AN: Sorry for the delay, hope to get the next chapter out quicker.


Only house elves, maintenance workers, and the occasional overworked employee were at the Ministry on Saturday evenings, squirreled away into their own private areas and in general ignoring the others that happened to be there. Fudge had flooed directly into his own office, not wanting anyone to know he was in, and sat nervously at his desk. This whole situation had gotten away from him so quickly.

"Minister," Umbridge said, walking into his office. She shut the door behind herself and sat primely in the guest chair in front of his desk. She'd sat there often, always eager to give news reports of the goings on within the Ministry and now at Hogwarts, but she had a stern and snide look on her face, and Fudge didn't like it.

"What now?" Fudge tiredly asked. Between the article on Friday, and his concern for Dumbledore's conference on Monday, Fudge wasn't getting much sleep.

"Have you prepared a statement for tomorrow?" she asked.

Fudge narrowed his eyes and steepled his fingers in front of himself.

"I don't see how that is your concern, Dolores. I am prepared for this little conference that Dumbledore insists on having."

"Yes, well," she said, perching at the end of her chair so her feet were still against the floor. "Are you aware that the majority of students at Hogwarts stand firmly behind Dumbledore? That they are more likely to believe what he says, over the Ministry?"

"What are you trying to insinuate, Dolores?" Fudge quietly asked. "That you believe all that was written in The Daily Prophet? That the students do? The Ministry does not owe the public justification for every action they take."

She narrowed her eyes at him and gave a little smirk.

"I know that it's true, Minister," Umbridge answered. "I know that You Know Who had returned, and was killed by Severus Snape. I know that Potter and Dumbledore were involved, and that it appears that your Ministry did nothing other than dispose of the body."

Fudge felt the colour drain from his cheeks as his jaw dropped ever so slightly. He'd yet to work out who had supplied the meeting memory photo to the paper, but a photo was different from knowing what had been spoken about. Umbridge hadn't been there and clearly someone was sharing more than just an image of that meeting. He remembered feeling surprised and panicked when the meeting had first been requested, an emergency notification by patronus straight from Albus Dumbledore. He'd not had much time to make his decision on how to handle the situation, and for the first few blissful months thought he'd done the right thing.

"I also know, Cornelius, that you have done nothing about my reports of a vigilante soldier group at Hogwarts. You have lost control, Minister, and you'd best hope that the public doesn't find out that the Ministry have known about Voldemort's non-demise since 1981."

She slipped off the chair and smoothed out her skirt, giving him time to process that statement.

The door opened without a knock and Fudge watched with mounting anxiety as Lucius Malfoy entered, carrying a single roll of parchment.

"Apologies for my tardiness," Malfoy said, with an unconcerned drawl. "Had some business to see to. You're looking a little tired, if I may say, Minister."

"What are you doing here, Lucius?" Fudge asked, through gritted teeth.

"Just a concerned citizen checking in, of course," Lucius replied. "Dolores, if I may."

He passed the scroll to her with deliberation and then ducked out of the room.

Umbridge tucked it neatly into her robes and gave a satisfied smirk to Fudge.

"You do look tired," she said, before leaving his office.

…..

Classes ended at half three and supper didn't start till five, but the Great Hall was already packed shortly after the last bell. Harry wasn't sure where the best spot to sit was – if he was at the front, it was entirely likely that people would try to ask him questions. If he sat right at the back, it would seem like he was hiding. At least in the middle of the Gryffindor tables it was a bit harder to spot him at a glance.

"Do you know what Dumbledore's going to say?" Ron asked, slipping onto the bench next to him.

"Does anyone?" Harry muttered, glancing around the room. The head table was empty but Rita Skeeter was already there and talking to some Slytherins.

"Harry," Hermione started, but they startled as the back door of the room opened and McGonagall and the other professors walked in, taking their usual spots at the head table.

"I'm mostly sure," Harry whispered. He made eye contact with Snape as Snape sat down, but Harry wasn't surprised that Snape made no outward signs or motions toward him.

