Chapter Seventy-One: Politics with Potter

Slowly, Daphne, Harry, and the others made their way back up the stairs.

"I wonder what the prophecy says," Harry mused.

"Think it has something in it you might be able to use against You-Know-Who?" Ron asked.

"If so, you'll really need to focus on mastering Occlumency, Harry," Daphne said. "Because even if someone in the Order — likely Dumbledore — knows what it says, they won't tell you as long as there's even the smallest risk Voldemort could get the secret out of you."

Harry nodded pensively and then smiled ruefully. "Well, I suppose I'll have to ask Snape next time he's here. I'm sure he'll be jumping for joy…"

"Hey, at least you were getting pretty good at it. I'm still stuck on that whole focus in emptiness thing," Daphne said. "Anyway…I'll see you tomorrow. Good night, Harry…"

She gave him a quick kiss, ignoring the smirks of her friends, then entered the door on the first landing into the bedroom she shared with Hermione and Ginny. She settled into her bed and stretched out.

"I hope Harry's okay," Ginny said. "After hearing why You–" She made an impatient noise and corrected herself, "Voldemort came after him in the first place."

"Well, he knew Voldemort was after him even without the prophecy," Daphne said. "This just gives him a reason, doesn't it? I'm pretty sure he's as interested in that prophecy now as Voldemort is, but he can't know it yet, and I know he understands that. I just hope his nightmares about the graveyard won't pop up here…I doubt Ron's going to hug him all night if they do, anyway."

"You did that?" Ginny asked, an undertone of jealousy in her voice.

"One time, yeah. The night after the Dementors attacked," Daphne said.

"We should've gotten you here much earlier, not waited until Dementors attacked you," Ginny said angrily.

"Dumbledore didn't want us to, though," Hermione pointed out.

"If Harry gets expelled, I'll have some things to say to Dumbledore," Ginny said darkly.

"He won't be. The Ministry doesn't have a case against him, not if they follow their own laws," Hermione said.

"They expelled him immediately initially," Daphne said. "Dumbledore made them overturn that. They won't follow their own rules. No politician does."

"Surely it can't be that bad?" Hermione asked desperately.

Daphne chuckled humorlessly. "It is, though. There are good people at the Ministry, of course. But the ones with power attract all sort of vermin like Lucius Malfoy, and they'll find their pockets lined with gold and their political initiatives well-funded, for the low price of influencing legislation and court rulings in their benefactors' favor. And Fudge…well, he's an idiot. They don't need to Imperius him to control him," she said.

"Are your parents involved in that sort of thing as well?" Ginny asked. "To a degree, yes. My dad sticks to the Department of Mysteries mainly to stay up-to-date on what's going on in the political world and he funds a number of projects there. And Mum and Dad both have somewhat-regular meetings with other people from Noble Houses to discuss upcoming bills and debates in the Wizengamot. They're framed as friendly get-togethers, but everyone knows that they're really just meant to poll everyone's position and to make or break alliances.

"Nearly none of them actually work for the Ministry, but they have a lot of influence there regardless. Take Mum, for example. She's a Quidditch coach, but she has many prominent contacts all across magical Britain because of it, all of whom are voters during election time, meaning she has quite a bit of political influence even though her job isn't political at all. She probably has more political influence than many people who actively work at the Ministry simply by virtue of knowing so many people."

"So she won't be telling people to vote for Fudge then, I assume?" Ginny asked.

"No, I'm pretty sure she won't be," Daphne said with a small grin.

"And both of your parents are on the Wizengamot?" Hermione asked.

"Yep. Old purebloods tend to find a way onto it, if they want to. Lucius Malfoy usually doesn't; he prefers to simply bribe people. My parents prefer to have their influence be a bit more direct," Daphne said. "Speaking of parents…d'you think your mum's going to forgive me for making sure all of you know the same as Harry knows?" she asked.

