Chapter 10
The Rest of August

The next day: Tuesday, 15th August
Again at Gringotts

Sirius, Harry, Hermione and Luna were back at Gringotts—but this time in the office of Axefrenzy, the Potter account manager.

On Axefrenzy's desk was a map of Great Britain; three horcruxes were marked on this map. One horcrux was at Hogwarts, according to the map; one was at the house of Marvolo Gaunt, and one horcrux was somewhere inside a 40-mile-diameter circle. (Axefrenzy explained that this horcrux was someplace that was unplottable due to a Fidelius Charm.)

Harry grinned at Luna. "You were right—three horcruxes are on the map, just like you said they would be."

Hermione asked Harry, "Do you plan to go after them now?"

"Of course I do," Harry replied. "Though I have no idea how I'll find the horcrux that is under Fidelius."

Luna poked the dot on the map that was labelled Marvolo Gaunt house. She said, "This horcrux is protected by nasty curses. Remember me telling you this?"

Sirius said, "Pup, no way are you going after that horcrux if You-Know-Who put curses on it. I just got you back; no way will I let you die."

Harry said, "But Sirius, all the horcruxes need to be destroyed, or else Tommy will come back when he's killed again."

Hermione looked meaningfully at Axefrenzy, then said to Harry, "There's nothing in the prophecy that says you must destroy all the horcruxes, only that they be destroyed by your 'hand.' "

The result was Harry negotiating another blood-quill-signed contract with Gringotts. This contract had the goblins tracking down and de-horcruxing whatever horcruxed object was at the Marvolo Gaunt house. (Luna said the object was a ring.) By the terms of the contract, the Marvolo Gaunt object, once it was found and its soul-piece was removed, would be put in the Potter family vault.

Once Harry and Axefrenzy had agreed on a price, Sirius said to Axefrenzy, "I'm surprised you aren't charging Harry extra money because Luna says this job is dangerous."

Axefrenzy gave Sirius a sharp-teeth grin. "Unlike timid wizards, goblins consider danger to be a job perk."

After Sirius, Harry, Hermione and Luna left Gringotts, they transfigured their robes into Muggle clothes, then spent the rest of that day, and the next few days, visiting all the tourist sites in Muggle London.

It did not surprise Harry at all that no matter what tourist site they were at, and no matter what they were looking at, Hermione knew almost as much as the tour guide.

The group spent the evenings at the Granger house, eating takeaway food (that Sirius or Harry paid for), talking with the dental Grangers and watching film videos. Sirius said that The Wizard of Oz was ridiculous.

Two days later
Thursday, 17th August

Narcissa Malfoy had requested a meeting with Cornelius Fudge, but had not told Fudge's receptionist her reason. Mrs Malfoy had specifically asked that Arthur Weasley, who was the new Senior Undersecretary, not be present at this meeting.

As Lucius Malfoy and thirty-two other Death Eaters would be put on trial during tomorrow's regular weekly meeting of the Wizengamot, Cornelius had a good guess about why Lucius's wife wanted to meet with the Minister for Magic today.

Namely, the same reason why Braunwinn Nott had met with Cornelius Fudge an hour ago.

Cornelius was a Pureblood, and he had grown up surrounded by magic; but once in a while, even now, he marvelled at what magic could do. Harry Potter's pensieve-memory of his battle with You-Know-Who was clear enough that Potter recalled voices that he did not recognise, and Potter recalled all the names that You-Know-Who had spoken. Four men who had been in that graveyard a month ago, also had been in Courtroom Ten last Saturday, as Wizengamot members—

And Amelia Bones's Aurors had been ready for them. Even as the pensieve memory of the Boy Who Lived played in the courtroom, Aurors Stupefyed, then they arrested, these same four Death Eater Wizengamot members.

This time, by Cornelius's order, when Death Eaters were arrested, it did not matter that the four were Purebloods and Wizengamot members—they were questioned with Veritaserum. Twenty-nine more names quickly followed the questioning of the four. The DMLE holding cells supposedly were bulging at the seams today.

Now in Cornelius's office, Narcissa Malfoy sat in a chair in a graceful pose, with her purse in her lap. Cornelius could not read her expression.

