Note: The chapters will be getting longer as the story goes on.

DISCLAIMER: JK Rowling owns HP, not me.

The Demon Within

Knock, Knock

Ministry of Magic...

It had been days since the last Death Eater sighting, and the whole Ministry was starting to get anxious. Fear and nervousness were prevalent in Ministry officials, from the lowest ranking to the Minister himself. All contacts, whether they be spies or leaks, had been silenced over the last few days, most of them disappeared, the rest too fearful of their lives to approach the Ministry once more. The lack of Death Eater activity, at least activity that the Ministry should be picking up, meant that something big was about to happen.

Minister Cornelius Fudge sat at the head of the long, dark, oak conference table. It had been approximately eight days since the Department of Mysteries incident, and he had lost much support and face because of that. The Ministry was penetrated so easily by the Death Eaters that it did not help to instill confidence in the populous at a time when support for the Ministry was needed more than ever before. With the Dark Lord Voldemort marshaling his forces and expanding his operations, the people are more likely to be swayed to join him if they see no other better options.

His short, portly body was drenched in sweat, though it was quite cool in the conference room. He nervously wiped sweat away with a handkerchief charmed to dry within seconds of getting wet. He was extremely frightened, not only for his life but for his job as well. He knew there were murmurs here and there, quick meetings held between the heads of the various departments. He knew that all seven heads of departments in this very room despised him and thought little of him. For a brief moment his anger flared, but then it died again and fear returned once more.

Whenever he gave them orders he knew they deliberately carried them out as slowly as possible, and he also knew that they acted without asking him permission in certain tasks that required it. In fact, his title and position as Minister seemed to becoming more trivial by the hour. He swallowed hard, as if feeling the noose around his neck tighten. The Wizengamot was convening in two days after their recess, and he knew that someone would call for his removal. Fudge's small, beady eyes darted back and forth, eying each of the wizards and witches present in the room, wondering which one of them still supported him.

There was Ludo Bagman head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, Harold Finniwickit head of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, Percy Weasley recently promoted to head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, Amelia Bones head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Sarah Stites head of the Department of Mysteries, Brenner Vrojcik head of the Department of Magical Transportation, Chelsea Sparta head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and a representative from the North American Federation Council (NAFC), which represented the interests of the wizarding communities in the United States and Canada.

They were all talking quietly amongst themselves, with no one really paying much attention to Fudge, and he scowled at that. He may not have been the best Minister, but he was still the Minister, and he deserved the respect entitled to that office. How he wished that he could just join the Dark Lord, but he knew that he would never do that because he was too afraid of him.

"Ahem. Excuse me, excuse me please. I'd like to get this meeting in order," Fudge finally managed to squeak out, successfully silencing the group. "Ah, thank you.... well I'd like to start by sa-" he started to say but he was cut off by Amelia Bones.

"I suggest that we get right down to business, Minister. Status reports for every department would be the best option, followed by my current intelligence reports, then perhaps the NAFC," she paused to look at the representative, who bowed his head in acknowledgement, "can chime in. We are short on time, people, the Death Eaters are planning something and the quicker we get a plan of action the better off we'll all be."

Everyone quickly agreed and the reports started as Fudge slowly began to be edged out of the meeting entirely. He soon decided that he had had enough and left, slamming the door as hard as he could behind him. He seethed with anger and he wrung his hands together, muttering all the while as he walked towards his office, making some of the people in the hall give him strange looks. He passed several security checkpoints, each manned by experienced Aurors, until he at last reached the outer room of his office. He greeted the four Hit Wizards that were on duty there and also his secretary.

He entered his office and shut the door. He closed his eyes then breathed in deeply as he rested his pudgy frame against the heavy wooden door. Sliding down to the ground, he let out the breath he was holding as he tried to calm himself down and think.

"Rough day?" a very familiar voice asked, startling him.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...

Dumbledore paced back and forth in his office, one hand behind his back and the other fiddling with his beard. He was still feeling drained from the ritual, but so far as he knew it had gone perfectly well. He had tried to look for more information on the ritual, but he had found nothing else. The ritual had no name, which made it harder to find amongst the many thousands of books and tomes that were available to him. He was feeling a little regretful for rushing the ritual so quickly before he had found out more about it, but from the description in the very ancient tome that he had read it served their purposes well, and as far as he knew it worked.

A great amount of joy and hope was restored upon seeing Harry fully healed and complete again. His injuries were nonexistent, and even his scar had faded some. The ritual worked so well that in fact, it seemed as if he were a bit taller and a bit bigger, muscle-wise, than Dumbledore last remembered though he was not entirely sure. There was nothing to be worried about, and as Harry's magical reserves and strength slowly started to return, he should wake up sometime within the next few days. He was tempted to probe Harry's mind while he was asleep, but he decided against it.

