Chapter 8

Arthur woke early on Wednesday morning. In reality, he had hardly slept. After making a cup of coffee, the owl carrying the newspaper arrived. He looked at the front page and could hardly believe his eyes.

Harry Potter Blasts Fudge's Record

Story by Rita Skeeter

In a move that was hoped for by many, Harry James Potter came out with his strongest words yet against Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge. A follow-up vote of no confidence petition was circulated yesterday and overwhelmingly passed, setting up a formal vote of No Confidence today. In what is expected to be Fudge's last afternoon on the job, Fudge had no comment other than to defend his record in providing thirteen years of relative peace within the wizarding world.

Estimates of the vote range from 45 for dismissal 30 against to as high as 70 – 5 with 50 of 75 votes required to dismiss the embattled MoM. Most sources expect that Fudge will tender his resignation this morning rather than face the indignation of forcibly being removed from office.

More on Harry Potter including the full text – page 3

Likely candidates and their chances – page 5

The No Confidence procedure – page 13

Arthur was mentioned by name several times on page 13. As he was reading the paper, he felt that Dumbledore may have underestimated Harry's impact. With luck, Fudge will have submitted his resignation before the hearing even began at 10 AM

Molly read the articles along with her best friend and prayed that it would all be over by the time that her Arthur left the house. She silently reminded herself never to criticize Harry for anything, ever again. He had truly come through for them.

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In Crawley, Harry and the Grangers read the paper in stunned silence. Usually letters to the editor were relegated to the back of a paper, tucked in somewhere between the obituaries and the positions available listings. None of them had seen anything like this before.

"Sort of makes you wonder if you could do the same thing with any of the other politicians," quipped Dan.

"Dunno," replied Harry. "I don't have that much interest in politics. Fudge has mostly gone off against me in the past. Payback was OK. I just hope this whole thing passes so Mr. Weasley doesn't lose his job."

"I don't think things will get that far," replied Emma. "Most politicians don't like to go down in the flames of a No Confidence vote. My guess is that he's writing his resignation letter as we speak."

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Meanwhile at Hogwarts, the normally pleasant breakfast conversation was anything but. "Dumbledore, how could you?" shouted McGonagall. She had never been so angry at Dumbledore. "Harry would never have written that letter on his own, unprodded. What did you do or say to make him do such a thing?"

Eyes twinkling, the old wizard replied, "Calm down, Minerva. I did not coerce Harry into such action. I simply let him know that Arthur had begun the No Confidence petition and pointed out that he might appreciate a vote of support from him. Harry authored the letter on his own and of his own free will."

"Bullocks, Dumbledore. I've seen his papers for the last five years. That doesn't even resemble his writing style. It looks more like something that Miss…" She was so mad that she got up from the table. 'Of course. Dumbledore must have suggested that Hermione look it over first. Didn't Harry have enough on his plate without being thrust into politics at the same time?'

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As Fudge's last official act, he fired Weatherbee. "No one likes a brown-noser who's never had an original thought, Wetherbee. Maybe you should take a position as a busker outside a gentlemen's club."

By 8:05 AM both men had left the building. By 8:20 Arthur and Dumbledore had both been notified of Fudge's resignation.

Dumbledore thought to himself, 'This was far easier than I had thought.' He wondered if he shouldn't have tried it earlier. He was confident that Arthur would carry out the remainder of his plan flawlessly. By noon Diggory would be sworn in as the new MoM.

According to custom, Arthur had the first shot at nominating the successor. As that person only required a simple majority to be elected, Arthur had a good chance at naming the next Minister of Magic.

Taking an unexpected detour in the way to work, he apparated to the back garden of the Granger home, greeted Senior Auror Church and knocked on the back door. Cautiously, Dan answered the door. Arthur said, "Hello Dr. Granger. May I come in and speak with Harry for a moment? I'd like to thank him properly for his help."

Dan met his eyes, decided that he was sincere and stood aside. "Of course. Come in. Please, it's Dan."

"Thank you. It's Arthur." They walked into the kitchen where Emma, Hermione and Harry were having coffee. Arthur looked at Harry and Hermione, smiled and shook their hands. "Thank you Harry. Your letter saved a vote. Fudge resigned early this morning."

"That's great news, Mr. Weasley," said Hermione, hugging Harry. She invited him to have a cuppa, and visit for a few minutes.

