Harry Potter and the Dimensional Trunk

by Ophiuchus

Post OOTP. COMPLETED. Harry's 6th year will be another exciting year. How does the trunk Ron gave him help his fight against V? Pre HBP. HG RHr

13. Press Conference

Disclaimer – Harry Potter is not ours. We just let our imagination play in JK Rowlings world.

2nd Disclaimer – Our imagination ran dry on house elf/goblin names. We've started borrowing names from a book we have by Vonda N McIntyre which is based on a screenplay by Harve Bennett.

Chapter 13 Press Conference

After breakfast Justina healed the deeper cuts and gashes that Remus had before he left to take a nap. Justina and Percy then went down to the lab after checking on the Minister. The Minister was doing much better. He was sitting up in the chair by his bed spending time reading a few wizarding novels Harry found for him or listening to the WWN though he still tired easily and slept most of the day. Percy had spent a little time letting him know what had been happening in the Ministry since he'd been gone. He had been appalled at the lengths Delores Umbridge had gone in her vendetta against non-wizards. He had sanctioned many of the first steps, but now could see how they had paved the way for the current insanity.

Harry spent the rest of the day trying to stay out of the house elves way. He noticed that even the outdoor elves were pitching in to help scrub the place clean and coming to and fro from the kitchen. Tubow was issuing orders to his troops as skilled as any general.

Harry went to the Gym. He made a note of some of the equipment he found there. He wasn't sure what it did, but thought he would ask Fabian's portrait. Harry took a walk around the dueling platform. He noticed on the back side was a row of doors that slid open. He opened one and found more equipment stored underneath. He looked for any sort of instructions but couldn't find anything. The problem with inheriting a fully furnished house is that things didn't come with instructions. He did notice some equipment he was familiar with and took them out. He worked out on them for half an hour. While he was exercising he was thinking. If people held duels here, they would either need to set up shields every time or the walls would have to be able to absorb stray spells. When Harry finished his exercising he shot a light wandless spell at the nearest wall. It absorbed it like the wall in the trunk. He tried each of the other walls and they did the same. Harry figured it was safe to shoot spells in here, then. He wished he had someone to practice with. Maybe Ron would…except it would be rather uneven. Ron wasn't as good at wandless spells and until they came of age, they weren't allowed to do spells with their wands outside of school. Hermione was 17 but she was never as interested in dueling…except, he grinned to himself, when she was infatuated with Lockhart.

Harry left to have a light lunch. While he was eating he was thinking of Gilly. He knew Gilly preferred to be alone rather the being near the apparent chaos of activity the other house elves thrived on, but he didn't want him to be all alone. It was Christmas. Harry decided to visit him.

Harry got his Firebolt and flew over to the Guard Shack. Gilly was pleased to see him and they had a cup of tea together. Harry asked if he would be joining the other house elves for a Christmas dinner. Gilly shook his head. He said it gave him a headache to be around so much noise, but Terran and Grissom, the young whipper-snapper, would be joining him later in the evening.

It was late in the afternoon when Harry returned to the house. As he was entering, there was sudden flash of fire and three people were standing with their backs to him. Harry must have made a sound of surprise because all three suddenly turned and had wands on him in an instant. Professor Dumbledore was the first to realize who it was in front of them. "Harry? We were just speaking of you."

Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphadora Tonks slowly lowered their wands, but not completely. Tonks said, "Say something only Harry would know."

"You tricked Aunt Petunia into buying me some clothes that fit this summer. Hello Professor, Mr. Shacklebolt. Wotcher Tonks! I wasn't expecting you yet." It was only 5 pm. Harry was only just going to start getting ready to greet his guests he'd expected to arrive in another hour.

Tonks looked at Harry with a sideways glance. "You were expecting us?"

Harry suddenly realized what he'd said. "Well, of course I wasn't expecting you. But I had wished you would be able to come tonight for dinner. Do you think you could stay? Dinner will be at 7:00." Harry heard Fawkes laughing in the background.

Professor Dumbledore came forward and looked Harry over. "You've been safe so far? I haven't been able to find you." He looked around. "Where are we? Is the Minister here as well? Is this one of his properties?"

"Er…this was my grandparent's place."

"Your grandparents?" The Headmaster paused as if trying to piece together a puzzle. "How did you learn of it?"

Harry took another breath. Before he could speak, he heard the welcome tones of Remus Lupin. "From his Finance class. He wrote a letter to Gringotts asking for a list of his assets; as he was taught to do in his class." There. He didn't have to lie. Harry just smiled.

"Remus!" Tonks and the others turned to face him. "You're alright? What happened? The last we heard, you were being held in a Ministry cell!" Tonks flew over to him and Harry was amused at the way she was anxiously looking him over.

Remus held eye contact with Harry, before he started his reassurances. "I'm fine. We're all fine. The others made it out of the country. Er…I remembered this place and made my way here. I figured it wasn't really wise to show my face around town for a while and since my wand is still at the Ministry…" Harry hadn't remembered about his wand.

"But what happened?"

Harry decided to interrupt. "Would you excuse me? We're expecting the Weasleys, Grangers, Lovegoods and Longbottoms in an hour. I need to get ready. Remus can show you around. The Minister is upstairs on the third floor. You may want to avoid his room, but the rest of the house is yours to explore. Percy Weasley and Healer-In-Training Justina Bosworth are also both staying here. If you want to sit and talk for a while, there's a room right off to the side here. If you need anything, just let one of the house elves know." Harry had been guiding them into a smallish room, well, small compared to the other huge rooms on the first floor.

As he left the room, he saw Fawkes perched on the back of a chair. "A little early, weren't you?"

/Albus has been fretting so I was afraid he was going to molt! I decided earlier was better./

"Well, that's fine. Are you hungry at all? There are nuts and fruit in the owlery at the top of the house. Farrendahl will see you have anything you need."

/I believe I will. Thank you, Fledgling./

"Anytime. Thank you for bringing them." Harry went to the front door and opened it so Fawkes could fly out. After he did he turned to go up to his room. He took one more glance into the room he'd left the others and saw the Headmaster watching him. Harry realized he'd just witnessed him holding an apparently one-sided conversation with Fawkes.

Harry didn't know what to say so decided to hurry to his room. He opted for a quick shower instead of a bath and hurriedly dressed in the outfit laid out with the wizards robe to hang open over it. Harry had thought that the Grangers might feel more comfortable if he wore a muggle outfit shown underneath the wizard robe. He was a combination of both worlds.

Harry was ready in record time and made his way back to find his guests. Remus was showing them around the main level. In the Games/Weapons Room, the door to the tunnels opened and Percy and Justina came out. "Headmaster!" Justina was pleased to see her old Headmaster. Percy hung back. He seemed more embarrassed at the confrontation.

"I've been hoping to run into you some time. I've wanted to thank you for sending your phoenix to meet me that day. If he hadn't been there at that time, I'd hate to think what would have happened to me! It's actually a good thing I was brought here. We've discovered so much that never would have been found if I'd stayed at the Hospital."

"The phoenix brought you here? Very similar as to what happened to you, Remus, the phoenix coming and taking you and the others away?" Remus looked panicked and his gaze focused on Harry. The Headmaster didn't miss this and also turned to see Harry standing in the doorway. "I suppose a phoenix helped you escape from St. Mungo's, yes?"

Harry was feeling trapped. "Something like that."

The Headmasters eyes started to twinkle and Harry was relieved when he stopped asking questions. Harry took over the tour. When the tour was over, Tonks and Kingsley decided to practice while they waited in the gym. Remus decided to watch since he was still quite tired. Harry was interested in watching them duel as well, but his Headmaster pulled him aside.

"Harry what is your plan for tonight? I suspect you have a reason for inviting the group you have. Would you share it with me?"

"Of course, sir. Most of it is because they have all helped me in some way and I wanted to do something for them. But there is a second reason. One of the things Umbridge said to me when she thought I was crazy was that I was a threat because people believed me when I talked to the press. I'm not sure people would believe me if it was just me again, but if it was me and Fudge and Justina and Remus, I think we may have enough believability to get her out of office. What do you think?"

"If the Minister is in a condition to talk, I think you just may. How is Cornelius?"

"Would you like to see him?"

"I'm not sure he'd be wanting to see me." The Headmasters eyes were twinkling again above his half moon glasses.

"Did you, or did you not, once tell me you didn't need an invisibility cloak to become invisible? You could always borrow my cloak if you wish, of course. I haven't talked to him yet about giving an interview. I could do it now."

"I believe I did. If it would be convenient I would like to see how he is doing."

"He tires easily, but his mind is mostly there. Justina will make a great researcher. She's come up with a detoxifier that is helping him by leaps and bounds."

Harry led the way to the Ministers bedroom. As he walked, his companion silently disappeared. Harry knocked on the door and was bid to enter. He left it open behind him. "Hello, Minister. How are you doing tonight?"

"Better. Better. That house elf of yours says there's to be ham, roast beef and potatoes tonight. I will be happy to have some of that."

Harry was surprised. "Ham and roast beef?"

"That's what it said. What brings you to visit tonight, Harry?"

"Well, I haven't wished you a Happy Christmas yet, but I also wanted to ask you something. If I could arrange for a reporter to hear our story, would you be willing to talk to them? Until we can be believed as sane, we can't go out in public. They'd put us right back under." The Minister shuddered.

"I can tell what I remember of the night Delores came over, but most of the last two months has been a blur."

"I think that would be enough. Just being able to talk normally with the reporter could help prove our sanity. We also have several people who will back us up. Justina can back up the facts about the poison and Remus can talk of what they had planned for the werewolves."

"That would be good. If it could be written the right way…Who was it that did that article for you last year?"

"Rita Skeeter."

"But…it was true, wasn't it?"

"She'd promised to tell the truth. No Quick Quotes Quill in sight." Harry had to laugh at the Minister having trouble believing she could write the truth. Harry supposed he had been burned by her many times in the past, too. "Well, if you agree, I'll start getting something set up tonight."

"I do agree. I hope she can be evicted from office. She's doing a worse job than I did. I suppose Dumbledore will finally get his wish."

Harry was confused. "What wish?"