"Give her a few days and she'll come around," Ginny said. "Fred and George have driven her up the wall more times than I can count and she's always forgiven them in the end. I bet she'll even forgive Percy if he gets over his big head at some point and what he did was much worse than wanting to know the truth. I'm not sure I will, though," she added grimly.

Daphne breathed a sigh of relief. "Good to hear."

"You were actually worried?" Ginny asked.

"Well, I don't like arguing with people, least of all people I normally like. I only did it because Harry deserves to know what's going on since he's, y'know, the one who saw Voldemort come back, and the reason he disappeared in the first place fourteen years ago. And he'd tell us everything anyway, so we might as well cut out the middle man and hear everything directly."


Over the next few days, Daphne came to the conclusion that life at Grimmauld Place was, if possible, more dreary than life at the Dursleys had been. Sure, she was with her friends now, but there wasn't a whole lot to do.

Sirius had begun making it habitable after his name had been cleared — though he generally lived somewhere else — because Dumbledore had asked him to, and no one seemed very keen on sharing any more information with Harry or the others than they'd done on the first night. Honestly, there was no real need to, either. Most of the discussions weren't about Voldemort, but about tracking people and contacting others. It simply wasn't useful to know for them.

Dad, on the occasions he was at Grimmauld Place, had given Daphne and Harry some Occlumency tips, but Snape hadn't been by yet and the book he'd given Daphne the year before was so technical it was nearly useless to them.

And, contrary to the Dursleys' place, here they couldn't just go outside for a stroll. The members of the Order came and went by Apparating onto the top step outside, minimizing the chance of anyone figuring out there was anything there at all, and since neither Daphne nor her friends could Apparate — apart from Fred and George — they couldn't really go anywhere.

Sirius gave them occasional dueling training, though, which was always fun, and Harry didn't seem to have lost his touch over his month of inactivity. After a few sessions he'd even managed to copy Daphne's silent parry. Whenever Mrs. Weasley wasn't around, Ginny also joined in the dueling practice, and Daphne was surprised at her level of skill. Though her defense wasn't that good yet, her reflexes were, and her spellcasting was both fast and accurate. Especially her Bat-Bogey Hex was dangerous.

"Hey Sirius," Harry said after one dueling session. "Why don't you apply for the Defense Against the Dark Arts job? As a Hit Wizard you're probably qualified."

Sirius's expression, which had been relaxed and even happy, darkened when Harry said that. "I tried," he said. "And Dumbledore would've given me the job…but Fudge has passed a decree saying that anyone with a previous conviction is ineligible."

"But…wasn't your record expunged? Since you were wrongfully convicted?" Hermione asked.

Sirius nodded. "It was, but that law, like most wizarding laws, is full of loopholes. The decree is phrased in such a way that anyone who was in Azkaban recently enough for over half of the Wizengamot to remember it is ineligible for a teaching position.

"It's actually retroactive in the sense that it also applies to teachers currently employed, so Hagrid is out of a teaching job as well because of his short stint in Azkaban during the whole Chamber of Secrets debacle.

"Yes, that should be entirely illegal, but this is all Fudge and his charming Undersecretary, a toad-like hag called Dolores Umbridge. The reasoning he gives is that it 'keeps the children safe from undesirable influences'. In reality, of course, he's just making it harder for Dumbledore to find a teacher out of spite."

"Can't the Wizengamot overrule that?" Hermione asked.

"You'll find that Educational Decrees like this are handled by the Hogwarts Board of Governors, who don't have the political power to resist Lucius Malfoy and Fudge. That's entirely by design, of course. The Ministry has many such exploits written into its laws and regulations.

"A fair government wouldn't abuse them, but Fudge isn't fair, nor does he care to be, and families like the Malfoys make sure that any amendment that would patch these loopholes doesn't get voted through.

"The decree can be overturned if public outcry is strong enough, but, of course, the passing of this decree was never publicized and it's subtle enough — and superficially reasonable enough — that no one will question it. After all, not allowing ex-convicts to teach children sounds like a sensible precaution."

