Welcome to my first story in three years! The entire thing is written out -by hand- and just needs to be typed up so thought I'd start posting it. It might be a little rough around the edges, like I've said it's my first story in three years, but I've tried to tidy it up as much as possible.
Enjoy!
Chapter One
"Students at Hogwarts should be allowed to focus on the subjects that benefit them and their future careers without having to worry about inconsequential things such as how to work a fellytone," Gellert Bulstrode remarked to the other members of the Wizengamot during closing arguments to Harry's proposal that all Pureblood and Half-Blood children attending Hogwarts take a compulsory and comprehensive muggle-studies class.
"It's called a telephone," Harry corrected him with a tired sigh. "I'm not suggesting this class take the place of a career course, it's only one hour a week, focusing on more relevant muggle activities and technologies," he explained for what felt like the hundredth time in that session of the Wizengamot.
Seeing Bulstrode open his mouth to argue another point against his proposal, Harry looked around the Wizengamot chamber, noticing the bored looks of William Abbott; Leathan Wood and Damocles Belby alongside the smug looks coming from Hagen Parkinson; Edmund Burke and Cornelius Fudge and Harry knew at that moment his proposal was going to be rejected before it even had the chance to be heard in front of the full Wizengamot, something he was becoming sadly familiar with since joining the Wizengamot five months ago.
In the five months since being invited to join, Harry had proposed three decrees in an attempt to improve the lives of Magical Britain's, and every single one had been soundly rejected before reaching a full hearing. "It's too expensive to implement such a change, what do you propose we cut in order to pay for such a thing? The Auror department maybe?" they had told him when he proposed a new department with closer links to the muggle Parliament. "We cannot leave our people so unprotected and at risk should there be another escape. The people in there are just too dangerous," they said when he proposed removing Dementors from Azkaban, replacing them with highly trained, specialised Auror's.
"It is not our responsibility to ensure these things are not treated badly, it is the job of the families themselves to act accordingly. We cannot force them to do something they if they don't want to," the old families argued passionately when he proposed a house-elf welfare plan.
And now they were arguing against a much more comprehensive muggle-studies class that was actually helpful, not just random knowledge of benign muggle objects such as rubber ducks, that served no purpose at all. Glancing around the chamber as his proposal was rejected and the conversation was moved on, Harry noticed Rowan Greengrass talking to his daughter Daphne, there heads together, completely oblivious to what was being said in the chamber and he wondered what it was they were discussing that was so important that it completely distracted Rowan from the Wizengamot conversation. Ten minutes later when the chamber was dismissed for the weekend, Harry took his time gathering up his papers and arguments when a soft throat clearing caught his attention.
Looking up he saw Daphne stood beside his desk, her own papers clasped in her hands and Harry couldn't help but wonder what they contained considering Daphne wasn't actually a member of the Wizengamot, but rather an assistant to her father. "You know why your proposals keep getting rejected, don't you?" she asked with a knowing look.
"Because Purebloods don't like anything progressive that might weaken their power in any way," Harry responded sarcastically, wincing slightly when Daphne raised a brow at his stereotyping of the Purebloods within the Wizengamot.
"No … well yes," she replied quickly at Harry's own raised brow. "It's because you're not following the unwritten rules and traditions that they all live by. That's why everything you've proposed – regardless of how sensible and quite frankly brilliant it is – it's been thrown out before it can be given a full hearing," she informed him, smiling slightly at Harry's look of shock at her saying his proposals were brilliant.
He couldn't help but frown however when he realised something important in relation to her statement. "If my proposals are as brilliant as you claim they are then why didn't your father speak up in support for them, then they might have stood a chance," he pointed out to her, slightly annoyed.
"It wouldn't have made a difference," she told him with a shrug. "Even with my father's support, you wouldn't have enough support to push it past Bulstrode, Burke and Fudge. They're too powerful a pack."
"That's just ridiculous," Harry remarked angrily, annoyed that three people could hold so much power and control over the Wizengamot.
"If you want, I can show you how to pay their game? That way you may one day have a chance of beating them and passing some much needed and meaningful decrees," Daphne offered, her voice slightly hopeful.
"Thanks, but I'm not going to lower myself to their level," he answered as he finished packing up his bag. "The way they work isn't right and I'm not going to legitimise what they do by taking part myself. I'll find another way of passing my decrees," he told her before bidding her goodbye and walking out the chamber, completely missing Daphne's look of amusement at his naivety.
A week later, Harry sat back and watched as his proposal to provide formal education to children affected with Lycanthropy was brutally and completely dismissed; the opposing arguments coming in so thick and fast that Harry couldn't even argue his points without being interrupted every couple of seconds. When the chamber was finally released, Harry remained seated as he ruminated on where he went wrong in his arguments and proposals that resulted in their total dismissal and he finally admitted that Daphne was right. He did need to know how to play their game, if he wanted to achieve anything.
Feeling resigned, yet determined, Harry dropped his papers off in his office and went in search for Daphne. When he finally found her in the archive room, he took a deep fortifying breath before approaching her. "Daphne," he greeted her, announcing his presence so he didn't startle her.
"Potter, how can I help, I'm rather busy at the moment," she told him with a broad indication to the books and parchments that surrounded her.
"I was hoping that, if your offer is still on the table, that I might take you up on it," Harry said shyly, feeling slightly embarrassed given his previous rejection at her offer.
Looking up, Daphne took notice of his embarrassed expression, clearly feeling guilty over his previous words. "What happened to not sinking to their level?" she asked curiously.
"Sometime you have to go low too before you can go high," he told her with a shrug, smiling lightly when Daphne let out a little chuckle at his response. "Will you help me get one over them?" he asked, holding out his hand to her.
"It's about damn time someone put those old fossils in their place," she remarked, before taking his hand in her own in a firm shake. "You better be prepared to work though Potter. I'm counting on you to change the world," she told him with a serious look and a smirk that Harry soon matched with one of his own.
"Don't worry, that's what I'm famous for," he told her with a wink, before leaving Daphne to her work, the two of them smiling at the thought of the drama they would soon wreck together.