More Important Things
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and make no money off this otherwise I would be employing someone to paint my house instead of having to do it myself.
Chapter 11
Using her telescopic sights Nym scanned every face in the small crowd for the third time, they were all waiting nervously atop the ministry steps and yet again Nym drew a blank from her concealed rooftop perch, "Voldemort not present, repeat Voldemort not present. Estimate force of one hundred and fifty to sixty waiting at the entrance to the ministry building though cannot discount reinforcements held elsewhere."
Neville's voice was next to be heard, "Confirm Nym's estimated count and lack of Voldemort, no Snape or the Lestrange bitch either. This is the brave or the brainless that think they're going to smack our wrists and we're all going to toddle off back home and forget about this. Definite ID on minister who's standing right at the front ready to take house points and give us detention."
Draco was next to report, "We have checked all surrounding buildings and they're clear, only place left for reinforcements to be concealed is the ministry building. Kind of wondering if we haven't shot ourselves in the foot here by destroying the magical net then re-taking the ministry."
Hermione was in no doubts, "No Draco, you and Susan did this country a great service. While purebloods hid behind their wards practicing whatever spells they wanted the ordinary wizarding folk were controlled by this means, I would still have wanted that destroyed even if we did re-take the ministry. If Voldemort has fled there are only a few places he could hide and we can be on top of them before they even realise it."
"We have a problem Harry," came from Hannah "This is not death eaters we're facing here but clerks, secretaries, janitors and a few old codgers. I'll put a bullet in anyone who lifts a wand against us before they can blink but this is wrong, these people have been flung out here to die. You need to try and talk them out of it even if we have to take out the ringleaders."
"Copy that Hannah, will do our best. ETA two minutes." He didn't think Voldemort and his followers would have the stomach for a fight, each of them had studied the drawing of him received from the elves so they could be confident he wasn't there. Twenty to one odd's against was not something a smart man risked his troops with and their force had grown to over three thousand.
Draco's voice came back over their earpieces, "Guys, some of these people are actually crying and I just saw one throw-up, these are not death eaters but will we be able to keep the crowd off them?"
They could now see what awaited them at the top of the ministry stairs and Harry had to agree with his team's assessment, he would have to pull something out the bag or these people would be ripped to pieces. "Will try to get them to disarm but then Amelia takes over, may need a show of strength to back her up."
They all voiced an acknowledgement back as Harry prepared to talk to the ministry force but Umbridge beat him to it, "This is an illegal gathering, desist and return to your homes before the full might of the ministry is brought to bear on you."
Harry was astonished, this woman was either incredibly stupid or had the biggest set of Cojones on the planet, "Excuse me bitch but we're not here to listen to any of your bullshit, the ministry is here to serve the magical population of Britain and not the other way around. As of now Britain is under martial law until we can hold fair elections and your only decision here today is whether to drop your wand and stand aside or die. I promise only the guilty will be punished."
An old man in expensive robes strode forward, "Only the Wizengamot can dissolve the government and I, Benjamin Julius Dover the Third as head of that illustrious body block these actions. You sir are nothing but a half blood upstart with no regard for his betters and no authority to carry out those actions."
The arrogance of this bastard was beyond belief, did the old coot think only Kryptonite could kill him?
"While you are technically correct I'm afraid your information is out of date, by the power vested in us by this magical army you can see behind me we just dissolved the Wizengamot as well. There will be an elected magical council whose first job will be to change this country's laws and outlaw discrimination."
The loud cheering behind him gave Harry time to think and his temper started to surface, "You're the bastard that passed the pureblood law putting my wife at the mercy of those arseholes, I, Lord Potter-Black challenge you to a duel!"
"As head of the Wizengamot you cannot challenge me, I am above the law."
Harry was boiling over but Nym's voice in his ear was ice cold, "This arsehole would have me and Hermione on our knees searching through his robes trying to find his tiny dick, Ben Dover needs some lead in his pencil and I'm just the girl to do it."
Harry nodded and passed Hedwig over to Hermione before he held up his right arm, there was silence until he snapped his fingers and the former head of the Wizengamot received his dismissal notice in the shape of a rifle bullet between the eyes.
Harry's voice carried clear menace, "Can anyone tell how pure his blood is now it's running down the steps? In three seconds anyone who hasn't dropped their wand and stepped to the left will find their blood mixing with his, not a course of action I would recommend. I will count to three, one…"
There was no need for the count to go any higher as wands were thrown away in the mad dash to get left and out of the firing line, for an instant it appeared as if Umbridge wasn't going to comply but the hopelessness of the situation finally permeated even her thick skull.
