Chapter dedicated to Phoenix Man, who reviewed every single chapter of my story today.

In Every Darkness

Chapter Forty Nine: The Ministry of Magic

18.9.1996

 Marge Dursley entered the Court House. She shouldn't have to be doing this, she thought to herself. Why should anyone want to defend her 'nephew'?

 She looked around the court house, small, piggy eyes narrowed as she searched for the boy on whom she blamed this current situation.

 On one side of the room, she saw a young, black-haired man, his slim, graceful body well muscled, who looked sad and bewildered. Beside him, a tall, aristocratic blonde man stood, a hand resting on the youths shoulder, and just in front of them was a old man, silver hair falling to his waist, blue eyes glittering behind half moon spectacles.

 For a moment, Marge thought the two younger men made a handsome picture, some father and his son, then she realised: the youth was the Potter boy.

 She didn't know who the other two men were, and nor did she care. How dare her so called nephew trick her into thinking he was someone else!

 "Your honour," Marge boomed, looking at the judge. For a moment,  Harry almost felt like flinching away. He really disliked his uncle's sister, and he had reason to be … if not afraid of her, then wary. "Why has this boy got two men standing with him? One of them his lawyer, I am led to understand, but I wasn't aware that anyone else could stand with him."

 The judge turned to face Dumbledore as Harry struggled not to show his anger. "This is a good question. Albus Dumbledore, what answer do you have for this?"

 "Your honour, the defendant, Harry Potter, is sixteen years of age. When his aunt and uncle died, he was left without a guardian. Tatsu Kendo, a friend of James Potter – the defendants late father – has offered to fill in this position, though all of the paper work has not yet been completed. As the defendant is underaged, I believe I speak rightly when I say that the guardian of the defendant may accompany him or her," Dumbledore's voice did not have its usual humour, and his eyes did not twinkle.

 "You speak correctly, Albus Dumbledore," the judge agreed, then turned to Marge. "You have been answered, is this answer to your satisfaction?" he asked now.

 Marge's lawyer rested a hand on her shoulder, muttering something. "Yes, your honour, the answer is to my satisfaction," she bit the words out angrily, obviously not wanting to say them.

 "The case before the court, as I see it," the Judge began. Harry noticed now that the man had a voice rather like that of Harry's most boring teacher – Professor Binns, the History of Magic Professor. He resisted the urge to yawn, trying to pay attention to the Judge's words.

 "Mr. and Mrs Dursley left their money and estates to Miss Marge Dursley, but before the paper work for this could be completed, I was presented with the will of the late Lily Potter, which included some things that would be passed on to her son, Master Harry Potter. Miss Marge Dursley has protested that, which leads us to this case," the Judge stated.

 Harry concentrated on looking sad and helpless as Marge's lawyer spoke, saying that Petunia Dursley had indicated these things go to Marge as well.

 Dumbledore spoke next, saying that the items were not Petunia's to give. The arguments went back and forth. Harry soon lost interest, as the talk was peppered with legal jargon that he didn't understand.

 Suddenly the Judge stood up, and Harry was jerked from a daydream by Tatsu's hand gently shaking his arm. "The court will adjourn until tomorrow morning," the judge decreed. "Nothing has yet been decided, and not all arguments have been heard. Return here at ten o'clock tomorrow."

 Walking between Dumbledore and Tatsu, Harry managed to avoid the attention of most of the people who'd been watching – Marge's friends didn't look too happy about the so far outcome less morning.

 "Come on, we'll go the Ministry of Magic now," Tatsu murmured in Harry's ear. "God I'm going to hate this …"

 "You don't have to," Harry said uncomfortably.

 "Of course I do," Tatsu replied. "It's what your godfather would have wanted … and your father. Really, I don't mind being your guardian kid – I just don't want to have to go to the Ministry – they never keep quiet, which means that by the end of the day, everyone will know that I'm back in the country. I'd hoped to avoid the Death Eaters notice for a little bit longer than this … But I have to face them sometime I suppose."

 "Tatsu, do you mind if we use your house to Floo to the Ministry?" Dumbledore asked gently.

 "Of course not Albus," Tatsu replied easily. "After all, I am coming with you." He drove them back to his house and opened the door.

 Tatsu led them quickly through the rooms in his house till they reached the fire place. "I will go first," Dumbledore said, taking a pinch of Floo powder. "Then you come Harry, and then you, Tatsu."

 He threw the powder on the fire and announced clearly "Ministry of Magic, London," as he stepped into the now green flames.

 Dumbledore was whisked away by the fire. "Harry, your turn," Tatsu said, offering him the Floo powder. Harry made a face and took a pinch of it, repeating Dumbledore's actions.

 A moment later he stumbled out of the fire place. Dumbledore's hand shot out to steady him, and he gave a slight smile in thanks as he stepped away and waited for Tatsu to join them.

 When his –hopefully- guardian to be turned up, the three-some stepped out of the small, walled off courtyard they'd arrived in, out onto the street.
 Harry saw ahead the phone box that would transport them to the Ministry of Magic building itself. Dumbledore stepped in first, with Tatsu and Harry crowding in after him.

 Dumbledore dialled the number … "six, two, four, four again and another two," he muttered under his breath.

 "Welcome to the Ministry of Magic, please state your name and business," a voice spoke out.

 "Albus Dumbledore, along with Harry Potter and Tatsu Kendo, to speak with the Minister and the Department of Magical Relations," Dumbledore spoke clearly.

 "Welcome visitor," the voice stated. "Please take a badge and attach it to the front of your robes. As a visitor, you will be required to submit your wand for verification."

 The telephone box sank into the ground, and a moment later they were looking into the Ministry of Magic building. "The Ministry of Magic wishes you a very good day," the voice stated.

