Chapter Two: Moving On
The Minister of Magic's death was front page news the next morning, according to the report the funeral would take place in a fortnight's time and would be preceded ten days earlier by the opening of nominations for Minister, it also named Undersecretary Peterson - a man with little political experience but a fairly large following among the old wizarding families - as the person tasked by the Wizengamot with the role of temporary Minister.
Harry had anticipated this, and had discussed the impending situation with the five adults most likely to be affected - Sirius, Remus, Hermione, Civis, and of course Ginny - as soon as he got back home, and they had already formulated a course of action, so as soon as he saw the article, gave two letters to Civis, who agreed to send them immediately to the correct parties.
He spent most of day discussing his plan for the funeral with Farrell and the rest of his team. Romulus wasn't present, but Harry wasn't too worried, he figured that his friend was probably at the Minister's residence, making sure Blaise was okay - a plan that Harry approved of. Once that was completed, he spent a couple of hours doing paperwork in his office, and then returned home to his family.
When the names of the potential candidates were published in the Daily Prophet a few days later, it became clear that Harry was not going to have an easy time despite the endorsement of his predecessor. Counting himself and the acting Minister, there were six candidates, all depressingly familiar to Harry: Peterson, Draco Malfoy, Dolores Jane Umbridge, Gilderoy Lockhart, Ludovic Bagman, and of course Harry himself. Harry's immediate reaction was to inform Hermione, who had agreed to act as his campaign manager, to pass the information he'd collected on all of them to their contacts at the Daily Prophet.
----
When most people first encountered Jessica Alba Potter - or Jessie as she known to her friends and family - they often made the mistake of underestimating her. It wasn't really that surprising, because although she was fairly fit, at four foot six and about eighty-five pounds in weight she wasn't particularly big and was often dwarfed by two of her best friends, Hawkin Oliver O'Connor and Maxwell Dudley Dursley. It didn't help that her family were among the most famous witches and wizards of their generation. But Jessie never complained, because that was how she liked it, it was much easier to catch someone by surprise if they underestimated your abilities in the first place.
When she woke up on August the first, she got up immediately and dressed in her favourite jeans and last year's jumper from her grandmother. She was particularly eager to get started to today because her father had promised her that they would be going into London that day to pick up her school supplies, which to Jessie meant just one thing, she'd finally be getting a wand of her own. She'd been using an old wand of her father's to practise with for about a year, but she was sure that she'd get better results from a wand tailored to her own needs. Besides, the school age Weasleys were also pretty much guaranteed to be in Diagon Alley too, and she was looking forward to seeing Virgil Weasley again - he was the second oldest child of her godparents Ron and Hermione Weasley and next to Hawk and Max, Virgil - or Gill as he was more often known - was probably her closest friend.
By the time she got down in the kitchen, most of the family were already there: her mum and dad were present, as were Sirius and Leona Black, Remus and Emmeline Lupin, Andromeda Tonks and Jamie Potter; of her siblings and foster-siblings, only Max and her younger brother and sister were present. Mary, six, and Billy, four, were the youngest children at the Gryphon's Eyrie, except on the odd occasion that Mark and Gabrielle Evans, close friends of the family came up with their kids at which time Mary became the fourth youngest and Billy the second as he was Charles Evans' senior by about eight months.
Her father vetoed the request by Mary that they come along, insisting that they were better off staying at home. However, he did agree to her eight- year old brother David and the Black twins (nine) coming with them, so it was a rather large party that ended up heading down to the gatehouse. There were eleven of them in all: her parents, Max, Hawkin, David, Cassie, Andy and of course Jessie herself. They were also accompanied by Civis and two of the Hit-Wizards - she thought their names were Long and Riggs but she wasn't sure - that had been following them around since the Daily Prophet report that her father was standing for Minister of Magic.
Jessie was third to step up to the fireplace - Civis and one of the Hit Wizards had already gone through - she took a big handful of coarse, grey, Floo Powder and threw into the flames. "Diagon Alley!"