Dumbledore shortly followed, dressed in his regular robes and carrying some sheafs of paper with him. He stood in front of the podium for a moment, concentrating on the papers, before suddenly looking up at the hall with piercing eyes.

"It is so wonderful to see so many eager minds here to learn," Dumbledore started. "I'd like to thank Professor Lupin first for his wonderful lesson on propaganda that he gave a few weeks ago."

He nodded toward Lupin, who had a pleased expression to go along with his slight blush.

"Many of you have been following the escalating letters and stories in The Daily Prophet regarding Voldemort. Many of you might be wondering why this was kept a secret. Some of you may be worried that Voldemort has returned. Allow me to set the record straight."

Not a sound could be heard in the room and Harry kept looking between Snape and Dumbledore. Snape looked bored almost, his expression blank as he stared out over the room.

"Magic is powerful, creative, beneficial, but also dark. You are taught Defence Against the Dark arts here at Hogwarts, and it is important to remember that for all the varieties of good magic, there is just as much that is considered dark. As professors we do our absolute best to ensure that you are all given a well-rounded education to go on and lead prosperous lives in our world, but you must also be aware that there are some of your fellow students who study beyond the Hogwarts curriculum to learn terrible things."

Harry scanned around the room as Dumbledore paused in his speech and noted that whilst nearly every student was staring, enthralled, at Dumbledore, Draco Malfoy was glancing back to the doors at the back of the room. Filch was standing at the back, looking as sour as ever, but Harry didn't see anyone else that should give Malfoy reason to stare with such expectation.

"Voldemort was such a student, determined to learn a piece of magic so foul that it has been banned from being taught at Hogwarts. I will not detail it any further, but using this magic Voldemort was able to return to his human form this past spring, after suffering a terrible defeat when he tried to kill Harry Potter in 1981."

Harry narrowed his eyes at the mention of his name, though he'd already known it would come up in the conference. He got a few glances, but people turned quickly back to Dumbledore to listen to the rest.

"There had been signs of this conclusion through the years, starting from that very eventful Hallowe'en night. My suspicions and evidence have been shared with the Ministry, however due to a lack of appropriate concern, I decided to take steps to ensure that Voldemort could never properly return to the wizarding world. My uneasiness was not unfounded, as I was reasonably certain that Voldemort, had he been successful, would try to take over our world and enforce blood purity persecution and violence once more."

Dumbledore took a moment to collect himself, checking his notes on his podium before looking back to the audience. For the entirety of his speech, he'd been looking only at the students, ignoring Rita Skeeter up until that moment.

"To address the article written in our esteemed community newspaper, I share these comments. First and foremost, I stand by my decision to never share the particular piece of magic that Voldemort used. I understand the Ministry's hesitation to ruin the peace of the wizarding world by revealing that the greatest threat it has faced in fifty years was not actually vanquished, however I believe that it should have not been kept secret. I can confirm that the remaining Death Eaters were very much aware that he was still alive and were hopeful for his return."

He said this with a grave tone as he turned away from Skeeter to sweep his gaze over the room, watching the impact of his words sink in.

"The printed photo, from a memory, is merely a meeting held to confirm that Voldemort's life had finally come to an end. Harry Potter attended as he has been a target of Voldemort and the Death Eaters since the night his parents were murdered. Professor Snape, as he is Harry's guardian, of which I'm sure the whole school is now aware."

He gave a small smile at this, looking up from his notes and over the crowd of students.

"I have not been creating an army of school-age soldiers, as I believe the paper termed it, and I am fairly certain that Mr Potter does not want to be worshipped. Hogwarts remains one of the safest places in Britain for you all and I assure you that the greatest care will be taken for your wellbeing. Voldemort is gone, and there is no chance of him ever returning."

He tapped his speech papers against the podium and gave a reassuring smile. Before he could step away, Skeeter's arm shot into the air and she started speaking.

"Headmaster, am I clear that you are accusing the Ministry of a cover up?"

Dumbledore still had a calm look on his face but his gaze was hard as he maintained eye contact.