Harry strode up the steps as Remus and Griphook sent some of their troops to corral the prisoners while directing the rest to control the crowd should they turn bloodthirsty.
The crowd quietened expectantly awaiting Harry's words, "We have achieved much here today but this is not the end, merely the first chapter in the new history of the British magical world." This was greeted with loud cheering but Harry continued after it died down, "Behind me is the building that should be the beating heart of our community instead it has been poisoned by blood issues that pumped bigotry, greed and self interests through every artery of our society. Today we have cleansed that heart by removing the disease but we must have a transfusion of new blood, ideas, laws and leadership to take us forward into the next century. Please welcome our interim minister of magic and Liberty's recommendation for the full time post Madam Amelia Bones."
There was cheering but as Amelia was led up the steps by Hermione, Albus and Ragnok she knew there was an undercurrent here that wanted Harry for the job, she herself would be more than happy to serve under him but was well aware that was not what he wanted. Draco, Susan, Nym, Neville and Hannah all appeared beside Harry, Hermione, Albus and Ragnok behind her in a show of support as Amelia tried to establish her own credentials with the crowd.
"Magical users of Britain it is a great honour for me to stand here today in front of you with the recommendations of Liberty ringing in my ears, I would feel privileged to serve under any of them having watched their training for five years and fought by their side in order to bring freedom to our country. Unfortunately they have some unfinished business to attend to before taking a well earned rest so this task is going to be left to us but I think if we work together we're more than capable of giving these seven heroes a country to be proud of."
The crowd were warming to her now and the applause was louder this time.
"It took having my eye cut out by the Lestrange brothers while on a mission to focus my remaining sight on what the problem was, unfortunately the problem was us! Me, you, the person standing next to you all decided to do nothing and let a few thugs take over our country, we did nothing as our neighbours were led away for some perceived crime and stood watching as they paraded their human pets along our streets. It took the actions of these magnificent seven people behind me to open our eyes, give us hope and courage to yell 'no more' with the resolve to do something about it. Today I stand here looking at thousands of magical users who made that same decision and know our country will never again tolerate leaders who think they can pillage, plunder and rape with impunity."
Amelia wished she had a glass of water when a ministry house elf appeared with one, her 'thank you my friend' didn't go unnoticed by the crowd before she continued.
"The Lestrange brothers paid the ultimate price for their attack and died that night when Liberty struck the first blow for freedom. Part of me knows how you must feel and wants to rip everyone who chose the wrong side to pieces but that would be wrong and I will tell you why, not everyone went along willingly with what was transpiring and at great personal risk to themselves and their families passed vital information to us allowing vulnerable people to be spirited out the country. Some of the troops you see before you resulted from these raids and I would ask that you show restraint as we gather up these people and give them trials, never again will killers be allowed to walk free from prison due to the government changing and welcoming these thugs back with open arms because committing murder will now carry the death sentence."
This brought a loud cheer from the crowd, they wanted to see the guilty punished.
"A mixed force of goblin and Liberty troops will be visiting every camp in the country today and I would ask any healers here now to volunteer their services to aid the victims, rest assured the animals running these camps will not need healing but burying."
Amelia was on a roll now but sensed it was time to wrap up, "I want you to leave here today not only with the knowledge that you participated in something so profound as to go down in history but also my pledge that we will have a ministry, a magical council and a school operating before Halloween."
The cheering was the loudest yet before the crowd began to disperse, each pretending to be disappointed there wasn't a battle while secretly delighted at the outcome. By sheer numbers they were always going to win but a victory with zero casualties on their side appeared to be Liberty's modus operandi which was one hell of an incentive to choose their side in any confrontation.
Back on the steps Amelia was being congratulated before Albus spoke, "You do realise that was being broadcast on WWN, any bad guys in those camps will be long gone before we get anywhere near them."
The new minister just smiled, "I know, we haven't lost anyone today and that's the way I want to keep it. You've seen first hand the way we operate and bringing everyone home safe is our number one priority, these people won't stand and fight but will hide and we'll find them so they'll face justice. Meanwhile we get everyone out of those abominations and start some rehabilitation; Harry is allowing us to take them to the former Malfoy manor to recover so we will hopefully have some unemployed non-pureblood healers in the crowd we can use. The standards at St Mungo's fell to those of the ministry with their purebloods only hiring policy. Albus I would like you to head the new wizarding council and for Ragnok to have a goblin member on it as well."
Both nodded their agreement before Harry spoke, "Now comes the really hard part."
"I know," said Nym "Checking the ministry is actually empty."
"No," answered Hermione "We forgot to phone our parents and say we were Ok, we need someone who's really smooth but sneaky for this."
