Blink… looks at number of reviews again, blink Whoa… thanks, everyone! I honestly never even dreamed I'd get over a thousand. I think that it's now unanimous. Everyone hates Fudge! Harry included, as I think that you will see.

Oh and Hagrid's coming… but not quite yet.

DISCLAIMER IN CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 24

Press

Fudge had made his final mistake in a career full of them. But this one would be his undoing. If he had waited just a few minutes longer to make his claim about Harry's support, the rather shaky façade of his popularity might have lasted another day or two, at least until Harry had heard about his claim and denied it. Even then, Fudge still might have been able to pull out of it, because retractions never quite get the same amount of attention as the headlines do. But Fudge lied right then, and Harry had heard and frankly, it was just the last straw added to the back of a camel that had several bales too many loaded on already. Harry saw red. It was just too much. His mother would just have to understand. There were time when holding your temper in check wasn't feasible.

He stormed out on to the platform where Fudge was proudly making his announcement, ignoring the gasps from the assembled crowd at the sight of him coming up behind the minister. Gasps that were soon followed by a storm of clicking, flashes, and hurried scribbling as the assembled reporters got the scoop of their lifetime. Harry Potter was alive. Harry Potter looked sane. Harry Potter looked healthy and powerful.

Harry Potter was also yelling at the Minister of Magic. "YOU INSUFFERABLE, INSIGNIFICANT, ANNOYING, LITTLE GIT! I WOULDN'T EVEN VOTE FOR YOU, MUCH LESS GIVE YOU MY SUPPORT!" Yes, this was going to be quite the story.

Fudge cringed and hurriedly moved to put the podium between Harry and himself. The reporters scribbled busily and many were grinning widely. Fudge had not endeared himself some of the reporters, especially those who didn't like it when he ordered the information in some of their stories 'rearranged' for the public good. Several had spoken to colleagues and wondered just when the public good had turned into Fudge's good. But no one had dared to do anything more than grumble very quietly about it. Fudge was the Minster of Magic.

Harry didn't care. Fudge's idiocy had gone too far. He took a deep breath, and controlled his temper the best that he could. It wouldn't do to start cursing the quivering lump of stupidity in front of him. Now that would certainly be an unfair duel. No, once again, a verbal assault was the best way to go. Fully conscious of the fact that everything that he said was likely to be in the newspaper the next morning, Harry continued his rant. "Fudge, you're an idiot. You couldn't administer your way out of a paper bag! You're almost as dangerous as Voldemort himself, but in a different way. You consistently put yourself and your interests ahead of the people. THE PEOPLE THAT YOU ARE SWORN TO PROTECT!" Harry shook his finger in Fudge's face.

Sirius just grinned, and muttered to Snape. "This makes coming to save your arse actually worthwhile, Snape."

Snape sneered in response. "Unfortunately, even this isn't worth seeing you, Black." Actually, Snape would have put up with a lot more than just seeing Sirius for the pleasure of watching Fudge cower, but there was no way on this world that he would ever admit that to his rival.

Remus broke in. The two enemies had been forced to come to some terms in the last few years, because of the war, but they were still far from friends. It wouldn't do to have one of their, now rare, but still very violent, verbal brawls right here. "Unless you two are prepared to deal with Harry yelling at YOU, I suggest you shut it."

Sirius paled at the thought. Snape found this humorous and sneered. "So, Black, scared of your own godson?"

Sirius grinned slightly at this. "Snape, when he took out Voldemort, he was only mildly annoyed. Yeah, I'm scared of him." That shut Snape up admirably. Which, as he later explained to a disapproving Remus, was one of the few joys Sirius had left in his life.

Meanwhile, Harry had backed Fudge completely around the stage once, and was now starting in on his stupidity. He had already covered his carelessness and his greed. "Not only did you have me put in prison without proper regard for the due process, OR VERITASERUM, which, incidentally, WOULD HAVE PROVEN ME INNOCENT, but now you have the utter and absolute gall to try to do it again, to two men innocent of the crimes that YOU accused them of. And why did you accuse them? Hmmm? Care to tell the reporters that?" The aforementioned reporters were grinning as one. It wasn't everyday that a normal press conference turns into something like this. Harry continued, as unstoppable as the tide. "For votes! That is the only possible reason for you to persecute two people who served the light in a way that no one else could. You were willing to sacrifice them and all so that YOU LOOKED BETTER! They didn't do anything but help the light side! Where do you think Dumbledore got all the inside information that you would always ignore?"

