Harry awoke to someone gently shaking his shoulder. He looked up through tired eyes. Conner noticed Harry open his eyes and stopped shaking. "Son, you need to come and hear this too. You're involved in this as much as anyone here."

Conner led Harry through the devastation to a tent that had miraculously remained nearly unscathed. Harry joined the people sitting inside. As he approached with Conner; Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt stood and moved to greet Harry, shaking his hand warmly, then stood at the head of the table.

Harry went with Conner and sat by Mr. Weasley. Harry looked at the odd assortment of wizards in the tent. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley huddled wearily next to each other. On Harry's other side, sat Conner and Gio. The Minister was seated at the head of the table with two other Aurors that Harry did not recognize. Ron and Hermione were seated at the back of the tent, holding each others' hands and leaning in whispering to each other.

Shacklebolt stood up a little bit straighter and addressed the group, "I still want to raise my objections to having the children here to hear this."

Harry stood and said angrily, "There's no children here, we're all of age. Say your piece." Harry remained standing defiantly.

Mrs. Weasley added, "Harry's been through as much or more than any of us here. He lost his parents in the first war, his godfather Sirius in this last war, and many other friends as well. He has a right to be here. Ron and Hermione have been with him every step of the way and they deserve to be here too. Anything you say that needs to remain confidential will be. You can count on their discretion." Conner put his hand on Harry's elbow and gently guided him back to sitting.

Shacklebolt sighed deeply, then gathered himself and started to speak, "The group that attacked was not truly Death Eaters. They were led by Bartleby Hodges, a known Death Eater, but all the rest had no criminal past. Two of the attackers were known to be in a Wizard's separatist group called Wizards First. The rest seemed to be young toughs dissatisfied with the current administration. We have begun taken the surviving attackers to Azkaban where they will be interrogated."

"And just who is guarding them at Azkaban?" Harry demanded, standing again, "We saw the Dementors here. The Ministry had assured us that the Dementors were back guarding Azkaban."

Shacklebolt looked at Harry with a piercing glare, "The Ministry felt that if the wizarding populace knew that Dementors were still at large, the panic from the second war would just continue. We felt confident that we would track them down and return them to Azkaban."

Harry interrupted again, "How many died here from your confidence? Do you think anyone would have planned an event like this if they knew Dementors and Death Eaters were still at large? Your Ministry is no different from Fudge's Ministry, lying to the populace to prevent panic at a cost of peoples' lives."

Conner said gently from Harry's side, "Harry, that's a harsh charge. You should sit down and hear the whole truth before deciding what your opinion is."

Harry turned angrily on Conner, "The whole truth should be available to everyone, not just a select few at the Ministry." He turned back to Shacklebolt and demanded, "You avoided my questions, sir. How many died here? Who the bloody Hell is guarding Azkaban?"

Shacklebolt's face started blotching in anger, "Boy, we're doing our best to hold this Ministry together, don't judge us without all the facts. I'll answer your second question first; Aurors are guarding Azkaban. We're keeping all the prisoners drugged insensible as we don't have enough Aurors left to guard them."

Conner interrupted, "I still say we need to adopt the American strategy to magical malfeasance until this emergency is over."

Shacklebolt turned his ire on Conner and thundered, "Capital punishment will NEVER return to England, NEVER!"

Conner replied mildly, "No, instead we'll continue to have killers and Death Eaters roaming free and escaping from Azkaban because we don't have enough manpower to keep them in."

"When you have a solution for our manpower crisis, then I'll listen, Conner. Until then let's concentrate on the problems we can solve." Shacklebolt continued, "As for your first question, Harry: Eight attackers died: One was shot with a pistol, two were splinched together when they attempted Disapparating, one cracked his head open after being stunned, one was killed with the Sectumsempra curse, two died from the exploding fireworks tent, and one died from the results of a physical beating. Six defenders died: Benny Segal was killed by the Killing Curse, Dunstan Squab was burnt to death by fireworks, Sally-Anne Perks died from the Sectumsempra Curse, Gabrielle Delacour died from being trampled, and Jasminder and Bharat Patil were both killed by a Suffocating Curse. In addition three people are comatose after receiving the Dementor's Kiss: Dean Thomas, Hugo Theriot, and Luna Lovegood."

Harry had sat down when Gabrielle's name had been called and cradled his head his hands. When Dean's name was called, he looked guiltily at Conner. When Luna's name was called, Harry stood again and choked, "No, she didn't receive the Dementor's Kiss; she forced a Dementor who had Kissed Ginny to give back Ginny's life force." At his side Gio arose, waved his ebony wand in a complicated pattern and conjured a blurry image of events from when Harry chose to save Luna until the point when Luna forced the Dementor to return Ginny's life force.

Everyone's head swiveled to face Harry. Haltingly, Harry gave his version of what happened. When he finished, Shacklebolt said, "Hopefully, Ms. Lovegood will awaken from her coma, we need to talk to her. She might be able to shed some light on how these terrorists are communicating with the Dementors. She might also be able to tell us just how she forced Ms. Weasley's soul back into her body. However, our first order of business here is make sure that we're all agreed on the story about what happened here. Too many people saw the Dementors to keep that under wraps any longer. We need to not create another panic here."

Hermione stood and pulled Ron standing next to her. She spoke in a firm voice, "We need to simply tell the truth. A group of young wizards, dissatisfied with the current regime and supportive of some of the policies of the Death Eaters, led by a former Death Eater attacked the wake of Fred Weasley to make a political statement. They have communicated in an unknown way with Dementors to form an alliance. Aurors now guard Azkaban in place of Dementors. I don't think we need to let the general public know about the manpower shortage in the Aurors or the drugging of the prisoners. I want to go on the record that I don't approve of the drugging of the prisoners, but I see no alternative."

