-Almost twenty-five years after the end of the Second Wizarding War, Kingsley Shacklebolt's resignation as Ministry for Magic triggers a series of dangerous attacks that will entangle the lives of Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy in the most unexpected ways.-

Although the story that follows features many characters, some places and a few spells of my own invention, I do not own Harry Potter or JK Rowling's wizarding world (if only).

I truly hope you enjoy this story as much as I enjoy writing it, and that you feel encouraged to leave a few reviews.

Welcome to (my) Next Generation World.

Chapter One

The Explosion

The Daily Prophet. Breaking News.

SHACKLEBOLT SAYS GOODBYE

After twenty five years leading the English wizarding world our Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, makes public his decision of not presenting his candidature for this year's elections.

As many would recall, Shacklebolt has spent his years in the office leading a massive reform of the Ministry, bringing down the corruption that had felt upon it during the dark times of both the First and Second Wizarding War. He absolutely rebuilt the Defense Department and purged Dementors from Azkaban, as well as overseeing the capture and sentences of Death Eaters and supporters.

But despite being a former auror, Shacklebolt never forgot the other departments. He got rid of every pro-pureblood-law that had been developed through the years and helped create the new legislation that guarantees the integration, not only of muggleborn wizards and witches, but also of magical creatures such as werewolves and domestic elves.

Many won't be able to recall a time when Kingsley Shacklebolt was not even a member of the Wizengamot, as he was named Caretaker minister for Magic after the Second War had just ended, and was quickly formally elected to the office. But there are still some of us who can still remember our previous Ministers, and who can say from the experience that Shacklebolt will be missed. The three aspirants who have already announced their candidatures have it difficult to live up to this man's legacy.

And so we say our farewell to Mr. Shacklebolt: Auror, Head Commander of the Order of The Phoenix during its final year, Order of Merlin First Class and Minister for Magic.

The Daily Prophet's redaction wishes him the very best .

We Salute You, Commander.

An article by Mrs. Abigail Fenetre, senior reporter

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By the time Kingsley Shacklebolt announced his resignation as Minister for Magic, he had already kept his post longer than any of the previous Ministers ever had. And longer than any of his successors ever would.

It had happened in mid-July, on one of those lazy days when the heat mercilessly struck every corner on the country and nobody seemed to be able to process the astounding news. Therefore, when the Wizengamot set the elections for choosing a new minister at the end of the year, nobody seemed to be ready to pay attention to the possible candidates. But after the shock had worn off, they had started to actively campaign, scheduling public speeches and ridiculously long formal gatherings.

And that's why Rose Weasley currently found herself clad in her best formal robes (that were far too thick for this time of the year), flashed continuously by multiples cameras (that were far too close to her face) and fighting back a sudden urge to banish herself (that was becoming far too appealing).

"Excuse me", a voice ringed clearly from the front of the room, and the cameras stopped working when their owners turned around at once, as they could sense something more interesting to photograph was coming.

"Welcome", the voice continued, and Rose could now see it belonged to a short, balding man, "We'll be starting in a few minutes, but first those members of the press with a pass can come now and take some pictures of the candidates and the former minister".

"Finally" . Rose's brother, Hugo, muttered next to her, reaching to his neck to take off his brand new tie. "I thought I was gonna choke here".

"I'm sure you wouldn't have choked", Freddie Weasley, one of their many cousins, said as he appeared between the crowd. "Don't ask me why, but some people here would have actually cared enough to save you".

"It would have been a way to get out of here", Hugo said, ignoring the jibe and looking around with a bored expression, "I bet they'd send me to Saint Mungo's".

"Want to try it?". Fredie offered, stepping closer.

"Forget it", Hugo stepped back. "Last time you offered to do something for me, I ended up with horns".

"That was an accident", said Freddie, but the corner of his dark eyes cringed like it always did when he was trying not to laugh.

Hugo's ears turned bright red, which Rose took as her sing to take a walk around the hall, preferable as away as possible from the argument that was about to burst between her family members.