Narcissa said, "Minister, my husband is not a Death Eater. Yes, he came to that graveyard, but he was Imperiused to do so—"

"Not so, Narcissa. Under Veritaserum, he admitted to taking the Dark Mark freely, after raping and killing a Muggle woman."

"Veritaserum? He's a Pureblood, that's illegal!"

"Not when he's potioned under my authority as Minister."

For once, Narcissa Malfoy's face was not haughty; now she looked at Cornelius in shock—and also in fear.

She stammered, "I need my husband, and Draco needs his father. I'll pay you money for Lucius to be acquitted tomorrow."

Cornelius thought, Narcissa usually is much more poised than this. But then, it's never been Narcissa who has tried to bribe me before.

Aloud, Cornelius asked, "How much money for Lucius to be acquitted?"

She replied, "I have an unsigned bank draft for fifty thousand galleons"—a quarter-million pounds sterling—"in my purse."

Which means, Cornelius thought, she has a second unsigned bank draft in her purse, for an unspecified amount. I wonder how high she's willing to go?

Aloud, Cornelius said, "Show me. Put the bank draft on my desk."

Narcissa did so. Sure enough, the bank draft was made out to "Cornelius Fudge" for G50 000, and lacked only a signature to be spendable.

"Now," Cornelius said. Narcissa looked confused.

Two red-robed Aurors Disillusioned themselves. "Narcissa Malfoy," Senior Auror Macmillan said, "you are under arrest for attempting to bribe the Minister for Magic."

Narcissa stared at Macmillan in shock.

After Mrs Malfoy had been put into magic-suppression handcuffs, Cornelius said, "Both Aurors, please give me your attention." When both Aurors were watching him, Cornelius pulled the bank draft towards him and wrote "VOID" where Narcissa Malfoy's signature was supposed to go.

Then Cornelius handed the bank draft to Senior Auror Macmillan, to be used as evidence. Macmillan put the parchment rectangle into an evidence bag, then the two Aurors led the shocked-faced wife of Lucius Malfoy out of Cornelius's office.

Cornelius wondered if Narcissa Malfoy would be sharing a holding cell with Braunwinn Nott.

Cornelius was thoughtful as he watched the Aurors and the arrested socialite leave.

Before last Saturday, the day of the five trials, Cornelius had not truly believed that the people he had rubbed elbows with, at velvet-robes social events, were evil criminals. Cornelius had wanted to believe that Lucius Malfoy et al had been Imperiused into becoming Death Eaters. (Still, Cornelius had acted sceptical of their innocence and had accepted their bribes during his years as Minister.)

But last Saturday, Cornelius had been shown that Lucius was not only an un-Imperiused Death Eater but also was an enthusiastic Death Eater. Cornelius also had realised that his own assistant, Dolores, believed she could use her position to commit murder. These two truths had shocked Cornelius down to his core. Then had come the realisation: Nobody will try to make the Ministry of Magic work right when everyone knows that the Minister for Magic is lazy and accepts bribes. I'm to blame for how bad things are, here.

By the time that Cornelius had been facing the press, later that Saturday, he had had a second realisation: The only hope the Ministry has of defeating You-Know-Who is for me to be the best Minister I can, and to set a sterling example.

Being Minister for Magic during a civil war would not be easy for Cornelius—he was a stupid man, and he knew it. But since last Saturday, Cornelius Fudge was determined to be the leader he had been elected to be.

The next morning
Friday, 18th August, 9 a.m.
Number 12, Grimmauld Place

Lucius Malfoy's trial was today, and Sirius was certain that by midnight tonight, there would no longer be a House Malfoy.

Lucius already was in violation of his marriage contract, as Hermione had pointed out, because Draco Malfoy had no brother. So whilst House Malfoy still had a dowry that could be reclaimed, Sirius annulled the marriage of Lucius and Narcissa, and Sirius declared that Draco No-Name would be part of House Black.

Two minutes later, an owl-letter from Gringotts told Sirius that Narcissa's entire dowry had been transferred back into the Black family vault. Amazingly, there was no shortfall, unlike when Bellatrix's dowry had been reclaimed from Rodolphus Lestrange.