----
Their first stop was Gringotts Wizarding Bank, Jessie's father presented his key to one of the goblins and then was ushered towards the carts, Max and David as usual declined the offer of a ride and Ginny, Civis and Sergeant Riggs agreed to stay with them, while Jessie, Hawkin, the twins and Officer Long accompanied her father down to the vault.
The ride was as hair-raising as usual, and despite the fact that their vault was hundreds of feet below ground they reached it in a matter of minutes.
"Vault 684." declared the goblin, who - if Jessie remembered correctly was called Saldirk - got out of the cart first. "Lamp please." Long handed over the lamp, and moved to help her father out of the cart, he shook his head and got out himself. "Key please."
Her father passed Saldirk the key and the diminutive goblin to the vault and he fitted it into the lock. Immediately, the door swung open and they were able to enter. Jessie followed her father into the vault with Hawkin and the twins at her heels, but Saldirk and Long stayed outside. It only took a few seconds for her father to fill two moneybags with gold Galleons, silver Sickles and bronze Knuts, he pocketed the larger of the two and then handed the smaller one to Jessie ("To pay for anything you or the boys need when you're at Hogwarts."). Jessie nodded and slipped it into her pocket.
They left the vault and Saldirk returned them to the main hall where they were reunited with the rest of the family. Next stop was Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, where they picked up Jessie, Hawkin and Max's Hogwarts uniforms, Max's took the longest due to the fact that at five foot three inches and a hundred and forty pounds, he was too large for the usual plain black student's and Madam Malkin had to alter a set of men's robes for him.
A visit to the Apothecary and the stationer's yielded them most of the rest of the items they needed, and a quick trip into Flourish and Blott's - which lasted a little longer than planned because they met up with Hermione, Fleur and their three school-age children who promptly joined the party - furnished them with the necessary texts to see them through the year. And finally, they arrived at the one shop that Jessie had most been looked forward to visiting. The sign over the door read:
OLLIVANDER'S
Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.
Her father decided that they should keep the visitors to this stop to a minimum so he took his three in first. A tiny bell dinged as they entered the shop and Mr Ollivander appeared immediately. Jessie was most struck by his eyes, which were pale and silvery and almost appeared to shine.
"Welcome, welcome. Ah, Mr Potter, good to see you again... Rowan, 12½ inches, nice and supple, wasn't it?"
Her father nodded. "That's the one I'm using now, yes."
"Indeed. And now is time for your daughter to have her first wand. And Mr Dursley and Mr O'Connor of course."
Her father nodded and pushed Jessie forward, knowing what was expected of her Jessie stuck out her right hand. Ollivander nodded and immediately summoned the measuring and then began taking down boxes. "No... no... no..." he muttered, searching through the stacks of wands. "That one wouldn't do at all... ah, perhaps this one," he decided then walked to the front of the shop.
"Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible."
Jessie took the wand and whirled it around a bit. Boxes flew off the shelves.
"Nope," decided Ollivander, snatching the one. "Let's try this one. Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy."
This time the whole shop rattled. "Not that one either." he concluded and rather a few minutes of searching he picked out a third wand. Ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy."
The result of this attempt was somewhat, explosive. With a burst of energy, Jessie flew backwards and crashed through the shop window. Civis helped her up and staggered back into the shop.
"Definitely not!" confirmed Ollivander and snatched the wand back. He wandered to the back of the shop, muttering to himself. After awhile he appeared to come to a decision. "You are a tricky customer, Miss Potter, but I believe this one may fit you. It's a very unusual combination, I've only ever made one like it in a all my years. But, let's give it a try. Holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."
Jessie noticed her father's eyebrows shoot up at this suggestion, but she didn't want to disturb Mr Ollivander by asking what as wrong. Instead she hesitantly took the proffered wand and gave it a wave. This time the shop filled with golden light.
Mr Ollivander clapped his hands in delight. "Curious... curious," he muttered as he wrapped the wand up.
"What's curious?" asked Jessie.
"It is curious that you should have this Miss Potter, because it is a wand that under normal circumstances I would have never made. It is more or less and exact copy of another wand - and that, as your father will tell you, was once his." Jessie nodded at this, not particularly surprised. "I think we can expect great things from you my dear. Great things indeed."