"The decision to keep Voldemort's return and subsequent death a secret has never rested with me, Miss Skeeter."

…..

Most of the school had filtered out of the Great Hall by the time Harry was able to leave the table. He'd wanted to avoid more questions from students, avoid Rita Skeeter entirely, and Snape had told him to stay close as he wasn't sure what would come of the conference. Umbridge had warned that Fudge would not attend, and sure to her word he was not there. Harry found that suspicious as from his meeting with Fudge he thought that the Minister wanted to keep control of situations as best he could.

"Was that what you expected?" Hermione quietly said, as they waited for one of the staircases that would take them to the Gryffindor common room.

"Mostly," Harry nodded.

A creaking echo filled the hall as the large front door opened, revealing several severe looking wizards flanking one that looked both distinguished and stern.

Dumbledore, who'd been in the middle of conversation with Snape and McGonagall, spoke loudly enough that Harry and everyone else could hear him.

"Rufus Scrimgeour, what a surprise. I was not expecting your visit."

"I am not staying, Albus," the stern looking man replied. He nodded at his companions, who started to move toward Dumbledore.

Harry's finger started to twitch as he watched the interaction and he glanced toward Snape. A steady low beat through his tattoo, not panicked, but enough to let Harry know that the plan was shifting.

"Severus Snape; I am placing you under arrest for the murder of Tom Riddle," Scrimgeour said, his voice strong and clear as he approached Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall.

"I beg your pardon!" McGonagall gasped, as one of the aurors cast a lightning-quick handcuff spell at Snape.

"What?" Harry blurted, trying to make his way through to the aurors. Snape shook his head once and Harry stopped without consciously realising he had.

"You will be put before the Wizengamot tomorrow and may plead your case," Scrimgeour continued. "Should you wish representation- "

"I will represent him," Dumbledore interrupted, his voice stern and commanding.

Though several students had left before the disruption, all conversation had stopped and everyone was focused on what was happening.

"You may be facing charges yourself," Umbridge warned. Harry hadn't seen her come out of the Great Hall but he felt a sense of utter loathing as he saw the malicious smile on her face.

"As of yet I am not," Dumbledore corrected, glaring at her as Snape was hustled toward the entrance.

Harry renewed his effort to get to Snape, pushing his way through students and trying to reach the group of aurors.

"No, Dad, this isn't'," Harry started, not able to get out the words before a large black hand clamped down on his shoulder.

Harry felt an itch around his neck and a heavy weight against his collarbones as he looked up at the blank looking face of Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"Calm down, kid," Kingsley said. "He'll be at the Ministry tonight; out of Azkaban."

He removed his hand but Harry still felt the weight on his chest and the itch had turned into a thin leather cord that had snaked its way around Harry's neck under his shirt.

Another auror pushed Snape toward the door, and Harry was left standing in the front entranceway, his body thrumming with adrenaline. He could see Dumbledore whisking away McGonagall toward where his office was, and in the confusion of chatter, Harry took off toward the seventh floor, confident that Ron and Hermione would follow him. Harry had his DA coin in his pocket and hid in one of the aisles of books as he used the coin to send a message out.

Emergency. 15 min ROR.

Harry stood in the middle of the room, manically pinning newspaper articles to the row of cork boards that the room had generated for him. He'd started with the first letters to the paper of summer, the talks of unrest at Azkaban, the warnings that there was something hidden about the Ministry. As he moved to the right they escalated, mentioning the secret work of the Ministry, Voldemort's more recent death, the student training.

"Did we miss Snape getting arrested?" Fred asked, bursting through the door.

The DA was filtering into the room at such a rate that Harry hoped Umbridge had also gone with the aurors.

"What happened after the conference?" Dennis Creevey asked. "Why was Snape arrested?"

"Who's Tom Riddle?" Luna asked, not giving any chance to answer the first questions.

"Tom Riddle is Voldemort," Harry said, turning around and giving them a serious look. "They arrested him for killing Voldemort."

George opened his mouth and then snapped it shut again.

"…yeah, but did he?" Seamus finally asked.

