Aftermath

A/N: A big thanks again to all my readers and especially to my first time reviewers, Starfire13579, Dorian Windslasher, and Mugglecharm. Great catch re: Neville's wand Mugglecharm. I went back and reread the last book to hopefully ensure I won't have any more erroneous errors…and I modified the last chapter to reflect your catch. I'd love to hear what wrong turns you'd hate to see Dorian as I'd certainly hate for you to abandon this story.

Harry and his friends prepared to leave the reading room. Hermione wordlessly shrunk her books and placed them in her pocket. Harry looked at her hopefully. She rolled her eyes but smiled all the same and pointed her wand at Harry's new items. Everything shrunk except the sword of Gryffindor. Frowning, Hermione tried a series of spells, but the sword was completely unaffected. She started mumbling words that Ron was quite shocked that she knew when Lupin, who had been watching the whole incident, quietly walked up. He stared at the sword with interest before speaking.

"Harry, why don't you try shrinking the sword?"

"But, I'm still not of age, Remus."

"There is an abundance of magic happening right now, Harry," Lupin explained patiently. "I'm fairly certain that a simple shrinking spell will go unnoticed. Besides, considering the level of security at Gringotts right now, I'm wondering if the Ministry would even register a spell cast here."

Harry looked around. Remus is probably right, he thought, as he watched a number of witches and wizards shrink their own packages. And Neville was underage when he extinguished the fire on his Gran's hat. No Ministry owls had barged in with a decree for Neville. Why not give it a go?

First, he tried the spell with just a quick wave of his wand. Nothing happened. He glanced at Hermione who was trying not to look smug and focused once again on the sword. He muttered the spell this time and to his amazement, the sword immediately shrunk.

Lupin and Hermione exchanged glances but said nothing. Harry quickly pocketed the sword. Taking Ginny's hand, he headed for the door. As he was leaving, though, he turned to Hermione.

"Any chance you could help me with my wordless magic?"

"Of course Harry," she smiled turning a little pink.

Ron quickly added that he needed help too as he was rubbish with wordless magic. Hermione simply nodded although she turned a darker shade of pink.

The foursome followed the others down the winding halls towards the front doors. As they exited Gringotts, Ginny turned to Harry with a determined look on her face.

"Okay Harry. When are you coming to the Burrow?"

He smiled at her, "just a few more days Ginny. There are still a few things I need to sort out. But I'll be there soon."

"That's good, Mate," muttered Ron softly. "There are a few things we should probably discuss. You know…talk about what we need to do?"

Harry just nodded and pointedly turned to Ginny, "So, how are the wedding plans coming?"

Ginny rolled her eyes and started to speak. She stopped though and her eyes narrowed when she looked over Harry's shoulder and saw who was approaching.

"Mr. Potter, can I have a word?"

Harry turned to see Scrimgeour, Percy, and Umbridge hurrying towards him. Percy looked decidedly uncomfortable while Umbridge's features were completely impassive. Scrimgeour, however, was smiling pleasantly as if he were talking to old friends. In fact, he nodded to Harry's friends before turning his attention back to Harry.

"Harry, I wanted you to know that I personally checked into Stan Shunpike's situation, and he's been acquitted. We've…"

"How much?" a quavering voice said excitedly.

The crowd turned to look to see who had yelled. Mrs. Weasley was looking at the piece of paper that she had just been handed by a goblin. Her eyes were wide and her face was turning a chalky white. She fanned herself with the paper before thinking better of it and quickly gave it to her husband with a flustered smile.

"Looks like mom found out how much a share is actually worth," Ginny giggled.

Percy looked up at her with surprise. "Dumbledore left her a share?"

"Yea," Ron growled, "he looked after those who supported him. Those who were on the RIGHT side."

Percy ignored Ron and said softly, "Looks like her and dad will be able to afford a nice vacation after all. She deserves it."

Ginny's featured softened, "you know, she'd probably love to hear you say that."

Percy muttered something like "too busy" and looked down.

"Not enough time to pull his head out of the Minister's arse, he means," Ron muttered.

Percy's eyes hardened. Hermione looked horrified, and Harry tried not to laugh.

"Congratulations, dear girl," Scrimgeour quickly noted. "Ginny is it? I'm sure your family richly deserves it."

Ron looked at Scrimgeour expecting to be congratulated too, but the Minister had already turned back to Harry.

"Now about Stan, Harry…"

"Well, isn't this an interesting group. I didn't know that you and the Minister were on a first-name basis, Harry?"