"He'd be the next in line for Minister as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot." Harry heard an almost soundless sigh from behind him. He could just picture his Headmaster sadly shaking his head.

"I doubt he'd take it. Who'd be next?"

"Amelia Bones as Head of Magical Law Enforcement. But it will never come to that. You mark my words."

"We'll see. Happy Christmas, Minister Fudge."

"Happy Christmas, Harry." Harry left the Minister deep in thought. Harry didn't know if he was thinking of Dumbledore sitting in his chair (something that was never going to happen), or of something else. Whatever it was, it seemed to be weighing heavily on him.

Harry left the Headmaster with the others in the Gym. Kingsley seemed to be beating Tonks handily. Harry was still interested in seeing the two aurors battle it out, but decided he needed to go to the kitchens. As Harry neared the kitchens, he could indeed smell the ham and roast beef the Minister had spoken of.

Kreelo loved this. He was in charge in the kitchens. He was glad that Tubow gave permission for him to try his idea. He'd hated the idea of his Master's first dinner party to have no meat. There was a lull in the activity and he looked around seeing if there was anything else to be done. To his surprise he saw his master standing by the door. He hurried over.

"Harry Potter, sir! What can Kreelo be doing for you?" He was still relieved to see his young master healthy after last night.

"I heard you had roast beef and ham. I just wondered where you got them." His master didn't seem angry, just curious. Kreelo hoped his master didn't think he had disobeyed by holding out last night. His tension increased.

"Kreelo was thinking that if Harry Potter thought asking for help was good, then Kreelo could ask for help, too. I's asked Dobby if we's could have more meat from Hogwarts." Kreelo flinched remembering that conversation. He'd gone to Hogwarts and found Dobby had been in big trouble for taking all that meat. His master must have noticed his flinch.

"Dobby couldn't help you?"

"Dobby was in dishonor. The other elves was not liking Dobby givings away the meats." Kreelo noticed his master started looking distressed. It touched something inside of Kreelo that his master truly cared. "Kreelo thought that other elves might be agreeing to take promise of extra meat in exchange. I's got permission from Tubow to offer twice the meat we had taken. I's tells them that Dobby must have forgotten to speak of that part of bargain. Dobby is honored again. They's also agreed to supply more meat."

"You are truly brilliant, Kreelo. That was smart thinking. Are you going to be picking out the meat for Hogwarts?"

"Yes, Mast…sir."

"Make sure it's the best they have to offer. Good job, Kreelo. Thank you."

Kreelo stiffened proudly. His master not only accepted what he did, he admired him for it. Kreelo could now understand why the other two elves from last night seemed willing to do anything for his master, even though one did not even work for him. The feelings he caused to grow inside were new and wonderful. Kreelo knew right then that he, too, would do anything for his master. Not because he was his master, but because it was him. He bowed his most deep and respected bow. "You is most welcome, sir."

His master left the kitchens and Kreelo stared after him for a moment. Then he snapped back to attention. There was still a dinner to get prepared. He looked around at the other watching house elves. Saavik was watching him with large round eyes that were filled with awe. He didn't know much about her yet. She had only been here a couple of weeks. She was very pretty. Maybe he would let her have the honor of washing dishes tonight.

Shortly before 6 pm, Tubow found Harry to let him know that the house elves were going to start collecting their passengers. He advised Harry that appetizers were available in the Ballroom. Harry and company, including Percy and Justina, moved down to find several tables of various sizes had been set up. Terran, Farrendahl and Grissom were on hand with various drinks and nibbles of food. Harry had brought his trunk down to the small waiting room. It was the same room the others had talked in before. Harry assumed it was a room used for people to wait in while the person they were visiting was called down.

Harry kind of floated between the ballroom, waiting room and hallway. He was nervous though he knew he shouldn't be. These were his friends, mostly. It was the 'mostly' that was making him nervous; Neville's grandmother, Luna's father. They were the only real unknowns in this party.

The first to arrive were the Weasleys and Grangers. Ron and Ginny obviously hadn't told their parents where they were going. Mrs. Weasley was going a mile a minute about not telling her before about the room in the trunk and where were they going? How could they just come to some unknown place? Didn't they know it wasn't safe nowadays? She stopped abruptly when she saw Harry. "Harry, dear! Where have you been? I have been just worried sick." She then seemed to realize that her two youngest had known of Harry's whereabouts. She turned to glare at them. "You two…." She broke off abruptly as her eye caught the movement of another redhead. Percy had come to stand in the doorway.

He had not been in communication with his family since early in the summer. He stood there awkwardly now. Mrs. Weasley just looked at him like he was a ghost. "Percy?"

Mr. Weasley had seen him at work but had always been given the cold shoulder. Percy didn't seem to know what to say now. Fred and George had come up and were bristling angrily. Harry made a movement with his head to Ron, Ginny and Hermione to herd all the others away. They managed to get everyone out except Percy and his parents. Harry nudged Percy and gestured for him to go to his parents. Percy returned a thankful look and Harry closed the door. Moments later Mrs. Weasley's sobs could be heard in the hallway. Ron and Ginny were holding back Fred and George hurriedly explaining to them what Percy had done to help them.

Soon the Longbottoms appeared. Neville's grandmother drifted over to talk with the Headmaster and Neville joined the younger group. Then the Lovegoods arrived. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley finished their reunion with Percy and came out as well, all a little teary-eyed. Now everyone was here.

Harry cleared his throat. "I want to thank everyone for coming. I wanted to invite you all because you've all helped me in the past and I wanted a way to say thank you. I've obviously never hosted anything like this before so forgive if I do something wrong." At that moment Grissom's ears started to twitch. He looked up at Harry. Harry realized he was being called by Gilly. Harry hurried over and took the tray he was holding. "Go on. Go see what he needs." Grissom popped away and Harry returned to face the room. He looked at his tray. "Anyone want another snack thing?"

There was silence. Harry put the tray down on a nearby table. Neville's gran looked disapprovingly. Dumbledore's eyes were laughing. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Well, I thought I would try to explain some of what's been happening recently." Harry started to cover from when he got the Interim Minister's invitation and Percy's warning. Percy's family looked at him in surprise. He just stayed quiet. Harry went on to tell of his suspicions of the tea being poisoned and Umbridge's incriminating words when she thought he couldn't hear. Justina took over explaining how she narrowed down which poison could have been used through the tea sample. Harry started back up with admitting his fright when the Minister started his withdrawal, 'forgetting' to mention his escape. He also glossed over Justina's arrival; just mentioning she was found out by Healer Blythefield. He then pointed out Percy's part in obtaining a toad for them to be able to heal the Minister. Fred and George seemed to have a hard time believing that Percy did all that. Then Percy told what he had known about the werewolves being deliberately held in substandard cells with all guards armed with the silver dart spell.

While Percy was talking, Grissom popped back in and whispered to Harry. Harry's eyebrows raised and then he grinned a little evilly. He whispered something back and Grissom left. Harry returned his focus to the conversation.

Eventually they were called in to dinner. There was plenty of room for everyone to sit comfortably at the long dining table. Conversation flowed freely. Harry was quizzed lightly on the security of the estate. Harry was able to honestly mention that he felt pretty safe here. A few of the safeguards had been tested and found to be working properly. He mentioned the tracking charm on Hermes and that if someone was not on the approved visitor list, he knew they would not be admitted. He had a smirk on his face as he mentioned this. It was unplottable and he always had an escape route nearby if needed. He smiled at Ron and Ginny with this. He thought to himself that he had many actually; the trunk, the house elves and his phoenix form.

Finally dinner ended and Harry offered a tour. Some had seen it before and declined to go. Mrs. Longbottom also did not feel enough curiosity to go cavorting around the home. He felt comfortable with so many people knowing where he was because they still didn't know where he was. There was no floo connection and none of them really knew any route to get to where he lived.

Harry took those interested down to the lab to see Delores. Justina explained the toads color now reflected whatever Percy was wearing. Harry then showed the second floor as well. He skipped the third floor. He didn't want to disturb the Minister.

Everyone had congregated back in the ballroom. Mrs. Weasley was still fussing over Percy. She had a years worth of fussing built up in her and it all seemed to want to come out tonight. As uncomfortable as Percy was with it, Harry could also see that he enjoyed it. Harry did believe this was the best Christmas gift she could have received. Fred and George were gently quizzing Justina on all what properties the toad poison seemed to have. Harry knew they were storing the information away for any future joke products. Harry spent a while with his friends. They wanted to know the details of what happened with Remus.

Harry explained what happened in detail. Luna also knew by now about Harry's animagus form. Hermione looked horrified. "That was really dangerous, Harry!"

Ron looked confused. "Not if he was in his animagus form. Werewolves only go after humans, right?"

Hermione tsked and said, "Don't you remember the assignment back in third year? Lycanthropy is a parasite. It can only be spread by a bite to a human, not an animal. That's why Sirius didn't become a werewolf when Padfoot and Moony were fighting and biting each other in third year, he was in an animal body,…"

"See? So what were you so worried about?"

"…but that doesn't stop them from eating or attacking other animals! They are a werewolf you know. Their instincts are to attack other creatures."

Ron paled.

"The Ministry had starved them that day, too, which makes it worse. By the way, phoenix song definitely doesn't work on werewolves. They really don't like it. Even Moony was trying to get me."

Neville nervously asked, "What did you do, Harry?"

"I got all the meat from here and Grimmauld Place, and then Dobby got even more from Hogwarts, and fed them. Then I got them trapped in separate rooms, because they had just been tearing each other apart. Three of them must have been mates, because they didn't fight each other. The others were biting and scratching themselves all night. They looked ten times worse than Remus this morning."

Ginny looked concerned. "You went back this morning to check on them?"

"No. I stayed there last night with Moony." At their shocked looks he added, "I stayed up out of reach, but after he wasn't hungry anymore he seemed to recognize me as belonging to his pack. He just lay down at the foot of the armoire I was on and went to sleep. Apparently I did too, even though I had thought it would be impossible with all the noise the others were making. He recognized me this morning."

Ginny smiled at him. "He always seems to find out our secrets first."

