Breaking Dishes

A/N: this is my gift, for the fandom at large, and for the nice folks at Simplypotterheads. When I saw the prompt, I knew I had to write this one, this way. I hope it's appreciated, since there is one character above all others who is universally loathed and despised.

Even they need justice for their actions. – DG

A/N2: This also references my fic from the end of April, It's only a Memory, since this is the in-between storyline involving Kingsley Shacklebolt. - DG

Kingsley shoved the former Minister of Magic into the last holding cell on the block. He flourished his wand and locked it from anyone else. He turned and saw the Auror he took under his wing the second he walked into the Ministry.

"Now," he spoke deeply and with considerable authority, "this man is to stay here until I return. No one may remove him without my personal authority. He is under arrest for High Treason against the Mugwump. He has been implicated in the death of his predecessor as well as Director Bones. Do you understand the severity of what he is charged with?"

The Auror nodded at the imposing one standing before him.

"What's your name, son?"

"Beckford, sir. Sloan Beckford. I'm an apprentice Auror. I graduated Hogwarts last year. Ravenclaw."

"Who was your mentor?"

"No one, sir. I'm just a glorified bailiff, really. I've been an apprentice for a month. They said I was a Pureblood and that was enough."

Kingsley turned back to the stone door before him. He knew that it would be obvious someone was in the room but bugger if anyone was going to get to the Minister and free his treasonous arse today. With his wand he wove magic to make his Nini proud, sealing and silencing the room, locking it behind his own particular form of ancestral magic.

"Wow," came the apprentice standing next to the Auror. "Can I learn that?"

Kingsley turned to the young man next to him. "You're doing more than that. I need you to cover my back. We have a nest of snakes to clear out and being Slytherin, I'm just the Auror to do it. But I need eyes on my back to protect what I can't see. Can you do that?"

The younger man nodded.

"I can't guarantee we'll live through this, but I'll be damned if I don't take them out with me. Understand?"

"Yes, sir."

The two men left the current Minister of Magic locked in a deep cell, consigned to solitude and no wand.

They walked onward and passed three Aurors already down. "What happened to them, Sir?"

"They raised their wands against me."

"Are they dead?"

"No, they're just stunned and confunded. I don't kill unless it's life or death. That's my bond as an Auror." Kingsley stopped and turned to the young man next to him. "But know this, and learn it well. I just left Hogwarts where the tyrant known as You-Know-Who fell an hour ago. Any man who lifts their wand against us is a traitor, and if they use the Killing Curse towards us, return it to them. If they give no quarter, give none back. Understand?"

Beckford nodded once.

"Scared?"

"Yeah, I reckon I am."

"I," Kingsley stopped and took a huge breath. "An hour ago, I was dueling aside Minerva McGonagall and Horace Slughorn against You-Know-Who. I can't explain why I'm still alive, but I am. And by my wand and all I hold near and dear to my heart, we will clear out the traitors today."

"Who are we after?"

"I have Thicknesse in the cells. We need Yaxley and also to arrest Umbridge. If we can get those three, I think we can decapitate the leadership and scatter the remaining ones still in the ministry."

"That's seems problematic, letting the others escape?"

"They won't. First and foremost, we have to establish a real order of things. I've got some trusted people who can help us with that, getting things running again and get the Wizengamot out of hiding. That's the most important. Then we can track the fugitives. It might take a while, but we'll get it done."

Kingsley turned on his heel and took off for the Auror Department. Yaxley was vital to what he needed. The bastard killed dozens over the course of the year – his friends in the Corps – and he had a huge score to settle. He owed the bastard a blood debt and he intended to have it paid in full, with justice if not mercy.

Footfalls echoed on the stone corridor. Two sets fell into one rhythm, fast but not in a hurry. Each door they passed was closed, which suited Kingsley best of all. But the furthest one on the floor, the lifts to the Auror department, was covered in black cloaked men: three of them, all brandishing their wands.

"Stop that man!" the one on the right yelled.

He crumpled immediately followed by the one on the left. The last one standing held his position but didn't move his wand. "Kingsley Shacklebolt." The nemesis moved his mask and a fresh faced Auror stood with his wand in the surrender position.

"You looked like Nigel Williamson but how do I know it's you?"

