"So the wards alerted you to a ghost forming within the castle, is that correct?" Auror Smithly said as he wrote notes down in a small notepad.
"Yes, the castle is always gaining new ghosts. Most don't stick around or can be convinced to pass on at the very least."Dumbledore said jovially as if he were giving a lesson rather than discussing the death of a child.
"Right, and then you investigated the forming of this ghost only to discover it was one, Harry Potter." Smithly continued, keeping his disgust at Dumbledore's behavior firmly behind his occlumency shields.
"Actually I sent Severus Snape down to check on whatever ghost was forming since it was forming down in his dungeons and he does know that part of the castle better than anyone else. It was probably about half an hour after Severus had left the staff room to go investigate that we received his Patronus message saying the ghost was Harry Potter and someone should check if his relatives were alive. I am sure he worried that the whole family was attacked."
"And instead of alerting the Aurors like you should have done, you sent some of your own people over to the Dursley household, and then they were intelligent enough to then alert the proper authorities." Smithly drawled, letting the contempt for Dumbledore's actions drip into his tone.
"Well the ministry hasn't always been the best source to use especially during troubled times and I didn't want to raise the alarm unnecessarily-" Dumbledore blustered before Smithly interrupted him.
"Mr. Dumbledore a child had just been discovered to be dead, I don't think it gets much more serious than that. You should be counting your lucky stars that nobody has suggested bringing you up on charges yet for a number of reasons. It is a peaceful time now. There is no dark lord for you to fight and running vigilante-style groups such as the Order of Phoenix outside of wartime is considered illegal. I suggest getting a good lawyer before this is all over, or you just might get to see the inside of a prison cell. Now, send in Severus Snape so I may interview him." Auror Smithly briskly dressed down Dumbledore as if he was merely a common criminal. Dumbledore's face was red in anger when he left the room, slamming the door behind him as he left.
"Well you certainly know how to piss off the most politically powerful person there is in this country, brava." Rookie auror Venusia Gore muttered from her spot in the corner of the room. She was here to observe the interrogations of those within Hogwarts under the wing of Auror Smithly. Aurors Kingsly, Bell, and Robards were all in their own abandoned classrooms conducting interviews of ghosts, students, elves, and staff alike.
"Unfortunately men like Dumbledore often get let off the hook with murder if we let them keep that self-inflated ego of theirs running. Need to remind them that they are human, not gods, and as such are subject to follow the laws set forth by their fellow mortal men." Smithly sneered in disgust. "Nothing pisses me off more than men like Dumbledore."
"Don't get on your bad side." Gore chuckled before going quiet as the next person, Severus Snape, entered the room to be interviewed. It was going to be a long and unforgiving day for all involved.
*MD*
Minister Milicent Bagnold was holding a small conference in her office to discuss the tragedy of the death of one Harry Potter and how the investigation was faring. She would later reminisce on how her days in office were easier when Voldemort had been in power versus now with the death of the wizarding world's hero.
"I have howlers coming in left and right calling for the deaths of Harry Potter's killers. I do not think the public will react well if we try to hand them over to muggle authority like we normally would." Minister Bagnold stated with dread.
"We cannot change the law of how we handle muggles just because this is a high-profile case!" One of the newer Aurors stated in an outraged tone.
"Well unless you are going to be the one to face down the inevitable outcry and subsequent protests that will occur if we do hand the murderers off to the muggle authorities, then I suggest we come up with a compromise." Lucius Malfoy drawled from his seat, looking pompous as ever, but he did have a good head when it came to politics.
"I am open to suggestions. Once it is let out that there is nobody to perform the proper funeral rites with, the outcry will only get worse. Especially from the traditionalist party. They will be particularly outraged that two muggles are the reason seven-year-old Harry Potter is going to permanently be a ghost at Hogwarts School." Bagnold informed them, causing several people within the office to wince.
"Um, why would the traditionalist party take particular grievance with the lack of body?" Auror Macon, a fresh off the rookie slot list of Aurors asked tentatively.
"Auror Macon, you are a muggle-born are you not?" Auror Robards asked in his gruff tone.
"What does that have to do with anything?!" Auror Macon puffed out her chest indignantly.
"Quite a lot actually." Malfoy sneered. "This is why the curriculum at Hogwarts is lacking. Listen here Auror Macon. Without a body the funeral rites cannot be performed, meaning that the magic cannot help release Harry Potter from this plane of existence. Nobody means that a little boy is going to be permanently a ghost until the end of magic herself. He cannot move on to the afterlife, he cannot meet his parents, and he cannot be reincarnated. Those filthy murdering muggles have damaged that boy in all the worse ways possible. Many will be calling for their blood or at the very least the dementor's kiss." Lucius lectured, spite radiating from his every word and movement.
