vernon Dursley pulling large tufts of his hair out in frustration and Petunia holed up in a corner crying in regret.
Something big was going on in the muggle world. Something revolutionary. And Kingsley was going to learn all about it.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, World London Premiere!
Kinglsey froze in his tracks. The banner was hung haphazardly over the sides of a building Kinglsey gathered was a "cinema". From what he could recall from Muggle Studies, this was a place where muggles congregated to watch moving pictures.
But Kinglsey was confused. The banner seemed to indicate that the focal point of this film was going to be about Harry Potter and a certain Philosopher's Stone. It was intriguing to say the least, and no doubt some fool had, in the middle of the chaos that was war, sold out the story of wizards for a bit of financial gain.
It was a potential disaster in the making, and Kingsley was standing right in the middle of it.
Shoving his way through the thick crowd, he slowly forced his way into the cinema lobby. So much for that day of relaxation, Kingsley thought sadly as he wandered through the lobby, running into large cardboard cutouts of what he could only presume to be the muggle's representation of a little Harry Potter.
He was on-duty again, as an officer of the Ministry Department of Magical Law enforcement. Although minister, he was still an accredited Auror and he had just assigned himself reconnaissance duty.
Stay calm, he told himself. Don't be rash. He repeated. Get all your facts straight before rushing back to the Ministry and sounding like a babbling fool. Perhaps it was all a big misunderstanding and I can laugh about it to myself tonight. He consoled.
He tried to get into the theater where the film was being shown but a teller told him that he needed a ticket. He tried buying a ticket but the box office told him that they were sold out months in advance. He tried to buy a ticket from any random person who was milling around but none were willing to sell. It was quickly becoming a disaster and Kingsley feared that he would be forced to discreetly use magic and sneak into the theater.
He glanced around, scanning the crowd for any potential way to get into the theater legitimately. His eyes landed on a costume contest, with prizes including free movie tickets. Kingsley's eyes brightened in anticipation and he rushed over, glad that he had forgotten to exchange his cloak for muggle attire that morning when he hurried out of the Ministry.
He was a wizard, how difficult could it be?
"What is your name?" the officiator drawled when Kingsley stepped up onto the stage.
"Samuel Winston," Kinsley replied smoothly, waving his wand uselessly in circles.
The officiator looked at him wearily. "And what character are you going to impersonate?"
Character? "Umm...Kingsley Shacklebolt?"
The officiator blinked. "What? No, what Harry Potter character are you going to impersonate?"
Kingsley looked confused. Harry Potter character? Harry's definitely going to get a nice laugh in after hearing about this one. "Oh," he replied. "Er...I guess I'll be imitating...Harry Potter?" He didn't know which people these muggles know about and didn't want to make a fool out of himself by naming someone who wasn't known.
"You look more like a Hagrid to me!" a fan yelled from the audience. Several other people agreed with him and began cheering.
Kingsley resisted the urge to snort when he collected his movie ticket for winning the costume competition as Hagrid. What the bloody hell? He had no beard and certainly didn't feel large or half-gianty. Kingsley grinned broadly. The International Statute of Secrecy was safe. There's no way the muggles know anything there is to know if their vision of Hagrid matched him.
Kingsley exited the cinema looking utterly distressed. The muggle film that he just saw was an almost eerily accurate portrayal of Harry Potter's first year at Hogwarts. Sure certain details were missed and a couple of minor facts seemed a bit distorted, but it was accurate beyond belief.
Someone just leaked the details of Harry's life into the Muggle press, Kingsley panicked. This had to be a documentary film of some sorts and hundreds of muggles who were in that cinema with him and just learned about wands and Quidditch and Hogwarts and magic and Voldemort...
It was a complete disaster. Kingsley sighed. He would be tied up for years now working this one out. The fates sure love to torture me.
Hmm, I had planned to make this into a serious story with developing plot lines and a study of Wizarding laws and the International Statute of Secrecy...but I really lost direction of where the plot was going so I decided to just end it short. Maybe I'll re-write it as a crackfic someday.
Anyway, please review (or flame if you believe it is appropriate). Thanks for reading!