Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling or Timothy Zahn.
As the Ford Anglia comes into London, its captain Ron Weasley communicates with Broom Control.
Broom Control. Landing request acknowledged and confirmed, Ford Anglia. You're cleared for pad eight. Senator Granger Weasley will meet you.
Ron. Thanks, Control.
The Ford Anglia flies into London's atmosphere. Ron keys the intercom.
Get ready for landing. We're coming into our approach.
Percy's Voice. Thank you, Captain Weasley.
The Ford Anglia lands at pad eight. Ron and Percy disembark and are greeted by Hermione Granger Weasley.
Hermione. Ron. Thank Merlin you're back.
Ron. Hi, sweetheart. I'm glad to see you, too.
They embrace.
Hermione. Come on. We've got to go.
Ron, Hermione, and Percy meet Rubeus Hagrid at the doorway and set onward.
Ron. Hey, Hagrid. Thanks for taking care of Hermione.
Hagrid. Rahr.
Ron. [to Hermione] What have I missed?
Hermione. Not much.
Ron, Hermione, Hagrid, and Percy step into the wider Ministry of Magic Headquarters.
After that first big flurry of accusations, Scrimgeour's apparently decided to cool things down. He's talked the Wizengamot into letting him take over some of Murcus's internal security duties. But he's been behaving more like a caretaker than a new administrator. He's also hinted broadly that he'd be available to take charge of the Supreme Command, but he hasn't done any real pushing in that direction.
Ron. He doesn't want anyone to panic. Accusing someone like Murcus of treason is a big enough bite for people to chew on as it is. Anything more and they might start choking on it.
Hermione. That's my feeling, too . . . which should give us at least a little breathing space to try and figure out this bank thing.
Ron. Yeah, what's the lowdown on that, anyway? All you told me was that some routine bank check had found a big chunk of gold in one of Murcus's accounts.
Hermione. It turns out it wasn't just a routine check. There was a sophisticated electronic break-in at the Gringotts Bank in London the morning of the Nimbus attack, with several big accounts being hit. The investigators ran a check on all the accounts the bank served and discovered that there'd been a large transfer into Murcus's vault that same morning from the Gringotts Bank in Macusa. You familiar with Macusa?
Ron. Everybody knows Macusa. Little crossroads region with an overblown idea of their own importance.
Hermione. And the firm belief that if they can stay neutral enough they can play both sides of the war to their own profit. Anyway, the bank there claims that the gold didn't come from Macusa itself and must have just been transferred through them. So far our people haven't been able to backtrack it any further.
Ron. I'll bet Scrimgeour's got some ideas where it came from.
Hermione. The ideas aren't unique to him. He was just the first one to voice them. That's all.
Ron. And to make himself a few points at Murcus's expense. Where have they put Murcus, anyway? The old prison section?
Hermione. [shakes her head] He's under a sort of loose house arrest in his quarters while the investigation is under way. More evidence that Scrimgeour is trying not to ruffle any more feathers than he has to.
Ron. Or else that he knows full well there isn't enough here to hang a stunted goblin from. Has he got anything on Murcus besides the bank thing?
Hermione. [smiles] Just the near-fiasco at Nimbus. And the fact that it was Murcus who sent all those broomships out there in the first place.
Ron. Point. How much of the Wizengamot does Scrimgeour have on his side?
Hermione. If you mean solidly on his side, only a couple. If you mean leaning in his direction . . . well, you'll be able to judge for yourself in a minute.
As they move through the Atrium, Ron realizes they are headed for the Wizengamot meeting room.
Ron. Wait a minute. Now?
Hermione. I'm sorry, Ron. Millicent Bagnold insisted. You're the first person back who was actually at the Nimbus attack, and there are a million questions they want to ask you about it.
Ron. I knew I should have sent Percy out first.
Hermione takes Ron's arm.
Hermione. Come on, soldier. Take a deep breath and let's get it over with. [to Hagrid] Hagrid, you'd better wait out here.
Hagrid and Percy remain behind, while Ron and Hermione enter the room where the Wizengamot is gathered. The meeting room is set up so that Millicent Bagnold, the Minister for Magic, is in the center. The other Senators, Rufus Scrimgeour among them, are situated in groups.
Ron. Whose idea was this?
Hermione. Bagnold set it up. I'd be willing to bet it was Scrimgeour's idea, though.
Ron. [frowns] I don't get it.
Hermione. Giving Bagnold the whole spotlight helps calm any fears that he plans to make a bid for her position. At the same time, putting the Senators and their aides together in little groups tends to isolate the Senators from each other.
