Chapter 27
Nell glanced swiftly at Harry, to see him looking up at her anxiously. She took a deep breath and moved toward the door, although a second knock checked her forward momentum slightly. She reached for the doorknob and turned it.
The door was barely open when the person on the other side pushed against it, and Nell was forced to stumble back. A man in pinstriped robes, who Nell presumed was the Minister, and a much younger man in official-looking scarlet robes strode into the room past her. The first man stopped short when he saw Dumbledore and cleared his throat.
"Here now, Professor, this isn't a Hogwarts matter. The Ministry has jurisdiction, and--" he caught a glance at Harry, "--and this must be young Master Potter himself! Well, now."
Harry scowled at him, and the man frowned for a moment, then forced a smile. "I'm Minister Fudge, Harry," he said patronisingly. "I'm going to take you back to your aunt and uncle where you'll be safe, how does that sound?"
Harry's eyes widened. "No, thanks," he said hurriedly, and rushed past Fudge to stand behind Nell. "I'm fine here, really." Nell reached a hand toward him, and he twined his fingers between hers and held on tightly. "I don't really care for the Dursleys," he added. "Nell's nicer to me, and I don't have to stay in a cupboard, even though I don't have my own room."
Fudge let out a very forced-sounding chuckle. "Well, now, you do belong with your family--and I happen to know that they have a spare room all ready for you. Who knows what kind of nonsense could have been going on these last few weeks!" His eyes were flat and accusatory, glaring at Nell with very thinly veiled distaste.
"We know exactly what kind of nonsense has been going on," interjected Nell flatly. She squeezed Harry's hand, gearing herself up for the upcoming battle.
"What on earth do you mean, young woman?" asked Fudge. "What have you done to him?" They squared off like boxing opponents, facing each other across the room. The official trailing behind Fudge looked on helplessly, waiting for some cue, and Harry watched, wide-eyed and interested, from his safe vantage point.
"The question is, what have you been doing, Minister?" replied Nell. "I believe you've met my mother and my friends?" She indicated Mrs. Burton, Emma, and Audrey, who were sitting quietly absorbing the spectacle. Lupin and Dumbledore were watching in fascination, and Michele was taking notes so quickly it was a wonder her quill didn't give off smoke.
He didn't look at them. "No," he said.
"Take a good look," Nell urged. "Really."
Fudge scowled. "What are you trying to say, Miss Belton?"
"Burton," said Nell. "And I'm saying that you've interfered with their minds trying to get to me and Harry."
The stark accusation dropped like a bomb into the tense room. Fudge looked uneasily at Michele and her note-taking. "Who--what--don't be ridiculous!" he said, too late and too quickly.
Nell turned to her witnesses and raised an eyebrow. "Evidence, darlings? Are these the pinstriped robes?"
Emma laughed at him from her place on the sofa. "Of course it was him," she said easily. "How could I forget that fabric?" Her mother nodded, a bit uncertainly, and Audrey shrugged.
Nell turned back to Fudge. "Undo it," said Nell coldly. "Undo it now, whatever you did."
"I never!" exclaimed Fudge, sounding absurdly young in his denial.
"Then it was your companion who actually cast the spell?" asked Nell. She turned on him. "You undo it, if it was you."
The young man blushed hotly and shook his head slightly.
"You both refuse?" She paused and neither man replied. She turned to Michele, masking her growing rage. "Fine. Michele, did you get that?"
"It'll make a great headline," Michele said with enthusiasm. "Minister Fudge accused of series of Muggle attacks! Denies responsibility in the faces of his victims!"
"Here now!" said Fudge loudly. "Dumbledore! Surely you have some control over this girl! I would hate to arrest the lot of them, but I will if I must." He motioned to the Auror who stood up straighter, looking official.
"That depends on a great deal, Cornelius," said Dumbledore easily. "Did you Memory Charm these three women?"
"Well, they're only Muggles after all, Dumbledore," said Fudge with a hint of a whine. "It's a pity, of course, when steps must be taken, but sometimes political expediency must take precedence."
"Precedence over basic human rights?" Nell said, on the verge of an explosion.