"Yeah, well, most of them. Maybe because he is a Marauder and expects those kinds of secrets, and maybe…I don't mind him finding out. I think Dumbledore suspects, too."

They all looked to where Professor Dumbledore was talking with Mrs. Longbottom and Mr. Lovegood. Hermione was puzzled. "Why would he suspect? He's never seen you, has he?"

"No, but he keeps hearing stories of what a phoenix has been doing and I think he knows it wasn't Fawkes. I think he either suspects I acquired a pet or that I can change. He also saw me talking to Fawkes."

"You can talk to Fawkes?" Ron's face showed surprise.

"Er…yeah. I asked him yesterday to bring Professor Dumbledore tonight if he was being guarded by members of his 'flock'. His words, not mine."

Hermione's eyes lit. "Can you imagine what we could learn? Fawkes could be centuries old. We could find out so much about history…"

"Well, he just told me not to overdo since that could bring on a burning day faster." Harry just realized he hadn't paid much attention to that. Bringing seven men to Germany from Scotland probably was overdoing it. But it had to be done to keep them safe. He idly wondered if he had to be Flame to have a burning day or if Flame could do it without him. He hoped Flame could do it in the background, so to speak, because that hadn't been a pleasant sensation.

Finally things started winding down. Harry made his way over to where several of the adults were speaking. His friends followed him. Harry waited until they were at a stopping point before he entered the conversation. "Mr. Lovegood, have you thought at all about what we spoke of before dinner? Do you think we could make an article and publish it in your paper?"

Mr. Lovegood's eyes held interest. "Yes, indeed. I do believe, though, that you should give the other papers a right to it as well. This is just too big to be only in mine, though I do appreciate the thought."

Harry's eyes started to dance. He looked over to Remus and Justina. "Do you think you'd be willing to speak to a reporter about what happened? Minister Fudge said that he would."

"Of course. When would you want to do it? Would you bring the reporter here or would we have to go elsewhere?" Remus asked. Justina had been nodding as well.

Percy shifted restlessly in his seat. "Would you want me to talk too? I suppose I could…" Harry could tell Percy wasn't comfortable about publicizing his part in what happened. He was impressed that Percy was willing to put his career on the line by admitting that he'd stolen a toad from the Minister's office.

"I've thought about it and I don't think it would be necessary. I think the three of us and the Minister would be enough for this. But thanks for the offer. If anything should be needed, you could probably be an 'unnamed Ministry informant'. We'd have to see."

Percy nodded and looked relieved.

Harry turned back to the others. "Actually we have a reporter here right now." The others gasped and looked around at each other. "One thought to be 'a beetle on the wall' of our conversations tonight."

Mr. Granger laughed. "That is one thing I find fascinating. Our idioms can be so similar but different. We would call it 'a fly on the wall'."

The others just looked confused at Harry's phrasing. All except Hermione. "She wouldn't dare…"

Harry just grinned at her and nodded. "Oh yes she would." Ron and Ginny now understood who the reporter was.

"Where'dya put her, mate?" Ron was looking around curiously at the walls and under the table.

"She wasn't authorized to come so she was routed to the interrogation room in the guard shack. Gilly and Grissom are watching over her."

Hermione got indignant. "Harry, are you saying that you're keeping her in some sort of cell?"

"Well…yeah. It's not so bad. I was in there myself the first time I came." Hermione was still glaring at him. "I had her fed the same dinner we had. She deserved something for trying to crash."

Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling. "Am I correct in assuming you are speaking of Ms. Skeeter? She is the only reporter I know of that you are familiar with."

"Yes."

"Maybe the rest of us should leave you to your interview, then. I do want to thank you for having us here. I'm very pleased to know you have been doing well these last few weeks and I hope your plan works as you wish it to. Will Fawkes be providing our transportation back to Hogwarts? I can tell there are anti-apparation wards around this property."

Harry frowned in thought. He wondered if Fawkes would rather they go back with the house elves. Just then, Fawkes swooped through the doorway and landed on the back of Dumbledore's chair. "I could have you go back with the house elves if Fawkes would rather rest." He spoke to Professor Dumbledore but kept one eye on Fawkes.

Fawkes ruffled his feathers and spoke indignantly to Harry. /I can take care of my own chick very well, thank you very much/

Harry couldn't hold back the grin at the thought of the bird believing his old Headmaster to be his chick. Harry again spoke to his Headmaster. "Or if Fawkes would want to take you, Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt could go by house elf."

/That would be acceptable./ Fawkes trilled.

"Tubow?" The Head house elf popped into the room. "Could you get two house elves to escort Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt to Hogwarts?" Tubow bowed his head and snapped his fingers. Tiz and Fossa shortly appeared. Harry pointed out who they were to escort to Hogwarts and the elves took their places near them. Fawkes swooped around the ceiling and dipped low over Dumbledore offering his tail feathers.

Dumbledore offered the parting words of, "It has been a most enlightening dinner, Harry. Thank you for inviting me." His face was amused as he grabbed Fawkes feathers and disappeared in a flash of fire. Two cracks signaled the disappearance of his auror guards as well.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley started to gather their bunch around. "We should be getting back as well."

Harry pulled his friends aside. "Did she see her brothers portraits yet?"

"Nah. She was too busy yelling at us." Ron looked over to where his mother was fussing over Percy again while saying her goodbyes. "I did hear them laughing at us as we passed though. But they were invisible at the time. It's not too late yet. Maybe we'll spend a bit of time with them on the way back. Mum would like that I reckon."

Hermione reached over to give him a hug. "You know, I can see that Professor Dumbledore does suspect and you did give a bit away just now."

Harry frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, maybe not too much. If I hadn't known you could understand Fawkes I probably would just have passed it off as interpreting his sounds pretty well. But you were obviously amused at something he said and then arranged Kingsley and Tonks travel before Fawkes only offered his feathers to Professor Dumbledore. What did he say, by the way?"

Harry snickered again. "He was rather offended that I was going to make other arrangements for his 'own chick'."

"Chick? He's, what? Over one hundred fifty years old?" The others started laughing, too.

"Children?" Mrs. Weasley had finally finished saying her goodbyes. She gave Harry a hug. "I am so glad you are safe. Thank you so much for inviting us and for Percy." Her voice choked up at the end and her eyes teared up.

Tiz and Fossa were back and ready to take the Longbottoms back to their home. One more round of goodbyes and the Weasleys, Grangers and Longbottoms were gone.

Harry looked around at his remaining guests. "So where should do this?"

Remus said, "If the Minister feels up to it, maybe in the breakfast area?"

"That's a good idea. Percy, could you see if the Minister is awake and willing to do this now?"

Percy agreed and left. Everyone else made their way up to the third floor breakfast area. They sat and discussed all what should and should not be said. Harry pointed out that the phoenix involvement would implicate Professor Dumbledore and he probably should be left out as much as possible. The others agreed, although Remus was seemed more amused than anything. He knew Harry was right and Dumbledore would be implicated if they didn't tell Harry's secret.

After a short while, the Minister, helped by Percy entered the room. He was dressed in lime green dress robes. Harry quietly shook his head to himself. He had to bet that a house elf had charmed it that shade. He couldn't imagine they would normally have anything of that color in the trunks in the attic.

Finally everyone was settled. Percy excused himself and Harry gave the okay for Tubow to have Grissom transport Rita to their room. It was dark outside now and she would have no bearing on where they were located.

She appeared with a crack. Harry thanked Grissom and he disappeared. Rita was looking better than she had when he gave his interview for the Quibbler, but her hair looked like she had run her hand through it several times. Her elaborate curls were mussed. Her posture was stiff when she arrived, as if she wasn't sure where she was being brought and wasn't sure she wanted to find out.

She slowly opened her eyes and scanned the room. As she recognized the people sitting there she relaxed and some of her attitude returned. "Ha! I was right! I knew that eventually you'd be contacting someone and I suspected it would be your friend Luna. I knew if I stuck close, I could get in on the story. So Harry, is Luna your new girlfriend?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Luna is my friend. Now, do you want a scoop about more important things than my personal life or should we find someone else?"

Rita scowled. She adjusted her winged glasses and sat at a vacant seat. She poured herself a glass of firewhiskey, pulled out her acid-green quill from her crocodile-skin handbag and sat poised to listen. "I'm interested. What have you got?"

"Quite a bit on Interim Minister Madman Umbridge."

Rita's mouth quirked up at the title. "May I quote you?"

"Definitely. No embellishing though. Stick with what we have to tell you. It should be enough."

"What about my fee?"

"I'd like one copy available for the Quibbler, but it doesn't have to be exclusive. Feel free to sell it to whatever paper will buy it."

Mr. Lovegood was nodding. "I must admit I am most interested in Mr. Lupin's part of the story." He looked over at Harry and Cornelius Fudge. "Of course I would print the rest, but his section is what grabs my attention."

Cornelius Fudge spoke for the first time. "Rita, how did you get here without being seen?"

She looked towards Harry nervously. Harry cut in. "She is a very resourceful reporter. I'm sure she has her ways to get around all sorts of places." Rita sent him a flash of gratitude.

Remus noticed and leaned over to Harry to whisper, "More secrets you know?" Harry just shrugged.

"I'm sure you know most of us here, in case you haven't met us all, across from me is Healer-In-Training Justina Bosworth and next to me is Remus Lupin," Harry gestured towards the ones he mentioned. "and, of course, this is reporter Rita Skeeter."

With introductions over, Rita started. "I must say the accommodations here are much better than where I was before. Where exactly are we?"

Remus answered for Harry. "That's not important. There are some questions better unanswered at the moment. This is someplace safe from the Ministry and Death Eaters and we want to keep it that way."

Even though not every question was answered, she definitely was happy with the ones that were. 'Delores' was brought up for her to see and Justina provided a sample of her poison for Rita to get independently analyzed.

At the end of the night, Rita had a feral look on her face. "This could be big, really big. This will need to be done right. Give me a couple of days to get everything verified and in order and I'll get it published. Madam Umbridge would hold a press conference the next day…If I could get into that…." A dreamy look came into her eyes. Suddenly they snapped back to Harry. "She can hold her mask pretty well. You wouldn't happen to know any cracks in it, would you?"