"But it's just some pagan religious beliefs, right? You can't be serious." Auror Macon murmured.
"That statement is why the purebloods can't stand muggle-borns Auror Macon. You live in a world with magic, I suggest you do not disrespect it or its people and their beliefs if you want to remain on this task force, and more importantly remain working at the ministry. Have I made myself clear?" Minister Bagnold said in a tone that conveyed she was not bluffing in the slightest. Auror Macon nodded with wide eyes, shocked that such a topic could endanger her job in such a way.
"I have a meeting with Headmaster Dumbledore in ten minutes so, is there anything else that we need to discuss right now?" Bagnold asked briskly.
"I would heavily suggest not sharing any pertinent information with Albus Dumbledore unless you have no choice. Once the muggles have been dealt with I see the masses at least asking Dumbledore be held for his actions, if not several asking for his removal from Hogwarts," Auror Smithly said blithely causing Auror Shacklebolt to frown.
"What would the public want to hold Dumbledore accountable for?" Kingsley asked, trying for a neutral tone but letting his confusion leak in.
"At the very basics? Child endangerment, abandonment of duties, and interference in an Auror investigation. If you read the transcripts from our… 'interview', I am sure you will be able to see where else he may get in trouble with the law. I know you have been close with Headmaster Dumbledore in the past, especially in reference to your membership in the Order of Phoenix, but I would heavily suggest you cut ties with him before his sins have an effect on your future career." Smithly bluntly stated. He had never been one for beating around the bush or babying his coworkers with honeyed lies.
"Copy the transcript of that interview and send it to me, I shall read it and decide where to go from there pertaining to what Dumbledore should and should not know. Everyone else is dismissed. I suggest you all spend the next several hours brainstorming how to appease the masses without a public execution of muggles. I will not have it during my tenure as Minister." Bagnold ordered in her no-nonsense tone before sweeping out of the office to go speak with one nosy Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
*MD*
Dumbledore was quietly seething as he waited to meet with Minister Bagnold. How dare that little upstart of an Auror threaten him? The great Albus Dumbledore, defeater of Dark Lords, and protector of muggle-borns and muggles. Albus had a several-page-long complaint to hand into both the head auror and Minister Bagnold. He also needed to make a stop at the Longbottom estate on his way back to Hogwarts. Augusta had not responded to either of his letters thus far. He needed to get ahold of the Longbottom boy, to confirm him as the proper boy who lived, and make moves to ensure he would be raised correctly. If the incident with the Potter boy was anything but a clue as to him needing to keep better oversight to his pet projects.
Finally, the door to the meeting room opened and Minister Bagnold strode into the room. She had a commanding presence about her. She wasn't pretty in a typical way but she could be considered handsome.
"Ah Madame Bagnold, how wonderful to see you again! It warms my heart to see my students succeed in such a way as you have." Dumbledore plastered on a fake smile, eyes twinkling in false merriment.
"That is Minister Bagnold to you Headmaster Dumbledore. I would also thank you to can the false pleasantries and tell me what you want." Bagnold wasn't here to play and after some of the stunts that Dumbledore had pulled, rather push him down a flight of stairs than help him in any way.
"Of course Minister, I am sure you are a busy woman." Dumbledore started with gritted teeth. "I was just checking in on the investigation of the Dursleys. They have a son who is quite distressed staying with the muggle authorities and would like to know when his Mother and Father can come home."
"Are you off your rocker?" Bagnold asked aghast. "Are you truly going senile so early in your life?"
"I beg your pardon Minister?" Dumbledore said with a darkening expression.
"Those muggles will never have custody of their son again. With the public outrage, I think those muggles will be lucky if they are even tried in a muggle court at all instead of being fed to the dementors or lynched! They abused and brutally murdered a little boy. A boy that you should have been checking in on as well! Don't think your part in this horrible tragedy isn't going to come out Dumbledore. I would tread lightly if I were you."
"Now Minister, everyone makes mistakes. You can't possibly think-" Dumbledore tried to speak before Minister Bagnold's bitter laughter cut him off.
"Mistakes, you say? You better hope these 'mistakes' only get you kicked out of Hogwarts and not thrown in a cell in Azkaban. A child is dead and you seem to have no remorse over that fact. I suggest you get out of my Ministry and play the good headmaster role so you are not accused of any further charges. Am I being clear enough for you Dumbledore?"
"Well when you need me, you know where I will be," Dumbledore replied with an ugly sneer that did not fit his face at all.
"Get out," Bagnold ordered. Watching the slumped shoulders of Dumbledore leave the meeting room she knew this wouldn't be the last of it. But she would damn well make sure Dumbledore kept his nose out of her Ministry for as long as she was in office. Harry Potter had deserved better. Now they must suffer the consequences for trusting a man such as Dumbledore.