"Human rights?" echoed Fudge blankly. "What're those?"
"Those are the laws that say that you CAN'T TAKE AWAY MY FRIENDS' AND MUM'S MEMORIES WHENEVER YOU FEEL LIKE IT!" Nell shouted at him. She moved closer as her volume rose, until she ended about two inches away from the now-cringing man.
The official behind him stepped forward hesitantly, but Nell stopped him with an upraised hand. She glared at Fudge until the man looked away. She huffed out a disgusted breath and stepped back, raising her hands. "Fix them," she said. Her voice left no room for argument. Fudge looked back at her stonily. "Fix them. Now."
He sighed. And turned, raising his wand and pointing it. Straight at Nell.
She shrieked and Lupin shouted, drawing his own wand on Fudge. The official drew his as well, training it on Lupin. "Put that away, Lupin," he said menacingly. "You know what the penalties are for threatening the Minister."
"Tell him to put his wand away, then," retorted Lupin.
"Tell him to use his wand to fix my mum and friends," shouted Nell, glaring at the minister. After her first yell of surprise, she focused on Fudge's red, angry face.
"STOP IT!" yelled Harry suddenly. "Stop it stop it stop it!"
Fudge turned to look at him, letting his wand hand drop. As soon as it did, Nell moved hastily away from where she'd been standing. Harry seemed ready to launch into a full-fledged tantrum, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to be near enough to comfort him or far enough that she wasn't included in the damage wrought.
"Now, Harry, son," said Fudge pompously. "This little scene proves that you need better supervision. The Ministry can provide that for you, only do calm down a bit, son."
"I'm not your son," fumed Harry. His face was set deeply into a scowl and his attention was focussed entirely on the Minister. Everyone else in the room was focussing on Harry.
Except Nell. She surreptitiously edged over to Lupin and poked him, hard, in the back. He jumped slightly and looked away from the spectacle in front of them. "DO something," hissed Nell.
"What?" whispered Lupin.
"I don't know," Nell whispered back, feeling a bit foolish. "Something. Anything."
Before he could, Fudge took one step too many towards Harry.
And Harry did something first. He shrieked in frustration, jumping up in the air to stamp both his feet at the same time.
As Harry came down on the floorboards with a thud, Fudge abruptly rose up, as if Harry had stepped on the other end of a seesaw. He bounced against the ceiling gently--and stayed there. He squalled in alarm, but could seem to form no words.
The official who had accompanied him moved his wand up to the ceiling and started muttering spells under his breath. He seemed to have very little success, and after a few minutes, craned his neck to look around at Harry.
"Now, son," he said, in an apparently unconscious imitation of Fudge, "Why don't you let him down?"
Harry crossed his arms and scowled. "Why don't you do it?"
The man looked hunted. "I, er, I can't. Exactly. Headmaster?" He turned appealingly to Dumbledore.
"Oh, that's very interesting, Harry," Dumbledore's eyes twinkled with amusement. "Perhaps your point has been made?"
Harry looked over at Nell. She nodded encouragingly, and Harry looked back up at Fudge.
Fudge plummeted to the ground. A foot before slamming into the floor, he stopped and floated to an inelegant face-first landing. Harry snickered.
The official ran to Fudge to help him up, but the red-faced man waved him away once he had regained his feet. He turned and appeared to be straightening his robes.
Nell coughed gently. "Minister? You were going to reverse the memory spell?"
He stiffened but didn't turn around. She continued, "Or was the ceiling a nice place to spend a few hours?" Harry snickered again, and Nell was hard pressed to suppress her grin.
Fudge finally turned around. "Finite Incantatem," he said, in a voice that sounded bored but had a telltale tremble. The reaction on the sofa was immediate. Nell's mum fell back, eyes closed and shoulders slumped. Emma gasped and squinted her eyes as if the light in the room was suddenly too bright, and Audrey
raised her hand to her forehead as if it suddenly ached.
Nell looked at Lupin, and he nodded slightly. They would shortly regain their memories, Nell gathered, and would be fine.
Although she wanted to run to them, she stood her ground. That only solved the immediate problem. She turned back to the Minister. "Now, what's this about taking Harry away from me?"