Author's Note: Hello there, people! How are you today? See, I have an interest in your personal welfare. Aren't I just the bestest author ever? (My Sister coughs, "no") Anyway, fishing for compliments aside, I finally figured out how to reply to reviews, so this time, when you review, if you want to reply just say so. Let's hear a resounding "Yay!" But if you don't say so, I probably won't reply; but, hey, who knows. By the way, I just wrote a one shot, so please read it. It's a goblin love story with Harry/Griphook. I kinda wrote it just to be contrary. Thanks in advance if you read it, and thank you so so so so so so so much, reviewers. Chapter 7, people!

Disclaimer: It's not mine, so shut up before I set the rabid fan girls on you. (I'll do it; I will.)

Chapter 7 Fudge Pops

As he cut his way through the crowd, making his way up to Fudge's stage, it occurred to Harry that Fudge had actually done him a favor. Now he had representatives from the entire wizarding world here to yell at as one. Of course, he would have been perfectly happy to set his fury on everyone personally; but this was much less time-consuming. Plus, this way, he could keep his promise to himself and not talk to his ex-friends/family but still be able to make his feelings clear. Speaking of ex-friends, the entire order was seeable at the edge of the crowd. As soon as he caught sight of Granger, the first one Harry could see, he focused his gaze on Fudge and the stage, ignoring the entire crowd.

As he walked up there, Harry quietly reached inside his pocket and pulled out an ice cream Juan had put in his pocket earlier, telling him he might need it later. Harry took off the freezing charm on it, ripped off the wrapper, and started sucking on it. Harry reached the stage, walked up onto it, and just stood there for a while, staring at Fudge and sucking his ice cream noisily. The crowd was deathly quiet. Fudge looked unsure of what to do, with Harry just standing there not saying anything, and glanced nervously over at two aurors on the edge of the stage before clearing his throat and managing to speak.

"Well, er, Harry, my boy, may I be the first to apologize for the wizarding world's wrongful imprisonment of you. There, er, are several matters we need to discuss today; but first of all, how are you feeling?" Fudge's voice echoed loudly through the crowd, yet Harry gave no indication he had heard him. He just kept staring and sucking loudly on his ice cream. What a stupid question; he'd been in Azkaban for crying out loud! And, yet, what a Fudge thing to ask it.

"Er, Harry, are you alright?" Harry still gave no answer, and Fudge's face lit up with glee as he realized that, maybe, Harry wasn't sane. Fudge waved a hand in front of Harry's face. "Harry, dear boy, are you okay? Can you underst-!"

Fudge broke off with a terrified yelp as Harry's free hand shot out and grabbed the hand Fudge had been waving in front of his face in a death grip. Harry glared at Fudge over his ice cream and waited until Fudge stopped struggling to finally let go of the minister's hand. Fudge pulled back, rubbing his wrist, a bruise already beginning to form; and Harry noticed the two aurors coming closer, wands drawn.

'Probably to subdue the poor, crazy, and wrongfully imprisoned, yet seemingly violent miscreant on the stage.' Harry thought sardonically before pulling his ice cream pop out of his mouth and speaking. "Yes, I can hear you, Fudge; and no, I have not gone insane quite yet."

"Then why on earth didn't you answer me?" Fudge spat angrily.

Harry gave an evil grin that Fudge seemed to shrink under. "While there are several reasons I could have not answered you, first and foremost being that you're a git, I suppose the main reason is you called me Harry. And not just Harry, but my boy! I am not your boy. I didn't even know you swung that way." Fudge looked completely lost. Harry sighed before saying, quite simply, "Don't call me Harry."

"B-but, it's your name."

"Yes, but you have no right to call me that. Only people I like can call me Harry, and I most certainly don't like you." Harry turned to look at the crowd of people. "The same goes for you too. I can honestly say that I detest most nearly all of you."

"So, wh-what can we call you?" Fudge stammered angrily.

Harry thought on that. "Weeelll, you guy could call me…Mr. Potter…Or, if you want a choice, call me that or Sir Potter his Awesomeness. I don't really care either way."

Fudge took a few moments to control himself before trying to salvage the situation. "Well, then, Mr. Potter, on behalf of the ministry of magic, I apologize. I also offer you 1,000 galleons and an Order of Merlin, second class, as reimbursement for your wrongful imprisonment."

Harry snorted and waved his hand dismissively, continuing to slurp on his ice cream. "Just deposit the galleons to my Gringotts account and keep the Order of Merlin to yourself."

The crowd broke out into excited murmurs. 'W-what? You would give back an Order of Merlin?" 'Maybe he really is crazy.' Fudge thought hopefully.