With that rather odd pronouncement, Ollivander turned his attention to her two friends. Although Hawkin was easy enough to find a wand for - he got a thirteen inch long, springy wand made of yew - Max was harder to supply but Ollivander eventually unearthed a rare Demiguise hair wand, which seemed to suit him rather well.
They left the shop and waited outside from the Weasleys, who came out not too many minutes later. After lunch at the Leaky Cauldron, the two groups split up and used the Floo to return home, with Virgil following the Potters back to Gryphon's Eyrie.
----
By the time they arrived at the funeral, there was already a fairly large crowd there, as they moved through the crowd, Jessie recognised a few of guests and nodded to them. There were also a large continent of Ministry security operatives: Jessie counted a full company of Hit Wizards in heavy combat armour, and there were also twenty or thirty witches and wizards in the cream and gold formal robes of Aurors - Jessie recognised about half of them and was a little surprised, as well the rest of her father's team, she also spotted Nymphadora Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Katie Bell and Cho Chang, all of which were fairly high up in department. She was a little startled when she saw a black robed, cloaked figure rather like the Grim Reaper, but she calmed down once she realised who it probably was. She turned so she could whisper a question to one of her friends.
Hawkin nodded to show he understood, then turned towards the figure, it only took a few moments for his unique vision to confirm Jessie's suspicions. "You're right, it is Masters. He's probably tried to stay out of the sun, he is a vampire after all."
Jessie nodded and returned to scanning the crowd. There were also several dozen witches and wizards in mourning dress - mainly black, but a few grey or lavender robes were also visible. Jessie recognised about two-thirds of the mourners, many were friends of her parents, others were Ministry officials she'd seen or heard of. Once they got closer to the grave site, Jessie spotted a small group of very familiar faces - her uncle Romie and Aunt Blaise, as well as her Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione with all four of their children and also her aunt Jamie, her uncle Mark and his family and the two Bones sisters with their husbands and children. Jessie's father shook hands with several people as they moved to the front, and then slipped in beside her honorary aunt and uncle with her mother at his side. At his insistence, Jessie moved to his other side.
After a few minutes, the master of ceremonies stepped up to the podium facing the crowd. Jessie smiled, there weren't many people who fail to recognise the old, long-bearded man, who until recently had been regarded as the greatest sorcerer in the world.
"Welcome ladies and gentleman," Dumbledore began. "We are gathered here today to witness the internment of Zacharias Algernon Zabini, who sadly passed on to his next great adventure two weeks ago. In accordance with his last will and testament, he will be interned here, in his family's plot, beside his beloved wife who departed several years ago."
At a signal from Dumbledore, a large group of blue and silver clad wizards started to make their way through the crowd; at the centre of the group were six Hit Wizards who supported the coffin on their shoulders, they were flanked by two armed platoons of Hit Wizards also in full ceremonial dress each led by a witch or wizard with the arrow insignia of a sergeant, another platoon was split between the front and rear of the group, and finally a middle-aged woman dressed in black dress robes with a gold star on each shoulder led the column to the burial plot. In an undertone, Harry identified the older man as Commander Margaret Henderson, Director Wright's assistant and department manager.
The service didn't last long. The Hit Wizards lowered the coffin into the ground then they formed ranks and let off a salute from their wands. Then Dumbledore said a few words, and the coffin was covered over. After Dumbledore and the escort had left, well-wishers flocked to her aunt to offer their condolences, she managed okay for a while but it soon became clear that she was becoming overwhelmed, so at a signal from her dad (which she nearly missed) their colleagues surrounded them and her Uncle Romie guided her away towards the Apparation point.
Once the crowds had cleared a little, her father immediately led the family back to the Floo terminal – Jessie guessed he was trying to avoid the media – and they returned home.
A/N: I hope the wait was worth it for you all, the next chapter will be up as soon possible, but that'll probably be at least a week. In the meantime, drop me an e-mail or review and let me know what you think of my story.