Six pairs of eyes focused on Draco, "Aw shit guys, why me? I had to phone that time you all got drunk at the U2 concert and again…" he suddenly realised they were not alone as Amelia, Albus and Ragnok burst out laughing.
-oOoOo-
In Sydney the room was full of cheers and tears as they listened while the ministry was taken with only one shot being fired, the speeches were liberally toasted with brandy so by the time an apprehensive Draco actually phoned the occupants were feeling no pain.
Dan shouted that they wanted to come to Britain before being embarrassingly reminded that their emergency portkeys that everyone wore were now keyed to Potter Manor.
Hermione told them that they would meet up there later as they still had a job to do.
-oOoOo-
Liberty ghosted through the ministry floor by floor, using infra-red sensors they had already caught one person trying to hide with an invisibility cloak who was stunned and portkeyed to the waiting team in the lobby.
They had been systematically searching for nearly an hour when they hit pay dirt, the large room was heavily shielded against magical sensors but their magically enhanced infra-red showed one person lying by the large double doors, about another fifteen on their knees in front of a seated person. Liberty couldn't understand why they were still there but since, according to their map this was the room where Voldemort supposedly held court they quickly made the decision to take the entire room out, splitting into two teams they silently went to work.
Edmund Parkinson had been silently cursing the day he took the dark mark for over three hours, that's how long they'd been left kneeling in silence before the dark lord.
They'd been summoned just after he'd heard on the wizarding wireless that Potter and Liberty were in Diagon Alley yet they'd spent all that time kneeling watching their leader appear to wage a war with himself over what to do next. They were stupidly kneeling in silence while the WWN was broadcasting all the information they needed on Potter which didn't make sense to Edmund. The tension had eventually got to Snape who'd made a dash for the door only to find himself placed under the cruciatus until unconscious, he lay there still and so far that had been the only word spoken by their lord.
He had noticed the eyes cycling between red and blue but when blood started dripping from Voldemort's nostrils and he made no movement to staunch the flow Edmund Parkinson knew they were in deep trouble.
His fears were later confirmed as the room exploded around them.
The teams had left the doors alone and moved into the adjacent rooms, cone shaped charges with built-in shields that forced the blast in the direction you wanted were placed along the shared walls. Susan was their explosives expert and in this situation you would have more chance of convincing a dragon to use mouthwash than getting the trigger out of her hands.
The other six got ready as Susan counted down, "3..2..1..go!"
Two large portions of wall, six feet high and about twenty feet across, were shattered and blasted at supersonic speeds into the room slicing the occupants to ribbons.
Not yet satisfied the other six lobbed concussion grenades through the openings they had created, waiting on the explosions before each member of Liberty entered with a pistol in one hand and wand in the other, Harry headed immediately in the direction of the person who'd been sitting on the chair to find a bleeding and broken body with glowing red eyes. Voldemort was obviously trying to say something but all that was passing his lips was bright red bubbles, Harry aimed his pistol and shot the murder of his parents in the head.
Harry thought it was over until he heard a hated voice shout his name.
Severus Snape didn't need to believe in divination to know his life would be over if he was captured, his treatment of non-pureblood students at his school would see him marked for execution. He'd been listening to the descriptions of the bodies being displayed in the alley when his dark mark had flared and had seriously considered just running, only his belief that Potter would never amount to much ensuring the dark lord's victory made him attend.
After kneeling for almost two hours his nerve broke and he made a dash for the door only to experience pain like he'd never felt before, after regaining consciousness he decided his best course of action was just to lay there pretending he was still knocked out. This proved to be a wise decision as the room exploded covering him in debris but avoiding serious injury, when the people entered the room he recognised the mudblood through the swirling clouds of dust by her hair and she was heading in his direction. A noise made her turn round and his mind was made up, he only had one shot at this.
Harry turned slowly to see the wand of Snape pressed into Hermione's neck, "The mudblood is my ticket out of here, anybody moves and she dies!"
Snape's eyeballs nearly popped out his head when another Hermione walked over and kissed Harry on the cheek, "You always said the greasy bastard was crazy darling and I guess this proves it."
Snape's whole reason for living was concentrated down into how his last act could cause Potter as much pain as possible, he screamed "Sectumsempra" aiming at the witch by Potter's side before his arm exploded in pain from having a black panther trying to chew threw it, his pain was short lived though as his godson put two bullets into his head. Susan's suggestion of staking the bastard just in case he was a vampire was being considered until they noticed Harry kneeling on the ground cradling Nym in his arms.