Fudge sputtered incoherently. Out in the crowd, most of the members of the Order were watching with awe as their non-esteemed minister was taken down a few pegs. Dumbledore, however, was looking at Remus. He raised a questioning eyebrow at the werewolf. He knew that he could count on the former professor to give him at least some idea of what the situation with Harry was at currently. He only let himself relax a little when Remus mouthed back, "Better, but slow." He sighed in relief. This was one time that he had been right. Harry would heal, but it would just take some time.

Meanwhile, Harry was relentlessly questioning the minister, but not really giving him time to answer. Not that Fudge was currently capable of even telling someone his name at the moment. He was discovering something that Sirius, Remus, Dumbledore and possibly even Voldemort had learned the hard way. Do not, under any circumstances, be the catalyst that causes Harry Potter to lose his temper. If it is unavoidable that you do so, it is very wise to have either an escape route or earplugs. "Why exactly didn't you let anyone see the trial today? Since when is Albus Dumbledore not a good enough witness for you? Would you like the world to know about the many people that you let off the hook because of their political power and the votes that they could bring you?" Harry actually had no idea if this was true or not, but Fudge just whimpered, so he knew that he must have made a lucky guess. "How you knew that Voldemort was back for a good three months before you announced it?" Harry took a deep breath and spat. "Even your realization came a year after you had eyewitness testimony, ME, to his return!"

Harry folded his arms and looked mean. "And you have the nerve to try to run for Minister AGAIN? You should have resigned years ago out of pure incompetence!" Fudge, now bright pink with embarrassment and fear, hurriedly backed out the door. Harry didn't follow, something which made the minister extremely happy, but the younger man's words continued to follow him as he fled back towards his office. "FUDGE, I'D VOTE FOR A MUGGLE BEFORE I'D VOTE FOR YOU!"

Harry gave a grim little snort and turned back towards his audience, surprisingly unembarrassed after his outburst. He scanned the crowd, noticing the Order members and skimming right over them. One reporter mustered all of her nerve up and called out. "Mr. Potter, would you possibly answer a few questions for us?" Nearly everyone in the building expected him to say no.

He didn't though. He merely folded his arms, somehow managing to look dangerous, totally in control of the situation, and like the boy next door all wrapped up into one package. "I can't promise I'll answer them all, but I can spare a few minutes."

Everyone looked to the brave reporter, who, suddenly feeling the pressure, gulped and spoke up again. "Mr. Potter, the minister recently reported that you were presumed dead. It seems pretty obvious, but will you comment as to your health?" That seemed like a rather safe question.

Harry picked up on the mass nervousness of the crowd, and relaxed a little. "I am perfectly healthy. I fear Fudge just couldn't find me and so assumed the worst. Not to mention the fact that he would much prefer that I was a martyr than someone who would tell the truth about him and what he tries to get away with."

Another man spoke up from the other side of the room. "Mr. Potter, since you obviously don't support Minister Fudge…" A nervous laugh ran around the room at the understatement. "Who do you support? Or will you run yourself?"

Harry thought about that one for a moment. "Well, first of all, I don't know who else is running, so I can't give an opinion on that. I also think that the people should decide for themselves who they want in a position of leadership, not just blindly take my recommendation. As for me, no, I won't be running for Minister at this time."

"Why not, sir, no offense, but you'd likely win with votes to spare."

Harry nodded. "Probably. However, just because I could win doesn't mean I should. I'm not saying that I wouldn't consider it at a later time, I'd have to approach that as it came up, but for right now, it just wouldn't work." He sighed. "I've been in prison for years, and I'm still putting my life back together from that. I have no idea how to run a ministry, and on top of that, I think I need to give my grudge at the Ministry a little more time to die. It wouldn't do to be blowing up the ministry building. Kind of hard to explain to the taxpayers…" Everyone laughed. Harry had them all wrapped around his finger.