Having asked his questions, and hearing the answers, Weasley left ten minutes later.

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Amelia had arrived at her office at 6:00 that morning. After reading the paper, she was not surprised to hear that Fudge had resigned so quickly. There was no pressing business for the next two hours. She notified the Aurors that the visitors' entrances were to be watched with extra caution that morning.

She believed that Dumbledore had masterminded Arthur's work yesterday, and expected that through Weasley, Diggory would be nominated, seconded and voted in by 10:30 that morning.

It occurred to her that she might be nominated in the unlikely event that Amos was not voted in. It was her expectation that whoever Arthur nominated, would likely receive at least 55 votes.

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By 8:20, Amos Diggory had been notified that Fudge had tendered his resignation. According to Dumbledore's plan he would become the next Minister of Magic within three hours. He began rehearsing his acceptance speech.

Diggory made a note to himself that he should invite Potter to the inaugural ball. Even though he had caused a stir lately within the Order with his living arrangements, Amos knew that Potter's heart was in the right place, and he obviously had the ear of the press right now.

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After Arthur left, Dan had offered to take Harry to the club for a game of golf. Hermione and Emma happily begged off, deciding that they would do a bit of shopping instead.

Harry had never played golf, but had seen it on the telley a few times. Dan loved it and was willing to be a great coach. He was grateful for a willing partner to play with, as Emma and Hermione really didn't care for the game.

The two men walked into the pro shop, where the pro greeted Dan warmly. "Good morning Dr. Granger. Who's your latest victim?"

The three of them smiled and laughed. Dan said, "Phil, this is a good friend of my daughter, Harry Potter."

Phil shook Harry's hand and greeted him warmly.

Dan told the pro that Harry would need a set of everything for the day. They spent a half hour on the driving range covering proper stance, swing basics and a good grip. Unlike most teens, Harry wasn't obsessed with the idea of distance, and could consistently hit his long irons where he was trying to place the ball. They went over to the putting green and covered the basics of a chip then practiced putting a bit. Dan was amazed how quickly Harry seemed to have picked up the basics.

They had a fun time at it, and visited with each other along the way as they played. Dan asked Harry about Fudge.

"He gets involved in little things, and chooses to ignore the big unpleasant things. There must be someone who's better qualified to help people protect themselves."

Dan nodded, hoping Harry would continue. "We watched that movie the other night about those old time American Gangsters in Chicago. Wizarding fights seem like that. They're not set place army battles, more like shootouts and murders. They're usually over within seconds."

Harry continued. "When we practiced dueling and stuff in school, we did these ridiculous spells – tickling spells, or a jelly legs jinx. The problem was that it gave the impression that if you get hit, a time out would make it OK again. When we were facing those twelve Death Eaters last month, they were playing for keeps. That guy who hit Hermione was trying to slice her in half. He was wounded at the time, and couldn't get his spell right, but he thought nothing of her life."

Walking to the eighth tee Harry said, "They're bad people, and I get really angry that the ministry hasn't done more to protect regular families. None of my other friends have a 24-hour guard at their house. Fudge hasn't seen fit to even send out a basic self-defense pamphlet. Does that make any sense?"

"No," replied Dan shaking his head in sad realization that his playing partner was spot on. "Not a bit. What else can we do to protect ourselves?"

"A lot of things, I suppose. Yard lights, armor vests, more guards, having a shotgun in the house. Maybe carrying a portkey around is a better answer."

Dan nodded as he teed the ball. "Family is everything, Harry. Houses can always be replaced. You're family, Harry. I know about shotguns, but how could we get a portkey?"

"Director Bones could help us there."

As they were walking to the eighteenth tee, Dan asked, "How are things going with you and Hermione?"

Without hesitation, Harry replied, "She means everything to me, sir. She's my best friend."

Dan nodded and smiled. "I know what you mean Harry. Emma's my best friend."

Harry, teed the ball and hit off using his 2 iron. The ball went straight and stopped about 140 yards out.

"Nice shot Harry. It's a lot more fun playing from the fairway 140 yards out than from behind a tree 200 yards out."

They finished their game, had a pint in the clubhouse and went home. As they were getting out of the car, Dan said, "Thanks for the game, Harry. I enjoyed it."

"Thank you sir. I did too. Actually I had a lot of fun. Thanks again."