Sirius grimly looked at Harry. "That's the sort of court you'll be having your hearing at, Harry. They'll do anything they can to unnerve you. You're lucky to have Amelia Bones as an interrogator. She's fair, at least, and will allow you to make your case."

Harry nodded slowly, though he didn't seem very reassured.

"Don't worry, Harry," Daphne said. "I won't let them expel you, I'll testify on your behalf."

He smiled weakly at her. "Thanks. I hope it'll be good enough…"


The evening before Harry's hearing felt like a last meal. Harry was a silent as he'd been before his first task last year, and Daphne had no idea what to say to cheer him up. Things didn't get much better when Dad came in.

"Harry, the time and place of your hearing has been changed," he said grimly. "You're being tried in Courtroom Ten, at eight, by the full Wizengamot."

Everyone in the kitchen looked at Dad in shock.

"The full Wizengamot?!" Mrs. Weasley shouted, and Daphne had almost done the same.

Dad nodded. "We just received word. I've informed Dumbledore, of course…I think they're trying to make Harry miss his hearing or show up late; I've heard the intention is to send an owl so it would be barely possible for someone Apparating to make it. Best get to bed early and make sure you're on time. That way, you'll get the respect from a lot of them straight away. You two should go to the Ministry with Arthur. Even though it's no secret we'll be voting in your favor, it's best not to make it seem like you're in regular contact with us. If you're okay with that, Molly?" he asked.

Mrs. Weasley nodded. "Of course. We already planned to have them go with Arthur…" She shook her head in confusion. "But Courtroom Ten…that's serious…what's Fudge playing at?"

"Intimidation," Dad said. "If Harry appears extremely nervous, he'll be easier to accuse of having a guilty conscience."

Harry frowned, and Daphne could feel, rather than see, the change in his attitude. "I'm not going to give him the satisfaction of that," he said.

Dad grinned and nodded. "Good. Never show weakness to your enemies. That's true in both duels and politics. Now then, I'll be off… See you tomorrow, and I hope we'll be able to toast to a good outcome after the hearing."


It was extremely odd to travel to the Ministry by Muggle transport. Despite the early hour, Daphne was wide awake and tense, but no more so than Harry, who looked ready to do battle with the entire Wizengamot if he had to, despite his obvious and understandable fear.

They entered the Ministry through the visitors' entrance, which was an old, broken phone booth. Daphne hadn't been in the Ministry itself in years, but while its visual splendor had amazed her as a little girl, now it just made her want to scowl. It looked beautiful, but it was rotten to the core in spite of all the good people who worked there.

She grabbed Harry's hand and squeezed it to show her support, and he smiled at her gratefully while they and Mr. Weasley made their way over to Courtroom Ten, deep within the Ministry, below even the Department of Mysteries where Dad often worked.

The door to the courtroom was all the way at the end of the deepest hallway, and Daphne knew — though she hadn't told Harry to not make him even more nervous — that it was the courtroom used for the interrogation of the worst criminals, like those suspected of being Death Eaters.

"Go on, Harry, get in there," Mr. Weasley said once they'd arrived at the door.

"Aren't you coming?"

"No, we're not allowed…" Mr. Weasley said. "But Dumbledore will be here soon, he'll bring Daphne in, and Mrs. Figg as well."

Harry nodded silently, looked at Daphne with a scared, but determined expression, and then walked into the courtroom, leaving the heavy door to fall shut behind him.

He'd barely entered when Dumbledore approached from the end of the hallway, followed by Mrs. Figg. "Good morning, Arthur, Daphne," he said, looking as though this was a perfectly normal morning. "Harry is already inside?"

Mr. Weasley nodded. "He is."

"Good. Daphne, Arabella, wait here, please. You'll be called in shortly."

Without waiting for an answer, Dumbledore entered the courtroom. Daphne, Mrs. Figg, and Mr. Weasley waited in nervous silence.

