I do NOT own HP or any other characters from the story. They are entirely JK Rowling's genius and I am simply borrowing them.

Chapter Eight: The Ministry of Magic

Harry finally glanced around the scene to find himself in the company of many more wizards than he had thought. Apparently the Ministry of Magic had seen fit to arrive at some point during the small battle. Officials were gathering up the Death Eaters they had incapacitated, and trying to remove Harry's friends from the scene so they could perform memory charms on the nearby muggles. Tonks, who was part of the Auror contingency sent by the Ministry, rushed up to Harry.

"Well done, Harry, well done. How did you know they were here? Oh, never mind, you can answer that later…we need to get you lot out of here so we can take care of the muggles…" she placed a hand on his back and pulled him over to his friends, who seemed unharmed after taking down six adult Death Eaters.

Once he arrived, a Ministry official handed them a portkey. A few seconds later the familiar behind-the-naval tug pulled them into the Ministry's Atrium. A small wizard in security robes led them up the atrium, past the restored Fountain of the Magical Brethren, and to the security desk. After weighing in their wands, the guard led them to the golden-gated lifts and punched in the button for the first floor. To Harry's surprise, they bypassed every floor on the way up to the first, and he wondered if this was some sort of express lift. When the gates opened, he realized that it must have been a special VIP lift that took its riders directly to the offices of the Minister and his advisers.

All five of their party had to gawk at the opulence of the offices they passed as they walked through to the very last one. They even passed a medium-sized office with plenty of magical windows (for they were actually underground) and a brass nameplate on the door saying "Percival Weasley, Junior Assistant to the Minister of Magic." The group stared resolutely past this one, in which they could clearly see the brother who had turned his back on their family ensconced behind a large, gleaming desk piled high with paperwork. Percy, too, seemed to become very engrossed with his quill as his family members and their friends walked by. Just a little ways down the center hall from this one came the largest office of all. This door announced "Rufus Scrimgeour, Minister of Magic."

As the security wizard led them directly to this door, they all looked at each other in amazement at the thought that they were actually being taken to the office of the Minister. Are we in that much trouble? thought Hermione, panicked. Oh, wonderful, here we go again, thought Harry. Meanwhile, all the Weasleys were too bothered by seeing their brother Percy to be much troubled by the fact that they were about to enter the office of the Minister of Magic.

As they walked into the office, Rufus Scrimgeour stood up from behind his large, mahogany desk, which was, in comparison to Percy's, spotless. He seemed to have been anticipating them, and beckoned them to take the seats in front of his desk. He waved their guide out the door, and then turned gravely to the young group before him.

"I understand you five were attacked by a group of Death Eaters on the muggle streets of London earlier this afternoon. Would you mind telling me exactly what happened?"

Though they were all confused as to why the Minister of Magic was the one questioning them about the incident, they all nodded to Hermione to explain.

"Well, Minister, we were just doing some clothes shopping when we stepped outside, and the sun seemed a bit duller, somehow, and Harry got nervous. He said he felt something was wrong, and asked us to leave, but we refused, and…"

At this point, the Minister stood up again and said, "Excuse me for interrupting, Miss --?"

"Granger," she replied.

"Yes, Miss Granger. I think I might just nip out and get somebody in here to take this down, if you don't mind waiting just a moment." With this statement, Scrimgeour flitted out of the room, leaving the teenagers and Charlie alone together.

Harry was suspicious. "Don't you think he would've had that ready to go, as they seem to have been expecting us?"

"That is pretty fishy," said Ginny. "But, Harry, now he's gone, I have a question for you. Just how did you know what was going to happen out there? You got all quiet and we didn't know what was going on, and then all of a sudden these Death Eaters started popping in. Then when you fought with Bellatrix one-on-one you seemed to grow about two feet and you got kind of scary looking…Why?"

"I don't think I'd better answer that question right now, this room might be bugged. Scrimgeour probably wanted us to start talking while he was gone…" replied Harry. "Let's just sit here, quietly. Hermione, don't mention what Ginny just said, in case they didn't hear it."