"Harry I was afraid it might end like this but I don't want you to go blaming yourself, I've loved my time spent living and training with you guys and wouldn't change any of it but I do have one final request – if you and Hermione ever have a daughter please DON'T name her Nymphadora!"
"Eh Nym, your armour took most of the spell. The only injury I can find is a slight cut on your cheek."
"Shut-it Abbot! I've practised this speech for years and this is my last chance to use it, now where was I? Oh yes Harry this is the point where you kiss me goodbye."
Harry bent and kissed the woman who had been the glue that held their group together for the last five years and had just saved his wife's life.
When he was finished he helped the dazed witch to her feet, they were greeted by the sight of a transformed Hermione using her water bottle to try and wash bits of Snape's arm out of her mouth.
"Hermione Potter, you are one lucky witch, I need to find me someone who kisses like that."
Harry pulled his wife into his arms before saying, "No, I'm the lucky one," and proceeded to kiss her senseless.
When she got her breath back Hermione looked deep into her husband's eyes, "It's actually over! This means we can start work on that family we both want."
Harry's eyes were actually glowing until Draco's droll voice interrupted, "Eh guys, I don't think your first born would be too pleased to discover they were conceived amongst the bricks, blood and bodies and to be perfectly honest it's not something I really need to see, save it till we get home then please remember those silencing charms."
The fact that it was finally over and all seven of them were still standing had them laughing at Draco's remarks with sheer relief, Neville had found Bellatrix broken but still breathing before using the same method as Harry to send the bitch on her road to hell, he now stood with his arms round Hannah. A few eyebrows were raised when Harry took his mirror out and handed it to Draco, "Your last call, I promised Dumbledore he could take down Snape so you're going to have to apologise!"
The seven of them left the building still smiling as they prepared to spread the news, it was finally over.
-oOoOo-
It was three days later that the seven walked back up the steps of the ministry in full battle gear, three days in which just how badly the wizarding population had been deceived became public knowledge.
The bodies of Voldemort and his inner circle had been displayed with the full story being told for the first time, realising they'd been duped made them more determined than ever to have a government in place where this could never happen again.
Liberty had spent the last three days with their family at Potter Manor trying to come to terms with the fact that their lives could now return to normal, well as near normal as they would ever be for them after what they had been through and achieved.
Harry and Hermione had postponed starting their family for a few weeks after asking mum to arrange a muggle wedding for them, this had all the females in tears while Susan and Hannah decided they would have a double wedding at Christmas, Draco and Neville were left to just nod in agreement and make sure they turned up.
Everyone had been informed to keep their diaries clear on the thirty first of August as Emma was finding that when you combined magic and money, there was no problem that couldn't be overcome. Her dreams of organising her daughter's wedding were coming true and sending the invitations had her in tears once more.
'Daniel and Emma Granger invite you to share in thelove and happiness of themarriage of their daughterHermione Jean GrangertoLord Harry James Potter-Black.'
Those words made her heart sing as all their children had survived unscathed and would be at the church on their special day, she and Dan were slipping notes into their friend's invitations explaining why they dropped off the planet and that they were looking forward to seeing them at the wedding.
Their explanation stuck closely to the truth, a deranged criminal who'd murdered the boy's parents and was now targeting Harry, putting Hermione in danger because she was his best friend. The couple fell in love and the capture of the criminal by an elite force allowed them to return to Britain, the best friends who had become so much more to each other were now free to marry.
Emma remembering her son's idea of revenge had asked Harry if he wanted to invite the Dursleys, he was currently thinking about it.
The members of Liberty strolled through the ministry to complete one last piece of business, Hermione had made a promise to a crying boy and today that promise was going to be fulfilled – no one hurt her Harry and got away with it.
They entered Amelia's office to find her, Albus and Remus looking concerned, "There are no doubts?" Hermione asked.
Amelia shook her head, "None at all, she may have been manipulated in the case of Sirius but boasted about how it was her idea to use the same ploy with Hagrid, or the half-breed as she called him."
"Just what are you planning?" asked Albus.
"We plan for the report to read 'killed while trying to escape' just like Sirius and Hagrid, we are taking her to the edge of the forbidden forest and giving her a ten minute head start, if she's still alive an hour later then we'll let her go." Nobody believed that Hermione would be allowing her to escape.
Albus considered objecting before thinking of his large friend's last few minutes of life as he thought he had a chance of escaping from a prison he should never have been sent to in the first place. This woman was responsible, she'd had her trial, been found guilty and already sentenced to death, Liberty would ensure it was clean and quick so he just nodded his agreement.
