Interlude

"Doesn't mean he didn't get somebody else to help him, Susan" Harry fumed.

"I know, but we can hardly go around accusing people of stuff that isn't true – we both battled that" his friend reminded him.

"Bring him in on suspicion for something – we used to be able to do that if we weren't sure"

"And have half the Pureblood faction dust off their masks…?" Hannah raised an eyebrow. "Look, there has to be something that we can do that's legal"

"Only God knows" Hermione looked up from her paper work.

"I could ask him" suggested a cheeky Nyssa. They were all gathered around the large wooden kitchen table at Awdry Manor with parchment and paper all over – trying to think of a way an attacker could have poisoned Barr.

"It must have been done whilst he was in the mess" Harry said. "I can have a word with the Fat Controller and get the place empty for you to scan" he offered.

"Wouldn't he have covered up his tracks?" asked Nyssa.

"If I was there" Susan said, "I might well have done it – but if it was non magical people around him only, there might not have been any reason to cover his magical core usage"

"Is that likely?" asked Hermione.

"He's a highly skilled Auror, so it's very likely he did so"

"Assuming its him" Harry said sullenly. Susan gave him a sympathetic look before closing the file before her.

"It's bad enough that we've got a secret investigation going on and now the election is taking place shortly" and Harry, who had been in the middle of pouring a cup of tea, paused and turned to look at her.

"Election?"

"I thought you knew… After we took down Shacklebolt, the law says there has to be an election after a certain period of time – and that's now… We've been planning security detachments for all the polling locations"

"That has to be it" Harry said, putting the teapot down heavily. "I said I would never come back until the magical place was in a fit state… What if Ron is planning for me to come back and sort it out myself?"

"Sounds a bit too ambitious and forward thinking for Ron Weasley" Hannah said.

"We're all assuming he did this on his own" Nyssa said. "What if he had friends to help him?" she asked.

"Ginny would help him make the potions I bet, but who would actually put it in the guy's tea?" asked Hermione. "Can you see if any Auror was away from their duties for an unexplained period?"

"If it was an Auror" Susan said, "It was done off the books. The main thing is to get hold of the autopsy report and see what it says. They may have taken samples of blood, so I'll try and get hold of one of those both to know what amount it was and find out whose signature is present"

"I have a potions lab under here" Harry said, resuming the making of his tea, "So you can use that while you are here"

"Is there anything I can do to help?" asked Nyssa.

"I shouldn't think so" Hermione said.

"Is it because I'm not magical?" she replied.

"It isn't that" Harry told her, "But if something was to happen we would know to cast a shield or take care of it another way. Still, I'm sure that Susan could use some help brewing a few revealing potions"

"Harry?" the red-heads eyebrows rose in a curious manner.

"Since she became aware of magic, I've been teaching her some stuff out of my old textbooks. Now, I know she can't do the wand waving crap, but she can do everything else. I know I am biased, but I'd say she's on par for a third year on the practical side of potions"

"Hmm" Susan eyed Nyssa. "Well your school work comes first, but I suppose that I could do with a bit of help making the easier potions"

"You're going to need all the help you can get if we're keeping this of the books" Harry told Susan. "Look, the question becomes what we're going to do when we have all the evidence against him"

"Use it against him?" Nyssa shrugged her question.

"In our world, evidence is collected by the Aurors only…" Hermione sighed. "I suppose we could say that you had all the evidence collected and did it yourself as is your right as Head of the Potter Family"

"Pureblood Alliance would never hold with that" Susan shook her head. "The only way I can see is to do this ourselves and then present it in court – telling the Judge it was done by classified means"

"Would it be an open trial?" Hermione asked.

"I'm not entirely sure" Susan replied.

"In theory" Hannah added, "the rules that Harry put in place should mean that Ron faces a military trial. But to do that we need a Minister and not an Acting Minister. Its been hell on Earth trying to weed out everybody who is barred from standing. What we need is somebody who is going to be fair, unjudging of people apart from known facts… At least we're not getting an Umbridge"

"Yeah, about her" Harry said, "How did she manage to hang herself in a cell where there wasn't any window bars?"

"I'll never tell" came Hannah's cryptic reply.

"When is the election?" asked Nyssa, getting the subject back on track.

"Three weeks, but all the candidacy papers have to be in a week before that" Hannah told her.

Harry merely grinned into the mug as he drank the tea…

#

The week passed well with Megan Jones coming over to provide medical testimony and give an expert opinion on matters. Apart from the investigation, Hermione, Susan and Hannah enjoyed their little holiday with Nyssa being on a break and being able to take them to all the tourist hotspots as well as a few cab rides organised by Harry on the quiet. Nyssa was away when they left and she came back to find Harry in the library working on some paperwork which seemed to have him in some amusement as he used the quill to fill in certain parts.

"I have to go out for about half an hour" he said as he came into the kitchen.

"Well its only mince and gravy, so it will keep for a while" Nyssa replied. "Where are you going?" she asked. Harry merely grinned, kissed the top of her head grinned and went into the living room to use the Floo.

#

"Next" a bored sounding clerk intoned flatly. "Name?"

"Lord Potter" and the woman looked up sharply.

"Oh! Um, forgive my manners, Sir" she blushed.

"Never mind… I understand these are to be given to you" Harry said, handing over a small packet of parchment that he had spent all day going over and filling in. The witch took them from him, reading through them all and then stamped them. Putting them all back together and inside the envelope, she tapped it with her wand and it flew off to somewhere else.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" she asked.

"Yes… I want a copy of the entire Wizarding Britain Legal Code as well as the Complete Auror Code of Conduct" Harry said.

"That might take some time"

"I'll wait" Harry settled into an overstuffed easy chair. "I'll wait"

A/N:

Short, but sweet…

Before people call me on it, its mentioned in previous chapters that Harry has been teaching Nyssa some parts of magic – including Portkey usage and potions.

As for the two texts that Harry asks for at the end, I see it as Harry playing the system and making the wizarding version of a FOI request for two items the Ministry is obliged to give anybody who asks.

As always, reviews please

Regards,

Pixel