"Yes," Harry said. "Mostly. Well, yes."

"Explain, Harry," Hermione warned, glancing at the mostly-shocked looking group.

"We knew Voldemort was going to try to come back as a human. And there's only a few ways you can do that. Snape figured out what way he was planning to use, which requires a potion and a few other things, and he pretended to be a Death Eater and provided something that was full of poison. Voldemort came back for about ten minutes and then the poison killed him."

"Holy shit," George breathed. "So, he does poison people."

"That's not really the biggest problem," Harry muttered, flipping through the Sunday paper. He finally held up the page he was looking for. "Bellatrix Lestrange escaped Azkaban on Friday. They made it the smallest article possible, but at least it was reported on. Seems like the rest of them have now gotten out."

"The rest of the Death Eaters?" Dean asked.

"Bellatrix is out?" Neville repeated, with a hard look in his eyes.

"Yes, to both. And we've got to go to the Ministry to get Snape out," Harry said.

"He's going to court tomorrow, isn't he? Doesn't Dumbledore have proof or something of what actually happened?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah," Harry said, pacing in front of the corkboard, feeling more and more agitated. Snape being arrested hadn't been The Plan. Reputation destroyed, slagged off in the newspapers, Ministry accusations yes. Demands on Dumbledore or Snape to step down. Not arrest.

He and Snape had talked quickly about it after the concert, but it had been considered unlikely enough that Harry was worried he'd forgotten some of the important parts of what they'd decided to do.

"But it can't wait till tomorrow. The Death Eaters have escaped and they're soon going to know, if they don't already, that Snape was charged with killing Voldemort. Snape, who they thought was one of them."

"How do you know they got out?" Fred asked. "Pretty sure that would have made the papers."

"Right but I think it happened only an hour or two ago. I know one of the aurors that was downstairs. He told me that Snape would be at the Ministry tonight, out of Azkaban. The out of Azkaban part was code."

Harry felt again for the key under his shirt, knowing it was there but wanting to double check.

"That's a little bit of a stretch, isn't it?" Ron asked. He held his hands up when Harry glared and tried to argue. "I'm not saying you're wrong. But how do you know he didn't just mean that Snape wouldn't be going to Azkaban tonight?"

"There was a plan for when people found out," Harry said, frustration seeping into his voice. "A few plans, just in case something didn't go as we thought."

He stalked off from the group to a table in the corner, grabbing the small radio that was there. It was the radio that could tune into muggle stations, and Harry had been using it to listen to Oasis recently. He twirled the knobs until the harsh static sounds turned into a small jingle and a voice familiar to most in the room.

"And in the next hour on Wizarding Wireless Network News: Azkaban Compromised. A group of Death Eaters made their escape today from Azkaban, prompting calls for immediate investigation and for Minister Fudge to answer to motives and what is driving the unrest."

"There," Harry said, nodding at the radio he was holding. "This is why I did training over the past few years, and this is why I agreed to run this club. Even though Voldemort's gone, the Death Eaters are not, and now they're out and looking for revenge."

"So what do we do?" Neville finally asked. "I still don't really like Snape but if you say he's in danger at the Ministry and he's the one that killed You Know Who…"

"He is, and he is," Harry immediately said. "Neville, I know he was a complete arsehole to you. Some of that was so that certain Slytherins still trusted him as sympathetic to Voldemort. Some of it was just him being an arsehole. But I think the Death Eaters are going to try to attack him tonight, and if they don't, Fudge is going to make him the scapegoat for not telling everyone Voldemort wasn't dead. Blame Snape to save face."

"We're just going to go to the Ministry then, and get him out? Is that the idea like?" Seamus asked. "What if we get arrested?"

"This is kind of a bad idea," Dean said.

"Then don't come," Harry snapped. "Look, I don't trust the Ministry and he's in danger."

"We might be too, right?" Luna calmly asked.

"Harry, you need a plan that's more than just Boy Who Lived crashes the Ministry of Magic," Ginny said.

"You don't have to come," Harry started, but she shook her head firmly at him.