A few minutes later, the Minister came back into the room with none other than Percy Weasley to take notes for him. When his brothers, sister, and Harry glared at him, he turned pink. He looked to Hermione with a bit of an appeal, but when she glanced coolly away, he just sat down behind them and readied to take notes.

"Now," said the Minister, "please begin again, Miss Granger." He looked agitated, and Harry thought correctly that it was probably because they had cut their conversation short while he was out of the room.

"Well, like I said before, we were just shopping in Muggle London when Harry sensed trouble. He asked us to leave, because he anticipated an attack, but we refused. Sure enough, six Death Eaters appeared and we began to fight them."

"Are you aware of the dangers of magical battle amongst such a large crowd of muggles?" asked Scrimgeour sternly. "Why didn't you all simply get away and notify the proper authorities?"

"We were careful not to hit any muggles, and we diverted the attention of the Death Eaters away from them. If we had left, the Death Eaters would have begun killing muggles, and that is much harder to cover up than a battle with no fatalities. Waiting for the Ministry would have been a poor decision," stated Hermione firmly. Inwardly, Harry cheered for her.

"All right, fine," said the Minister grudgingly, "go on."

Hermione continued, "Charlie managed to defeat one of them, and bound him up for the Ministry to take care of later, while the four of us managed to do likewise with three others. Then, Harry found their ringleader, Bellatrix Lestrange, and dueled her one-on-one, leaving us to handle the last Death Eater."

"I see," said the Minister. "Is there anything else you would like to tell me?"

"That's all that happened, so no," said Hermione politely.

"Very well," conceded Scrimgeour, annoyed. "All of you may step into the hall, except Mr. Potter."

Harry had been expecting this, so he nodded to his friends to leave. They stood up and exited the room with Percy, careful to avoid contact with him. They gathered right outside the door as it closed in Harry and the Minister.

"Mr. Potter, I am sure you are aware that your taking care of this little incident as an underage wizard puts me in a difficult place. As you know, there are laws against a person such as yourself using magic outside of school, and since you have already broken these laws on several occasions, further action might need to be taken."

"Oh, honestly, Minister, do you really think those laws should apply as they used to in these times of war?" asked Harry. "Do you expect young wizards to not defend themselves or their family and friends just because they ought not to use their wands yet?"

"Well, many people do think so, of course. There is the fact that you were in the company of three adult wizards who could have done the spell-casting," the Minister stated matter-of-factly.

"What, you expect two experienced fighters like Ginny and I to just sit by while our friends have to face the danger? Working together is the best way to attack enemies like these."

"Ah, Harry, you've hit it exactly—working together. Wouldn't you say that it was time that we, that is, the Ministry and yourself, began working together?"

I was afraid of this, thought Harry. Aloud, Harry said, "So tell me again, what exactly do you mean by 'working together?'"

"Well, Harry, I think a little give and take might be in order between the two of us, that is, between yourself and the Ministry. For example, I grant you and your Miss Weasley pardon for performing underage magic in this little 'battle,' and you give the Ministry some support, at least verbally if not physically," explained the Minister.

"I see," said Harry thoughtfully, as if he had never heard this idea before. "Before I give my consent to anything, though, I want a few things besides a pardon for Ginny and I. I'm sure you understand that having my support would be a very choice plum for the Ministry, so I think it only fair to have a few more things in exchange."

"Okay, I'm willing to listen to what you have to say, Harry," said Scrimgeour. "What is it you would like?"

"First, I would like underage wizards to be allowed to perform magic outside of school for the duration of the war. It could be necessary for them to defend themselves or their families, especially if they are not back at Hogwarts or if they are muggles. Second, and I've mentioned this one before, I want Stan Shunpike and all other innocent people to be released. Third, I would like you to fire Delores Umbridge and revoke all legislation she has recently put through about werewolves and other magical creatures. Finally, you allow myself, my friends, and a group known as the Order of the Phoenix to act as advisers to the Ministry on the war. Remember, in exchange for all of this you have my public support and you are also privy to new information that we have in our hands, which may be of help to you."

"That's quite a lot, Harry. I understand allowing underage magic, and I do agree to release our innocent prisoners. I also see the value of having you lot, this Order of the Phoenix, helping us. However, your third request, about firing Ms. Umbridge and revoking her laws confuses me."