"Sir, how did you survive Azkaban with your sanity intact?" This came from the back, and was yelled loudly. Silence fell over the crowd at the mention of Harry's imprisonment.

Harry frowned and the reporter flinched almost imperceptibly. However, Harry just sighed and motioned for the next question while calmly stating, "No comment on that one."

"Sir, what are your plans now?"

Harry grinned. "Well, my plans in the immediate future include figuring out some way of stopping the boatload of fan mail I get everyday and taking a nap. Beyond that, I have no clue." Even if he'd had plans, he didn't really want the whole world to know them anyway.

Rita Skeeter stood in the back of the room and yelled out. "Potter, now that you've ruined Fudge's life in revenge for what was done to you, who's next on your list?" Silence fell over the room, and more than one honest reporter shot death glares at Skeeter. If she ruined the one chance they had to get information from that automatic paper seller named Harry Potter…

Harry clenched his fists and glared. "I'm tempted to make it you, Skeeter. In fact, although I don't and never have had any type of a list, I might make one just for you." Then he sighed. "It's rather obvious that I don't like Minister Fudge, and frankly, I think next to anyone could do his job better than him, but I do not want to ruin his life. I just don't want him in a position to ruin anyone else's life."

"Do you think that criminal charges should be filed against Minister Fudge? Say for neglect or abuse of power or something like that?" This was from the young woman who had been the first to speak.

Harry's face grew stern. "Not unless you plan on filing charges against most of the wizarding world." He pointed out at the audience. "You, and the readers of your papers, tend to forget your responsibilities to our society. Everyone is quite eager to cheer someone else on to handle the problems that come up, but very few of you have any desire to help at all. In this way the Muggles have one up on us. If one of their leaders had done even half of what Fudge had done, he or she would have been out of office in no time at all. The citizens bear just as much guilt for not holding their leaders accountable as Fudge does for abusing the power that comes with his position."

Quills were scribbling furiously. Sirius just looked down, so proud of his godson at that moment that he could have cried. James would have been so pleased to see a son of his using his position in the world to change things for the better. James had always been the crusader, and it seemed that Harry shared some of the same traits. Harry, however, had the capability of reaching far more people with his opinions and ideals. Sirius wondered if Harry would be minister someday. Perhaps he was somewhat biased, but Sirius thought that he would make a very good one. After everything that had happened to him, Harry still cared.

Harry continued. "What you all fail to realize is that even Voldemort… oh, don't flinch, he's dead, and this time he won't be coming back, there's no good reason not to say his name. Voldemort, while powerful, while having many followers, while being a dark wizard, didn't actually have anywhere near enough of either power or followers to stand against all of you." Once again, he pointed out at the crowd. "Especially at the beginning. If you had ALL stood up for what you believed, instead of just a few of you, like the Order of the Phoenix, this war wouldn't have been half so deadly. But your prejudices and your laziness stopped you from helping, and instead you all just waited for a hero. Well, you got lucky this time. Voldemort's dead. But imagine your world if I'd died in prison, or went insane, or worse, if Voldemort had achieved his dream of immortality." He sighed, knowing that this was probably getting too philosophical. "Look, just tell your readers to think about it."

Harry sighed again. "Well, now that you've all discovered my soapbox…" He looked out at the sea of blank faces. "Oh sorry, muggle term, means what makes me go off on long speeches. Anyway…" Suddenly every reporter there was on the receiving end of a toned down death glare. They flinched as one. "I expect to see this incident reported truthfully."

Rita Skeeter, carefully avoiding the lunge that one of the neighboring reporters made to shut her big mouth, yelled out. "Is that a threat, Potter? Or a bribe? Perhaps you… mmph!" This time, the neighbor didn't miss.

Harry just grinned at the sight. "No, that was not a threat, but my future discussions with the press will be based on how honestly you report what happened here and any other incidents that might occur. Suffice it to say that any reporter that lies about me will never get an interview, and on top of that, I might just let it get out that I like or dislike a certain paper…" No one missed the veiled warning. A boycott by Harry Potter could prove disastrous for any paper's circulation. They understood. If they treated Harry with respect, he would do the same for them. For most papers, this would be no problem. For Rita Skeeter… well, that was another issue.