'Man, he stutters almost as much as UA,' Harry thought before saying, "Yep. Who really cares? I don't want any memory of how the wizarding world betrayed me."

Silence once again pervaded, and Fudge looked like he was having trouble figuring out what to say. "Very well th-"

*Slurp*

Fudge broke off as Harry loudly slurped his ice cream. (It's never ending ice cream!)

"Now, we must discuss-"

*Slurp*

*Twitch*

"What are you go-"

*Slurp*

*Twitch*

"Arrgh! What are you eating?" Fudge exploded, finally having enough with the loud slurping.

Harry looked up at Fudge in mild surprise. "Huh? Oh, a fudge pop."

*Twitch*

Harry grinned evilly at Fudge's expression of disbelief and loudly bit the fudge pop in half, slurping the rest down. He tossed the stick over his shoulder, where it "accidentally" hit Weasley (Ron) in the face.

"Anyway," Fudge continued. 'As I was saying before, we need to discuss your future."

"What about it?" Harry asked coolly, quirking one eyebrow.

"Well, you never finished school,"

"And whose fault was that?" Harry muttered under his breath. Fudge ignored him in a rare instance of bravery.

'So, of course, we will need to set up tutors and have you take your NEWTs if you ever want to get a job in the-"

"I don't want to get a job," Harry broke in. "And I think I've got the whole 'magic thing' down; so if that's all, I'll just be leaving now." Harry made to exit the stage, but Fudge caught his arm. 'What is it with people grabbing me?' Harry thought angrily, shaking off Fudge's arm before turning to glare coldly at the man. "What?" You could practically feel the venom dripping off that one word.

"W-we haven't discussed where you'll be staying, and y-you do need to get a job. How else will you pay for your expenses? I'm sure we can set you up with a job here at the-!"

Harry broke in with a glare. "I said I don't want a job, especially not one at your stupid ministry!" Gasps resounded through the crowd, but Harry ignored them. "I don't need money thanks to my parent's vault and the 1,000 galleons you just gave me today. As for where I'll lived…" Harry trailed off, looking thoughtful. Fudge tried to act on that fact.

"See, you have no where to live, the ministry could-"

"No, no," Harry twirled around to glare at Dumbledore, who had spoken up. "Harry should stay with his godfather Sirius Black. That way, he can receive the rest of his magical training."

"No," Fudge spat angrily. "The ministry can provide him a home and a job. One of his superiors can give him a real magical training."

Dumbledore opened his mouth to protest, as did most of the Order; but Harry, having had enough, decided it was time to get his say. He quickly grabbed one of the auror's wands. "Silencio!" The crowd went into an uproar. Harry had just stolen an auror's wand and used it to hex the headmaster and the minister of magic!

"Now," Harry said, deceptively calm, silently freezing the two angry aurors. "I don't see why any of you should care where I live, seeing as I no longer want to have a thing to do with you. I am a legal adult now; where I live and how I live is no longer a concern of yours."

"B-but, my boy," Harry growled at Dumbledore calling him 'his boy,'; and Dumbledore hastily amended himself. "Mr. Potter, you have people here who care about you. Will you simply-"

Harry gave a bitter laugh. "People who care about me? Yeah, cared enough to get me sent to Azkaban without a proper trial or veritaserum. They couldn't have cared too much if they abandoned me so easily, could they now?" Harry could see the Order wince visibly in the crowd. Even Dumbledore flinched a little. Harry suppressed a grimace.

'So much for not talking to any of the traitors. Oh, well, I suppose I'll have to talk to some of them, at least a little.'

Harry glared at Dumbledore, who seemed at a loss of what to say, and said coldly, "Besides, all you care about is whether or not I'll kill Voldemort, not me." Many people gasped at Harry using Voldy's name. Harry could also hear Black, Lupin, and the other Order members protesting loudly; but he ignored them, focusing solely on Dumbledore's weak reply of

"No, of course. While we do, that is, we don't…" Harry glared daggers at the man until he lapsed into silence and then turned to address the crowd. (1)

"You know, what all of you (the wizarding world, that is) have done to me; I really should just leave you to be taken over by Voldemort. There are only a few key reasons keeping me from happily leaving you to your fate. Number one being that if I do leave you to your fate, and move to, say, America, or somewhere else foreign, Voldemort would probably just eventually come try to takeover wherever I am as well because he's just that greedy; and I'll have to move again. And moving's a pain.

"Number two is the incoming muggleborns every year. They're innocent; it's not their fault the wizarding world betrayed me. They only just discovered it, so why should they have to suffer? And speaking of who's innocent and not, I personally believe that only a few of you (besides incoming muggleborns) are innocent. Why, because everyone but that few somehow supported my being sent to Azkaban, even those of you who kept silent.

