Chapter XIII: The End?

A week later, the Order was back to searching for a Death Eater.  Fletcher and Figg had their names cleared, as Snape could not provide evidence against them.  Harry was still feeling uneasy about Snape dying, and wished that he could have known who the Death Eater was.  Dumbledore was feeling less cheerful than Harry had ever seen him; Azkaban took the worst out of the best people, even with the Dementors gone.

That day, all of the Students came back to Hogwarts, and the effects of Snape's death were instant: The event had taken a huge bite out of Draco Malfoy's ego: Harry hadn't received any insults from him.  Gregory Goyle had no idea of what had taken place, and had claimed that he had never seen his Father all holidays – He had no idea that he would never see him again.  Harry was sure that this would remove the bravado of the Slytherin Front line (This increased Slytherin's chances for Quidditch).

Harry had a gut feeling that Figg was Voldemort's inside woman, (Who wouldn't after experiencing Arabella Figg at the age of three!) if there was one inside the Order itself.  At the Order meeting that night, Fletcher had news.  'Snape left a note in my possession a week before he died.  Albus?'

            'Please continue.'  Replied Dumbledore.

'Dear Order,

I am going to attempt to reveal the Identity of the Death Eater one week from now, but I fear that it will take the worst out of me, and the potion will probably kill me.

I was poisoned by a masked man yesterday, I cannot tell who, but I am sure that he is not in the order, nor am I sure that he even comes from Hogwarts, I believe that you should direct all of your resources toward Godric's Hollow and Hogsmeade.  I hope that this letter reached you intact,

Yours Faithfully,

Serverus Snape.  I found the word Fudge on the letter.'

'Thank you, Mundungus; this will help us very well.  I will warrant an arrest for Cornelius Fudge.  Harry should tell Gregory Goyle about his father.  It is time we knew.  Remeus, Sirius – You capture Fudge.'

***

'He has taken the pressure off himself.  Serverus Snape is dead, Goyle is imprisoned: The Azkaban operation was a success – I think Sirius Black will look back on the day, and be amazed at how stupid he was!'

            'Well done, Lucius.  This is your best work yet.  I hope that you continue to do this well.  Please, contact F.'

            'Yes, Master, it is a pleasure,'

            'THERE IS NO ROOM FOR PLEASURE IN THE HEART OF A DEATH EATER.'

            'Y-y-y-yes M-m-master.'

***

MINISTER FOR MAGIC ARRESTED BY PHOENIX AURORS: MINISTRY AUROR OFFICE DEMAND EXPLANATION.

Surrounded in a cloud of mystery, Phoenix Aurors, Sirius Black and Remeus Lupin arrested Cornelius Fudge.  Aurors from the Ministry Division for handling Dark Wizards have demanded an explanation, issuing a statement: 'the terms of Cornelius Fudge's arrest are unjustified and unlawful.  Phoenix aurors should issue reason for arrest or not arrest at all.' An Order of Phoenix Spokeswizard issued a reply:

'The terms of Fudge's arrest are too heinous to be made public, and are not appropriate for the public to know.  We will release more information when it is available to release.' 

Report by Criminal Correspondent, Jenny Penny.

Dumbledore finished reading the article on the front page of the Daily Prophet and continued, 'Well, it seems as though we have caught our inside man.  Aurors, you can take up duties as staff.'

***

'Master, they have caught Fudge, and even our Auror office couldn't stop them.'

            'This is a big drawback.  I suppose the Order have sent a delegation to take over the Ministry, and discover our operations inside the Office.  Would you agree, Lucius?'

            'Yes Master.'  Lucius Malfoy left the chamber, and headed to evacuate the office.

***

Harry went up to talk to Dumbledore the next morning.  'Professor, although I do believe that Fudge was a Death Eater, I still believe that there is one nearby, and last night, I had a dream of Voldemort and Malfoy talking about the Auror office being full of Voldemort supporters.'

            'Did they say anything else?'

            'Yes, they said that we were going to take over the Ministry.  Are we really doing this?'

            'Yes, Harry.'

            'Why wasn't I told?'

            'We all thought it best that you focused on your schoolwork.'

***

A/N:  Well, this week I managed to get out two chapters (I had no work to do on Wednesday) and I'm hoping to do the same this week.  Has anyone worked out the little puzzled that I put in this story – no more clues! Honestly! How hard could it be? I've even given you an extremely obvious clue – You've just got to pay attention to the finer points in the first two books (The thing to look for is in one of the letters in Chapter 8!), hope someone can actually get close!

Fudge in prison, an Auror office being run by Death Eaters? How competent was the ministry really? Will the order successfully take over the Ministry of magic?  Find out next Sun/Wednesday, depending on how much homework I'm given!