Here and there, witches and wizards appeared with bright-colored badges pinned to their robes, supporting one candidate or the other. She passed a group of boys around her age, whose faces she vaguely recognized from school, and one of them (a tall blonde with a crooked nose) nodded at her in acknowledgment.

Rose was just about to dodge a bunch of middle-aged witches, each of them with a toddler in her arms, when she heard her name from behind her.

It was her cousin Albus looking, as per usual, as if his black hair had never confronted a hairbrush in his life. He was accompanied by a young witch dressed in purple robes, that was also smiling at Rose. She was delighted to notice as she came closer, that the girl was Eliza Wood, who had been her roommate for the past six years.

"Hello Rosie" , Eliza beamed at her, pulling her blonde bangs out of her face, "How was your summer?".

"Nice, until this whole thing with the Minister happened". Rose shrugged. "Now I just feel ready to go back to Hogwarts and forget all about speeches and debates".

Eliza wrinkled her nose, "I think it's been the same for a lot of people, though, I mean, half of the school is here".

"It is?", Rose had barely recognized any faces in the crowd. Then again, her whole family was there, and there were so many of them they could be practically considered half of the school already.

"Oh yes, your family. And all of the Bones cousins, of course" . Eliza answered, pointing to the MacMillan's sisters, who were standing close to them with a group of fellow fifth years. "And what feels like the whole Ravenclaw house, which I guess it makes sense because this is kind of their scene. Who else would be at the very front?".

Rose made a face and Eliza stared at her in horror, "Oh God, were you...?"

"No". Rosie quickly assured her, "No, I was not going to the front rows".

Eliza smiled, her cheeks quickly recovering from the soft blush that had spread through them in embarrassment. Rose decided not to mention her mum was, to her dad's chagrin, in the first row. And refusing to move even a step back.

Al groaned, "And the whole bunch of conventional purebloods".

Indeed, as if conjured by the words, Slytherin's prefect Malcolm Travers appeared with a group of wizards and witches amongst the crowd. He was the only one of the group talking, clearly showing off whatever new feature he had acquired over the summer.

Rose rolled her eyes in disgust. Malcolm Travers was one of those guys who walked around like Earth was God's gift to them, as long as they weren't acting as if they were God's gift to the Earth.

"What a waker". Al stated out loud, and nobody disagreed.

"Hope you are not talking about me", someone said from Rose's left, and she found James smirking at them.

Al narrowed his green eyes suspiciously at the sight of his brother, "What are you doing?"

"Nothing". said James, but Rose now noticed that he was panting.

He strolled casually to Al's side, standing behind him as if preparing to use him as a human shield. Rose doubted it would work. Albus and James looked a lot alike, with the same hair and their father's nose, but Al was skinnier and almost a head shorter.

"What did you do?", Rose insisted, glaring at her cousin, who raised his hands in mock surrender.

"I just borrowed Teddy's new broom to get here". And then, as an afterthought, he added, "I might have forgotten to ask him if he was okay with me borrowing it".

"Might have?", repeated Rose, placing her hands on her hips. It was a gesture she was well aware made her look exactly like her mother when she was about to scold Hugo, but she had never been able to stop herself from using it.

Next to her, Albus kept sputtering nonsense about the price of the broom and how Teddy was going to make sure James died a very slow and painful death when he found out.

Eliza Wood looked somewhere between uncomfortable and amused. But the uncomfortable part must have won, because a minute later she carefully cleared her throat.

"I think they are about to start", she said softly, pointing with her chin towards the stage, where the short balding man from before was conjuring chairs for the candidates to sit.

Rose turned around and pretended to listen, while observing the people around them. From a few rows away, her uncle Bill winked at her, he was so tall his scarred face seemed to float above everyone else's.

The first candidate, John Zulligan, took the stage. He worked at the Improper Use of Magic Office, had based his whole campaign on the need for the Statute of Secrecy and the actions to improve it.

Eliza elbowed her softly, "Are you excited about seventh year?".

"I don't know". Rose whispered back, "I've not thought much about it yet, to be honest".

"It's just a week away!", said the other girl, looking confused, "How can you not think about it? You love school more than anyone I know".

"I guess it just makes me sad". It was not entirely untrue, every time she started to think it would be her last year at Hogwarts made her feel frightfully empty.