Snape sighed almost wistfully as he watched Harry get exactly what he wanted from the reporters. "He should have been a Slytherin." He muttered under his breath.

Remus wasn't sure who looked more horrified at that, Sirius or Malfoy. Both of their expressions were truly comical. Remus, on the other hand, having a healthy respect for the usefulness of the Slytherin characteristics, replied, "Maybe, but I'm rather glad he wasn't." A Slytherin Harry might still have killed Voldemort, but possibly only to take his place.

The crowd of reporters took Harry's warning as the end of the conference, and headed frantically out to write their stories. As the hustle and bustle died down, Harry just looked at the remaining people in the room. A large amount of redheads, Hermione, and Dumbledore stared back at him. The silence stretched for a long moment, and then Harry, an inscrutable look on his face, turned his back on them and walked away. He had just discovered that while it is somewhat easy to think about trying to forgive someone while sitting alone at home, it's much, much harder to actually have those thoughts while staring them in the face. He just wasn't ready yet.

However, Ron wasn't about to let his friend just disappear again. "Harry, wait, please!" He dashed forward and grabbed at Harry's arm. Remus and Sirius winced in unison. They had learned from experience that it was much wiser to let Harry choose his own times. Trying to force the matter helped nothing. This couldn't end well.

Sure enough, it didn't. Ten seconds later, Harry resumed his walk out of the building, leaving Ron on the ground nursing his newly broken nose. Remus shrugged to the surprised group as he and Sirius hurried after Harry, leaving Hermione berating Ron. "You idiot, of course he'd going to be angry, especially with you grabbing his elbow like that. Why don't you ever think? Oh, honestly, Ron!"

Ron's response to all this was both obvious and heartfelt. "Ow."

Harry's reaction wasn't all that different, but he was careful to get out of the room before shaking out his hand and cursing. Punching someone hurt. It definitely wasn't as easy as the people in the TV shows Dudley had used to watch made it look. He heard a muffled snort from behind him and he whirled on Sirius. "Think it's funny, do you?"

Sirius did a remarkably good impression of someone watching a freight train come barreling towards him. "Uhh, no! Not at all!" Somehow the wince denied the truthfulness of the statement.

Harry snorted in disbelief and walked onwards, mentally berating himself all of the way. He hadn't really meant to punch Ron, it had just kind of happened. So much for him trying to work past things. Harry knew that he could do it, it was just going to take a little more time. It didn't help that Harry couldn't make himself feel too bad for breaking Ron's nose, he had deserved it. He sighed, this moving on thing was going to be a little harder than he'd thought.

Grumbling once again at the state of his own emotions, Harry apparated all three of them back to the castle, where he proceeded to head straight to bed. He hadn't slept since he'd woken up from his coma, and he was getting groggy with exhaustion. He decided to think about the whole matter in the morning, because he knew that he wasn't up to giving the events of the day the amount of time that was needed to think everything through.

Sirius and Remus stayed downstairs to discuss things. For a long moment, they just looked at each other. Remus was the first to speak. "Well, that was interesting."

"That's an understatement. I hope the Weasley kid's OK."

Remus chuckled. "He's got five brothers, I doubt that it's the first time he's gotten his nose broken."

Sirius ran a hand through his hair. "I swear, Moony, every time I think I have him figured out…"

Remus nodded in full agreement, knowing that he was talking about Harry's amazing ability to surprise everyone on a regular basis. "I know, I know. Then something else happens…"

COMING SOON: The fate of the Firebolt, and a visit to a familiar place.

No cliffhanger here, because I know I've given you a couple of bad ones recently. Anyway, hopefully my Fudge bashing lived up to at least part of your expectations. It was very fun to write. Umm, just a warning, finals are coming up for me, and although I'm still hoping to keep to my once a week update times, it may or may not be possible. I'll try really hard, but my school has to take precedence, at least until I pass Statistics. Also, although it had been a one-time goal of mine to get finished before Christmas, it won't be happening. Too many "long" parts… oh well… =) - krtshadow