Sirius directed Gringotts to put the hundred thousand galleons of Narcissa's dowry into Narcissa's personal vault. Narcissa herself faced trial today; she would need every knut she could put her hands on.

Meanwhile at Courtroom Ten, Ministry of Magic

As the Wizengamot began its session, former Wizengamot seat-holder Albus Dumbledore was required to sit in the spectators' gallery if he wished to view today's session at all. However, Albus fully expected to not be in the spectators' gallery for long.

Chief Warlock Cyrus Greengrass announced, "We have a full day of trials today, thirty-eight in all—"

Dumbledore thought, Thirty-eight lawbreakers need me to be the Chief Warlock, to influence the Wizengamot to award them only light punishment.

Elphias Doge stood up. "Point of order, Chief Warlock. Before we get to regular business, there is the problem of the position you hold: Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. Albus Dumbledore of House Dumbledore lost his position as Chief Warlock because he was said to be quite mad for claiming that Voldemort had returned. That slander has since been proven false. I move that we vote to restore Albus Dumbledore to the Dumbledore seat in the Wizengamot; and if this vote passes, that we vote to restore Dumbledore's position as Chief Warlock."

Albus smiled at his friend Doge. Doge, who still was facing Greengrass, could not see Albus's smile, but others could.

Cyrus Greengrass asked, "Is there a second?"

Arthur Weasley seconded.

Albus smiled at Arthur. Nervous-looking Arthur stopped looking nervous and smiled back.

Greengrass said, "I shall hold a vote on restoring Albus Dumbledore to holding the Dumbledore seat. If this passes, I shall recuse myself and Regent Amelia Bones shall hold the vote on Dumbledore resuming his position as Chief Warlock. Before I hold the one assured vote, is there any discussion?"

Regent Augusta Longbottom lit her wand.

Bollocks, Albus thought. This isn't good.

When recognised, Regent Longbottom stood and said, "When Harry Potter's parents were killed by You-Know-Who, Dumbledore was Chief Warlock then. He used his authority to seal the wills of James Potter and Lily Potter, so that no one else could read what those wills truly said. Chief Warlock Dumbledore then again abused his office to appoint himself Harry Potter's guardian, which gave him access to Potter's trust vault. Harry Potter alleges that Dumbledore has stolen from Potter's vault. Dumbledore should be arrested for abuse of office and for theft, thrown into a chains-chair and Veritaserum'd, instead of being given a vote in this body."

As Regent Longbottom sat down, Arthur Weasley lit his wand.

When recognised, he stood and said, "Albus Dumbledore is a frequent dinner guest at our house. Many times he's said, 'Everything I have done, I have done for the Greater Good.' I trust his wisdom to vote on laws, and I trust his wisdom to lead this body."

Albus smiled at Arthur again. Arthur looked relieved that Albus had smiled at him.

Chief Warlock Greengrass said, "We shall vote now on restoring Albus Dumbledore to holding the House Dumbledore seat. Seat-holders, cast your 'Vote' spell at the green square for 'Yes' and at the red square for 'No.' Vote now."

Thirty seconds later, Greengrass announced that the vote fell twelve votes short of approval. Albus Dumbledore, who still was sitting in the spectators' gallery, would not become a seat-holder again this day.

Albus put on a face of happy calmness, but in his mind, he was screaming with anger. Don't these pillocks understand that they are thwarting the Greater Good?

Thirty-three Death Eaters were put on trial on 18th August, for multiple murders and for use of the Cruciatus Curse. Four wives of Death Eaters were put on trial for attempting to bribe the Minister for Magic to release their arrested husbands. Rita Skeeter was put on trial for being an unregistered animagus.

The Death Eater defendants were chains-chaired six at a time, and were given Veritaserum six at a time. Every Death Eater defendant admitted to taking the Dark Mark willingly; many admitted to taking the Mark eagerly. Every Death Eater defendant admitted to multiple counts of rape, torture (the Cruciatus curse) and murder. Every Death Eater defendant had killed a Muggle as part of his initiation; many defendants had killed other Muggles after their initiations. Many of the Death Eater defendants had killed Muggle-borns and "blood-traitors," and some Death Eater defendants had killed random Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade magical shoppers during acts of terror.