The Minister of Magic's death was front page news the next morning, according to the report the funeral would take place in a fortnight's time and would be preceded ten days earlier by the opening of nominations for Minister, it also named Undersecretary Peterson - a man with little political experience but a fairly large following among the old wizarding families - as the person tasked by the Wizengamot with the role of temporary Minister.
Harry had anticipated this, and had discussed the impending situation with the five adults most likely to be affected - Sirius, Remus, Hermione, Civis, and of course Ginny - as soon as he got back home, and they had already formulated a course of action, so as soon as he saw the article, gave two letters to Civis, who agreed to send them immediately to the correct parties.
He spent most of day discussing his plan for the funeral with Farrell and the rest of his team. Romulus wasn't present, but Harry wasn't too worried, he figured that his friend was probably at the Minister's residence, making sure Blaise was okay - a plan that Harry approved of. Once that was completed, he spent a couple of hours doing paperwork in his office, and then returned home to his family.
When the names of the potential candidates were published in the Daily Prophet a few days later, it became clear that Harry was not going to have an easy time despite the endorsement of his predecessor. Counting himself and the acting Minister, there were six candidates, all depressingly familiar to Harry: Peterson, Draco Malfoy, Dolores Jane Umbridge, Gilderoy Lockhart, Ludovic Bagman, and of course Harry himself. Harry's immediate reaction was to inform Hermione, who had agreed to act as his campaign manager, to pass the information he'd collected on all of them to their contacts at the Daily Prophet.
----
When most people first encountered Jessica Alba Potter - or Jessie as she known to her friends and family - they often made the mistake of underestimating her. It wasn't really that surprising, because although she was fairly fit, at four foot six and about eighty-five pounds in weight she wasn't particularly big and was often dwarfed by two of her best friends, Hawkin Oliver O'Connor and Maxwell Dudley Dursley. It didn't help that her family were among the most famous witches and wizards of their generation. But Jessie never complained, because that was how she liked it, it was much easier to catch someone by surprise if they underestimated your abilities in the first place.
When she woke up on August the first, she got up immediately and dressed in her favourite jeans and last year's jumper from her grandmother. She was particularly eager to get started to today because her father had promised her that they would be going into London that day to pick up her school supplies, which to Jessie meant just one thing, she'd finally be getting a wand of her own. She'd been using an old wand of her father's to practise with for about a year, but she was sure that she'd get better results from a wand tailored to her own needs. Besides, the school age Weasleys were also pretty much guaranteed to be in Diagon Alley too, and she was looking forward to seeing Virgil Weasley again - he was the second oldest child of her godparents Ron and Hermione Weasley and next to Hawk and Max, Virgil - or Gill as he was more often known - was probably her closest friend.
By the time she got down in the kitchen, most of the family were already there: her mum and dad were present, as were Sirius and Leona Black, Remus and Emmeline Lupin, Andromeda Tonks and Jamie Potter; of her siblings and foster-siblings, only Max and her younger brother and sister were present. Mary, six, and Billy, four, were the youngest children at the Gryphon's Eyrie, except on the odd occasion that Mark and Gabrielle Evans, close friends of the family came up with their kids at which time Mary became the fourth youngest and Billy the second as he was Charles Evans' senior by about eight months.
Her father vetoed the request by Mary that they come along, insisting that they were better off staying at home. However, he did agree to her eight- year old brother David and the Black twins (nine) coming with them, so it was a rather large party that ended up heading down to the gatehouse. There were eleven of them in all: her parents, Max, Hawkin, David, Cassie, Andy and of course Jessie herself. They were also accompanied by Civis and two of the Hit-Wizards - she thought their names were Long and Riggs but she wasn't sure - that had been following them around since the Daily Prophet report that her father was standing for Minister of Magic.
Jessie was third to step up to the fireplace - Civis and one of the Hit Wizards had already gone through - she took a big handful of coarse, grey, Floo Powder and threw into the flames. "Diagon Alley!"