"My pleasure. It looks like the girls are in the back garden."

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While Dan and Harry had been coercing little white balls to fall into holes, Emma and Hermione had been shopping. Emma asked, "Are you having a good holiday, Hermione?"

Without hesitation Hermione replied, "The best, mum. Thanks for offering Harry a place to stay. I really like him."

Emma smiled at her daughter, amazed how easily those words had sprung from her mouth. "So do we, dear. He's a very nice young man. You have good taste in men."

Hermione smiled at her mum, not really blushing, but happy at Emma's endorsement at the unspoken words.

They had a nice lunch together. The women had bought new tops and had picked out new shorts for Dan and Harry. They listened politely as Dan gave them a hole-by-hole account of the morning; each silently delighted that they had hadn't been dragged out to play. Surprising both women, Harry seemed to have genuinely had a good time. He and Dan seemed to enjoy each other's company quite a bit.

After lunch, Dan and Emma went to their surgery where they each had appointments until 5:00.

Auror Hammer was grateful that the Grangers had been so inclusive. They always made an extra lunch or dinner and spent time visiting. Hammer enjoyed the assignment. There was no mountain of paperwork to fill out, and the young witch and Mr. Potter were very easy to get along with. Sometimes they visited, and she told them stories of working with Moody, or tracking down various Death Eaters. Unlike Auror Church, Hammer had fought her share of Death Eater fights and knew that the fights could be brutally swift.

After a while she let the teens be, while she looked around, checking the wards. She told them that she would talk more with them after dinner.

Hermione asked Harry if he wanted to go for a swim. The smile on Harry's face made Hermione feel good about herself. She had never really thought of herself as pretty before this summer. She knew that Harry thought the world of her and liked everything about her, even if he was less adept at expressing it than a young woman might like.

They put on their swimsuits and floated side by side, tentatively touching hands together or taking turns dunking each other. They hadn't really talked about their evolving relationship, though each was aware that it was growing.

At 3:00, Tonks came by, carrying a very large sack of mail. She was dressed in faded jeans and a form fitting top.

"Hi Tonks," said Hermione, smiling at her.

Watching their reactions closely, she greeted them. "Wotcher, Hermione? Looking good. Hi Harry."

Hermione continued smiling. "Hi Tonks. How are you?"

"I'm fine. Much better, thanks. I wanted to thank you for standing up for me with Minister Bones. That was good of you, and I really appreciate it."

Harry was momentarily confused. "Did you say Minister Bones? Does that mean?"

"Yup. Arthur gave a fifteen-minute nominating speech and the vote was 62-13. The only people who looked surprised were the professor and Amos Diggory."

"That's brilliant," said Hermione. She knew Amelia to be very fair, and it was good for any muggleborn witch to be on a first name basis with the Minister of Magic. Looking at the sack that Tonks had lugged in, Hermione inquired, "What's that?"

"Fan mail for Harry." She gave him a sly smile. "Mostly from witches, by the looks of the envelopes. We scanned them for jinxes, and curses. Hestia tossed out a couple of howlers." Hermione was stunned at the volume of mail that was in the bag. She estimated that there were well over a thousand letters in the canvas sack.

Tonks smiled at both of them and said, "Speaking for myself, Harry and Hermione, I think you both did a great thing. I know that you don't want to make a big deal of your fame Harry, but it's there and you put it to good use this week. I need to go now, but thanks."

"Tonks, wait," said Harry. "Can you stay for a coke or a lemonade?"

"Are you sure" replied Tonks, thinking that the two were still really mad at her.

"Please?" asked Hermione. She wasn't mad at the young Auror, if Harry wasn't.

"I have time. My shift is over. Are you sure?"

"No worries," said Harry, pouring her a class of iced lemonade.

Tonks had volunteered to drop his letters off with the hope of properly apologizing to Harry, and this looked like her chance. "Thanks. Harry," she said taking the glass. "I want to say a few things. Just let me finish. First, I'm sorry that I left your uncle's home to go tell Dumbledore that the wards had come down. That wasn't the best way to handle that, though my being there wouldn't have stopped the Death Eaters from coming."

She looked both of them in the eye and said, "I'm sorry for coming here last week and acting like a storm-trooper. It wasn't my right to do so, and I apologize. If the professor has issues with where you're spending your time, he should be taking them up with you himself, and not place other people in the middle."