Ron. I get it. Slippery little git, isn't he?
Hermione. Yes, he is. And he's going to milk this Nimbus thing for all it's worth. Watch yourself.
Hermione sits beside Parvati at her place amongst the Senators. Ron, meanwhile, takes a step toward a witness chair beside Bagnold's desk.
Ron. You want me sworn in or anything?
Bagnold. [shakes her head] That won't be necessary, Captain Weasley. Please sit down. There are some questions the Wizengamot would like to ask you about the recent events at the Nimbus region.
Ron takes his seat and notices that there is no vacancy to account for Murcus's absence, likely due to Scrimgeour's machinations.
First of all, Captain Weasley, we would like you to describe your role in the Nimbus attack. When you arrived, what happened subsequently - that sort of thing.
Ron. We got there pretty much as the battle was starting, came in just ahead of the Ministry cruisers. We picked up a call from Neville - that's Commander Neville Longbottom of Rogue Squadron - saying that there were Ministry brooms loose in the region . . .
Scrimgeour. Excuse me? Just who is the "we" here?
Ron turns his attention to Scrimgeour, annoyed by the Senator's interruption.
Ron. My crew consisted of Harry Potter and Dean Thomas. Oh, and two droids. You want their serial numbers?
Scrimgeour. Thank you, no.
Ron. Rogue Squadron was engaged with a group of approximately forty Ministry brooms and fifty stolen mole miners that had somehow been smuggled into the region. We gave them some assistance with the brooms, figured out that the Ministry were using the mole miners to try and steal some of the capital broomships that had been pressed into cargo duty, and were able to stop them. That's about it.
Scrimgeour. You're too modest, Captain Weasley. According to the reports we've received here, it was you and Thomas who managed singlehandedly to thwart the Ministry's scheme.
Ron glares at Scrimgeour.
Ron. I'm sorry about wrecking the brooms. Would you rather the Ministry have taken them intact?
Scrimgeour. Really, Captain Weasley, I have no particular quarrel with your method of stopping the Ministry's attempt at grand larceny, costly though it might have been. You had only what you could work with. Within your constraints, you and the others succeeded brilliantly.
Ron frowns, taken aback by this.
Ron. Thank you, Senator.
Scrimgeour. Which is not to say that the Ministry's attempt and near-victory are not important. On the contrary. At the best, they speak of serious misjudgments on the part of our military commanders. At the worst, they may speak of treason.
Ron. With all due respect, Senator, what happened at Nimbus wasn't Admiral Murcus's fault. The whole operation . . .
Scrimgeour. Excuse me, Captain Weasley. And with all due respect to you, let me point out that the reason those capital brooms were sitting at Nimbus in the first place, undermanned and vulnerable, was that Admiral Murcus had ordered them there.
Ron. There isn't anything like treason involved. We already know that the Ministry's got a tap into our communications . . .
Scrimgeour. And who's responsible for such failures of security? Once again, the blame falls squarely around Admiral Murcus's shoulders.
Ron. Well, then you find the leak.
Hermione discreetly shakes her head at Ron.
And while you're at it, I'd like to see how well you would do up against a Ministry Grand Admiral.
The room falls silent.
Bagnold. What was that last?
Ron silently swears to himself, not having intended to have revealed that information in that manner.
Ron. The Ministry's being led by a Grand Admiral. I saw him myself.
Bagnold. That's impossible. We've accounted for all the Grand Admirals.
Ron. I saw him myself.
Scrimgeour. Describe him. What did he look like?
Ron. He wasn't human, but I don't know what species he was. He was pale with blond hair and blue eyes.
Bagnold. Yet we know that the Dark Lord didn't like nonhumans.
Ron. He was wearing a white uniform. No other Ministry officers wore anything like that. And the contact I was with specifically called him a Grand Admiral.
Scrimgeour. Obviously a self-granted promotion. Some regular admiral or perhaps a leftover governor trying to rally the remains of the Ministry around him. Anyway, that's beside the immediate point.
Ron. Beside the point? Look, Senator, if there's a Grand Admiral running around loose . . .
Bagnold. If there is, we'll soon know for certain. Until then, there seems little value in holding a debate in a vacuum. Council Research is hereby directed to look into the possibility that a Grand Admiral might still be alive. Until such an investigation has been completed, we will continue with our current inquiry into the circumstances of the Nimbus attack.
Bagnold looks at Ron, then turns and nods at Hermione.
Senator Granger Weasley. You may begin the questioning.
Exit all.