Harry thought for a minute and then slowly smiled. "Do this," he started making soft clip-clop noises with his tongue as Ron had done at the end of the last school year. The others looked at him in amazement and disbelief. "Trust me. If she's not cracking, make that sound." Rita looked at him suspiciously, but nodded. "If you could keep it moving as quickly as you could, I'd appreciate it."

She glanced around at the obviously well-kept room. "You haven't said, but I have my suspicions of what this place must be like. You're sitting pretty right now. Why the rush?"

Harry grimaced. "Besides not liking the feeling of being a fugitive, I'd like to return to school in another week."

Rita gave a laugh. "It's easy to forget you're still a kid. The things that happen to you are not things that should happen to a kid."

"Welcome to my life." Harry made arrangements for her to be taken back to her home. Just before she left he said, "Watch your back, Rita." She nodded and was gone.

Harry met Remus for breakfast. Remus seemed to be thinking deeply on something.

"Morning, Moony,"

"Good morning, cub." Remus answered rather distractedly.

"What's on your mind this morning?"

Remus finally focused on him. "Oh, I was just thinking about your final words to Rita last night. Do you think she should be brought here after she releases the story? Her life could be in danger, too."

Harry shuddered at the thought of Rita Skeeter being underfoot all the time. "No way. If she needs to, she knows how to hide."

Remus looked at him curiously. "You do have something on her, don't you?"

Harry smirked at him. "Of course. How else would she have done my interview for free last year?"

"Don't suppose you'd share?"

Harry shook his head. "Better not. Comes in handy from time to time. Besides, we promised."

After breakfast Remus went to lie down. Harry decided to spend some time exercising and practicing in the trunk until his friends could join him. It wasn't too long before Hermione, Ron and Ginny made their way down. They were carrying a couple of bags. It looked like gifts inside of them. Harry was confused because they had already exchanged their gifts on Christmas Eve.

"Hey, Harry. Mum decided to have us deliver Christmas presents. There's a couple for you and some for Percy, if he'll accept them this year." Ron still had a tinge of bitterness when he spoke of Percy. He shoved the bags towards Harry.

"You know he will." Harry set Percy's bags aside and opened his own bag. He had another Weasley jumper and some meat pies. Harry put the food in the kitchen area of the trunk. "It's great that they will stay good down here so we can eat them when we're back at school." Harry tried to shake off the uneasy feeling that so far he still couldn't return to school.

They spent a while talking over what they had received for Christmas. Ron had another good haul this year. He talked enthusiastically about the new shin guards and keeper gloves he'd gotten from Charlie and Bill. Ginny and Hermione also told about the various gifts they had received. Harry just enjoyed listening to what his friends had to say.

Finally Ginny asked, "So what did you get, Harry?"

"Well, the stuff you guys gave me and, oh! Dobby gave me two new socks." Ginny frowned.

Ron suddenly got a gleam in his eye. "What about the Dursley's this year?"

Harry rolled his eyes and got a half smirk on his face. "You have to give them some credit. They've never repeated a gift."

Ron was starting to bounce in anticipation. "What was it this year?" He suddenly held up his hand. "No wait! Let me guess. Never repeated…so it's not pence or a toothpick or a tissue. Dental floss? No? Okay. I give up. What did the gits get you this year?"

Harry stood up and with a flourish said, "An emptied roll of toilet paper." He waved his hands with a 'ta-daa' flair and gave a slight bow to Ron's applause and laughter. "I had thought the single tissue was the all-time low, but at least that was still usable. Not even a solitary square was left." Harry started to chuckle along with Ron. Hermione just shook her head. Ginny didn't say a word and her face was expressionless.

Eventually Harry and Ron calmed down from their bout of hilarity at the Dursley idea of insulting presents. Harry looked at the bags of Percy's gifts. He supposed he should bring them out to him. He didn't really want to deliver them. He felt a bit strange delivering Weasley gifts to Percy when he had been a large part of the rift in the first place. He looked at Ron. "Do you want to deliver them? I reckon he'd rather they come from you." Ron grimaced. He obviously didn't want to either.

Ginny's face darkened. She came forward and grabbed one of the bags of Percy's gifts from Harry's hands. "I'll do it. Come on, Harry. You can at least show me where I can find him." Her voice was abrupt and Harry could tell she was upset about something. She snagged his arm and dragged him along behind her to the ladders. Ginny seemed about ready to blow. He wondered what got her so angry. He looked back at Ron and Hermione. They just shrugged. They obviously didn't know what was bugging Ginny either.

Ginny was tapping her foot impatiently, waiting for Harry to exit the trunk. "So where's Percy's room?"

Harry took the lead and went down the hall to Percy's door. He knocked on the door. There was no answer. "He could be having breakfast or already be in the lab." They went down the hall further to find the breakfast area empty so they continued down to the lab.

Harry led the way and entered the room first. Percy glanced up briefly then looked back to Delores whom he was feeding some aphids. "Neville's supplies are almost gone. We'll have to get some more. I think I've seen some toad food in your catalog from Magical Menagerie."

"Write up what you think we'll need and I'll order it. Er…Percy? Ginny's here."

Percy looked up at that and noticed Ginny standing in the doorway slightly behind Harry. "Ginny? What are you doing here?"

"I'm delivering your Christmas presents for Mum since Harry didn't want to." She handed over the bags with the gifts.

Percy actually shot a hurt look at Harry. Harry glared at Ginny. "I just thought they shouldn't be delivered by me as they're family presents."

"Family presents? Like the one you got from yours? How could you laugh about that? Empty toilet paper roll! How dare they!" Ginny ranted back at him with her hands on her hips.

Harry was beginning to feel his temper rise. He didn't particularly like talking about the Dursleys, especially in front of someone who didn't know their history. He was a little upset that Ginny would drag that out in front of Percy. "Ginny, this is not the time or the place. Alright?" He turned to Percy who was now watching them with interest. "Happy Christmas, Percy." Now it was Harry's turn to drag Ginny out of the room.

When they were a ways back up the tunnel Harry turned to her and pushed her slightly against the wall. "What was that all about?"

"It's not right that your family gives you gifts like that! Here Percy, who hasn't even been by his family for a year gets two bags full of different presents and all you got was rubbish from your family. And you were laughing about it!"

"I laughed about it because I just don't care. They have nothing that I want. I don't consider them as family anymore. They're just relatives I have to stay with for a while, not family. I have other family."

"Like who?"

"I have an uncle in Remus, a mother in your mum, a sister in Hermione and a brother in Ron. Hey! I even feel more of a family connection to the house elves that live here than I do to my relatives!"

"What about me? What am I to you?" Harry froze. He hadn't expected that. How did he feel about Ginny? His feelings for Ginny weren't anything like what he felt for Hermione, which was how he imagined one would feel about a sister. A picture flashed in his mind of rising and dipping water with popping bubbles. No. He definitely didn't think of Ginny as a sister. A sister to Ron, but not to him. There was a difference. A big difference. He suddenly realized how closely he was standing to Ginny. Her hair smelled of strawberries. He could see a few freckles across her nose and cheeks. Ginny suddenly seemed to hear what she just said and instantly seemed to panic. "Forget that! Forget what I just said!" Her color was running high in her face. She looked around seeming anxious to change the subject. "I just don't like it that besides the few from us you only got socks from Dobby!"

Harry shook himself to start thinking again after her surprising question. "Think about it, Ginny! Most people think I've lost my mind! Those who knew better didn't know where I was. And Remus has been in a holding cell at the Ministry for who knows how long. I'm sure he'll probably get something for me when he gets a chance." Harry could tell she wasn't as upset anymore. Harry felt he had calmed down, too.

"So why was it you didn't want to deliver the gifts to Percy?"

"I was a very big part of the reason your brother was separated from all of you for a year. Don't you think he'd rather see family gifts coming from someone from his own family rather than me?"

A voice broke into their conversation and Harry jumped back a little from Ginny. "You were the excuse, not the reason. It was my own fault." Percy was standing just down from them in some shadowy part of the tunnel. He was wearing his yellow Weasley jumper and holding his bags full of wrapped gifts. He must have recognized and opened the jumper first. Harry wondered how long he had been standing there. "I want to thank you both for delivering these presents. I didn't expect anything."

Ginny strode over to him and gave him a hug. "You should have, you prat! You should know that Mum and Dad would never give up on you and neither would the rest of us, even if some were pretty mad. Mum was horribly upset when she couldn't find you Christmas Eve. I think the best present she had was to be able to spend Christmas Dinner here with you and Harry. She's been very worried the last few weeks." The last sentence was directed at Harry with a small smile. Harry gave a small smile back.

Ginny looked back at Percy. "Were you going to bring the rest to your room to open? We can walk with you." Ginny started back up the tunnel and threw a smile at Harry as she passed him in the tunnel, taking the lead. "Come on." She flipped her long hair over her shoulder as she walked.

Harry walked behind her, watching her. He liked the way she moved. She moved quickly but still in a very feminine manner. Percy was taking up the rear behind him.

Ginny kept her lead until she reached the main entrance where she stopped dead in her tracks. The house elves must have just opened the wall of curtains that Harry had ordered closed the night before when Rita Skeeter was there as a precaution against her seeing anything that could place their location. Now the view of the cliffs was once again open to view. Ginny heaved a deep sigh. "I just absolutely love this view. I wish I could fly like you." She spoke softly to Harry. Harry knew she meant his phoenix form.

"Maybe soon you'll be able to. You're awfully close." Harry was standing behind her. Ginny sort of squirmed back into Harry, working her way under his arm and leaned into him. Her head came to the curve of his neck and Harry could feel her smile. He let her just stare out the window for another moment, enjoying the feeling of holding her somewhat.

Percy came up behind them. "I guess the view is nice enough. I've heard you're a very good flier, Ginny. Didn't you make the Quidditch team or something?"

Ginny straightened up away from Harry. "Yes, I'm a chaser." The moment seemed awkward for a moment then Ginny started for the stairs. "So, Harry, you said you felt the house elves were like part of your family. Did you get anything for them for Christmas?"