The younger man smiled. "Bristol, March 1994."

Kingsley stuck his hand out and shook the man's hand. "You're a bloody sight for sore eyes. Why the devil are you down here, guarding lifts?"

"Oh, that? It seems that I was sent to do something for MLS and got my memory wiped and confunded back in the fall. They didn't believe me so they put me on guard duty down here in the cellars. 'Course they said it's 'cause I was a dumbfuck 'Puff and all that rubbish."

"Well, that's three of us, then. Nigel, this is Sloan Beckford. He's your apprentice from now on. Do keep him from getting killed today, wouldya?"

"I'll do my best, sir."

Kingsley waved his wand at the two men down. They were lashed with ropes from head to toe.

"We're going to MLS and taking on Yaxley. I'd rather arrest him but if he resists," Kingsley looked at his former apprentice, "you know what to do."

"Where have you been? You look like shite."

"At Hogwarts, fighting."

"Buggering fuck."

Kingsley stepped into the lift and punched the 3 button. "You know who is dead and so is Bellatrix Lestrange. To chop the head off, we need Yaxley and Umbridge."

"And Thicknesse?"

"He's currently in cell block A223. No one can get in there."

"Very good."

The three men stood quietly waiting for the lift to land at the right door. Sure enough, the metal gratings moved and they stepped out. Department administrators scratched away on the parchment, ignoring the men who just stepped into the department. One secretary looked up and smiled. "Gentlemen. How can we help today?"

"Is Yaxley in?"

Matilda Smythe smiled even wider. "Why, yes, yes sir, Auror Shacklebolt. He passed through to his office about ten minutes ago. He's not left yet."

"Can you sound the alarm approximately sixty seconds from now, to clear this department? I don't want anyone else harmed today."

"Today, sir?"

"I've just come from Hogwarts. You-know-who has fallen."

Her eyes went wide before turning hard. "Sixty seconds it is, sir. Glad to have you back."

Kingsley performed the incantation and his lynx popped into existence. "Percy Weasley, I apologize but you're needed at the Ministry as soon as possible. I need your particular set of skills in parchment work. Find Matilda Smythe in the Ministry canteen to let you into MLS."

He sent off his patronus to the far end of Scotland before starting into the maze of desks known as the Ministry Law Enforcement department. They walked quickly, noticing all of the empty desks. "Where is everyone?"

"You've been away, sir. The Auror Corps have been decimated these last few months. Those who didn't pass Pureblood standards were kicked out. That left maybe a dozen in all. And then today, from what you've said. So there's probably two left, besides Yaxley. I was one of them. You said you stunned 4 more. That should leave just him, along with the secretaries."

"Then let's get this over with, shall we?"

The three men approached the far door of the department. They heard scraping inside the door. "I'm on point, but you to hold off two seconds before following. If he's blasting away, he won't be able to handle all three."

"Understood, sir," Beckford replied.

Nigel waved his hand forward. "Age before beauty, sir."

Kingsley gave a two finger salute before putting his hand on the knob. He opened the door and stepped into the expansive office. Aldus Yaxley was rifling behind his desk in a file cabinet, pulling papers out haphazardly. He didn't hear the three men step into the office until Kingsley slammed it shut.

Yaxley spun with his wand in his hand. The other two Aurors were too far away for him to get all three. "Aldus Yaxley, by the authority vested in me by the Wizengamot and Mugwump, you're under arrest for high treason, Murder most foul, and so many acts of Dark Magic that I can't even count that high."

"You dare walk in here and think you can arrest me? The Dark Lord will have your head on a spike by nightfall. I will personally enjoy watching you bleed out at my feet."

Kingsley snorted. "Oh, you mean the sodding bastard I left entombed at Hogwarts until I return? That Dark Lord? The tyrannical fuck who is now rotting in the flesh?"

Yaxley pointed his wand. All three men watched it shake in his hand. "There's still plenty in the Ministry who support what we're doing. We're not going away, not by a long-shot. I don't know why you are so fond of the Muggle Lovers, Blood Traitors, and half-breeds out there."

Kingsley flicked his wand and disarmed the director of MLS in a tick. "Thicknesse is secure. We're here for you. You'll stand trial for your treason and will pay for your actions."