This was how Deloris Umbridge came to find herself with the forbidden forest in front of her and the seven members of Liberty behind, she had her wand in her hand and was going to be given a ten minute start. Deloris would show these upstarts what a pureblood witch could do, as she made her way to the forest though that proved to be not very much as three arrows shot from the trees and all imbedded deeply in the witches torso. She lay dying watching as the three centaurs carefully approach her with bows drawn but Deloris passed away before another arrow was needed.
Harry had his hand up halting his group from taking any action and as soon as the centaurs had established Deloris was dead the arrows were returned to their quivers, they approached Liberty and Harry recognised one of them.
"We meet again Firenze, have the years been good to you?" Harry asked.
"Alas no my lord but you have done us a great service today, this thing authorised hunting trips into the forest and not even the unicorns were safe. We fought back and were labelled dangerous creatures with a bounty on all our heads, some of our herd have been killed as we were forced to place our families deeper into the forest."
"We have a new government in place now and I can guarantee that Umbridge will be the last thing to be hunted in his forest, she was also responsible for the death of my godfather and our mutual friend Hagrid which is why she was brought here today. You did a service not only to your herd and the residents of the forest but to the country as well."
Firenze bowed, "The stars told of your destiny being fulfilled and great changes that will be sweeping the land, it pleases us that these will benefit the occupants of the forest as well. Harry there is one at the castle who waits for you; they will be trapped there for all eternity as you and you alone have the power to grant their freedom."
The seven turned to look at the castle which had been empty for over four years, "Do you know what the monster is?" asked Hermione.
The centaurs had a brief discussion before Firenze answered, "It is the mortal enemy of the spiders and the king of snakes, the creature is called a basilisk."
Their resident encyclopaedia filled in any of the group who didn't know what that was, "A basilisk is a very large snake which can kill with a glance and there's no known antidote to its venom. Its hide is tougher than a dragon's skin and it moves just as fast."
"Thanks Hermione," said Nym "So we have a creature we can't look at yet have to kill, ideas?"
It was a thoughtful Draco who came up with the first one, "Snakes are usually cold blooded and get their body heat from the sun, as this lives in a suspected underground chamber it would need a heat source or be warm blooded. Either way it should register on our infra-red glasses which will also protect us from its eyes."
Hannah was next, "CS gas could help us with that as well, a couple of gas grenades in an enclosed space should stop it long enough for us to pump the beast full of jacketed hollow point bullets. Let's not forget this thing killed four puffs."
Neville's agreeing with Hannah was to be expected but his question got to the heart of the matter, "Ok so we can kill it but how do we find it?"
It was Firenze who supplied the answer, "The one who waits will lead the way."
Hermione wasn't yet convinced, "If there's someone to lead the way why does Harry have to be involved?"
The centaur explained, "Your husband is now the only person in the world capable of gaining access to the chamber, his ability to speak the language of the snakes is crucial."
"Also makes him one hell of a great kisser, " offered Nym, "Ok people time to vote and same rules as usual, one no and we don't go!"
"If we can give Hogwarts back to the magical community that would be a special gift, I vote yes," said Susan.
Draco just shrugged his shoulders as if the question was irrelevant, "Someone needs help so Harry's going to go and I cover his back, I'll be there."
Neville and Hannah were already pouring over the shrunken and weightless weapons they had available while debating what was best for the task, "We vote go."
Harry and Hermione nodded their acceptance so Nym continued, "Right that's unanimous but remember…"
The six chorused back at her, "Lets be careful out there, don't do anything stupid or I'll have to hurt you!"
Nym actually blushed before receiving a hug from the whole team then Harry spoke to Firenze, indicating the body with three arrows sticking out of it. "Can you dispose of that while we head to the castle?"
"The Acromantula aren't too fussy what they eat so we'll just dump it close to their lair, take care in the castle and come back to visit us again sometime. You and your friends will always be welcome here."
The seven headed towards the castle pulling equipment from their belts and resizing it for use, before long they found themselves standing in front of the great doors of Hogwarts.
"You can just see tomorrow's headline in the Prophet, 'Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts," Draco quipped.
"Harry Potter, he's here?"
The voice had them all searching for a target when a ghost came through the still closed door, she was a young girl with long hair and dressed in Gryffindor robes. "Harry Potter?" she asked.
"That would be me," Harry said as he stepped forward to meet the ghost.
"Oh Harry, I knew you'd come to save me. You're my hero and I've loved you forever!"
"Aw shit, as if it isn't bad enough having fangirls chasing after my husband I've now got a bloody fanghost to put up with as well."
The ghost of Ginny Weasley never even heard Hermione; her entire attention was focused on the drop-dead gorgeous figure of Harry Potter standing in front of her.
A/N thanks for reading, only one chapter left to go.