He gave her an uneasy glance. "Er…yeah. I was going to offer them time off or something but Tubow said they wouldn't like that. So I got Tubow a pocket watch, Gilly a warm blanket and the rest of them embroidered cleaning cloths or engraved tools with their names on them." He hurried on. "Don't tell Hermione. I'm not sure what she would think about that. I couldn't think of anything and they all really seemed to like them. House elves don't generally own anything that personal. It did go over well. It wasn't clothes to wear so none of them got scared they were being let go. I did also get three sets of gobstones for them all to share. I figure it's not that hard of a game and if things get slow they can play them and clean up the mess afterwards. They do seem to enjoy cleaning."

Ginny grinned at him. "Your secret is safe with me." They were on the third floor now and Ginny looked back to Percy as they passed his door. "I'll see you later Percy. Come on, Harry. Let's rejoin the others." She pulled Harry into his bedroom and shut the door. Harry had looked back right before the door closed and saw Percy had a very odd look on his face.

Ginny was fired up to practice on her animating spell. Harry knew she had been close for quite a while, but today she managed to go over the five-minute mark. She was ecstatic.

Even though they wouldn't be doing any transformations today, Hermione led Ginny through the trance.

"Follow my voice…listen to the rhythm of my words…" Hermione led Ginny into a deeper and deeper in the trance. Finally she came to the part they had all been waiting for. "Now I want you to open your eyes and tell me what you sense."

Ginny's started to smile widely and had a blissful expression on her face. "I feel a warm sea breeze. I can hear the waves and a birdcall. There it is. A falcon." Apparently the falcon landed on her arm and she spent some time in the trance looking closely at it. She described the feathers and talons and even the look in its eyes.

Eventually she came out of the trance and went to look up everything she could find in the animal anatomy book Harry had received on his birthday. "I'll be able to fly!" Ginny spent the rest of that morning happily contemplating what it would feel like after the initial transformation to be able to fly with her own wings.

Harry smiled indulgently at her. He was happy for her. He knew that between her love for the sea and her naturalness in the air on her broom, she would have a riot riding the breezes. They had figured she would transform this coming weekend. Harry hoped when she recovered, she would be willing to fly outside on his property with him. He wondered if they would be able to communicate when both birds. He remembered Padfoot saying he was able to communicate after a fashion with Crookshanks and Crookshanks belonged to the cat family.

At noon the others left for the day and Harry climbed back out of the trunk to have some lunch of his own. Percy, Justina and Minister Fudge were about to eat at the breakfast area so Harry joined them. It was the first time the Minister left his room. Conversation was kept light throughout the meal. The Minister slowly ate what he could and then Justina helped him back to his room leaving and Percy and Harry behind.

Percy cleared his throat. Harry looked at him inquiringly. Percy kept his eyes on his plate. "That was rather strange this morning."

Harry arched an eyebrow. "What was strange?"

"I never thought I'd see my baby sister grab a boy and drag him into a bedroom." Harry could feel heat rush up to his face. He was about to speak when Percy continued. "Now I understand about the trunk situation. I've used it myself. But that just looked…strange."

Harry didn't know what to say to that. Percy gave him a brief glance. "I couldn't help but overhear part of your conversation in the tunnel. Would you mind answering? How do you feel about her?"

"I like her, of course. I admit I've thought about a closer relationship in passing, but I don't know if it could ever happen." Harry focused on the scene outside the window. He could feel Percy's gaze shift to him.

"Why not?"

"Well, first, I'm not sure how she feels about me." Percy made a small snorting sound. "I know she used to have a crush on me, but that just isn't the same. She didn't really know me then. Hermione said last year that Ginny had given up on me quite some time ago."

" 'Given up'? Not 'stopped liking'? That could just mean she didn't think you would ever return her feelings."

Harry would have to think about that. Percy continued, "You seem comfortable touching each other."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "I guess we have gotten more comfortable with that. Usually I'm not comfortable with touching people. I wasn't raised with it and never know how to react. She decided a while back to teach me how to flirt and started giving me light touches every now and then on the arm or shoulder, you know. I don't know. It doesn't seem as odd with her now. It doesn't mean anything. At least…I don't think it does." He glanced over at Percy. Percy was still watching him.

"Maybe. If you thought she did still like you would you date her?"

Harry was getting a little irritated. The memory of Percy's letter to Ron the year before and his argument with his family earlier in the summer flashed through his head. "Why the questions, Percy? Trying to make sure she doesn't get too close to me?" His voice came out a little more aggressive than he meant it to be.

Percy winced. "No. Though I can see why you would think that." He took a deep breath. "I never really saw you as a person before. Even when I wrote that note on the Ministry invitation, it wasn't so much for you as much as trying to stop Madam Umbridge from doing again what I suspected she did to Minister Fudge. Since I've been here I've watched you. I've watched how you interact with people and even your house elves. I know you don't care overmuch for either me or the Minister – not that I blame you, we've treated you badly, but you still want to protect us. I've seen you with my Mum and with the Headmaster. I can see how loyal your friends are to you and you to them." Percy paused for a moment. "You are a strong wizard. But now I've seen that when you care deeply about something, like your friends and 'family', you're even stronger. I'm curious what you would be like with an even closer relationship."

"What about Voldemort?" Harry watched Percy wince at the name. "It's still true that I tend to have run ins with a maniac psychopath who'd be happy to kill me. While I'm at it, I've not been on real good terms with the Ministry for quite a while either."

"Yet you're still willing to take on the care of Minister Fudge. I admit the You-Know-Who thing still bothers me some, but I was the only one in the family who it bothered. Everyone else was more than happy to have you be a part of their daily lives. I'm not as bothered as I was before. I watched your eyes when I told you about Remus. After the fear and anger, you had such determination in them. I could literally feel your power roll off you. I don't think I've ever felt that before except from Professor Dumbledore. I don't know what you did and it's probably better that I don't know, but I know you did something. You and Ginny are matched that way. I don't mean I can feel her magical strength like I did yours, but she has that same determination. After what happened in her first year, she doesn't let herself be moved if she thinks something needs fixing."

Harry thought that was true. Ginny was quite willing to get in Harry's face if she thought he was doing something stupid. More willing than even Ron and Hermione.

Harry frowned. "Even so, there's still one reason why I don't know if I could ever consider a relationship with Ginny. Your family."

"My family? You-Know-Who I sort of understand, but what do you mean by my family?" Percy looked rather surprised.

"Ron was my first close friend. I really do feel he's as close as a brother."

"Do you think he would have a problem with it?"

"No. I think he sort of would like it to happen."

"Then what's the problem?"

"Your Mum and Dad. I care for them as if they were my parents. What would happen if it didn't work out? Things could get awkward and I'd lose that. I don't know if I could bear to lose that."

Percy shrugged. "There's no guarantees in relationships. Just remember, though. Most failed relationships are amicable. I could go to Penelope's parents house and feel perfectly welcomed. If you take relationships slow, they generally end okay, too. It's when things are pushed faster than they should be that hard feelings tend to rise faster and there's more bitterness."

Harry looked back to his plate. He decided he'd have to think about this some. A noise near the hallway made him look up. Remus was standing there. He was looking much better, but was still moving a little gingerly.

"Remus! You want some lunch?"

"Yes, please."

Percy got up. "Well, I'll be heading towards the lab. It's been nice talking to you, Harry."

"Er…yeah. Nice talking to you, too, Percy." Percy folded his napkin, putting it near his plate and left.

Remus sat down near Harry. He took some food that was still out and placed it on his plate. "What kind of talk were you and Percy having? I didn't think you talked that much together."

"We don't usually. Ginny helped deliver Christmas gifts to Percy this morning and he asked what kind of relationship we have."

Remus stiffened slightly. "He was against you having any kind of relationship with Ginny?"

Harry grinned at the protective tone in Remus' voice. "Actually, I'm not sure. It sounded like he wouldn't be overly thrilled, but wouldn't be against it either."

Remus looked over at Harry with a teasing look in his eye. "So what kind of relationship do you have with Ginny?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Right now, she is my friend."

"Right now?"

"Yes. Right now."

"What about in the future?"

"I don't know. I have to do some thinking on what that could mean to my relationship with the Weasley family if something should go wrong. Then, of course, there's always her input on whether she would want anything more anyway."

Remus gave a short chuckle. "I'm glad you're not taking her wishes for granted. I doubt you could ever do anything to make the Weasley's turn their backs on you, but I can see why you could be concerned. That will be something you have to work out for yourself. So what do you have planned for the rest of the day?"

Harry's eyes lit up. "Do you feel up to seeing what all is in the Gym area? I'm not sure what all that stuff is. Maybe you could explain what some of it does."

"Sure." Remus finished off what was on his plate then he and Harry made their way to the large gymnasium area on the second floor.

Remus and Harry spent the afternoon in the gym. Remus went around telling Harry what various pieces of equipment were for and how they worked. On Friday afternoon, they went there again. Harry asked Remus to show him spells he knew and since Remus knew he could do wandless magic, showed him some of the wandless spells he had learned as well. Harry was getting a little antsy. No mention had been made yet in any of the papers of their interview. He still had another week before he needed to return to school, but time seemed to be passing quickly with nothing happening.

Saturday morning, Ginny did her first transformation. It was hard to watch. Harry thought it was probably harder to watch than it was to go through it himself. It may have been worse for him because he knew exactly how much pain was involved, whereas Ron and Hermione couldn't see the effects of it so much as Ginny was in her bird form.

Hermione had brought down a mirror that she placed in front of Ginny in her falcon form. Ginny, however, was not responding. Harry was getting worried. There were slight chirping noises coming from her and her breathing was faster than Harry thought was normal even for a bird. Without another thought Harry transformed. Suddenly he could hear small pants of /It hurts, it hurts, it hurts…/ Harry trilled out a small burst of song and Ginny started to calm down.

/Ginny/

/Harry? I hadn't realized it would be quite that bad. I think I'll just stay like this. I don't want to go back. That hurts too much/

Harry hopped over next to her. He bent his long neck around so he could see her face and spread a wing over her. She was a little more than half his height, though he had to admit his was a lot of neck, but seemed much lighter weight. /Just take your time. Don't try to do anything this time unlike what I did. You won't catch on fire, but we can learn my mistake so it won't be so hard on you. Just sit here and relax. I'll stay with you/

Ginny stayed curled next to Harry. Harry looked up to see Ron and Hermione's worried faces. Hermione leaned down. "Ginny, are you all right?"