When the first group of six Death Eater defendants had been voted Guilty and their punishments were being debated, Albus stood up in the spectators' gallery and asked to be allowed to speak.

Chief Warlock Greengrass said, "Spectator Dumbledore, have you been directly harmed by the crimes of these six? Have you been raped or tortured by any of them, or have any of these six Death Eaters killed any members of your immediate family?"

"No, but—"

"Then you have no standing to speak before us. Sit down, Spectator Dumbledore."

Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge asked to be recognised. When Greengrass recognised him, Fudge said, "I suggest, as punishment of each convicted Death Eater, he be given the Kiss if he has murdered ten Muggles, three Muggle-borns, two halfbloods or one Pureblood; otherwise, the convicted Death Eater be given life in Azkaban."

Fudge did not draw anyone's attention to the testimony of Lucius Malfoy, who admitted to killing "more than sixty Muggles," besides admitting murders and tortures of Muggle-borns, halfbloods and "blood-traitors." By Fudge's guideline, Lucius Malfoy was sure to be executed.

Even with the blatant bias in such a guideline—murdering one Pureblood would result in a Death Eater being Kissed, but murdering nine Muggles would not—the sentencing results were the same as if the guideline had been bloodline-blind. Thirty-three Death Eaters were tried, thirty-three Death Eaters were convicted, and thirty-three Death Eaters were Kissed.

Thirty-three Death Eaters were shown to be a murderous lot, and they paid the price—instead of being given a chance to redeem themselves. Albus sighed.

The bad news for Narcissa Black (formerly Narcissa Malfoy), Braunwinn Nott and the other two wives who were convicted of bribery was that they each were sentenced to the minimum-security wing at Azkaban till 30th June of next year, and they each were fined twice their offered bribe (with the fine-money earmarked for the DMLE). The only good news for the four wives was that they were in the pretrial pen, not in the courtroom, when their husbands were Kissed.

As for the day's last defendant, Rita Skeeter, once it was revealed in court that her animagus form was a water beetle, which was a form that could easily move unnoticed and unseen, Rita was nailed to the wall. She was sentenced to five years in the medium-security wing of Azkaban and was fined ten thousand galleons.

The thirty-eight trials took all day. The Wizengamot seat-holders (of which, Albus was not one) did not leave Courtroom Ten till 7:38 that evening.

Not once that day did any seat-holder ask wise Albus Dumbledore to share his wisdom. The nerve! thought Albus.

That same day, at the Rookery

Luna wore a dreamy smile as she introduced Harry and Hermione to her father, Xenophilius Lovegood.

Harry's impression of the man was that he was a nice person but strange, like Arthur Weasley; but Xenophilius had Dumbledore's fashion sense.

Xenophilius talked about nargles and wrackspurts as though they were real, just like Luna did. He also could talk about Wizengamot politics in depth, without sounding like an echo of either Albus Dumbledore or Lucius Malfoy. Harry learnt much that he would need to know in the future, from talking with Luna's father.

Whilst Harry was at the Rookery, he received a letter by Gringotts owl. At the Marvolo Gaunt house, a horcrux-tainted object, a ring, had been found. "Five out of five curses were neutralised" before the ring was removed from the house and its horcrux was destroyed. The ring then was placed in the Potter family vault, as per contract, and the agreed-upon coinage then was removed from the Potter vault.

Whilst reading the letter, Harry thought, Only two horcruxes are left. And one of the two will be easy to find.

The next morning
Saturday, 19th August, 10 a.m.
Gringotts Bank

Harry, Sirius, Remus Lupin, Amelia Bones and Augusta Longbottom all gathered in a room with stone walls. They were there to hear two wills, of James Potter and of Lily Potter, both be officially read. This was nearly fourteen years after Harry's parents had died.

As Harry had already read both wills unofficially, he expected there to be no surprises with this part of the event.

The only excitement during the meeting was before the wills-reading officially started, when Dumbledore walked in, declaring he was there supposedly to "advise" Harry "what the wills mean."

