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Mayhem at the Ministry

Dumbledore, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Neville, and Luna portkeyed to the Ministry of Magic right after classes had finished for the day. Mr. Weasley was in the appointed spot, waiting for them.

"Hello, everyone! Let's pair up, shall we?" He lowered his voice. "We'll be able to find out more that way." He spoke normally again. "Ron, and Ginny, you know this place quite well, so you can go together with Neville. Dumbledore will take Luna and I'll take Harry."

They split up in their three respective groups after registering their wands. Harry and Mr. Weasley headed for the elevator. "Let's go to my office, so I can check how things are going," suggested Mr. Weasley. Harry nodded and followed him to his 'Misuse of Muggle Artifacts' office.

"You can wait outside, if you like, Harry," said Mr. Weasley. "Someone's here to see me." Harry nodded. Mr. Weasley entered his office and closed the door.

Harry looked around, trying to see if there was anything out of the ordinary. Nothing. Except, the Minister of Magic himself, Cornelius Fudge, was headed his way with a huge smile on his face. 'Great!' thought Harry hopefully. 'I might be able to find out something from him!'

"Harry Potter! Always a pleasure!" Fudge greeted him with his hand outstretched.

"Hello, Minister," said Harry pleasantly, shaking his hand.

Fudge stared at him a second, and glanced at the closed door of Mr. Weasley's office, seeming to be deep in thought. "How about some tea in my office while you wait for Mr. Weasley, Harry? We can catch up on old times."

Harry was a bit surprised. The Minister was a busy man, and he had not been so considerate to him. At least recently. However, it would be a great opportunity to find out information about Hermione. "Yeah, that'd be great," said Harry enthusiastically.

The pair strode to the Minister's office, which was close by. Harry watched as the Minister poured two cups of tea, with his back turned towards Harry. He carried a tray with the cups on them over to Harry and smiled broadly. He set it down on the table and immediately grabbed his own cup, sipping it. "So, Harry, how's school coming?"

"Great, thanks," said Harry. 'Would be much better if Hermione was there.'

Harry wasted no time. "So what exactly has happened to Hermione?"

"Oh, yes, she was your friend, wasn't she," mused Fudge. "Have some tea, Harry, I haven't poisoned it."

Fudge was watching him with the oddest, almost expectant, look on his face. Harry hesitantly reached for the cup. As soon as he touched it, he felt the unmistakable feeling of being transported by portkey.

In a rush of wind, Harry felt himself land in a small room. The cup fell to the floor and tipped over, its contents spilling everywhere. He took a look at his surroundings, and had quite a shock. There stood Fudge, in front of him. And on the ground was Hermione.

"You! You've been hiding her here!" shouted Harry, enraged. He assumed that Fudge had portkeyed or Apparated along with him. "You've been saying she's dead!"

"Harry, I'm the real Minister. You must be thinking of Michael Judge, the fellow who has been using the Polyjuice potion to masquerade around as me," said Fudge calmly. "If you don't believe me, ask Hermione."

"Hermione!" Harry said. "We've all been so worried about you! Dumbledore, Mr. Weasley, Ron, Luna, Ginny, and Neville are all here looking for you." And then, after a moment, "Is Fudge telling the truth?"

Hermione winked in affirmation. "Oh, that's right," said Harry. He grabbed both of her hands. Hermione slowly came to life and shakily stood up, with Harry's help.

"Thanks, Harry," she said softly.

Fudge stared at them with a wide-eyed expression. "Quite remarkable!" he exclaimed.

"Harry, do you have your wand? We need to get out of here!" cried Hermione. "We need to free the Minister and go to my parents to get them to stop suing Remus. We have to get him out of Azkaban!"

Harry began frantically searching his pockets.

Fudge looked at her, puzzled. "Why would you want him out of Azkaban? Didn't he—"

"It's not true," Hermione interrupted. "All those nasty things they said about him! The only law he has broken was when he took me out of the hospital without the doctor's permission! He's been really heroic, he definitely does not belong in Azkaban," said Hermione desperately. She hoped that when the Minister was free, he would be able to pardon Remus.

"I can't find my wand!" said Harry. "Judge must have taken it from me when I wasn't looking."

"Oh, no," groaned Hermione. "We're stuck here."

"They'll come looking for me, though," said Harry. "They know I'm in the Ministry somewhere. I was supposed to be right outside Mr. Weasley's office. That's when Judge came along and invited me to his office for tea." He pointed to the cup. "That's how I got here. He made it into a portkey."

"Oh, dear," said Fudge. "So, what really did happen with Remus? How did you get into your current state? Why can you move when Harry touches you?"

Harry and Hermione took turns explaining the events of the past few months, passing the time while hoping to be rescued. They even debated attacking Judge the next time he came to check up on them. Between the three of them, they might be successful!

