It's about time. Christmas was insane, took me awhile to get back to this. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up the pase and have these out alot quicker. I did manage to give you a nice beefy chapter for your enjoyment.

Chapter 9

The days at Grimmauld Place passed quickly. They continued to hear about attacks and killings but there was little they could do. Harry tried to enjoy the peace but felt worse every day. He was the one who had to stop it, and he still hadn't done anything. He knew that without Dumbledore he wouldn't even know where to start. He knew that being able to apparate would be very important.

"Harry dear, Harry are you up?" Mrs. Weasley asked entering his room, "You've got hurry, Ron's already eating breakfast. You've got your apparation test today."

Harry sat up and put on his glasses, "Thanks Mrs. Weasley, I'll be down in a minute."

"Okay dear, hurry up then."

Harry appeared in the kitchen a few minutes later. Ron was sitting with Hermione and Ginny looking slightly nervous. Harry sat down across from Ginny and helped himself to a bit of toast.

"How will we be getting to the ministry? The muggle subway?" Harry asked.

"Dad reckons we should side-along apparate to get ready or something," said Ron.

"Right," said Harry, "When will we be leaving?"

"As soon as you're both ready," said Mr. Weasley, entering the kitchen.

"Go on," said Hermione, "You don't want to be late."

"Good luck," said Ginny quietly.

Harry and Ron followed Mr. Weasley into the hall and out the front door. "Alright boys, each of you take one of my arms," said Mr. Weasley as Harry and Ron held tightly to either arm.

Harry was prepared for it by now but he was still not comfortable with the feeling. After a split second, he found himself in the atrium of the Ministry of Magic. Witches and Wizards were apparating all around him, rushing to get to their work. Harry was reminded of the last time he was brought to the ministry by Mr. Weasley. He had felt nervous and sick to the stomach. It had been Dumbledore who had saved him from expulsion. He remembered the feeling he had when he saw Dumbledore stride into the courtroom. He knew at that point that he was safe, if Dumbledore was defending him there was no way he could be expelled.

Harry tried to shake the thought that he would never have that feeling again. He was brought back to consciousness by Mr. Weasley who was tugging him out of the lift, "This is our stop Harry."

"Oh right," He said looking over at Ron who seemed a little pale. Harry remembered that Ron had failed the last time, by only an eyebrow. "Where are the tests?"

"Sixth floor, the Apparation Test Center's just down here," said Mr. Weasley hurrying along.

They passed one cluster of cubicles in which a group of wizards was crowding around a rusty tin can. Harry turned to look back at them as the entire group disappeared. In the next department there was a long stone wall with a fireplace every few feet. A desk was positioned in front of each grate and there were witches weighing piles of floo powder with large brass scales.

The Apparation Test Center was, Harry thought, the largest section of the department. There were stations scattered around an enormous space almost as large as the Quidditch pitch. Spaced about the area were large golden hoops and small bronze ones.

"Ron your over here," said Mr. Weasley, motioning to the right of the large space, "and Harry, you've been assigned to desk twenty-one. Didn't say who'll be examining you but I think its just across there." Mr. Weasley pointed to the far side of the room, Harry could not recognize which desk was number twenty-one but made his way in the direction Mr. Weasley had pointed.

As he moved closer to the desks he saw that they had large signs with a number printed in black lettering. He focused his attention on the desk with the number twenty-one posted onto it and headed for it. The man sitting in the chair behind desk number twenty-one was a tough looking man with a large mane of graying hair.

"Hello Harry," the Minister of Magic said as Harry came to just a few feet away.

"You? You're my apparation tester?"

"Oh, yes. I try to examine all the ministries departments closely. I was quite surprised to find out I would be examining you," said Scrimgeour, not seeming surprised at all. Harry did not have an awfully good history with the minister, having turned down his offers to become the ministry poster boy several times. He expected Scrimgeour to try to persuade him again. "Well lets start with your trial then. Stand in the small bronze circle and apparate into the golden circle further down."

Scrimgeour stood up and moved around the desk as Harry took a step into the smaller circle. He looked ahead at the golden hoop, which seemed incredibly far off, and didn't feel as confident as earlier. He tried to remember the classes he had taken last year, trying to think about what they had taught. Deliberation, Destination, Decision. Or was it, Decision, Destination, Deliberation. Not able to make sense of the three D's, Harry gritted his teeth, focused hard on the distant hoop, and turned. A second later he opened his eyes and no longer saw Scrimgeour looking over him anxiously. He looked around and saw that he had ended up in the middle of the gold hoop. He looked down quickly to make sure he hadn't left anything behind and turned around to see Scrimgeour walking toward him slowly.

"Excellent Harry, you have achieved your apparation license." He said, patting Harry on the back. "I'll walk you back across."

"That's okay sir, I can find my way."

"Of course you can, I'm heading out myself though. Business to handle elsewhere," he said, grabbing Harry's arm and directing him towards the exit, "Wasn't surprised you did so well of course, from what I hear your turning into an exemplary wizard. I also hear you're an excellent quidditch player. Now that you're of age I could arrange a tryout with some of the major teams. I've got connections, my family has been very interested in quidditch for many generations. I've even inherited some historical documents about the creation of the snitch. You play seeker don't you, those documents might interest you."

Harry saw where the minister was heading and tried to avoid it. "I don't think I'll be playing quidditch professionally," he said, spotting Ron and Mr. Weasley sitting down, "Well, I'll have to go, my friend is waiting for me."

Harry headed toward them but Scrimgeour followed closely. Ron looked at Harry quizzically and Harry gave him the, "I'll explain later look."

"I haven't been tested yet, they've made me wait this whole time," Ron said.

"Well then I'm sure there's someone who can examine you," said Scrimgeour, putting his glasses on to fake looking around. At his word, a tall witch had arisen from the cubicle next to them.

"I can test you here," she said with a smile.

"And I'll just take Harry for a quick tour while you wait," said Scrimgeour, steering Harry away again. Harry looked at Mr. Weasley for help but he only looked down. He did not want to say anything to anger his boss, Harry thought.

Harry followed the minister further into the department until they stopped next to a wall that looked very out of place in the Department for Magical Transportation. It was covered in a map of the world with various pins and lines to suggest locations. Around the edges of the map were newspaper clippings and pictures of escaped Death Eaters. Harry turned to ask Scrimgeour what the map was doing there when a flash of bright light blinded him.

"What was that?" He asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Oh nothing, someone must have used a bit too much floo powder," Scrimgeour said, trying a smile.

"I think I'd better get back," Harry said, giving his eye a last wipe.