Chapter two
A few days later Harry was once again found under the beech tree resting while he ate; he needed to build up his strength from the strenuous use of his magic that it took to work on the castle. Harry just sat against the tree staring around as he watched people moving about.
'You look happy and very content.'
Harry smiled at the familiar voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt, who wasn't alone, 'I am, seeing this place coming back gives me a sense of fulfilment and contentment. Now as minister shouldn't you be stuck behind that overly large desk making our world better or are you taking the day off to have some fun.'
Kingsley laughed, Minerva sniggered, 'I wish I could have some fun, but there is so much work to do so little time. Mind if we join your little picnic?'
'Sure, but are you both going to sit on the blanket because neither of strike as the type to do that.'
'We will sit on chairs,' Minerva smiled then conjured two very comfortable looking chairs, 'It would not look good for the minister to be seen lounging on the grass at Hogwarts.'
'I think it would look good, shows his just like us, wants to relax and enjoy the moment.'
'Which I do when I have time to enjoy the moment, right now we would like to speak with you.'
'Oh,' Harry groaned, 'You're voice changed, there's something going on.'
Kingsley and Minerva chuckled, 'There is, but nothing serious so relax Harry. You always have to think of danger first, don't you?'
'After my life, you ask that, I thought you were smart, Minister.'
'Oh he really is starting to show a side of him that is so much like James,' Minerva smiled.
'I think I can finally show my true self you could say,' Harry sat up straight but stayed on the blanket, 'So what's up?'
'Something that will probably shock you, but again, it's nothing serious Harry so relax. Apart from getting rid of anyone that might have supported him, then finding good people to replace them, all of us in the positions to make our world better have been talking during a lot of meetings, throwing ideas around, implementing some, working on old laws that just do not work anymore, coming up with new laws, so a lot of meetings.'
'Sounds good so far and even though I've never had time to learn enough about how our world is run, I do know some things that should belong in the last century or even centuries ago, so out of date.'
'Exactly and even though our world wants to keep a bit of old fashioned values and customs, some are just outdated. One idea that took some convincing is to do with people like yourself that were raised in muggle homes, like Hermione, being a muggle-born. Even though we wish to keep our world separate in a lot of ways, there are more of us now that know the muggle world and would like to keep part of that in our daily lives.'
'There is some great stuff in the muggle world, some I would use all the time and other things I would only use occasionally.'
'Exactly, I am a pureblood so I have not been exposed to a lot of muggle equipment, I see it when I've had to go into muggle towns and have no idea what any of it does.'
'Understandable, with Mr. Weasley and his fascination for muggle stuff, he still has no idea how most things work. He would ask me and Hermione endless questions on one gadget or another. I still remember the first question he asked me, what is the use of a rubber duck,' Harry, Kingsley and Minerva laughed, 'That is so Arthur Weasley.'
'Yes, it is, even as a student he always had a fascination with muggles,' Minerva said.
'I don't think that will ever change. One idea that I know you and Hermione will like and that law is being changed mainly for the better. All of us now will just be known as witches and wizards, not muggle-borns, not half-bloods and not pure-bloods so the laws will be for all not for one over the other. One reason for this is there are not that many pure-bloods left and the numbers have been declining rapidly over the last one hundred years. We know the main reason, children being in arranged marriages with cousins, their children turning out with hardly any magic or squibs.'
'Yeah, I remember Sirius telling me about it when he showed me the Black family tree. He said most of the pure-blood families were all related in some way, some closer than others. Like how Draco Malfoy is cousin to Teddy, he's also related to the Weasley's which are related to the Blacks as well and not just because Draco's mother was a Black. They are all intermingled in a way.'
'They are, so some like the Weasley family stopped those old traditions of marrying their children off and now allow their children to marry who they want. Bill is married to Fleur who is a pure-blood but she is also part Veela which will keep their children's magic strong. I was talking to an unspeakable, he tests the magic around people, they do that without even having to see the person. They found that the magic around the pure-bloods was weaker than around half-bloods and muggle-borns.'
'Like with your mother Harry, she was a very powerful witch. I remember one time that James was jealous of her abilities. Even though he had a lot of power himself; he could never match your mother. You have shown a lot of power over the years, like learning a patronus at the age of thirteen, something that would normally not be possible,' Minerva said.
'I just figured it was because I had no choice or the dementors could have killed me. It took a few tries but I got it, and Remus said I would give my father a run for his money.'
'Yes, part of it would have been motivation Harry, but part of it is the fact you are a half-blood. Even though those words are changing using them makes this easier to explain. Basically it comes down to the fact that half-bloods and muggle-borns are more powerful than pure-bloods. There was one idea mentioned that could stop magic dying out in families or producing squibs, that was shot down straight away.'
'Doesn't sound like a good idea then.'
'Someone and I won't say who thought bringing in a law where any pure-blood could not reproduce children with another pure-blood.'
'That would take away our human rights, our choices, our free will.'
'Exactly, so that didn't even get to the stage where we would discuss it, so we all decided it will be left up to the individual to choose their partners especially now there will not be arranged marriages. So many couples ended up hating each other but had families together, usually only one child, that is not the best way for families to be, for children to be raised.'
'No, it's not. I remember something my aunt was watching on TV one day. How children are affected by seeing their parents fighting all the time. Some children even blame themselves for making their parents unhappy. I never got to see the whole thing; my aunt hated it when I was in the same room with her.'
'It is true though, children will suffer in a lot of ways seeing their parents arguing all the time. But now it comes to what we need to discuss with you and even though this will surprise you, it's something everyone seems to want. Now you are respected, even by people that had not been sure of you. The name Harry Potter commands attention whether you want it or not, it always brings a lot of discussion, mostly about what you want to do, are you going to help run the ministry, are you going to marry and end up with dozens of kids. But your name pulls a lot of weight and not just from people that want to know the saviour, that want to support whatever you do, but even by friends like myself.
'Now one discussion was about Hogwarts, how there are more muggle-borns and half-bloods now and how to combine the new and old, the muggle world and the magical world without going too far. We do like the way we are, we are different from the muggles but it does not mean we cannot incorporate the two worlds that satisfy everyone, especially the new generations who have modern thoughts and beliefs than the older generations who like their old ways. They might agree with changing our world, modernising it, but they are set in their ways.
'So what this is about Harry is all of us, including Minerva want you to take the position of Headmaster of Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry, to modernise it, to incorporate magical means and muggle means and who better than a half-blood that knows both worlds but also someone that is respected in our world,' Kingsley and Minerva both grinned at Harry who had gone stock still, his mouth hanging open. They looked at Harry then at each other wondering when Harry would be able to resume his speech and his ability to move. They knew that shocking Harry Potter was not easy, but they just did, too much amusement of both of them.