"Well, Minister, I have quite good reasons for my request. During her time at Hogwarts, she insisted that we learn no practical magic in Defense, because at the time the Ministry was adamantly denying Voldemort's return. We knew how important Defense was, so we were forced to form a secret organization to practice it. When she found out about it, she did everything in her power to dissolve that group. Plus, she committed numerous other atrocities which I'm sure you've heard about, not the least of which was 'sacking' Dumbledore and trying to take over herself." Harry's face took on a look of disgust at this thought, but then went on, "She forced many students in detention to use a banned blood quill as punishment, and if you want proof, just look at the back of my hand." Here he pushed his hand out for the Minister to see, clearly etched there, 'I will not tell lies.' Scrimgeour gasped at the sight.

"I see," he said coolly. "Anything else?"

"Yes," replied Harry. "Beyond my objections to her behavior while at Hogwarts are my objections to her legislation against werewolves and other magical creatures such as centaurs and merpeople. This legislation is doing nothing but alienating potential allies. I have a friend who is a werewolf, a good werewolf who has spent his whole life only trying to live decently, to earn an honest living and to isolate himself once a month for fear of subjecting others to his fate. Unfortunately, he has not been able to live decently because of the legislation that makes it impossible for him to work. He recently went underground with other werewolves and tried to convince more of them to come to our side. He was unable to owing to the fact that none of them could get jobs or live normally even if they were good people. Voldemort has offered them much more appealing things to them, whether he intends to follow through or not. We need to offer them something better if we are to ever have a hope of gaining their trust and support."

"I see your point, Harry, but even if we were to revoke the laws, how are we to keep the public from panicking when werewolves are out and about?"

"Tell them that having more of them out in useful capacities will keep more of them happy and not terrorizing the world. Oh, and you'll have my name to add to it, of course. I'll vouch for it," said Harry.

"All right, Harry, consider it done. Let's get Percy back in here to write the terms for us, and we'll shake on it," said the Minister, who got up and brought Percy back into the room. A moment later, he began dictating a list for Percy.

"Mr. Harry Potter agrees to give full backing to the Ministry of Magic and pledges to give the Ministry useful information which will be used in cooperation with the Order of the Phoenix. In return, the Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, grants pardon to Mr. Potter and Miss Ginevra Weasley for their use of underage magic on this day in the defeat of six Death Eaters. The Ministry also grants leave to all underage witches and wizards to perform magic outside of school for the purpose of defense of themselves and their families during this war. Mr. Stan Shunpike and all prisoners determined to be innocent shall be released with apology, and Ms. Delores Umbridge will be fired from the Ministry on the grounds of her illegal use of a blood quill as punishment while at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Her legislation concerning magical creatures will be revoked, and werewolves allowed to take jobs. Mr. Potter will publicly give his support on this matter." When Percy had finished taking this down, Harry and Scrimgeour signed the sheet and shook hands to seal the deal. Percy then left the room to get back to his work.

"Well done, Harry," said Scrimgeour companionably, sitting back in his chair after Percy had left. "You wrangled quite a bit out of me, young man!"

Harry just shrugged. "So when would you like to set up a press conference, Minister? I'd say it is time to get the ball rolling."

"Ah, just what I was hoping you'd say. What about we call a conference for the morning, say around nine o'clock?"

"That should work, but let me just check with the Weasleys before we call the media. As you may have heard, they're having a wedding at the Burrow on Saturday, so she might have a few things for us to do tomorrow. I'll owl just as soon as we get back," said Harry.

"Very well, that sounds excellent, and I will be expecting your owl," replied the Minister, standing up to escort Harry to the door.

Once Harry had exited the office, he found his friends sitting against a wall down the hallway, talking animatedly. When he walked out, though, they turned silent and stared at him questioningly.

"I'll tell you when we get back to the Burrow," he said to head off their inquiries. "Let's get out of here."

Author's Note:

I hope this part with the Minister doesn't seem too far-fetched. I just think that maybe Scrimgeour is getting desperate enough to listen to what Harry has to say. And as they say, "You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours." Both the Ministry and Harry have a lot to gain by cooperating. Let me know what you think! Thanks for the reviews so far, too. 