All heads turned towards the new addition to the group. Harry was about to tell Rita Skeeter to buzz off when he thought better of it. Whatever the Minister wanted, maybe it would be better to have Rita around to record it. Besides, she had not printed anything inflammatory about him or any of his friends since Harry gave her the exclusive.

"Uh, this is Rita Skeeter, Minister," Harry said with a smile.

"Nice to meet you," Scrimgeour said with a smile that did not quite touch his eyes. "With the Profit, right Ms. Skeeter?"

"Freelance now, actually," she said with a somewhat bitter smile. Pulling a quill out of her purse, she tapped it against the side of her garish glasses. Scrimgeour stared at her for a few moments before nodding in acquiescence.

Ginny added sweetly, "Rita is the one that wrote the article in the Quibbler about Harry a few years back. I'm sure Ms. Umbridge remembers it? The one about the return of Voldemort?"

Scrimgeour, Percy, and Ron flinched at Voldemort's name although Harry was surprised to note that Skeeter did not. Umbridge turned a nasty shade of purple that actually complemented the hideous black bow on her head.

"As I was just mentioning to Harry," Scrimgeour mentioned to Skeeter, "the Ministry was able to verify Stan Shunpike's story. So we released him this morning. I personally became involved after discussing the issue with Harry at Dumbledore's funeral."

Turning back to Harry, he continued smoothly, "So, Harry, as your input on Mr. Shunpike was invaluable, I wanted to discuss another issue with you. The Ministry is taking our war against He Who Can Not Be Named with the utmost seriousness. I was wondering if you had any thoughts about how we could improve our efforts."

Harry was taken aback. He watched almost mesmerized as Rita's quill quickly wrote over a parchment at its own accord. He hated the idea that he was publicly ambushed by the Minister. However, he had to admit that he liked the idea that someone actually seemed to value his opinion for once.

"Well," Harry said slowly, "I guess I'd start calling him Voldemort for a start. Not saying his name just gives him more power."

Harry noticed that the three ministry officials paled, and Rita's quill even seemed to hiccup. Umbridge's eyes bulged, and she scowled.

"I told you that talking to him would be a waste," she said with a girlish simper. "He has no respect for authority, especially the Ministry's."

Harry scowled at the toad-like woman and turned back to the Minister, "and I'd take a long look at the type of people that you keep close to you. You never know who is being controlled by the other side."

Umbridge turned on him, "how dare you accuse me..."

"Now Dolores," Scrimgeour interrupted in a soothing voice, "I'm sure he wasn't accusing you. Everyone knows you have the nicest disposition."

"Really?" asked Harry rolling up his sleeve and showing the Minister the scars on the back of his hand. The words were still noticeable after all these years.

"Yes, I remember you showing me that before. What is it Harry?" asked the Minister looking puzzled.

"It's the way your undersecretary punishes students when she's not showing off her nice disposition," Hermione said in her most scathing tone. "I bet she still has that evil quill in her purse." Then looking surprised that she had even spoke at all, she took a step back behind Ron.

Scrimgeour gave Umbridge a searching look that reminded Harry of Snape. He quickly pulled out his wand.

"Accio quill."

Harry watched in fascination as the quill tore through the side of Umbridge's purse and landed in the Minister's palm. He stared at it with a calculated look.

"The students were completely unruly," Umbridge said with a scowl. All of her girlish simper had left her voice. "Some of them were telling horrible lies about the Ministry. I had to use extreme measures to keep them in line. I had the Ministry's approval."

"Turned out not to be lies, though, didn't it?" Harry said smugly.

Scrimgeour looked at Harry for a few seconds and then turned to Umbridge.

"You are relieved of all Ministry duties Dolores. If you could leave, please, I need to continue my discussions with Harry."

At first, Umbridge simply looked at the Minister in disbelief. Her mouth gaped open and her tongue hung out as if she were hunting for flies. Suddenly, she snatched her quill out of the Minister's hand, spun on her heals, and waddled away quickly. When Ron snickered and neighed, she broke into a run and got lost in the crowds.

"If I had been Minister then, Harry, that never would have been allowed," Scrimgeour stated firmly. "So, now that that bit of nasty business is complete, is there anything else you would like to suggest."

Harry thought about it for a second and nodded.

"I think the age restriction for apparition should be lifted, Minister Scrimgeour. I realize it's a very powerful and dangerous spell, but getting splinched is far less painful than the cruciatus."

"You would know how painful the cruciatus is then?" asked Skeeter with a thoughtful look on her face.

Harry simply nodded, "Never been splinched, though. But, you know what I mean. The Death Eaters mean business. For some underage kids, apparition may be their only means of survival."