----
Their first stop was Gringotts Wizarding Bank, Jessie's father presented his key to one of the goblins and then was ushered towards the carts, Max and David as usual declined the offer of a ride and Ginny, Civis and Sergeant Riggs agreed to stay with them, while Jessie, Hawkin, the twins and Officer Long accompanied her father down to the vault.
The ride was as hair-raising as usual, and despite the fact that their vault was hundreds of feet below ground they reached it in a matter of minutes.
"Vault 684." declared the goblin, who - if Jessie remembered correctly was called Saldirk - got out of the cart first. "Lamp please." Long handed over the lamp, and moved to help her father out of the cart, he shook his head and got out himself. "Key please."
Her father passed Saldirk the key and the diminutive goblin to the vault and he fitted it into the lock. Immediately, the door swung open and they were able to enter. Jessie followed her father into the vault with Hawkin and the twins at her heels, but Saldirk and Long stayed outside. It only took a few seconds for her father to fill two moneybags with gold Galleons, silver Sickles and bronze Knuts, he pocketed the larger of the two and then handed the smaller one to Jessie ("To pay for anything you or the boys need when you're at Hogwarts."). Jessie nodded and slipped it into her pocket.
They left the vault and Saldirk returned them to the main hall where they were reunited with the rest of the family. Next stop was Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, where they picked up Jessie, Hawkin and Max's Hogwarts uniforms, Max's took the longest due to the fact that at five foot three inches and a hundred and forty pounds, he was too large for the usual plain black student's and Madam Malkin had to alter a set of men's robes for him.
A visit to the Apothecary and the stationer's yielded them most of the rest of the items they needed, and a quick trip into Flourish and Blott's - which lasted a little longer than planned because they met up with Hermione, Fleur and their three school-age children who promptly joined the party - furnished them with the necessary texts to see them through the year. And finally, they arrived at the one shop that Jessie had most been looked forward to visiting. The sign over the door read:
OLLIVANDER'S
Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.
Her father decided that they should keep the visitors to this stop to a minimum so he took his three in first. A tiny bell dinged as they entered the shop and Mr Ollivander appeared immediately. Jessie was most struck by his eyes, which were pale and silvery and almost appeared to shine.
"Welcome, welcome. Ah, Mr Potter, good to see you again... Rowan, 12½ inches, nice and supple, wasn't it?"
Her father nodded. "That's the one I'm using now, yes."
"Indeed. And now is time for your daughter to have her first wand. And Mr Dursley and Mr O'Connor of course."
Her father nodded and pushed Jessie forward, knowing what was expected of her Jessie stuck out her right hand. Ollivander nodded and immediately summoned the measuring and then began taking down boxes. "No... no... no..." he muttered, searching through the stacks of wands. "That one wouldn't do at all... ah, perhaps this one," he decided then walked to the front of the shop.
"Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible."
Jessie took the wand and whirled it around a bit. Boxes flew off the shelves.
"Nope," decided Ollivander, snatching the one. "Let's try this one. Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy."
This time the whole shop rattled. "Not that one either." he concluded and rather a few minutes of searching he picked out a third wand. Ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy."
The result of this attempt was somewhat, explosive. With a burst of energy, Jessie flew backwards and crashed through the shop window. Civis helped her up and staggered back into the shop.
"Definitely not!" confirmed Ollivander and snatched the wand back. He wandered to the back of the shop, muttering to himself. After awhile he appeared to come to a decision. "You are a tricky customer, Miss Potter, but I believe this one may fit you. It's a very unusual combination, I've only ever made one like it in a all my years. But, let's give it a try. Holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."
Jessie noticed her father's eyebrows shoot up at this suggestion, but she didn't want to disturb Mr Ollivander by asking what as wrong. Instead she hesitantly took the proffered wand and gave it a wave. This time the shop filled with golden light.
Mr Ollivander clapped his hands in delight. "Curious... curious," he muttered as he wrapped the wand up.
"What's curious?" asked Jessie.
"It is curious that you should have this Miss Potter, because it is a wand that under normal circumstances I would have never made. It is more or less and exact copy of another wand - and that, as your father will tell you, was once his." Jessie nodded at this, not particularly surprised. "I think we can expect great things from you my dear. Great things indeed."