Ginny just tucked her head under Harry's wing. Hermione turned her worried gaze to Harry. "Harry? What's wrong?"

Harry shook his head. How was he supposed to tell her anything when he was a bird? He tucked his head under his wing to find Ginny. /Ginny? They're getting quite worried about you. Do you mind if I pop out to let them know what's going on? I'll be right back/

Ginny slowly peeked out from under his wing. /Okay. But promise that you'll come back right away/

Harry slowly lifted his wing from around her and straightened up. With a thought he was back to his full size. Ron grabbed his arm. "What do you reckon is wrong with Ginny? What's going on?"

"She'll be fine. She was just taken by surprise by the pain of the transformation. I think if she just takes it easy for a bit she'll be okay. But let's give her some time."

Ron looked a little better at that. He knelt down by Ginny and made to pick her up. Ginny squawk him then turned to Harry and started chirping like crazy.

Ron looked at Harry. "What's she saying?"

"I don't know. I can understand her when I'm in my form but not now. I bet she still feels too much pain for you to pick her up, though. I also said I'd change right back, so I'll cut this short. Just leave her be for a while. When she's ready for anything else, I'll let you know."

"Hermione and I will be right here. Take care of her, mate." Ron clapped Harry on the shoulder and stepped back with Hermione. They watched as Harry transformed back into the phoenix. Harry made his way back to Ginny and covered her again with his wing. She gave a painful whimper then relaxed against him, listening to his heartbeat.

/Talk to me. Tell me something. Maybe that can help get my mind off this pain/

/What do you want to know/

/Um…Does it surprise you that we can talk like this/

Harry thought for a moment. /No. I hoped we could. When I found out I could talk to Fawkes I wondered if it would transfer to other birds as well. I even remember Sirius mentioning that he and Crookshanks came to some sort of understanding, so maybe there will be some cross species communication. I'm hoping so, because the chance of all of us being some type of bird would be unlikely, but it would be good to be able to communicate with each other/ He thought for another moment then added/What does surprise me is that I can't understand you when I'm my normal self. I could understand Fawkes as myself as well as in the phoenix form. Maybe that's something to do with him being a magical creature/

/How in the world were able to do anything when you first transformed? I couldn't believe how bad that was/

/I think I've just gotten good at blocking out pain. With the scar pain, I've had a lot of practice/

They talked for quite a while. Harry started talking about what Kreelo had done for him Christmas Eve and how it made him feel that Kreelo wanted to protect him. Without going into detail of what was said, he spoke of the conversation he had with Percy and how Percy said he didn't have so many problems with the idea of Harry being close to his family as before.

After about an hour Ginny was finally ready to look into the mirror. She was awed by what she saw. The falcon was dark on the back but the dark bands and specks on the birds' creamy breast seemed to have a reddish tint. Her 'moustache' also had a reddish-brown quality. /How can that be me? I don't feel any different/

/Spread your tail feathers/

Ginny did so immediately. Harry commented/It doesn't feel different but somehow you know how to do things impossible to even think of as human. That surprised me, too, when I first transformed. I'm glad of it because otherwise I'd never be able to do any of the things that phoenixes can do. Especially the flying. Just you wait, Ginny. It's great. Sometime next week you need to come back and catch some breezes off the cliffs with me/

Ginny turned her brown eyes up to Harry. /I can't wait/ There was a sudden noise of a camera click. Ginny and Harry turned to look at Hermione.

"I thought you might like to be able to look at yourself in more detail later. We'll have to be careful that the picture doesn't get into the wrong hands, but it may help this weekend." She paused for a moment. "Are you ready to change back?"

Ginny made a reflexive duck back under Harry's wing. He sang a few notes and she peeked back out.

/One more time and you can recover all weekend and it will be over. You'll never have that pain again. I wish I could be there to help you recover/ Harry regretted once again that he was on the run from the Ministry.

/Harry, could you please stay with me for a little while as Flame? That song thing really seems to give me courage to cope with the pain better/

/There's still another hour before you guys need to head up. You can stay down here for that time. I'll go set it up/

Harry stepped away from her and returned to normal. "Let's get that bean bag over here and put her on it so we won't have to move her after she transforms. She's not going to want to move for a while."

Ron found the beanbag and enlarged it near Ginny. Hermione gently scooped Ginny up and placed her on the comfortable chair. Moments later Ginny let out a screech that turned into a scream and was once again fully sized.

"Harry?"

Harry turned back into Flame and started to sing softly. He was close to her and she suddenly reached out and pulled him near. Just as he had his wing over her before, she now cradled him in her arms, holding him like a teddy bear. She obviously was taking some comfort in holding his warm, feathery body. Ginny eventually started to calm down from the latest bout of pain and Harry stopped his strange song.

Even though she was now calm, Ginny didn't lessen the grip she had on Flame. Harry understood she wanted the contact with another living creature and he just laid his head on her shoulder and settled in to wait. She seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as she realized that Harry wasn't going to try to get away from her and tightened her hold briefly in a thank-you hug. Harry was glad to do this for her. Truthfully, he kind of liked it. He knew he would never feel comfortable being this close to Ginny in their present relationship if he were in his normal form, but somehow as a bird it was okay.

Harry felt very relaxed. He was in a kind of half-asleep state when he heard a shutter click. He opened his eyes and lifted his head. Ginny also stirred and gave a soft moan. Harry turned his attention to her and sang a few encouraging notes. Ginny gave him a slight squeeze then turned her head to see where the sound had come from. Harry looked, too. Hermione was standing a short ways off holding a camera with a soft smile on her face. Ron was nearby with an expression somewhere between amused and concerned.

Hermione's voice gently spoke, "Sorry to wake you, but we have to go. It's already 2:00 in the afternoon. We've put your Mum off for this long, but she's going to want to check on you soon. We've told her you've seemed to have caught a slight bug."

Ginny groaned again but started to struggle to sit up. Harry hopped back and transformed so he could help her. Hermione and Ron were right there, too. They seemed to have everything under control so Harry stepped back to watch them leave. He felt another tinge of regret that he couldn't go with them.

At the foot of the ladder, Ginny turned back to look at him with a small smile. "I guess I'll have to find my old stuffed unicorn. I've forgotten how nice it is to hold something," Then she grinned a little more. "But somehow I don't think it will be quite the same. Thanks, Harry."

Harry could feel his face redden. "It's nothing." She turned back to the ladder and gingerly made her way up them with Ron and Hermione encouraging her each step of the way.

After his friends closed the lid of Ginny's trunk, Harry sighed and climbed out his side. Harry made his way to the breakfast area to see if he could find something to eat for lunch. Now that he thought about it, he was kind of hungry. He had only stopped for some toast so he hadn't eaten much at all yet today. Harry preferred eating at the breakfast area for breakfast and lunch. Dinner was usually served in the small second floor eating area, but Justina and Percy had usually had lunch brought to them in the lab or ate with Minister Fudge so Harry was often alone. Now Remus was here, but Harry figured he had probably eaten long ago.

He sat down at the table and Kreelo popped near his side. "Harry Potter, sir, should be eating. Harry Potter want Kreelo to make something?"

Harry smiled. "Yes, Kreelo. Could you make me a sandwich? I'd like something to tide me over until dinner time."

"Yes, sir!" A moment later there were three ham sandwiches on a plate in front of him. Harry gave a small laugh. He'd never go hungry if Kreelo had anything to do with it.

As he started eating he looked over and saw the Daily Prophet lying nearby. He picked it up and almost dropped it when he saw the headline.

Interim Madam Minister Umbridge appoints new Undersecretary

Head Healer Horatio Blythefield accepts appointment

Late yesterday afternoon, Interim Madam Minister Delores Umbridge made a press release on her appointment of a new Undersecretary. Bypassing all traditional courtesies of submitting the recommended appointee before the Wizengamot for them to air any objections, Delores Umbridge only submitted him as a fait accompli. "We need to have a stable government and there was no time to observe the niceties of such an outdated form of protocol. I must confess myself severely disappointed by the way they have shown to drag their feet on several of my proposed laws and I wonder if it would be wise to temporarily disband them altogether. It would make for a much more efficient government."

Proposed laws mentioned are most likely the ones restricting goblins to only certain jobs directly related to the banking industry and the permanent marking of werewolves and centaurs; punishment of non-compliance being execution.

Head Healer of St. Mungo's, Horatio Blythefield, seemed pleased to accept this non-traditional appointment and stated his full support of Interim Madam Minister Umbridge. "I have always been interested in politics and lately have been able to reduce my caseload so I could take a more active role in it. Of course, I also have a deep concern for my most recent patients, former Minister Fudge and our famous Boy Who Lived. If they are ever found, I urge the public to let me know as soon as possible. I will continue to take an interest in their case. It is the least I can do."

Harry put down the paper with disgust. His previous enjoyment of the day had melted away. He felt frustrated. This article just brought home the situation in the outside world. So Blythefield had wanted in to politics. Umbridge made it possible for him to skip all the lower levels and get right to the second-in-command spot. He hoped Rita would publish her article soon. He hoped it would be enough to get him and the Minister some freedom. He had a sudden thought that Rita had already tried to publish it and it was squashed. How would he know if something had happened to her?

Harry distractedly got up from the table, not realizing he had eaten all three of his sandwiches. He had to find Remus. He had to see if Remus had seen this article and what he thought about it.

Harry started looking around and finally located him in the library. Remus was reading a large book on the history of Wizarding Government. Remus looked up when Harry entered and noticed the slightly panicked look in his eyes. "You've seen the article," he stated.

"Yes. You don't think anything could have happened to Rita, do you? I mean, how would we know?"

"She said she needed a few days. It hasn't been very long yet. Let's not assume anything until she's had a little more time. Let's wait until at least the weekend is over." Remus sighed and set his book aside.

"What are you doing?"