Harry knew she was sincere and didn't need to hear any more. He looked into her crystal blue eyes and said, "There nothing else that needs to be said, Tonks. All is forgiven, and all is forgotten. I didn't want you to get into any trouble with Director Bones, er, I mean Minister Bones."

She knew that he meant what he'd said. He was a great guy. "Thanks, Harry. Thanks Hermione. I really appreciate it. By the way, the summer seems to really agree with both of you. You both look great. Harry did you grow since I saw you last?"

"Dunno, but I like swimming, now that I know how a bit."

"Would you care to join us?" asked Hermione. "I've got plenty of extra suits."

Tonks really wanted to, but the Professor had insisted that she return back to Grimmauld place after her visit.

"It's a really nice afternoon," coaxed Harry.

"OK." She could always rationalize that she was trying to see how they were.

"Great," smiled Hermione. "We'll be right back, Harry."

Tonks spent an hour swimming with Harry and Hermione. She was a good swimmer, and the two women took turns sneaking up behind Harry and tickling him. Reaching around to defend himself against Hermione's merciless efforts, Harry suddenly froze as surely as if someone had place the full body bind on him. He had accidentally grabbed something that he definitely didn't have permission to.

"S,sorry," he stammered, as Tonks who had seen the whole thing was biting her lip to keep from laughing, until she saw the impact that it had made on Harry.

Hermione, gave her best friend a warm hug, and whispered, "I didn't mind, Harry. Please don't feel bad. You didn't do anything wrong." She knew that in spite of a few good days, he was emotionally still a very fragile young man, and had definitely not groped her on purpose. She knew that it wasn't in his nature to put any moves on anyone unless asked and guided.

Tonks could see that this would require more than a simple excuse me - no worries exchange between the two. She got out of the pool and sat by the edge to watch. Harry was such a bundle of contrasts. He might be the most resourceful fighter that she'd ever seen, but could be brought to tears by the thought of offending the young woman who so obviously cared deeply for him.

'Gods,' she thought. 'He could feel up 80 percent of the witches in his class if he wanted, and they would be delighted to accommodate him. But he never would. He's such a gentleman.'

Hermione took Harry's hands and placed them around her waist, gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead, and whispered, "Everything's all right. Let's go get some lemonade."

Standing off to the side, Tonks, thought, 'Heaven help anyone who ever tried to hurt her in his presence.'

Hermione invited Tonks to stay for dinner, but the young Auror felt the need to get back to her other duties. She thanked them and left after getting dressed.

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Dumbledore was not a happy man. His carefully laid plans with Amos had been dashed. Last night at this time he's been certain that Harry's letter and a good speech from Arthur would ensure a close, but favorable vote. It had not occurred to him that the Prophet would turn Harry's letter into an entire issue, causing Cornelius to resign without a fight. Perhaps he was relieved to be free of the burden that had obviously weighed him down so much the past few years.

Nonetheless, Arthur had gone against his carefully orchestrated instructions and nominated Bones to the top job. While he believed her to be a very capable Director he knew that he would have much less influence on her than Diggory. As demonstrated clearly in the last weeks, they had their differences of opinion. He was a big picture person, while she was concerned much more with individual rights and comforts. She never would have found a place for a man like Severus, even if his teaching methods were less than pleasant. She didn't care for the use of spies and would never have seen his real value.

She could be conformed later. He thought it unfortunate timing that Kingsley had been forcibly evicted from the Auror group. He would have made a very capable head for the law enforcement group. It would be interesting to see who Amelia appointed.

Tonks was over an hour late reporting in. She probably had spent the time visiting with the Senior Auror on duty at the Granger residence.

A few minutes later, she opened the back door and let herself in. Dumbledore saw her and gave her a friendly greeting. "Good afternoon, Miss Tonks. I trust your delivery was uneventful."

"Hello Professor. Everything went well. I mended some fences with Hermione and Harry, and visited with them for an hour. They invited me to go swimming with them."

Dumbledore was surprised at her response, assuming that Harry was equally mad at everyone. "Really? That is indeed good news. Did you take the opportunity to impress on Harry that he needs to leave there and move to a place of safety?"

'Gods,' thought Tonks. 'That man is a broken record.' She replied, "No Sir. I thanked Harry for taking the time to keep my career on track with my department, and watched Hermione take the time to make Harry feel good about himself." 'Has the man ever heard of empathy?'