Ron nodded his head and spoke, "I agree with everything Hermione said."

Harry looked defiantly at Shacklebolt, "I was asked by the previous administration to support their policies as a figurehead. I am willing to do that for this administration, but I want truth from it as much as possible. No more keeping secrets from the public for their own good. Too many people have died from the Ministry keeping secrets and not preparing the people. Tell the truth about what happened here, tell the truth about the Dementors, and I will stand up and publicly support the Ministry. Don't put me in a position where I need to stand up against the Ministry and I won't, but if I find out about lies and deception that aren't in the public's interest, I will denounce the Ministry just like I did before when no one believed me about Voldemort's return."

Shacklebolt replied, "Alright, Mr. Potter, we will do this your way, but in exchange, I want public declarations of support for the Ministry. I'm leaving here to fill in The Daily Prophet, and I will give full disclosure of the events that happened here." Shacklebolt nodded to the two Aurors on his sides, then they both turned and Disapparated.

Mr. Weasley leaned over and told Harry, "We're returning to The Burrow now to get some rest. Please feel free to return and stay with us, I know that Ginny will be glad to see you regardless of what the situation between you two is at the moment." Mrs. Weasley gave Harry a big hug and a motherly kiss on the cheek, then she and Mr. Weasley turned and disapparated.

As Ron and Hermione approached Harry and started to speak, Conner stepped in front of them and asked, "Could you two wait outside for a few minutes? I need to speak with Harry."

Hermione grabbed Ron's hand and pulled him out of the tent, saying, "If you need us Harry, we'll be right outside." With her free hand, she gave Harry's shoulder a squeeze as she half-dragged Ron outside the tent.

Conner looked at Harry with a cold expression then spoke, "Son, are you sure you want to be an Auror? You don't seem to have the discipline needed for it."

Harry looked at him shocked and asked, "What do you mean?"

Conner continued, "Look boy, you think too much like a Gryffindor. It's all well and good to be brave and rush into danger, but you've got to think about how your actions will affect others. Twice in that battle, you left your partner behind to fend for himself against a superior force. The second time you ran off, you left him exposed and a Dementor kissed him. Boy, you've got to keep your head about you when you're in a battle like that. Also, boy when you surprised the Death Eaters that had Ron and Gio surrounded, Gio told me you used the Sectumsempra Curse on a Death Eater. You could have just as easily stunned him; did you need to use deadly force?"

Harry shot back angrily, "Who are you to talk about deadly force? You shot one of them with a gun."

Conner blasted back, "Boy, that was a different situation, that punk was about to slit your throat, I had to use the only weapon I had. You had the drop on your Death Eater and could have just stunned him. I want you to think about the two deaths you directly influenced: that Death Eater and Dean Thomas. If you want to know what makes a real hero, look at you friend Longbottom and the two oldest Weasley boys." He nodded at Gio and they both turned and disapparated.

Harry stayed in the tent for a few moments to gather his fragmented thoughts before stepping out where Ron and Hermione waited for him.

Hermione stepped forward first, pulling free from Ron's hand and gave Harry a bit hug. Stepping back from the hug she said, "Harry, thank you for saving Ron and me. We never would have made it without you. I got hit by my own reflected Stunning Curse. Ron told me about how you surprised the Death Eaters that had him and Gio surrounded."

"Hermione, you must know that no matter what happens; you and Ron will always be my friends. I would always risk everything to save you."

Ron stepped forward and grasped Harry's hand and said, "Yeah mate, thanks for saving me, I don't think Gio and I would have made it without your surprise. I know that Hermione and Percy wouldn't have made it without you." Ron looked down embarrassed and continued, "I-I'm sorry about punching you earlier today, I just get so protective where Ginny's concerned. I know you wouldn't hurt her deliberately, but I just got so wound up seeing you kissing Luna."

"Ron, I understand. I don't know right now what's going on between me and Ginny or between me and Luna, but I promise that I will try to spare Ginny's feelings no matter how it comes out." Harry asked, "How are Ginny and Percy?"

Ron spoke up, "Percy's in St. Mungo's with a pretty bad concussion and moderate blood loss, they say he'll recover in about a week, but might have headaches for the rest of his life. The Healers were surprised with how fast Ginny seemed to be recovering, said it was shock and sent her home with orders for a week of bed rest and monitoring on the hour."

Harry asked curiously, "Conner told me that your oldest brothers and Neville were the true heroes here. What did he mean by that?"

Hermione replied, "When the Death Eaters first started Apparating in, Neville was speaking with Charlie and Bill. Those three were responsible for saving most of the children, they each side-along apparated out dozens of children to the Burrow. Fleur also saved a bunch of people by taking them to Shell Cottage, although she couldn't find Gabrielle."

Harry felt a surge of gratitude for Neville, Bill and Charlie, and finally understood what Conner had meant about heroism. He looked at his two best friends and said, "Tell Ginny I'll be along later to see her. I need to go to St. Mungo's first to see Dean and Luna."

They gathered together in a brief group hug, then Harry separated and Disapparated.

Ron turned to Hermione and asked, "Do you think he'll be o.k.?"

Hermione gave Ron a quick kiss and said, "I hope so, Ron, I hope so." They both turned and Disapparated to the Burrow.