So she had decided not to think about it.

"Zulligan is over". Al said, turning to face them with a disapproval gaze, "Can you two stop talking?".

Eliza shrugged at Rose, "What can you do?", she mumbled, before mimicking zipping her mouth shut.

Next was Lucian Vaisey, who couldn't care less about the Statute of Secrecy, but had some good ideas to increase the employment. He was still fairly young, and he could have been attractive, if not for the arrogant look always present on his face that reminded Rose greatly of Malcolm Travers.

Vaisey seemed to love hearing himself talk, and Rose could hear Al sighing in annoyance when he took the stage, which made James snort.

The elderly couple standing in front of them, both with pins that read Vaisey Voter on their robes, turned around to send them a very nasty look.

After a couple of minutes, James stepped forward and smiled at them, "Now, I know I am stunningly attractive. But really, there's no need to keep staring at me. I'll be happy to let you have my picture".

Eliza burst out laughing, trying to muffle the sound with her hands as she practically doubled over. The woman, on the other hand, didn't seem to think James was funny, and with a clearly offended huff she grabbed her husband's arm and pulled him with her as she marched through the room.

Between the crowd, Uncle Bill shook his head at them. Trying to compose an innocent expression, Rose took a step back, separating herself from Al and Eliza, who were doing a terrible job at muffling their laughs.

She bumped into someone, and as she turned around she found someone was, in fact, Scorpius Malfoy, a fellow Hogwarts prefect and seventh year. He looked as he always did, tall and slender, with his blond hair slightly disheveled and dressed in dark robes. And yet the sight of him was a shocker.

Everybody knew the Malfoys were almost never seen outside their Manor or Diagon Alley, and absolutely never attended social gatherings such as this one.

"Sorry", she immediately stepped forward again, putting distance between them, but Malfoy didn't seem to notice.

He nodded at her in recognition, stone-faced, and without uttering a single world he turned his head back to the stage. Rosie stared at him a second longer, as if waiting for him to change his mind and actually address her; when it became painfully clear that it was not going to happen, she huffed loudly and turned her back to him.

After a couple of minutes, and amidst loud cheers and applauses, Vaisey ended his speech and Rose Zeller took the stage.

Rose Zeller was the only female candidate. A muggleborn witch in her thirties, she seemed focused on following Shacklebolt's steps, reinforcing the integration laws and talking a lot about finally putting the War behind.

"Regarding those supporters of the Dark Side that are still serving the times in Azkaban", she was saying now, and the whole room seemed to hold their breath at once. It was still a sore subject, as most of the pureblood families had at least one member in prison.

"We want to guarantee their family's absolute freedom, once and for all". Zeller continued, in a determined voice. "Their actions belong to the past, and although they all have to pay for their crimes, committed not only against the wizarding world but against humanity, we believe the new generations should never pay. No more discrimination, or constant vigilance, or unfounded suspicions. We will never forget, but it's time to forgive".

Right then, without warning, a scream broke the crowd's silence. It was not a shout of hurt of terror, but rather a spell, spoken very clearly.

"Scindo Medium"

There was nothing about the words that sounded particularly evil. But the tone in which it had been uttered, cold and guttural and filled with pure rage, made Rose let out a cry without even realizing it.

Several people screamed and tried to move away from the source, the very back of the hall where nothing but shadows could be seen.

Scorpius Malfoy appeared once again in her line of sight. There was something off about his expression, something in his eyes that had definitely not been there before; and Rose could have sworn it was panic.

"Take cover! Now!", he said forcefully, as he himself crouched on the ground.

A moment later, she realized why. Because suddenly, the ground started to shake powerfully, and Rose found herself flying across the room, as the world around her imploded in a blast of lighting and smoke and screams.

She could taste blood on her mouth as she hit her head against something, and the witch beside her, who was only a couple of years older than herself, screamed loudly in her ear. Rose followed her gaze, and found the girl's legs had bent on an angle in which legs never should be bent.

For a second, she thought she was going to throw up. But the ground shook once more and she rolled on the floor.

And then, there was only darkness.