 "If I came here often, I could learn to hate that voice," Tatsu muttered under his breath to Harry, who nodded in fervent agreement.

 "I already have," Dumbledore admitted, having apparently overheard their conversation. "Coming here as often as I have had to."

 "Where are we going?" Harry asked.

 "To the Department of Magical Relations," Dumbledore replied. "Minister Fudge will be there already, having gotten word that someone wishes to speak with him."

 "Someone? Doesn't he know who it is then?" Tatsu asked, curious.

 "No. The Welcoming System only tells him when someone is going to meet him if that someone isn't me," Dumbledore replied. "So he knows that it's me and some friends he's meeting up with, so he won't be late."

 "Why doesn't it tell him that it's you?" Harry asked.

 "Because the System announces it to everyone in the building, and I got tired of being mobbed by just about every official in the building when I arrived. Now it only announces my arrival to Cornelius, quietly, in the form of a letter, and calls me 'someone'," Dumbledore replied. "Come, this way."

 Soon enough they walked into a large room that was filled with desks. Fudge himself was pacing around the room, his bowler hat turning continuously in his hands and looking both restless and nervous.

 "Dumbledore!" he said, turning as the door opened. Then he saw Harry. "Potter – what are you doing here?" he demanded.

 "Harry is the reason I am here, or part of it," Dumbledore informed the minister. "He does not have a legal guardian, and until he turns seventeen, he's going to need one."

 "Do you wish to take up that position then?" one of the department officials asked.

 "No, as I do not believe that it would be the best of moves," Dumbledore replied. "No, I have brought another with me, who is willing to take care of the son of one of his greater friends."

 At that moment Tatsu stepped past Harry and Dumbledore.

 A gasp ran around the room. "Tatsu Kendo," whispered many of the officials, knowing the man well as a hero of the former war against Voldemort.

 "If the Ministry will approve, I will be taking over Harry's guardianship," Tatsu stated coolly.

 Fudge was just staring in shock, then suddenly shook himself, apparently to recover. "Mr. Kendo! What a timely coincidence," he began.

 "If you're going to ask me to join the Aurors, I'm not going to, so don't bother," Tatsu interupted him. "I have my own methods of fighting, and they do not include working with under trained wizards."

 "Under trained," Fudge gasped furiously, then quailed under the look that Tatsu gave him. "Very well, you will not join the Aurors – will you be helping fighting against You-Know-Who?"

 "I will be aiding in the fight against Voldemort," Tatsu replied, sneering slightly when nearly everyone present flinched. "But what aide I give will be my decision."

 Dumbledore coughed politely. "Is there anyone here who would have reason to object against Tatsu Kendo taking guardianship of Harry Potter?" he asked.

 There was silence in the office. Finally the Head of the Department spoke, "there is no objection. I stand for Lily and James as their close friend and adviser."

 "That's it?" Harry murmured to Tatsu, surprised.

 "Nearly… Now there's just the paperwork. The Magical World does things differently to the Muggle. Normally some relation should stand in for you, but in this case that's impossible. Everyone accepts that Albus is doing what's right by you, so he gets to stand in as a member of your blood family," Tatsu replied. "The Ministry sees no problem with my taking care of you, so what can anyone else do? If there had been an objection, the objector would have had to give a good reason for it. If a good reason had been produced, the matter would be taken before a meeting of the entire Ministry and debated. Thankfully that didn't happen."

 "Tatsu, Harry, Albus," one of the officials approached them with an impressive looking document. "You'll each have to sign here. You for Harry's blood relations, Albus."

 The three of them quickly signed the document, and the official holding it cast a duplicate charm on it. "You take one copy, Sir," he advised Dumbledore. "The Ministry isn't always known to keep the best hold on things …"

 "Thank you," Dumbledore smiled gently. "Come on you two, we'll head back to Hogwarts," he added to Tatsu and Harry. "Tatsu, you'll stay at the castle until the court case is over, won't you?"

 "Of course," Tatsu said wit ha resigned sigh.

 "It'll be fun!" Harry promised his new guardian, grinning. "You can give your nephew hell with me and the gang!"

 With an exaggerated change of mood, Tatsu stood straighter and a mischievous glint appeared in his eye. "Of course! My brother's brat's at Hogwarts, isn't he?"
 "Unfortunately," Harry muttered, glancing at Dumbledore.

 "I have momentarily gone completely deaf," the Headmaster of Hogwarts assured them both.

 Tatsu laughed softly at that, and Harry grinned, remembering that Dumbledore had said a similar thing about Rita Skeeter the two years before.

 They took the fire to Hogwarts, coming out in Dumbledore's office. Fawkes trilled a welcome, and Grypis bounded down from where he'd been hidden in Harry's hair for the better part of the day, resuming his true form to converse with the phoenix for a while.

 "That went better than I would have expected," Dumbledore mused. "Then again, old men tend to think things will go worse than they do. It's in our natures."

 "Are you still deaf?" Tatsu wanted to know.

 "No," Dumbledore chuckled. "I am no longer deaf."

 "That's good," Tatsu replied.

 "Is it?" Harry wondered.

 "Tatsu, if you wouldn't mind, I had something I wanted to discuss with you," Dumbledore said, smiling slightly.

***

I think that'll do for this chapter – 2100 words is a good amount, don't you think? Let's see if I can get up to 2000 reviews this chapter ^_^ after all, I'm on 1961! Only another 39 to go! Since I got 87 reviews for the last chapter (largely thanks to phoenixman and his 51 reviews) I'm sure a measly 39 won't be too hard! *grins*

ANYONE WHO WANTS ME TO NOTIFY THEM WHEN THE NEXT CHAPTER COMES OUT: Please either a) leave your email address in a review (if you don't sign in, if you sign in, I'll get it from your profile) or send me and email asking me. THANK YOU.