Michael Judge waited patiently in his office. Soon enough, he'd be able to set his plan into motion, further damaging the Order of Phoenix. If he was lucky, he might land more of them in Azkaban along with the werewolf.

Soon enough, he heard voices. He recognized one of them as Dumbledore's. He pasted a fake look of concern on his face, and walked out into the hall. "Is something the matter?" he asked.

"We cannot find Harry Potter. He has gone missing," said Dumbledore, eyeing the Minister shrewdly.

"Oh, we can't have that," said Judge, feigning worry. "Where did you last see him?"

Mr. Weasley spoke up. "He was supposed to be waiting outside my office. When I came out, I noticed him missing."

Michael Judge gave Mr. Weasley a long, hard, measuring look. "I see..." he said doubtfully. He took a deep breath. "You Weasleys have been acting awfully suspicious lately. When I left Hermione's body in your son Percy's charge, it went missing. And now, when Harry was left in your charge, he's gone missing, too." Michael took a menacing step towards Mr. Weasley's stunned face. "You've been plotting against Harry and his faithful friend, Hermione, since the very beginning! Didn't your son, Ron, try to kill Harry in their second year by crashing into the Whomping Willow? And your daughter, Ginny, attempted to resurrect You-Know-Who and nearly killed Harry, as well as Hermione! Your whole family, no doubt, has been secretly allied to You-Know-Who for years, trying to kill Harry and anyone who would help him."

The Weasleys looked too stunned to speak.

Luna stared at him with big, luminous eyes. "Did you know that nargles can pretend to be friendly when they really mean to bite you?"

Michael barely gave her a thought, and turned to Dumbledore.

"I think you are gravely mistaken about the Weasleys, Minister Fudge," said Dumbledore, glancing at Luna. "They have proven to be more than trustworthy over the years. I'm sure those things were purely accidental, and those previous occasions has already been dealt with. No reason to bring it up again." Dumbledore gave him a hard, penetrating look.

"He's right!" exclaimed Ginny indignantly, who still had guilty feelings about her ordeal in her first year. "We would never side with You-Know-Who!"

"One moment, if you will, Minister," said Dumbledore calmly, taking Neville aside and scribbling something on a piece of paper. He gave it to Neville, and whispered so quietly even Neville could barely hear him. "Take this to Snape. Here's my handkerchief. It will take you to Hogwarts when you walk out of sight down the hall."

Neville strode down the hall and carried out Dumbledore's wishes. Michael watched him suspiciously, but didn't comment. "Despite what you say, Dumbledore, I still think it is necessary to launch an investigation of the Weasleys."

"But, Minister," objected Mr. Weasley. "We've been upstanding Ministry members from the beginning. You know that!"

Ron felt oddly alone without Harry or Hermione there. He had never faced anything like this without them. In fact, he didn't think he'd faced anything like this before at all. "You can ask anyone you like, Minister, and they'll tell you I've been Harry's best friend since we started at Hogwarts! I would never harm Harry, or Hermione!"

"What else would you suggest, then, if Harry hasn't turned up?" said Michael nastily, his fake presumptive air gone. "Everything points to your family."

"Nargles, you know, aren't really what they make themselves out to be," said Luna edgily, shifting her imploring gaze to Dumbledore. "They like to fake their appearance."

"Yes, Miss Lovegood," said Dumbledore, pretending to brush her comment off, but gave her a tiny wink. Noting Fudge's odd expression as he finally took notice of Luna, Dumbledore explained, "She likes to tell people about what she has learned in The Quibbler. Her father is the editor, you know."

"Really?" said Michael, his brow furrowed suspiciously. It almost seemed like the strange girl was onto him. But how could she have possibly found out? It didn't seem very likely. "Anyway, I shall call a search for Harry. You can find me in my office if you need me." He entered his office, evidently to contact other Ministry officials. A search was made of the Ministry by several officials for a half hour, before declaring that Harry could not possibly be on the premises, unless he was in the Department of Mysteries, which he couldn't have possibly entered without being seen.

After the search was complete, Michael approached Dumbledore again. "I am going to order an investigation into the Weasley family," he declared.

"Very well, Minister," said Dumbledore thoughtfully. "But first, will you join me for a conference in my office at Hogwarts? I have some tea for you. We could discuss proceedings."

Michael couldn't believe his luck. A conference in Dumbledore's office? The things he could find out for the Dark Lord! "I shall gladly accept, Dumbledore. You are most kind," he agreed, trying to hide the excitement in his voice.

"Here, I've got a portkey," said Dumbledore. He held out one of Dobby's socks (flaming pink with lime green half moons) and Michael grabbed hold of it. They landed softly in Dumbledore's office. "Have a seat," invited Dumbledore, sitting down himself.

Michael sat down and took a good look around the office, noting everything he saw. Just then, he saw Severus Snape enter the office with two cups of tea, a snide look on his face.

