Chapter 36
Harry shrunk down in his seat and set his doughnut down slowly and swallowed the leaden lump of dough painfully. All six of the foreign Ministers were watching him, as were their assistants. Kingsley whistled and they all turned towards him. Just as he opened his mouth, Percy Weasley walked into the office carrying several items that were balancing precariously in his arms.. He stopped short when he saw fourteen pairs of eyes on him.
"Ah…erm…I, uh, just got your note, Minister Shacklebolt. I'm sorry I'm late," he stuttered as he took a seat on the other side of Kingsley.
"No, problem, Mr. Weasley, we were just about to start actually. So you're just in time. Do you need a minute to set up your parchment?"
Percy nodded and started setting up his piles of parchment and quill set, that contained an ink pot, a blotter, and a tube to place the quill when it wasn't in use. He uncapped the ink and dipped his quill in and looked to the Minister, signifying he was ready. The other assistants were utilizing this time to also set up their writing supplies.
Harry waited, thanking Kingsley silently that he was only there in body, and that he didn't have to talk too much.
"Now, I know you all came to hear the story of how Harry took down the Dark Lord Voldemort. So, Harry, I'll let you start."
Harry flinched and looked at Kingsley, who was smirking. Harry scowled and glanced over and saw the twelve foreigners were watching him avidly. He sighed. Kingsley would pay for this. He put his hand up and whispered to Kingsley, asking about telling about the Horcruxes and got a positive response, 'spare no details.' He grumbled about why not just tell the world how to be a dark lord, but quietly enough that only Kingsley and Percy could hear him.
With that thought Harry started telling his story as fast as possible starting with the prophecy and how his parents brought him into hiding.
He finished an hour later, by explaining Snape's memories and walking into the forest, being carried back to Hogwarts by Hagrid, and the final words between him and Voldemort.
He sighed and took a big gulp of his cold tea and waited.
No one said anything, most of them had looks of astonishment on their faces. The Japanese assistant, Harry couldn't for the life of him remember anyone's name, looked at Harry with distrust. The Brazilian assistant was looking at Harry with barely concealed lust, which made Harry blush even more than all the staring caused.
Finally, Harry looked over at Percy. A friendly face who knew most of the story he knew would be sympathetic. But Harry was wrong. Percy was looking Harry in awe, and a tiny bit of shame. Harry barely stopped himself from blanching when a tear fell from Percy's eye.
What was wrong with these people, Harry couldn't figure out. Finally, Kingsley broke the silence.
"Well, are there any questions?" he asked.
"Yes, I have one," replied Tissy, the American Minister. "How old are you exactly?" she asked, she stared at him with a hungry look that made Harry shiver with unease.
"I just turned eighteen," he replied.
"So young," she murmured in what she probably thought was a sympathetic look, but turned into more of a predatory one.
"Um, I have a question as well," said Ezeoha, glaring at Tissy. "You said that Albus Dumbledore told you of the Horcruxes in your sixth year, then died by Severus Snape's hand. Yet, you explained that Snape helped you not only as he was dying, but earlier in the year also. Why would a loyal Death Eater help you, after killing his Master's Arch enemy for him?"
"Oh, I must have forgot that part. Dumbledore hurt himself after acquiring the ring of Slytherin's and knew he was dying. He also knew of the plan for the young Malfoy to try and kill him. He and Snape made the plan that by the end of the year, Snape would end up killing Dumbledore, so Malfoy wouldn't have too, and also so Dumbledore wouldn't have to suffer anymore.
"Snape was never a fully loyal Death Eater, he was a spy for a very long time for Dumbledore. When Snape was made Headmaster, he was taking his 'orders' from Dumbledore's portrait all year," Harry finished.
He wasn't getting into the whole story of his mum being the reason Snape returned from the dark side. Especially, now that she was alive. He also wasn't going to get into the story of the Deathly Hallows. Despite his mistake in 'talking' with Voldemort about the wand, he was able to hide that part of his journey from the media. The Elder Wand was unfortunately talked about in front of many people and was a historical wand, so it was widely known that he was the Master of the Elder Wand. What wasn't known was that he had allowed Ginny to disarm him, then Ron disarmed her, then Hermione disarmed him. No one in the world, besides those four knew that Harry wasn't the master anymore, Hermione was.
The only person who had asked if it was the wand of Elder was Xenophilius Lovegood and in that case, Harry told him the truth about it all. Xeno was so ashamed of the way he acted towards the trio when they came to him, he thanked them profusely for telling him and ending his search. All he wanted was to know if they were real after so many years of searching.
Harry felt a poke in his side and looked over to see Kingsley looking at him strangely. The other Ministers were debating amongst themselves over something Harry wasn't paying attention too.
"What?" he asked Kingsley.
"Aren't you paying attention?" he asked them.
"Not really. You said you'd do the talking, which by the way I'd like a word with you about that little stunt you pulled."
"Harry, the only person here who knows the whole story is you. They came to hear it from you, so I let you talk. I am here to deal with why they wanted to have a personal retelling of it all. But you must pay attention. I know you think that this is boring, but these people came a long way. Give them what they want to an extent and then we'll go. Okay?" Harry sighed.
"Yes, I'll try and pay attention, my liege," he muttered. Kingsley bit back a barking laugh. Harry really amused him much of the time with his sarcasm and wit.
"Excuse me, Kingsley. Are you listening to what they're saying?" asked Percy. Kingsley shook his head.
"Oh sure, you tell me to pay attention, but you don't bother either," said Harry with a smirk. Kingsley smiled.
"You know what I mean Harry. And besides, I'm just an Auror at heart. Politics are not my cup of tea, I only took this damn job, so that Fudge didn't get put back in office, or someone worse. You'll notice I haven't given in to the pleas I've been getting left and right that you get the Order of Merlin, first class…yet. I do plan on giving it to you, I just think it can wait."
Harry stared at him blankly.
"Order of…Merlin?" he squeaked.
"Don't look so scared Harry, it's just a piece of metal on a string. A very elaborate piece of metal, on a very elegant looking string. But nevertheless, a piece of metal. Nothing to be afraid of," Kingsley chuckled. Harry stared at him not able to tell if the Minister was taking the micky out of him or what.
"Minister, I really think you two should be paying attention," Percy said urgently.
"Alright, what's going on, fill me in," he said.
"Well, once Harry zoned out, they started talking to each other about Dumbledore and things he'd be able to do to help them. Then, one Minister, the one from Japan said something to his assistant in Japanese, which made the American assistant angry. Apparently he can understand Japanese. He turned and told the American Minister that Mori wants him to come help in Japan, and they have an evil wizard there too.
"She started yelling and saying that Alan Isaacs, in America, needs to be taken down more than some stupid ninja from the orient. Mori and Tissy are fighting, while the others are debating who has the worst dark wizard and who can afford to pay the most. They all came to find out who gets him to come fight for—"
"Wait, wait. They're fighting over who gets whom?" asked Kingsley confused. Harry was dreading the answer. The reply was just as bad as Harry was guessing.
"They're arguing over which country gets Harry."
A/n: Okay so I'm sorry about my little rant. i know many of you were disappointed that it wasn't a real chapter. But i made up for it by writing this one after hearing all your amazing comments. Thank you all for letting me know what you think, whether it was good or bad, or in between, it made me feel better. For all your response and the hastle of reding a chapter long rant, i'm going to post another chapter tomorrow (a real chapter) as thanks! I don't plan on changing my sub-plot, but now i'm through the boring introductions, enter in the plot! Tell me what you think! As always, Please review!