"Her comments about suspending the Wizengamot worried me. Obviously after Fudge and you, her next target would be to remove Professor Dumbledore from power. I was checking to see if it had ever been done before. So far, I don't see that is has been. I just wonder what she is planning next." Harry started pacing. "Harry, calm down. Why don't we go to the gym and work off some of your energy." Harry looked up surprised. "I'm feeling much better today and I think we could practice some dueling techniques. Of course, you'd have to practice wandless, but you're pretty good at that so I don't think it would be a problem."

Harry's face broke out in a wide grin. "That'd be great! Let's go!"

Harry and Remus spent the next few hours practicing different attacks and defenses. Harry hadn't had such fun in a long time. Remus showed several different combination hexes that needed very different blocking techniques, so when sent together usually cause one or the other to slip past the defenses.

Cornelius Fudge joined them for dinner. It was the first time he'd left the third floor and he was rather winded as he sat down. Harry was happy to see he was dressed in everyday clothes instead of lounging pajamas. He took that as a sign that he was recovering. Harry wasn't sure if he had seen the article in the Prophet or not and decided not to say anything about it unless he already knew. He figured that Justina or Percy must have seen it and they knew better than he what it would do to his health.

He did apparently know of the article and it was widely discussed during the meal. Remus was able to ask his questions to Fudge, who knew much more about what a Minister could and couldn't do against the Wizengamot. He said the only way she could remove the Wizengamot from having an influence on the laws would be to overthrow their current system of government. The only way she could possibly do that would be if she had enough Aurors under her control to form a police-state dictatorship.

They all doubted she had enough control over the aurors to do that, but it was chilling that they had to entertain the possibility. There had been several aurors who had been perfectly willing to murder the werewolves.

Near the end of the meal, Cornelius Fudge looked around the room. "It has been very pleasant staying here. It is a most impressive house, Harry, but I have to admit that I look forward to returning to my own home. I miss my daughters." Harry looked up guiltily. He hadn't even thought about what they must be going through. He wondered if he should find some way to contact them. The Minister seemed to read his face. "I am sure they are being watched very closely and it would be foolish to try to contact them at all, but I do worry about them as I'm sure they are worried about me. Justina has told me they weren't even allowed to visit while I was in St. Mungo's. I even look forward to being in the care of my own house elves. I hope things come to a head soon."

Solemnly the others agreed.

The next morning Harry didn't even bother with going in the trunk. He knew from experience that Ginny would still not be up to anything that day and so Ron and Hermione would not be showing up either. He spent the morning exploring more of his house and grounds. He followed the tunnels all the way down to the sea. The tunnel ended in a large cave area with a sandy gravel floor, which sloped sharply down to the waters edge. There was also a dock mounted onto the side wall all the way to the cave opening. Obviously at high tide the water was much higher than it currently was because the dock was quite a bit above the current waterline. Every so often there were rungs that disappeared into the water, which Harry assumed, could be used to climb down into a boat tethered to the dock no matter what level the tide was at.

Harry had never been so close to the sea before. He had to admit that the sound was a comforting sound. The rhythm of the waves entering and leaving the cave had an almost hypnotic feel to them. He could see why Ginny's stress ball emitted this sound. It wasn't quite on par with phoenix song for him, but it was good. One problem he had with it was he wasn't so comfortable with water since he didn't know how to swim. He'd gotten through the second task with the help of gillyweed, but if he was going to live on the coast, he decided he would have to learn to swim. He resolved that he would learn to swim that summer.

Harry next spent some time with Gilly. Gilly was finally relying more on Grissom for help. He realized after the Rita Skeeter episode that Grissom would take direction from him, not try to take over from him. Harry was glad he finally was confident that Harry would not replace him. Ever. He would have his position for as long as he lived. Now that he truly believed that he felt he could relax a little and let those with strong magic do most of the hard stuff. Gilly decided to start to teach Grissom some of what he knew.

Gilly, once again, reminisced of times long ago when the Potters lived at the house. Harry loved hearing the stories. Gilly spoke of previous house elves and their personalities. He even remembered some stories of 'young Master James'.

After an hour with Gilly Harry finally found the greenhouses. Terran was pleased to give Harry a tour of the plants they had been able to rescue from the long period of neglect. He looked at Harry strangely when they got to the back corner and Harry started laughing at the Gillyweed found there. Most of the plants Harry recognized, but some he had no idea of the properties they had. Harry thought Neville would be a better audience for Terran than Harry was. He probably would recognize and appreciate the plants better. Harry did express his surprise that there were so many plants that survived the fifteen or so years of neglect. Terran bristled with pride, but acknowledged that the last house elf must have died only four or five years previous.

The rest of the day was spent with Remus practicing spells and playing chess. Harry was actually somewhat glad Remus was on the run, too and wouldn't be able to go on any missions soon so they could spend this time together.

Monday morning Harry was awake early. He went to get some breakfast and saw Remus already there. Remus told him he'd like to get some books from Grimmauld Place that day. He would call Winky to help him travel back and forth.

Tubow appeared with the morning edition of the Daily Prophet. Harry thanked him and opened it up.

Conspiracy at the Ministry

Poison used to fake Cruciatus damage

By Rita Skeeter

Harry must have made a noise of surprise because Remus started looking over his shoulder. Harry laid the paper flat between the two of them so they could both read. The article was well done. Harry was impressed that Rita had even brought the poison to be analyzed to a well-known and respected apothecary which specialized in researching poisons and their effects.

Everything about what kind of effects would be caused by the poison was confirmed as well as the continued use being lethal. The article went on to say how Healer-In-Training Justina Bosworth's help had been enlisted by the fugitives in order to wean the Minister from his forced addiction. It also gave her the credit of creating the detoxifying solution. She mentioned that in her interviews with both Harry Potter and Minister Fudge, both seemed alert and cognizant. Facts were stated clearly with no signs of dementia or paranoia.

With what has been confirmed of what their 'medication' would do to them, the only 'persecution complex' they have seems to be justified.

Harry was pleased with the article. Rita had done well. He looked up. Remus had read faster than he and had started reading another page. This page had an article from her in response to comments made by Umbridge about the Wizengamot dragging their on the proposed law changes.

Many in the Wizengamot have stated they feel these measures are much too restrictive, if not 'downright wrong'. According to one anonymous source in the Wizengamot offices at the Ministry, "Truthfully, her proposal of these new laws have brought attention to how restrictive other laws passed through have been. Chief Warlock Albus Dumbledore actually laid each change out and it was clear to see that since Delores Umbridge became Undersecretary for Cornelius Fudge seven years ago, tiny steps have been taken over time to severely inhibit the freedoms of the werewolves. The Chief Warlock then asked, 'What will come next?' It was quite impressive. The Chief Warlock also stated how tense relations between the centaurs and wizards has been in recent decades and how it was very unlikely that the centaurs would ever consent to be marked, which would mean, according to the proposed law, any centaur could be executed without impunity. Goblins have never been restricted to only working in Gringotts. I, myself, have quite a collection of very fine silver candlesticks carved by goblins. It would be a shame to lose that workmanship by forcing them to not teach their children their trade secrets."

Harry reached for The Quibbler. The Daily Prophet hadn't had much on Remus' interview and Harry remembered that Mr. Lovegood had been very interested in it. Sure enough, there was a prominent front page article on Remus' interview.

The werewolves in our community are fast fleeing the country or going into hiding. According to new regulations, Aurors can pick up werewolves for no particular reason and hold them in the Ministry cells. Mr. Lupin had been picked up and held for 10 days before he managed to escape right before the full moon. "If we had not, there was no way those cells could have held us. They did not offer any wolfsbane potion as many of us use to keep our minds. They only option they would have would have been to kill us. Most of us do not want to attack anybody, but without the proper safeguards we normally put in place, we would not have been able to stop. We don't want that anymore than you do."

"That's good, Remus. I think she did a good job all around, don't you?" Harry was very happy with all the articles he'd read. They weren't sounding crazy and other opinions stated seemed to recognize how far gone Umbridge was.

Remus was pleased as well. They figured that Umbridge would give a press conference tomorrow in the Ministry Atrium and hopefully that would be the end.

Percy, Justina and Cornelius Fudge showed up for breakfast as well and were shown the articles. The morning was starting off very well.

After breakfast, Percy and Justina made their way to the lab to work on possible future applications of working with the toad poison and Cornelius went back to his room to read a while. Remus left for Grimmauld Place's library and Harry went to the trunk.

Ron and Hermione came down after a while and celebrated with Harry on how well the articles sounded. Ginny sent her congratulations, but had decided she wanted one more day of rest before joining them. She had felt well enough to open the trunk for them, though.

Lunchtime came and Harry had a light meal. Afterwards, he met up with a returning Remus. Winky was helping him carry several books. Suddenly Fossa appeared next to Harry.

"Mr. Harry Potter, sir! Minister Fudge is requesting your presence. There's being something on the noisebox he is wanting you to hear." Harry and Remus looked at each other then quickly made their way to Fudge's room.

When they appeared at the door, Fudge, Justina and Percy were crowded around the Wizarding Wireless. Tiz was also absently fluffing a pillow as she shamelessly listened in. When Fudge saw them, he started to wave them over. "Come here, come here! She's giving the press conference now."

"…I will repeat what I've said before, those familiar with Ms. Skeeter's writings have to know there is always an exaggerated element in them. Sensationalized press is what she has always strived for. She obviously has some grudge against me, though I have no idea why. How anyone could suspect me of foul play when I have always supported everything the Minister has ever stood for I cannot fathom…"

Harry felt a fist clench his stomach as he heard the falsely girlish tones of Umbridge. He could just picture the wide toad-like smile on her face as she uttered her false words. Just then there was an interruption from the crowd.

"Excuse me, Madam Umbridge, then how do you explain the poison confirmed to have the effects claimed by the medical records or Justina Bosworth's confirmation of the false report filed of the cruciatus effects on Harry Potter?"

"Ms. Skeeter, how did you get in here? I believe you did not have authorization for this press conference."

"Will you answer the question?"

"It was very foolish of you to come here. Did you know I've place an order for your arrest? You claim…"

The word was loaded with disbelief.