With that rather odd pronouncement, Ollivander turned his attention to her two friends. Although Hawkin was easy enough to find a wand for - he got a thirteen inch long, springy wand made of yew - Max was harder to supply but Ollivander eventually unearthed a rare Demiguise hair wand, which seemed to suit him rather well.
They left the shop and waited outside from the Weasleys, who came out not too many minutes later. After lunch at the Leaky Cauldron, the two groups split up and used the Floo to return home, with Virgil following the Potters back to Gryphon's Eyrie.
----
By the time they arrived at the funeral, there was already a fairly large crowd there, as they moved through the crowd, Jessie recognised a few of guests and nodded to them. There were also a large continent of Ministry security operatives: Jessie counted a full company of Hit Wizards in heavy combat armour, and there were also twenty or thirty witches and wizards in the cream and gold formal robes of Aurors - Jessie recognised about half of them and was a little surprised, as well the rest of her father's team, she also spotted Nymphadora Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Katie Bell and Cho Chang, all of which were fairly high up in department. She was a little startled when she saw a black robed, cloaked figure rather like the Grim Reaper, but she calmed down once she realised who it probably was. She turned so she could whisper a question to one of her friends.
Hawkin nodded to show he understood, then turned towards the figure, it only took a few moments for his unique vision to confirm Jessie's suspicions. "You're right, it is Masters. He's probably tried to stay out of the sun, he is a vampire after all."
Jessie nodded and returned to scanning the crowd. There were also several dozen witches and wizards in mourning dress - mainly black, but a few grey or lavender robes were also visible. Jessie recognised about two-thirds of the mourners, many were friends of her parents, others were Ministry officials she'd seen or heard of. Once they got closer to the grave site, Jessie spotted a small group of very familiar faces - her uncle Romie and Aunt Blaise, as well as her Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione with all four of their children and also her aunt Jamie, her uncle Mark and his family and the two Bones sisters with their husbands and children. Jessie's father shook hands with several people as they moved to the front, and then slipped in beside her honorary aunt and uncle with her mother at his side. At his insistence, Jessie moved to his other side.
After a few minutes, the master of ceremonies stepped up to the podium facing the crowd. Jessie smiled, there weren't many people who fail to recognise the old, long-bearded man, who until recently had been regarded as the greatest sorcerer in the world.
"Welcome ladies and gentleman," Dumbledore began. "We are gathered here today to witness the internment of Zacharias Algernon Zabini, who sadly passed on to his next great adventure two weeks ago. In accordance with his last will and testament, he will be interned here, in his family's plot, beside his beloved wife who departed several years ago."
At a signal from Dumbledore, a large group of blue and silver clad wizards started to make their way through the crowd; at the centre of the group were six Hit Wizards who supported the coffin on their shoulders, they were flanked by two armed platoons of Hit Wizards also in full ceremonial dress each led by a witch or wizard with the arrow insignia of a sergeant, another platoon was split between the front and rear of the group, and finally a middle-aged woman dressed in black dress robes with a gold star on each shoulder led the column to the burial plot. In an undertone, Harry identified the older man as Commander Margaret Henderson, Director Wright's assistant and department manager.
The service didn't last long. The Hit Wizards lowered the coffin into the ground then they formed ranks and let off a salute from their wands. Then Dumbledore said a few words, and the coffin was covered over. After Dumbledore and the escort had left, well-wishers flocked to her aunt to offer their condolences, she managed okay for a while but it soon became clear that she was becoming overwhelmed, so at a signal from her dad (which she nearly missed) their colleagues surrounded them and her Uncle Romie guided her away towards the Apparation point.
Once the crowds had cleared a little, her father immediately led the family back to the Floo terminal – Jessie guessed he was trying to avoid the media – and they returned home.
A/N: I hope the wait was worth it for you all, the next chapter will be up as soon possible, but that'll probably be at least a week. In the meantime, drop me an e-mail or review and let me know what you think of my story.