Kingsley kept his wand on the man in front of him. "After you, Nigel."

The man in front of him was secured with rope, from knees to nose, before freezing him in his place. "Nice touch. You think he'd have yelled something?"

"It can't hurt to be completely careful today. I'm surprised he didn't break Taboo to get people to help."

"Most of them are dead in Scotland. What other help is there after that pitched battle?" The three men looked at the prisoner. "What are we going to do with him? We can't just leave him here."

"No, we'll take the special lift down to the holding cells. He can go into the one away from the Minister."

An hour later, they were standing in the lift going to the fourth floor. Their next warrant for arrest was in her office, according to Matilda.

They exited the lift and Percy Weasley stood before them. He was still covered in masonry dust and his clothes were disheveled. "I came as quick as I could, sir."

"You're here fast enough. We're off to arrest Umbridge."

The three men saw Weasley's features harden even more than they thought possible. "You should arrest her, Sir. If I lift my wand at her, I might get in trouble, especially after today."

Percy moved to stow his wand before Kingsley held his hand up. "Keep it on you. We might need it if that Toad puts up a fight."

The men made their way along the hall to the particular door. Muggle Registration Commission was etched into the wood on the door. They opened the door and stepped into mayhem. The desks were busy with witches working in unison printing the day's propaganda. No one greeted them, and no one paid the four men any attention.

"I don't see any of the men around, but stay alert. Runcorn might show his face; others, too."

They walked up the center aisle of the department. Each face of the Heroes of Hogwarts showed on each printing: Wanted, for Willful destruction of Gringott's. Reward, 100K Galleons.

They passed the rows quickly, ignoring the women who were working away like cogs in a timepiece.

The four stepped up to the door and saw the hole where Moody's magical eye was once embedded. "We'll do the same thing as before. Percy, get your wand out and cover my back. I'm not concerned about her but anyone can come in that door after us."

Weasley nodded in understanding before they made their way into the spacious office.

Dolores Umbridge was sitting at her desk, reading the morning copy of The Daily Prophet. She put it aside and saw the men standing before her. "Auror Shacklebolt. This is quite a surprise. I would have sworn there was a warrant for your arrest, for treason against the Minister. Have you come to turn yourself in? I'd be more than happy to claim that arrest."

Dolores stood up from her chair and still only came to the chest of each of the men.

Kingsley Shacklebolt lifted his wand and pointed it at the portly witch before him. "Sit down, witch. By the order vested in me by the Wizengamot, and the Mugwump, you're under arrest for Treason, Murder most Foul, and facilitation of murder of the former Minister of Magic."

She quickly flourished her wand and Williamson went down. Before she could turn her wand on Kingsley he cast his spell, knocking her into the far back wall of the office. Dishes fell from their place and hit her on the head. The men watched as each dish fell, breaking across the back of the room.

The porcelain shards decorated her pink jumper like diamonds in a mine.

"Serves the witch right, turning her wand onto us."

Kingsley shook his head at the stupidity that she displayed. "Weasley, get Williamson up. Beckford, lock that door and seal it. I don't want Runcorn getting in here."

Each of the men set to their task while Kingsley performed the charm on the diminutive witch. Within seconds, she was bound head to toe. He picked up her wand and stuffed it into his robes. It was tempting to break her wand but that wasn't his decision. That was for the full bank of the Wizengamot. Kingsley muttered the second charm and she woke. She thrashed in her bindings and gave the Auror a vicious stare. "Release me now. The Minister will have your badge for this, and a Dementor's Kiss. How dare you attack a Ministry employee, in her office no less! You truly are a traitor to Wizarding Kind. I don't care if they say you're a Pureblood. You're nothing more than a mongrel, a half breed still wearing cow dung as jewelry."

Kingsley got in close to her face and smiled. "You-know-who is dead. Bellatrix Lestrange is dead. The Minister has already been arrested. The same can be said for Aldus Yaxley." Kingsley motioned his wand and she levitated up off the floor and stood before the Aurors. "You were last on my list, Dolores, at least today."

Fear fell over her eyes. "But I was just following the orders of the Minister. He's the one you want. He's the one who made the decisions. I was only following his lead in the Ministry."