"I will absolutely be there," she scoffed. "But how are we even getting there? Umbridge closed the floos to outside destinations."

"These ones," Harry nodded. "But if we can get to Hogsmeade, we can floo out to London."

"How?"

"The Hogs Head Inn," Harry said. He pointed at the fireplace that was in the Room of Requirement. "And we have plenty of floo powder we can use."

"I can't do this," Justin said. "Look Potter, I support you and I'm glad you or whoever killed Voldemort, but I can't go to the Ministry and fight."

"Fine," Harry said, grabbing the bag of floo powder. "None of you are obligated to come, but I'm going."

"Right well," Justin said. "Good luck and all, but– "

"Leave off, mate," Ron said, standing next to Harry. "Look whoever's not going we don't have a problem with."

"Actually," Hermione said, chewing on her bottom lip. "Those of you who are staying could distract Umbridge so she doesn't notice us leaving."

"We could do that," Dennis said, nodding at his brother.

Harry nodded and started pacing again, itching to leave.

"Right," Harry said. "Those of you who are coming, get whatever you need from your common room and meet at the Defence Against the Dark arts classroom in fifteen minutes. Those of you who aren't coming, keep Umbridge away from there."

"How do we get to Hogsmeade from there without being seen?" Seamus asked, looking suspiciously at the grins of George and Fred.

"Through our old friend, the statue of the one-eyed witch," Harry grimly smiled.

….

Harry waited for everyone else to sneak out of the room before stepping out and quickly making his way to the Defence corridor. He had the key from Kingsley, his wand, the special penknife Sirius had given him for Christmas the year before, and some floo powder, which was probably enough. His idea was to get to the Ministry and find Snape, either sneaking in and finding a way to get him out, or, more likely, causing enough chaos to break him out in the confusion.

"In a rush, Mr Potter?"

Harry skidded to a stop and told himself to calm down. Umbridge was staring at him with an inquisitive expression, and Harry fought to give nothing away.

"No," Harry answered, not saying anything else but narrowing his eyes at the look she was giving him.

"And what are you doing all the way up on the seventh floor?" Umbridge quietly asked. "Were you not downstairs at the conference with the rest of us?"

"Getting something from my common room," Harry said. "You did this, didn't you?"

"Did what, exactly?" Umbridge said. "You cannot just accuse a Mini…"

"You had my Dad arrested," Harry interrupted. "I don't have proof of it yet, but I will."

"Preposterous. No one would believe you," she said, her beady eyes bright as she scoffed. "He was arrested for the murder of another wizard."

"For defeating Voldemort," Harry said. "Which everyone celebrated when they thought I did it as a baby."

He started walking again, attempting to push past her as if the conversation was already over. It was nearing the fifteen-minute mark to meet people by the statue, and Harry didn't want to risk getting hauled away for a detention or worse.

"We are not finished, Mr Potter," Umbridge tersely said. "Or should I say, he with the greatest story never told?"

Harry paused, his shoulders tensing slightly in recognition. She wasn't correct; that line had referred to Snape. Somehow she'd finally heard the full prophecy but given that Snape had been arrested already, Harry found he didn't have the capacity to figure out what she now wanted from him over it.

"I don't know who you mean," Harry blandly said, not turning back.

"Don't be stupid, Potter," Umbridge said. "It's you. You're the other person involved."

"I can't be, Professor," Harry said, with a thin smile. He held his left wrist up so that it was visible in the hallway sconce light, where the scarring had faded but would never fully go away.

I am not a hero.

Her face turned ugly and Harry suspected he'd crossed the line into detention, but before she could say anything else, an explosion filled the hall, quickly followed by smoke. A flicker of fear showed on her face, before it schooled into anger at the sounds of laughter that had followed the explosion.

She raised her finger toward him and was about to say something else when a second, larger explosion sounded and rattled the sconces around them. She huffed in irritation and stormed down the hall to the sound of the ruckus.

Harry took off in a run the opposite way, skidding down the stairs toward the statue of the One-Eyed Witch. Scarring or no, he had a rescue mission to lead.