Dumbledore knew that she was not seeing the big picture and replied, "Of course. Very well."

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Draco was livid when he saw the paper and heard the news of Bones being voted in as Minister of Magic. Father had said she had no ear for their cause, and she had failed to be sympathetic when his solicitor had carefully explained that Lucius and McNair were both under the Imperious Curse at the time of the arrests.

'Potter and his letters.' He couldn't believe that the Prophet had made such a big deal of one letter. 'Father'd had many of the Wizengamot judges over to the manor for dinner or meetings.' He was sure that they'd been paid for their loyalty. 'That coward Fudge had left office without even putting up a good fight. It was all Potter's fault. I'll make him pay for the things he'd done.'

Draco hoped that Snape had something useful for him to do Friday night. He'd show them that he was ready to torch the muggle world.

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Dan and Emma drove home from their surgery at 5:30. They'd only scheduled a dozen patients each that afternoon, though they both had full a day Thursday and Friday morning.

Harry had made a simple stew for dinner. It smelled delicious as Emma and Dan walked in the door. He had brightened each of their lives so much by being there. They sat on the patio table outside and invited Auror Hammer over to join them.

Hermione told them that Tonks had come over and told them that Fudge had resigned. She recapped the conversation. "Then Auror Tonks told us that Mr. Weasley had nominated Director Bones as Minister and she was elected 62 to 13."

"That's seems like a pretty wide margin. I like her," said Emma. "I'm glad that she was elected. She seems like a very fair and capable manager."

"She is at that," replied Hammer. "She put up with a lot of guff over the years to rise through the ranks as she did. She never lost sight of people's rights. She was one of the few who protested that Black should have been given a decent trial, but Director Crouch wouldn't hear of it. I thought him guilty at the time, like most people did, but he should have at least gotten a hearing to say his side o things."

Hermione had sat next to her mum and listened as they talked back and forth. Fudge's leaving office was good and she was also glad that Madam Bones had been elected, but her primary concern was for her friend. She'd find the opportunity to snog with Harry and get him comfortable with her. If Tonks hadn't been there, she'd have taken his hands and put them back where he so obviously wanted them to be.

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It was raining all of Thursday. Wood was the day guard, and insisted on spending the day outside lurking in the bushes, watching for movement, like a bird of prey.

The four of them had gone through most of the letters last evening. Three fourths of them were from witches of various ages telling him that they thought he was a hero. A disturbing number of them had included highly inappropriate photos that left no doubt of their intentions. Neither Harry nor Hermione mentioned that they recognized some of the younger witches as current or recent classmates. Dan quipped that they didn't get any thank you letters and photos like that at the surgery, especially photos where the subjects moved. Emma smacked him on the back of the head and told him to throw them away.

Several dozen letters were from members of the DA, thanking him for speaking out. Most also thanked him for helping them learn some real defense last year. Those that had been in either the fifth or seventh year also thanked him for helping them do so well on their exams.

Harry seemed introspective and they both read together in comfortable silence. He still wasn't completely comfortable with what had happened yesterday and didn't know how to express the disappointment that he felt in himself to Hermione. He hadn't tried to grope her, and knew that she was just letting him off easy. He would find a way to make things up with her.

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Molly was beside herself with relief that things had gone so smoothly for them. She was so very grateful to Harry. Ron had blown up over the fuss that had been made about a simple letter, not considering how badly things could have gone for their family. Ginny had seen the situation for what it really was. Like her mother, she was glad that the immediate risk had passed.

Ginny was worried about the increased attention that it had drawn to Harry. She was waiting to see what the secondary and further reaching effects would be.

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Amelia sat in her new office. She had four positions that needed filling on Monday. She would be sworn in on Saturday at noon. The positions of Senior Undersecretary, personal assistant, and her current position, Magical Law Enforcement Director were vacant and needed to be filled within the week. Within the MLE group, there was a Senior Auror position open from Kingsley, which the new Director would need to fill.

By tradition, the person who nominated her would receive the highest unfilled vacancy, which was arguably he own position. She did not want to place a Dumbledore puppet in that position, and wanted to fill it from within the Auror ranks.