Kingsley ignored the witch inches from his face. Fear was wafting off of her now, a stench that was revolting. "Weasley, get to work on those files in here. We need a comprehensive list of everyone in Azkaban as fast as possible. I'll also need a list of who was sentence by this harpie to a Dementor's Kiss."

Kingsley turned back to Umbridge while he heard Weasley yanking parchment left and right out of binders and more files. "For every death that you gave summary judgment, I'll ask for another year tacked onto the sentence. By my wand, you will know justice." He sat on the edge of the oak desk and looked eye to eye with the former Undersecretary. "I hope, for your sake, that the death toll is minimal. There has been enough magical blood spilled today to last a lifetime. But you, though, I look forward to your trial."

"But I was only following orders!" She screeched. "Don't you want the Muggleborns subservient to Wizards, along with every other beast under our dominion? What's wrong with claiming our place in society? What's wrong with exercising authority over those who are lesser beings? We're responsible for those in our care, to punish when they break the law, when they don't conform to our society."

"You're revolting, Umbridge. You're the villain who thinks they are a hero, at least in their own eyes and in their own mind. You're the monster that wizards will tell their children for years to come, the toad who breaks wands for who they love. You disgust me, Dolores."

Kingsley turned to the other two and waved them up. "Take her down to the cells. Make sure that she's locked in her room and a guard kept on that cell block until I can come down later. She needs to go before the full Wizengamot to stand trial."

The other two Aurors stepped in behind the bound witch. "Once we're finished there, we need an Auror all-call, to know who is alive and who is dead. Percy?"

The young man looked up from the binder in his hands. His whole body was shaking.

"What's wrong, Weasley?"

"I found the binder, with the listings of the past year. Sir, it's extensive. There's got to be hundreds in here that were Kissed."

Kingsley knew the young man well enough, from working with him under the Fudge administration, that it wasn't what was upsetting him. "Well, tell us. What else is wrong?"

"Your family – they're gone."

"Gone? What do you mean, gone? My family is Purebloods and have been for almost a century, since we came from Africa."

Percy checked the script again in his fingertips. "I know I'm reading this right. It lists an Uncle, Aunt, and Grandmother as being deceased months ago." Percy looked up and there was grief in his eyes. "I'm sorry, sir. The writing says to consult with Yaxley for the information."

Kingsley turned to the toad before her. "Take this witch out of my sight before I destroy her."

The two Aurors hustled the witch towards the door. They opened the door and Umbridge started screaming. "Emergency! Someone call the other Aurors. They're trying to kidnap me. Emergency! Unhand me this instant. I'll have your bits on my door, you monsters. Somebody, anybody, Save me!"

Kingsley and Percy looked out the door onto the work space. Each propagandist stopped their work and looked at the scene unfolding before them. One by one, they stood up and gave her a proper British salute.

"That went well, I reckon."

"But Minister, I have the ledger in my hands."

"The ledger is wrong. That's where you will come in. I know my family is safe because I took them out of the country myself the day the Ministry fell. I don't know who those sods were, but we'll have to get to the bottom of this mess."

"Very good, Sir. Father can probably help, once – "

"I know. And we'll be there for that day. But until then, I need your help, along with others, to get the Ministry back running."

"Yes, sir."

Kingsley turned to the prim and dour young man in his company. "When things settle down, I'll talk with your parents. They need to know the truth."

"Thank you but I'll handle it. I made a mess of things and now there will be consequences." Percy scratched at his arm blindly. "But I'll help you in any way possible."

"Then get those binders and we'll seal Yaxley's office and then start the process. We have a Ministry to keep running. We need the Wizengamot out of hiding today, if possible."

The two men took off from the office, each holding binders in their arms.

They strode out of the office and received a standing ovation.

Kingsley stopped and looked at the secretary pool gathered in front of him. "Ladies, the broadsheets are at an end, but I will need your help. You know who has fallen, and the Minister has been arrested. I need everyone here who is willing to help get the offices moving again. I need ten –"

Percy walked with his load in his hands, letting the anguish roll over him while Kingsley delegated tasks for the ladies in the office. He would have his hands full the next month, the way it looked. But the Ministry needed information and an accounting and by George and Fred, he would give it.