"I have more tea, if it is needed, Headmaster," he said, giving his headmaster a meaningful look.

"Thank you, Severus," said Dumbledore, sipping the cup that was given to him.

Michael drank his own mug quickly, continuing to glance eagerly around the room.

"So, who are you really?" asked Dumbledore casually. Snape, if he'd followed his orders, had given Fudge Veritaserum.

"Michael Judge," said Michael, a glazed look forming in his eyes.

"How did you get to the Minister without anyone noticing?"

"I took some essence of Lucius Malfoy, which he lent me, and had a meeting with Cornelius right before he was to go home, when not many people were around. He thought I was Lucius, about to make a generous donation. I knocked him right out, added his hair to an already prepared Polyjuice potion, and took it, stuffing him in a closet. When no one else was around, I found a secluded room to hide him in."

"Where did you put Harry, Hermione, and Cornelius?"

"In a private room in the Department of Mysteries."

"How did you find out that Hermione and Remus were at Grimmauld Place?"

"Voldemort looked through Harry's eyes and saw it. He heard the name, and surmised where it was. I, as Minister, ordered a raid on the place."

"Where did Hermione and Remus go after that, and how did you find out?"

"They ended up at a farm of sorts, and the Muggles there gave the werewolf a job with them. That blond Muggle gave Hermione therapy. I saw pictures of Hermione on the Muggle Internet, and figured out where they were."

"You also ordered a watch on Grimmauld Place, did you not?"

"Yes."

Dumbledore thought of the report he had heard of Remus's behavior when he had been caught. "You also slipped Remus some form of potion?"

"Yes. I got Pat Paeton on a roll talking about one of his horses and picked one of his hairs off his shirt. Quite a feat, when he was already covered in horsehair, if I do say so myself. Added it to some Polyjuice, and slipped some Lust potion into the werewolf's orange juice. I wanted to be sure he was taken to Azkaban right away. I couldn't have him being his normal, sickeningly polite self, casting doubt as to whether he was really guilty of all his charges."

"Naturally, naturally," commented Dumbledore. "Are you still thirsty?"

"Yes," replied Michael.

"Would you like some more tea?" Dumbledore asked, beckoning Snape forward.

"Very much so," said Michael greedily. He snatched the cup from Snape, gulping it down. Odd changes consumed his features. Within moments, he was back as Michael Judge.

Dumbledore extracted the exact location of the room holding Harry, Hermione, and Cornelius from Michael, before taking him with him back to the Ministry. People around them gasped in shock to see the infamous Death Eater and the Headmaster of Hogwarts suddenly appearing in the hallway. Dumbledore got some Unspeakables to retrieve Harry, Hermione, and Fudge out of their room, and had several Aurors restrain Michael.

The real Fudge, Harry, and Hermione soon joined them. Harry and Hermione were holding hands tightly.

"How are you?" inquired Dumbledore.

'Not too horrible, considering I've been imprisoned by a madman for two months," said Fudge wearily.

"Much better now, thanks," said Harry.

Hermione gave a strained smile. She was thinking about Remus suffering in Azkaban. No, she was not fine, as long as he was stuck there. "What are we going to do about Remus? Minister, please, couldn't you grant him a trial?"

"Considering the state of things, I don't see why not," said Fudge reluctantly. He knew it would prove to be a controversial decision, and his desk would probably burn down from all the Howlers he'd receive because of it. "I'll send for him. He'll be tried by the whole Wizengamot. I'll try to schedule it for the next couple of days."

"Thank you, Minister, you won't regret it," said Hermione fervently.

"Now, if you'll all excuse me, I have a trollish amount of work to do," said Fudge, leaving them.

"What should we do now?" wondered Harry, still clutching Hermione's hand.

"I think we need to gather witnesses for Remus's defense. Also, Hermione, if you can get your parents to end their suit against him that would help, too. I could portkey you and Harry to your house. Here, so you won't have to cling to each other—" Dumbledore performed a blood transfusion and handed Harry and Hermione their wands. "I have Remus's as well," he said, patting his pocket. "Here's the portkey."

Harry and Hermione reached for the sock, which obviously had belonged to Dobby (bright orange with red rectangles that resembled books), preparing for the task to come.

Replies to Reviewers:

Wow, I've lots of great reviews, thanks everyone! I now have the final chapters back from the beta. However, I'm going on a trip super early tomorrow, and it's late so I'm in a hurry. So I'm posting this now, and I'll add review replies to the final two chapters. So, this story will be completely posted sometime next week.

Preview of next chapter: Hermione was taken aback at how awful Remus looked. He hadn't been in Azkaban very long, perhaps a week at most, but it seemed to have a very negative effect on him. He had a blank, haunted look in his eyes, and didn't meet anyone's gaze. Physically, he looked like one good hex would do him in. The officials escorted him to his seat, and took their own behind him. Remus stared at a particularly interesting crack in the floor.