To which Harry replied sarcastically, "Considering that both wills say that no bloody way am I ever to be given over to Petunia Dursley, either you're too thick to figure out what these wills mean, or you're a goddamned liar. I already know you're a thief."

Then Harry looked at Axefrenzy and said, "Since I know for a fact that Dumbledore is not mentioned in either will except as a witness, please throw the blighter out."

Which goblin guards promptly did.

The two wills then were officially read. When Axefrenzy read out the part of James Potter's will that named Harry to become the Potter Heir at age eleven, Harry let his invisible Lord Potter ring turn visible, so that Sirius, Remus and the other people in the room could see it. This was how Harry revealed the Potter Lordship that he already had secretly claimed.

Sunday through Wednesday, 20-23 August
In Sweden

Two adult wizards (Sirius and Xenophilius), and three Hogwarts students (Harry, Hermione and Luna) spent four days hiking about Sweden, seeking out the elusive (nonexistent?) Crumple-Horned Snorkack.

Harry had never been out of Britain before. It amazed him that suddenly he could not understand any overheard conversations, nor could he read signs anymore (except for all-picture signs).

Xenophilius had skillfully drawn a picture of a strange-looking animal; so in theory, Harry, Hermione and Sirius knew what to look for during their hunt.

Sweden has many lakes, and the group walked round many lakeshores. The British magicals also walked a mile outside of some fishing town that had strange letters in its name. Another time, the five magicals walked through a quiet forest.

Then the group decided that Crumple-Horned Snorkacks (if they existed at all) most likely were located in Sweden in places where Swedes were not located. The five spent a day and a half in Abisko National Park in northern Sweden, sleeping in conjured tents at night. The tents were disillusioned and under Notice-Me-Not Charms, since (according to the Lovegoods), camping in the national park was highly illegal except at designated campsites. When Harry and Hermione stepped out of their tents, they discovered that even in August, the night air in northern Sweden was cold.

During the group's time in Sweden, Luna was a changed person. She was not only hunting for Crumple-Horned Snorkacks with her father, she also was seeking the creatures in the company of her friends Harry and Hermione. Every waking moment that Luna was in Sweden, she was smiling as though Merlin and the Hogwarts Founders all had blasted her with Cheering Charms.

One time, whilst the group was walking through a forest, Luna moved away from her father to walk between Harry and Hermione. Luna took a hand of each of the Potter spouses and smiled dreamily at each of them in turn. Luna said to them, "It's good to have friends. Friends drive the wrackspurts away without even trying."

At night (except for the night they spent camping in tents), the five magical Brits got to see a different side of Sweden than in daytime. They experienced an authentic Swedish smörgåsbord; Harry, Hermione and Sirius ate foods they had never eaten before.

During the group's visit to Sweden, they ate in restaurants seven times. Four out of seven times, they were served by waitresses, not waiters; two out of four times, the waitresses were blond. Sirius flirted outrageously with both blondes—even the married one.

The group never found a Crumple-Horned Snorkack. None of the group seemed bothered by this.

A week later
Wednesday, 30th August
Two days before the start of the school term
Hogwarts SOW&W

Pop.

Minerva was in her office, working frantically to meet the 1st September deadline, when Wrinkly, the Hogwarts head house-elf, appeared by Minerva's desk.

Wrinkly said, "Headmaster Bumblebee ask you to come to his office."

Minerva asked, "Do you know what about? I'm quite busy now."

Wrinkly answered, "Headmaster Bumblebee not tell Wrinkly. Professor Kitty come now." He held out a hand.

Resentful Minerva took the house-elf's hand. Pop. The world about her instantly changed from her office to the headmaster's office.

"Ah, Minerva, thank you for coming," Dumbledore said cheerfully. "May I offer you tea? Or a sherbet lemon?"

"I don't have time for niceties, Albus. Why have you interrupted my work?"

On one part of Dumbledore's huge desk was a stack of four parchments. Dumbledore removed the parchment that was second from the top and held up this parchment. "I called you here to discuss your list of prefects. I have an objection."