He must first ascertain that Harry is alright, then maybe he can probe around later on, with Harry's permission of course. He must be sure that Voldemort did not place something in Harry's mind that might be activated later on, and he must also be sure that Harry's mind is intact. He gave strict orders to Madam Pomfrey that as soon as the young man was awake, she would inform him immediately. Dumbledore must be the first one to speak to him, to check if he is still indeed the Harry they all knew. One of the things he opted not to inform the others was that due to the dark magic involved and the injuries that Harry sustained, his mind was also seriously crippled, and though Dumbledore quickly went into his mind and helped to keep Harry's "identity," or "spirit" as some would call it, intact, he was not sure if he was able to save him.

He stopped and looked out the window of his office, watching the sun begin its slow descent down to the horizon. The old headmaster wondered whether the person that would emerge from the young man would still be Harry James Potter, or quite possibly someone else. Mental damage was always tricky, which was why he had tried to bring Harry's mental defenses up, unbeknownst to the others, earlier in the year.

His thoughts returned to the ritual that he and the others had performed. For almost six hours they worked to complete the ritual, and at the end of it three had collapsed from physical, mental, and magical exhaustion. It was the price to be paid to return their one hope to his full potential. He hoped that the ritual would not turn out to be a mistake, but to be sure he returned to his desk and started reading the thick tome on his desk.

Minister's Office, Ministry of Magic...

"Lucius? What are you doing here? Who let you in?" Fudge was confused. He had given his men orders not to let anyone in, and yet here was Lucius Malfoy, sitting in his chair. His feet were crossed and resting on Fudge's desk. A long, black cane with a silver snake for a handle rested in the man's lap. His long, pale blond hair went past his shoulders and the man's cold gray eyes watched Fudge with a hint of amusement, possibly at his confusion.

"Well, I did not come through.... regular means." A small smile played on his lips as the Minister's bewilderment increased.

"But... then... wait... what? How...??" was all he managed to spit out as Lucius stood up in one swift and graceful movement, throwing the cane up high and then catching it on its way down with a very faint thud as the cane hit his gloved hands.

"Why, my master of course. You did not think the Heir of Slytherin did not know any other ways to get into the Minister's office?" Lucius edged closer to the Minister, who was still on the ground, wide-eyed.

Fudge reached for his wand.

"Ah-ah! Don't get any ideas, Fudge, not that you'd get much if you tried..." the elder Malfoy said, flashing a smile that exposed perfect rows of pearly white teeth.

"You traitor! Traitor! GUARDS!!" Fudge sputtered.

A flash of green light filled the room, but as quickly as it came it disappeared, leaving Fudge's lifeless eyes and an empty office as the Hit Wizards burst through the door, sending wooden splinters flying as they launched themselves in. They were tensed, eyes darting around, wands at the ready, but there was no one there save the dead Minister.

Moments later, an Auror entered the conference room, prompting a silence as all eyes in the room turned to him. Unpeturbed, the Auror walked swiftly over to Amelia Bones, bent close to her ear and whispered something.

"Fudge is dead," she announced, shocking everyone in the room. Sure, they hated him and thought him a pitifully useless piece of scum, but they did not expect him to be killed so suddenly. "He was killed in his office. No trace of the killer, no clues, no evidence. We have nothing."

There was a stunned silence once again. There was a strong sense of fear and panic among them, with only a few remaining calm enough to listen as Amelia explained what little details they did know.

"There is obviously something happening soon. They would not kill off the Minister without a reason, we're somewhat leaderless as of the moment," Chelsea spoke, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Yes, indeed this will be troublesome. Perhaps we should shut down all transportation networks for now. It could limit their movements, and it will also prevent problems should there be a panic caused by the death of the Minister. He may have been unpopular, but he was still the Minister, and him being killed right under our noses won't sit well with the people," Brenner suggested, since he was the head of Transportation. "We'll try to monitor any unauthorized transports in the country, but that will be extremely difficult, even if I reallocate all my personnel to the task."

"Try, we might get lucky," Amelia told him, holding his gaze before he finally nodded. "Good, well first we must discuss what we are to do at the moment. Something big is obviously about to happen, but where would they strike? They could strike Azkaban, but we tripled the guard there, though we did sacrifice a lot of personnel to do so. We've abandoned unecessary posts and safehouses and recalled a majority of our international personnel, but even then we're outnumbered. Recruits are being given the accelerated training program in the hopes that they will be ready to fight soon. They might not help much, their experience very limited and training not adequate, but they will add wands to our forces."

Then suddenly, the entire room shook violently as a loud boom emanated from somewhere in the distance. The ground shook again, forcing all the people in the conference room to hold on to the table tightly as their chairs threatened to fall over. Dust and dirt fell from the stone ceiling as the alarms began to blare.

The Ministry of Magic was under attack.

Author's Notes: Review! Review! Review!