"…to have interviewed with Harry Potter and Cornelius Fudge. You are charged with withholding the location of people in medical need. Aurors? Will you please take hold of Ms. Skeeter and keep her quiet? I would like to question her on the whereabouts of our missing patients when this press conference is over, not that I believe she knows. Now, on to the ridiculous suggestions that my new laws are going too far…"

Harry was livid. She was going to get out of it! He wasn't worried about Rita being able to get away, but it was the whole principle of the thing. Rita had said she would be a tough nut to crack, but Harry knew her weakness. The problem was Rita wouldn't be able to play her card right now. Harry silently started to back out of the room.

Once in the hallway he quickly made his way to his room. "Winky?" The little house elf popped in near him.

"Yes, Harry Potter, sir? What can Winky be doing for you?"

Harry was searching through his trunk. Finally he found it. "Winky could you pop us over to the Ministry atrium? They're giving a press conference that needs some help. I'd like you to get us there as silently as you can under my invisibility cloak. I don't want them to see us. But if we should get noticed, you'll need to get us out of there right away. I don't want you to leave my side. Can you do this?"

Winky's eyes widened. When she spoke it was in a hushed tone. "Oh, yes, Harry Potter, sir! Winky be sticking to you as spellotape!"

Harry smiled at her and covered the both of them with the cloak. In just a moment they popped away.

Harry tried to quickly get his bearings. He was behind Madman Umbridge and to the left in a cleared spot on the platform. He focused back on what she was saying.

"…goblins taking jobs away from wizards. We need to protect our customs and the treaty of 1742 only specifies they were handle to currency within the bank. Now on to the centaur question…" Harry grinned. "…The Centaur Liaison Office has reported that they have received no word of objection to my suggestions…" Harry knew this was because the centaurs refused to have anything to do with the Centaur Liaison Office. "If we can obtain a clear record of…"

Harry started to softly make clip clop noises with his tongue. He could see Umbridge straighten up and start to subtly look around. Harry stopped and moved over to the right. Umbridge started speaking again with her voice at a slightly higher pitch. Harry, again, started with the sounds. She started shifting restlessly from foot to foot. He watched as her hands started to creep up to her hair and start tugging it down to cover her ears. Her movements started to become jerky and her words less focused.

"…Yes, once we obtain a clear number on how many of those half-breeds there are we can start to control those…Did I say control? I meant to say 'communicate'. Yes, communicate our wishes and impose our rule on those uncontrolled animals as we should have been doing all along." She was breathing heavier and heavier. "They have not been grateful at all for the gracious permission to use the Ministry's lands. They have no respect for Law Fifteen B or Ministry authority. But they shall! They shall learn that Delores Umbridge will not put up with what they did to me. Wizards are the rulers. Not Goblins. Not Werewolves. Not Centaurs. They supposedly have some sort of intelligence, but I do not see it!"

Delores Umbridge continued to pull at her hair with both hands and started to just mumble incoherent words and phrases. Horatio Blythefield finally stepped up to Umbridge and pulled her off to the side. He basically shoved her into a seat and strode back to the microphone.

"Obviously Madam Umbridge is in distress. I believe that I, as Senior Undersecretary needs to fulfill my duty and step into the Ministerial position."

Delores snapped out of it and screamed with rage. "Traitor! Backstabber! How dare you try to take MY position. I was the one who approached you with the plot on how to control Cornelius and that Potter pain-in-the-arse! How dare you even think to move me aside. Crucio!"

Harry couldn't believe what he was seeing. He knew she was unbalanced but to do an unforgivable during a press conference? Aurors quickly swarmed her and Blythefield was helped back to his feet as restraints were placed on his wrists. Harry decided to take this moment to reveal himself. He was at the back of the platform shielded from view by the sign describing the future fountain to be replaced.

"Stay alert, Winky. We're going public."

Harry stepped out into view on the platform and strode towards the microphone. The crowd had been buzzing with noise after the events they had just witnessed. A hush fell over the crowd as Harry stepped up to the microphone.

"Excuse me. I'm Harry Potter. I hope it's obvious to everyone that Minister Fudge and I were right leave St. Mungo's. St. Mungo's is a wonderful facility and has great caretakers, but there was one who was corrupted and took advantage of his position. Right now I'm hoping Minister Fudge will forgive me, but Tiz? Could you bring him here to the Ministry atrium? Minister you are needed."

Everyone held their breath as the seconds ticked by. Suddenly there was a loud crack and a small house elf was holding the hand of the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge. He obviously hadn't been expecting this and was running his fingers through his hair trying to straighten it. Finally he took a deep breath and made his way over to Harry.

Harry spoke to the Minister. "The people need direction, sir. You need to take back the control."

Harry stepped back out of the limelight and let it shine on Cornelius Fudge. All eyes were on him. He cleared his throat.

"I will resume the post of Minister at this time insofar as it removed Delores Umbridge and Horatio Blythefield from power. However, I am still recovering and will be for some time yet from what they did to me. I will ask the next in line, Albus Dumbledore, to start easing into the position of Interim Minister until elections can be held." Harry thought that seemed to have been very hard for the Minister say, especially the concession to Dumbledore.

Heads started to swivel and Harry noticed that Professor Dumbledore was standing with others wearing Wizengamot robes. He smiled at them and somehow projected his voice to carry across the atrium.

"I respectfully decline the position and let it fall to Amelia Bones, Head of the Magical Law Enforcement as she is the next in succession. I know she will do an admirable job working with Cornelius and representing the people's interests."

Amelia Bones was standing near the aurors remaining after Umbridge and Blythefield had been taken away. She stepped up to the platform and approached Minister Fudge at the microphone. She simply said in her deep voice, "I accept the position."

The Press Conference was over. Rita Skeeter, who had been released by the aurors, made her way over to Harry who was watching the aftermath with a smile. "Quite a show, eh? That took some guts to get close enough to crack her mask."

"Not too much. I had complete confidence in my escape route." He smiled down at Winky who beamed up at him. He looked back at Rita with a smile. "I reckon you did a good job on shaking up the world."

Rita gave a satisfied smirk. "I can write my own ticket now."

Harry looked at her. "Thanks."

"This was my pleasure. It was a once-in-a-lifetime story."

Harry laughed. "At least I hope so."

Rita walked away and Harry waited near the Minister. Amelia Bones finished talking and left to start to arrange details for the transfer to the Minister's office.

There were two young women near Minister Fudge who seemed to want to fuss over him. He looked up and saw Harry nearby. "Harry. Come here and meet my daughters. Clorinda and Mallory."

Harry smiled and said, "You'll be able to go home now."

"Yes. I shall be glad of it. I still cannot believe Dumbledore refused the position. You were right. I didn't believe it, but then it has become clear that I haven't believed much of what I should and believed too much I shouldn't."

"You can change that now."

"I have thought a lot over these past few days. I am tired. Once Amelia is comfortable I shall retire from the scene. I doubt I will be needed much. Percy Weasley could be a larger help to her than I believe I will be." At Harry's look, he continued. "I don't mean I shall ignore politics altogether. No. But I shall not take on a leadership role any longer. I will not run for re-election."

"Well. I wish you well, Minister. Do you want me to ask Justina to stop by your home to see you settled? She and Percy will be able to go home now, too."

"That would be nice. She could instruct my house elves on what my schedule is that she had devised." He thought for a moment then continued, "Also please send Mr. Weasley. Tell him to stop by my office and pick up any paperwork on these proposed laws. I will need forms to rescind them and…maybe a few others. He will know which forms I need." He looked sideways at Harry. "That werewolf friend of yours is a frightfully bright fellow, isn't he? He asked intelligent questions yesterday." He gave a mock glare at Harry. "I am a bit tired now. I believe I will go home. I hadn't exactly meant to be making a public appearance today."

Harry grinned at him. "Something needed to be done quickly and only you could do it. And you did it well, sir." The Minister nodded an acknowledgement then moved off with his daughters. Harry looked down and saw Tiz had joined him and Winky. He was about to ask Winky to take him home when he heard his name called.

"Mr. Potter," Harry looked over and saw Ragnok walking towards him. He felt both house elves stiffen and move slightly in front of him.

"Ragnok. It's good to see you."

"The pleasure is mine I'm sure." Harry inwardly grinned. The words were right, but somehow the way the goblin said them made him think of how Snape would say them. Sarcastic to say the least.

"What can I do for you?" Harry figured maybe he'd better let him cut right to the chase.

"You may not be aware, but goblins can see through invisibility cloaks. What were you doing up there?"

"I was listening to this on the wireless and wasn't pleased with how it was going. I was afraid she was going to discredit Rita Skeeter and manage to stay in office and keep me on the run. There is no way that such a short-sighted and bigoted woman should be in such a position of power. I figured I had to try something. Fortunately when I came she started talking about the centaurs. Happily, I am aware of the secret that she is deathly afraid of them. So I made this noise." Harry demonstrated.

The goblin smiled a wicked smile. "…and she did the rest."

Harry nodded his agreement. "She definitely showed her true colors. She went a bit further than I expected. I wasn't surprised she would try Crucio. She was going to use it on me once last year. But I was surprised she actually did it so publicly."

The goblin made his laughing noise. "You are full of surprises, Mr Potter. Now on to business. Would it be possible to meet with you tomorrow? We need to finalize some details on The Fund."

Harry hesitated. He glanced in the direction he had last seen Professor Dumbledore. "It could probably be arranged, but even though I don't have to hide any longer, I am still not encouraged to go about in public much." Harry grinned sheepishly. "Of course, some times I just lose my temper and crash Press Conferences."

"Griphook and I could come to you if that would be more convenient."

Harry relaxed some. "That would be better. Do you need me to send someone to show you where I live?"

Ragnok shook his head. "When you authorized for knowledge of you account, we also obtained the knowledge of you home location. All you will need to do is allow us entry through any protective wards you have in place."

"Great. Just let me know what time and everything can be set."

A/N – Thanks to Jeff for letting us know that we mis-posted chapter 3. Originally these were much smaller chapters and we've been combining them to form larger chapters, but missed a whole section that should have been at the beginning of Chapter 3. It is there now. Sorry for any confusion.