From what she knew of the Arthur, he was an excellent administrator, who had a love of muggle gadgets and was overly swayed by Dumbledore. The wizarding world could hardly keep ignoring technology for the next twenty years. The wizarding population was quaint enough as it was. She would place him in the Undersecretary position that Umbridge had held, and focus him on developing strategies of integrating relevant technologies into the wizarding world. Emails and cellular telephones seemed much more efficient than owls. He would probably be delighted with the work, and develop a useful strategy with coaching.

Her old position could readily be filled by Kingsley, Hammer, Church, or Wood. Kingsley was in a good position where he was going. Wood would be miffed that he didn't get the job, Church wouldn't expect it, and Hammer wouldn't care one way or the other. Hammer was the better leader of the Senior Aurors. Hit Wizards were their own breed. They honed fighting skills almost exclusively and normally held their jobs until they faced an opponent who had better skills.

She would offer the position to Hammer and ask Wood to help train the flood of Auror Trainees that would be needed to ensure people's safety. She would fund the expanded group by severely fining the convicted Death Eaters, something Fudge should have done if he hadn't been swayed so deeply by Malfoy.

With respect to Dumbledore's militia, it had arguably done its job in watching for threats when the MoM refused to. In her opinion, the best thing Dumbledore could do would be to properly prepare the children to survive and thrive in a rapidly changing world. He didn't need to hold the hypothetical mantle of Minister of National defense as well.

Members of the Board of School Governors were appointed by the MoM. There currently were two open positions due to Death Eater captures. She would fill those next week. Arguably Remus Lupin would be well qualified, and as it wasn't a full time position could be scheduled accordingly. She would have to present a few needless discrimination laws to the Wizengamot for repeal first. She wished that Hermione Granger were a few years older. Rather than fill the spots with Ministry employees, she would go to the outside and try and bring in new ideas. She wanted people who would challenge Dumbledore or his successor in a positive way, not be in awe of him.

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Friday morning an owl arrived at the Granger back window. Church gave a look at it, recognized the seal, and took the letter inside. The Dentists were getting ready to leave for the day, but were curious. Naturally it was addressed to Harry.

Dear Mr. Potter

You and a guest are invited to the Inauguration Ball to be held Saturday evening at 7:00 PM to midnight at the Minister's private residence. A Portkey has been provided for your use.

Dress is formal.

Hoping to meet you at last,

Malfda Hopkirk

Improper Use of Magic Office

Harry showed the letter to Dan and Emma who were considerably more interested in it than he was. "I can be back at noon, and take you two to get something to wear if you like."

Hermione knew that her mum was a half a dozen steps ahead of her friend. In a soft voice she said, "Harry, I'd be honored to go with you, if you wanted to go, and you wanted to bring me as your guest. It might be fun, and we wouldn't have to stay longer than you want."

Harry was obviously hesitating, but she wasn't sure of the reason. "What's the matter?"

Harry hesitated and replied, "I don't like the attention of a big party."

Emma said, "Harry I don't think that this is a very large gathering, probably not many more than a hundred invitations were sent out. There won't be a bunch of reporters. It's being held at Amelia's private residence. You brought down a government with five hundred words. I'm sure that she invited you because she wanted you to be there with her."

Harry was squirming in his seat. "I don't have proper robes that fit. We won't know anybody. I don't know how to dance."

She smiled at him. 'The real reason comes out at last.' In an upbeat voice she replied "Dan and I are no experts, but we will give you two a dance lesson this evening. Would that be OK?"

Harry looked at Hermione, who nodded encouragingly. "OK. I'll ask Senior Auror Hammer to take us to Diagon Alley this afternoon. I need to sign a few things at Gringotts, and we can each get something to wear. Hermione and I also need to get a few books. I thought we could barbeque tonight for dinner, and we can have a lesson after."

Emma smiled. "I'll be home at noon. We can leave right after."

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McGonagall was livid. "Dumbledore rip that letter up, and don't even think of sending another. Assuming that they were invited, you have no right in the world to tell them not to go. If you're so worried about their protection, you should show up yourself and keep your eyes open. I'll go with you as your guest to keep an eye on you." She felt like batting him on the back of his head.

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A/N

How good of a wizard is Draco? A windbag, or does he have the skills to back up his words?

Does it seem reasonable that the Ministry make a move to adopt technology?

How inbred is the Ministry? Should Bones look outside the Ministry for new talent?