Not much later, the door opened again, and to Daphne's surprise it was Percy who came out. He completely ignored his father, instead only telling Mrs. Figg to follow him inside.

Daphne glanced at Mr. Weasley, whose expression had gotten stony. "He'll see reason at some point," she said softly.

Mr. Weasley gave her a sad smile. "He might, but some things, once broken, can't be repaired."

Daphne nodded slowly. It sounded similar to what Snape had told her in her first year at Hogwarts, and she felt like she was beginning to understand that more and more.

A short while later, Percy returned with Mrs. Figg, this time telling Daphne to follow him instead. She noticed he didn't look at her eyes while he did so.

There were three chairs in the center of the courtroom. Harry sat in one, which had heavy chains on it. The other two chairs were chintzy armchairs, one of which was occupied by Dumbledore, who seemed entirely relaxed.

Daphne took a seat in the middle chair. She looked up at the members of the Wizengamot to try and see if she could spot Mum and Dad, but before she could, Fudge said, "Full name?"

"Daphne Cyrene Greengrass," Daphne said, realizing that this was the first time she'd told Harry her middle name.

She saw Fudge briefly glancing to his left, and she followed his eyes, now spotting her parents at the far right.

"And you witnessed this alleged Dementor attack?"

"I did, sir, as you'll be able to verify by the fact I received a warning for the same Patronus Charm that resulted in Harry having to attend this hearing," Daphne said.

"Why were you in Little Whinging? It is known to us that the Greengrass family does not live in that area," Fudge said.

"I'm Harry's girlfriend, sir," Daphne said.

Fudge smirked unpleasantly. "Indeed? How convenient then, that you witnessed your boyfriend's supposed heroics. Nevertheless, let's hear your story, such as it is…"

Daphne glared at Fudge and said, "Harry, his cousin Dudley, and I were walking home, taking a shortcut through an alleyway. It was a warm night, but suddenly it became freezing cold, and all lights seemed to go out, and Harry and I could hear the Dementors before we saw them. That rattling, labored breathing they do, and all happiness seemed to fade…

"Dudley ran, but before we could follow, we were attacked by a Dementor from behind. Harry summoned his Patronus and chased it off, and then sent it after the second Dementor, which was about to Kiss Dudley. Harry saved his cousin's soul."

"An accurate description of a Dementor's effects, yet it is well-known that you came into contact with Dementors in your third year at Hogwarts…who's to say you didn't simply tell us of those memories?" Fudge asked.

"Funny you should mention that, Minister," Daphne said coldly. "Because you'll recall that those Dementors, at that time, had gone out of control. You'll similarly recall your Dementor last year, which performed the Kiss on Barty Crouch Jr without orders.

"Could it be, Minister, that the Dementors might not be under your complete control? Could that, perhaps, be the reason two of them attacked Harry, his cousin, and me in Little Whinging? And may I furthermore remind you that I am here as a witness, not an accused, and that I do not appreciate being treated as such?"

Fudge looked at her as if he'd like to hex her, but then seemed to think better of it. He waved his hand dismissively.

"Fine. You may go." Daphne stood up, gave a polite nod to both sides of the Wizengamot — though deliberately ignoring Fudge in the middle — looked at Dumbledore, who smiled benignly, and lastly at Harry, who seemed a bit strengthened by her story.

She exited the courtroom and once the door had closed behind her, she sighed deeply and angrily. "I hope Voldemort murders him," she said savagely. "Condescending idiot. Useless bag of rotten potatoes. Why couldn't he get attacked by Dementors?"

"He tried to rile you up, then?" Mr. Weasley asked dryly. Mrs. Figg seemed to have left already.

"He did. Made his own case worse, though, so perhaps his stupidity will help Harry, in the end…" Daphne said.

A few tense minutes later, which Daphne had filled by imagining horrible ways for Fudge to meet his end, the door of the courtroom opened again and Dumbledore strode out. He paused momentarily when he reached Daphne and Mr. Weasley.

