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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Battlefield
Nott came hurrying into the office…until a few minutes ago, his office. Raker and Romilda were waiting there. "It's over,"he told them.
There was confusion on the faces of the others. "What do you mean?"Raker asked.
"Potter and Weasley, they went to the wizengamot. Told them about us putting pressure on them. Weasley's minister again and about to send every auror in the building after us."
"I told you not to underestimate Harry,"Romilda commented.
Nott shot her a look of irritation, as he did every time she praised Harry. She seemed as besotted now as when she'd been at school with him. But this wasn't the time. "We need to get out of here."
"But to where?"Raker asked.
"Hogwarts. Archibald and the others are there. We can make a stand. Potter and Weasley won't want to risk the students with a full assault."
"We won't be able to apparate in there."
"We'll use the Floo network. Archibald's keeping it open for us. Come on."
Harry, Ron, Hermione and Parvati were hurrying down one of the ministry's corridors. Ron noticed a familiar figure ahead of them. "Inquisitor Nazarov!"
Nazarov stopped short at the sight of the group. His expression indicated that he was fully aware that his last orders were to arrest them, yet something about Ron's demeanour told him that would be a bad idea. "Minister?"he asked tentatively.
"The wizengamot have reversed their decision to remove me from office. Theodore Nott is to be arrested on sight."
"I will pass the news on."
"Keep up the good work,"Ron told him mildly before he and the others hurried past.
"Are you going to keep him on?"Harry asked.
"Oh, yeah. He's good at his job. But letting him sweat a bit might help him remember who he works for."
"Where are we going anyway?"Parvati asked.
"Minister's office."
"I doubt Nott will hang around there,"Hermione argued.
"Maybe not,"Ron agreed,"but it'll give us a chance to make some calls."
Nott, Romilda and Raker emerged from the Floo Network into the headmaster's office. Parkinson quickly reapplied the charms that would prevent anyone from joining them. Brown was there as well. "What happened?"he demanded.
"Potter, what else?"Nott replied.
"We showed our hand, didn't we?"Raker asked, clearly infuriated by the turn of events. "You said that threatening the wizengamot wouldn't backfire."
"So I was wrong,"Nott snapped. "Anything else obvious you want to point out?"
"What are we going to do now?"Parkinson asked. "Hole ourselves in here?"
"Too cramped,"Nott replied. "We'll go to the Great Hall."
"Harry will find us there,"Romilda argued.
"Maybe so,"Nott agreed. "But finding us is one thing. Beating us is another."
Ernie and James were waiting in the deputy headmaster's office. The floo sprang into life, displaying Harry and Ron. "It worked,"Ron told them. "The wizengamot sided with us."
"Nott's still at large though,"Harry added.
"Do you know where he is?"James asked.
"We think he might be heading for you."
"I could get the rest of the staff together,"Ernie suggested. "I think we can trust most of them."
James considered this. "Dad, Uncle Ron, how soon can you get here?"
"Well, we can't get into Hogwarts,"Ron pointed out.
"But if we get to Hogsmeade, we can get in the by the same way you did,"Harry concluded.
James nodded. "I'll keep the tunnel open for you. Get some reinforcements from Grimmauld Place, we'll meet you here."
The two disappeared from the floo. "Shall we get down there?"Ernie asked.
"One thing first,"James replied. He took out a mirror and tapped it. "Nymphadora."
Nymphadora was holed up in one of the dormitories at the Gryffindor common room, together with Beverley, Maxwell, and James' daughter Tracey. She instantly responded to the message. "Here, James."
"Dad's on his way here with your mum and some of the others. We think Nott's here. We need to make sure the students stay out of the way. Oh, and watch out for Nave."
"Understood." Nymphadora ended the call and led the others out into the common room. Her entrance was enough to draw everyone's attention. "I think very soon an announcement will be made that Interim Minister Nott has been removed and Minister Weasley reinstated. Since Nott has friends in the school, he might be heading here."
"Does anyone have a problem with that?"Maxwell asked. Most of those present shook their heads, some more emphatically than others.
"Has anyone seen Nave?"Beverley asked.
All eyes fell on Henry Navoy, Nave's classmate. "I think he might be in the quadrangle,"he offered.
Nymphadora nodded. "Maxwell, Beverley, can you keep an eye on things here? I'm going to find Bradley and then we'll go see Nave together. It's time I had a word with my brother."