Minerva said, "Why? Mr Potter and Miss Granger are the easiest choices for fifth-year prefect that I've ever made. As for Miss Granger, please note that all the detentions she's served were assigned by Severus. I didn't count Severus's detentions in making my decision."

"Minerva my dear, I do not object to you naming Miss Granger as a prefect. My objection is to you naming Harry."

Minerva was gobsmacked and puzzled now. "Why? Aren't prefects supposed to set a good example to the other students? Aren't prefects supposed to be students that we professors can rely on? Aren't prefects supposed to show leadership? Mr Potter has saved the school, Albus, many times. This summer he also saved his worthless Muggle cousin. So I trust Mr Potter to patrol the assigned corridors at the assigned times, and to not abuse the giving and taking of House points."

"Minerva, Harry now has responsibilities that I am not free to speak about. Prefect duties would be a distraction from those responsibilities."

"What responsibilities? It's his OWL year, he'll have Quidditch practice throughout the year, and let's not forget all the detentions that Severus will assign Mr Potter just for being James' son. What else can Mr Potter possibly be doing?"

"Alas, Minerva, I am not free to share such information with you. But accept that Harry does not have the time to serve as a prefect."

"And if I accept your statement as fact, then whom instead will I give the badge to? Mr Longbottom has the marks necessary, but he lacks self-confidence. I can't picture him asserting himself in a conflict with a pushy, rule-breaking student. As for the other Gryffindor fifth-year boys, none of them are suitable."

"Not true. Mr Weasley should have the badge."

"No. Absolutely not. He has the worst table manners in the entire school, he is the laziest student in the entire school, and he has an implacable hatred of all Slytherins..."

An unpleasant thought hit Minerva's brain then; she blurted, "Merlin, I hope I'm wrong."

Without warning, Minerva drew her wand and pointed it at the top of Dumbledore's desk. "Accio Slytherin prefect list."

As Minerva took hold of the parchment that had Severus's handwriting on it, Albus said, "Tut-tut, Minerva. You could have simply asked."

"And you would've told me whom Severus picked, if I'd asked?" Minerva said. Her expression said I don't believe you for a second.

Looking at Severus's list, Minerva was angry now. "The Slytherin fifth-year prefects are Mr Malfoy and Miss Parkinson? Blood-snobs, the children of Death Eaters, they're both bullies—and you're fine with all this? When Mr Zabini and Miss Greengrass are a hundred times more deserving?"

"Minerva, I think—"

Minerva, who never interrupted the headmaster, interrupted now: "Why are we here at Hogwarts? Are we here to teach Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology and Potions; or are we here to teach 'Purebloods are more deserving'? Because if you elevate Malfoy, Parkinson and Weasley to be prefects, this is exactly the message you're sending. No, Albus. No, no! Mr Potter, not Mr Weasley, shall be the Gryffindor fifth-year boy prefect, and this is final."

"It is not final, Minerva. I overrule you. Harry will not be a prefect in any year, not only fifth year. As for Mr Malfoy and Miss Parkinson, I have complete confidence that if Severus says those two are the most deserving for badges, that this is true."

"And what do I tell Mr Potter when he asks me why he was passed over? Because he will ask, you can be sure."

"I have confidence, Minerva, that you can string a shiny necklace of words that will soothe his feelings."

"You want me to lie to him, then," Minerva said. "You're ordering me to lie to Mr Potter. On top of everything else that you and I have done to James' and Lily's son."

Abruptly Minerva tore away the bottom (blank) part of Severus's parchment. Contemptuously she tossed Severus's list of the six Slytherin prefects back onto Albus's desk. Then she pulled a self-inking quill from her pocket and bent down to write on the scrap of blank parchment.

.

30th August 1995

I resign, effective immediately.

Minerva McGonagall

.

Minerva slapped the scrap of parchment down in front of Albus, as she pocketed her quill. "Since Samhain of 1981, every time I've gone against my conscience, the result was Mr Potter being harmed in some way. No more. Find someone else to abuse Mr Potter 'for the Greater Good.' "

Albus looked at Minerva with wide eyes. He actually looks panicked, she thought. He said, in a voice that for once did not ooze with condescension, "Surely I can persuade you to undo your resignation."