"I'll take it under advisement," Scrimgeour said with an impassive face. "Thanks for your input Harry."

Turning to the others, he nodded and said, "good to see you all of you again. Enjoy your next term at Hogwarts. Let's go Percy. We have business to attend to."

Scrimgeour turned to walk away. Skeeter seemed torn between Harry and the Minister but finally set off after the Minister. Percy quickly glanced over at his parents who had stopped to watch the conversation between Harry and the Minister. When his mother caught his eye, Percy quickly turned and followed his boss.

Remus came over and put his hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Ready?"

Harry nodded. He said goodbye to his friends and promised that he would seem them in less than a week. He then grabbed on to Remus's arm, and they both disappeared.

Harry had been home for less than half an hour. He had taken out the portrait of a sleeping Dumbledore and placed it on the nightstand by his bed. He left the sword on the bed as he really had no place to put it. Finally, he placed his new phoenix's perch next to the one he had for Hedwig. The little bird immediately hopped over and snuggled with the older owl. Looking affronted, Hedwig flew to the other side of the room, but the little phoenix simply followed. This happened over and over again until Hedwig finally gave up. The little phoenix snuggled up under Hedwig's wing and promptly fell asleep. Hedwig hooted with resignation and fell asleep as well.

Harry shook his head in amazement at the two birds. It was easy to see which animal would rule the roost, so to speak. As he smiled at his own joke, Vernon Dursley marched into his bedroom.

"I thought I heard some commotion up here. What the bloody hell is that?" he raged looking at the new bird.

"A phoenix actually. Quite rare from what I understand," responded Harry. He smiled a bit as the little phoenix opened one eye, looked over at Dursley with disdain, and went back to sleep.

"Well, it sure as hell isn't staying in my…"

Dursley stopped when he now noticed the big sword on Harry's bed. The vein in his forehead pulsed and his eyes narrowed to tiny slits.

"Oh yea," Harry explained nonchalantly. "That's the sword of Gryffindor. I used it to slay a basilisk in my second year."

Dursley looked at the sword, then at Harry, then at the sword again. Without saying another word, he turned and left.

Two days later, Harry was woken by a tapping at his window. He looked at the owl carefully before letting it in. He untied the package from the owl's leg, gave it a treat, and let it fly off. There was an article from the Daily Prophet that had been torn out and a note attached by Hermione. Harry scanned the article first. Written by Rita Skeeter, now a special correspondent to the Daily Prophet he noted with amusement, it discussed the repealing of the apparition age law. Scrimgeour was quoted saying that he and Harry Potter discussed the merits of the law and decided that it was in the best interest of all children to be allowed to apparate in emergency situations only. When faced with Death Eaters, Scrimgeour noted, it could be their only means of survival. The article offered teaching tips for parents to teach their children the proper skills. However, it reiterated that underage apparition is intended for emergencies only. It added that parents will be taxed by the Ministry for any emergency splinching aid if and when the situation is deemed an inappropriate apparition-worthy emergency.

Harry stared at the article with mixed feelings. He was stunned that the Ministry would change the law at his suggestion. However, he could not help but feel slightly used that the Prophet was acting as if Harry and Scrimgeour were best mates. He shook his head with a sigh and read Hermione's note.

Harry,

Can you believe they actually listened to you and changed the law? You can apparate now – legally that is. Not that it matters much to you since your birthday is coming up. Ginny wanted me to tell you that she is very impressed that her boyfriend has so much influence with the Ministry. She is hoping that you might talk to them next about getting some tickets to the next Quidditch World Cup.

Seriously, Harry. I hope you realize what a big deal this is. Your suggestion could save a lot of lives. Of course, you need to be careful too. The Minister is acting as if you are his advisor or something. You should have seen Ron when he read the article. Well, let's just say that he wasn't very happy with you being used and said something that I won't write here. It was worse than what he said about Percy yesterday. Unfortunately, Mrs. Weasley heard him and sent him out to degnome the garden without his wand.

Hope to see you soon.

Hermione.

Harry laughed silently wondering all the different things Ron might have said. Harry would bet his firebolt that Ron was saying something equally colorful now as he chased the gnomes with a stick. Maybe it was time to head over there Harry thought. If he helped Ron, maybe they could finish in time to get in a little quidditch practice.

Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the door downstairs. Harry heard an urgent voice ask for him. He ran down the stairs almost knocking over his fat cousin. Ms. Figg was at the door, and her face was chalky white.

"You need to come to my house, Harry. I just spoke with Mad-eye. The Burrows been attacked."