"Harry has been cleared," he said. He looked at Daphne, who was grinning widely and feeling immensely relieved. "I need to go now, but I need to talk to you and Harry tonight. Your testimony was admirable, by the way. Minister Fudge was quite embarrassed by it. Now, good day." With a last nod, Dumbledore strode off.

Shortly after, Harry exited the courtroom as well, and Daphne immediately hugged him close. "I'm so happy you got cleared," she said softly.

"Indeed, this is wonderful news," Mr. Weasley said, beaming. "Well, they couldn't have found you guilty, of course, not with what they had, but even so…"

Harry himself was grinning too. "Fudge was so angry when you left the courtroom," he said softly to Daphne. "And Madam Bones wasn't impressed with him at all…"

The Wizengamot now began to file out of the courtroom, and Daphne, Harry, and Mr. Weasley stood to the side of the hallway to let them pass.

Mum and Dad shortly emerged and joined them. Mum drew Harry into a bone-crushing hug, while Dad slapped him on the shoulder and heartily congratulated him.

To Daphne's surprise, they were then briefly joined by Madam Bones. "Potter, my apologies for this farce of a trial," she said. "I'm afraid Cornelius has taken leave of his senses, to call the full Wizengamot for something like this."

Harry inclined his head and Madam Bones turned to look at Daphne, a small smile on her face. "Strong defense, Miss Greengrass. Edmund and Amaranth have clearly taught you well," she said.

Daphne grinned. "Thank you, Madam Bones," she said.

Madam Bones looked at Harry once more and said, "If you happen to see Sirius, tell him that I want him back at work the second we have a competent Minister again. We need people of his skill. Now, good day to you all." She strode off.

Harry grinned. "Sirius'll be glad to hear it," he said to Daphne.

Together, the five of them began to walk back to the Atrium, but when they reached the ninth-level corridor they ran into Fudge and Lucius Malfoy, who turned when he saw them approaching.

"Well, well, well…Patronus Potter," Malfoy said coolly. "The Minister was just telling me about your lucky escape, Potter. Quite astonishing, the way you continue to wriggle out of very tight holes…Snakelike, in fact…"

"Yes, Lucius, he's nearly as good of an escape artist as you are," Dad said, his voice entirely neutral.

"Ah, Edmund. You'll have been on poor Potter's side, then, given your daughter seems to be infatuated with him?"

Daphne glared at Malfoy, but he ignored her.

"We're on the side that attempts to uphold the law, Lucius, and we have ruled that Harry acted in full accordance with it," Mum said. "But of course, that concept is entirely foreign to you, so don't let us confuse you further. I'm sure you have important financial business to discuss with our esteemed Minister, after all. Perhaps you should also give him a few lessons on not harming his own causes by ill-advised accusations…"

With a sardonic smile and sarcastic nod, Mum put her hands on Daphne and Harry's shoulders and pushed them past Fudge and Malfoy, shortly followed by Dad and Mr. Weasley, each of whom exchanged glares with Fudge and Malfoy as they passed as well.

The moment they were all in the lift, Harry asked, "What was Malfoy doing here, anyway?"

"Trying to find out if you'd been expelled, I think," Mr. Weasley said. "Dumbledore will probably like to know that he's been talking to Fudge…"

"We'll tell him when we see him tonight," Daphne said.

"Dumbledore's stopping by?" Harry asked, surprised.

Daphne nodded. "He told Mr. Weasley and me just before you came out. He said he needed to talk to us… But never mind that for now, you're not expelled! We're going back to Hogwarts together!"

"Yeah…yeah!"

It was only now that Harry seemed to fully realize that he'd been cleared, and he was grinning stupidly all the way back to Grimmauld Place.

I'm not really sure if Fudge really would be stupid enough to shoot himself in the foot like that, but his canon portrayal certainly seems like he would be. How a moron like him ever made it to Minister is beyond me, even in a society so critically bereft of common sense.