Even if you thought I was guilty but never said anything, you're part of the problem, not the solution and are guilty. Even the ministry is guilty. Only the few of you protested my imprisonment and were (probably) ridiculed or punished for it are truly guilt free."

"You speak blasphemy against the ministry of magic!" Fudge gasped out, outraged.

"Fluently," Harry replied smoothly. (2)

Silence reigned supreme throughout the crowd as everyone contemplated his words. Granger had started to cry, as had the Weasley girl and Mrs. Weasley. The rest of Harry's ex-friends/family looked down at the ground sullenly.

Harry continued. "And Finally, Number three, I made a promise to some friends of mine from Azkaban who are being oppressed by Voldemort. They're counting on me to help set them free, and I, for one, care for them and trust them, so I will. And I say help, as in I will not go in without any training or knowledge of what I'm facing or without any help."

The Order winced. Dumbledore looked sincerely put out, and Harry felt the intense urge to jump up and down yelling, 'I defeated the twinkle!'

"That is why I will defeat Voldemort, but it will never, ever be for you.'

Harry turned to leave the stage again, when a certain Daily Prophet reporter spoke up. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Potter, a word to the press, please," Rita Skeeter called from the front row of the crowd. Harry turned to look at her before grinning slightly and going to stand at the podium, pushing Fudge out of the way to do so.

"Why not, Ms. Skeeter." To tell the truth, Rita was one of the people Harry dislike less than all the others. She had never pretended to be on Harry's side and was just trying to do her job and make a living. Harry couldn't completely fault her for that, even if her methods weren't quite the…friendliest.

"Actually, it's Mrs. Skeeter now. I got married last year, but I chose to keep my maiden name." Rita blushed softly.

"Congratulations," Harry enthused, inwardly amazed and not surprised at the same time.

"Thank you, Mr. Potter. Now, before I ask my questions, might I just say you are looking remarkably handsome for someone just having been in Azkaban?"

"Oh, Mrs. Skeeter," Harry pshawed (3) Flattery will get you everywhere. Please, call me Harry."

Rita smiled slyly. "Only if you call me Rita, Harry."

"Very well, it's a deal." Harry grinned, enjoying the back and forth banter.

"Now," Rita continues. "on to business." She pulled out a pad of paper and a quicks quotes quill. "Harry, do you, as of yet, have any plans for the immediate future?"

"Nope," Harry chirped. "I'm just going to play it by ear for now."

"Okay," Rita said, quill already scribbling furiously. 'Now, do you have any plans for defeating You-Know-Who?"

"Yep, I know exactly how to get rid of Voldemort." Harry said this looking directly at Dumbledore, a pointed look on his face. Rita noticed this with a wry look on her face.

"Next question. How do you feel towards those who betrayed you?"

Harry nearly choked. What kind of question was that? "How do I feel? How do you expect me to feel? They betrayed me. I don't think they even know how fully they betrayed me. I've always had a hard time trusting people, but I managed to put my trust in them, which I did completely and fully. They betrayed that trust. I don't think I can ever trust them again, or forgive them. Actually, to put it simply, I would be happy if I never had to see them again."

"But do you hate them?"

Harry thought on that. All his ex-friends and family held their breath as one. "In a way, I suppose. I understand why they did what they did, but that doesn't excuse it. I still can't help but despise them, and, while I wouldn't call that hate, I definitely want nothing to do with them."

Murmurs ran through the crowd. Harry, while scanning the crowd, could tell that none of the Order knew whether this was good or bad. Rita looked like she was in heaven. Harry knew he was a reporter's dream, what with his conflicted emotions and unpredictability; it made for great news.

"Final question. Do you think you can ever forgive the wizarding world?"

Harry just stared. "Forgive them? Seriously?" Harry snorted. "Like heck I will. You guys don't deserve my forgiveness. I may have to forgive you eventually, because otherwise I might go evil; and that's what Moldy Shorts wants; but that doesn't mean I ever have to trust them again. And if I do forgive them, if, it won't be for a long, long time. Maybe I'll move to Bulgaria…I do know Krum…" Harry trailed off, lost in his thoughts, while the crowd went into an uproar. The Harry Potter leave England? Outrageous!

Rita sat down, looking smug and self-satisfied. As soon as she sat down, the other reporters who had been keeping quiet, jumped up, shouting questions. Harry looked resigned for a moment before taking control of himself. "Shut up," he growled. 'No more questions." The reporters quieted instantly under his stern tone. "Now, excuse me as I go mingle with the 5% of you I don't detest as much as I detest the other 95%.

Harry climbed off the stage, thankful no one tried to stop him this time, and walked through the crowd. Suddenly, he spied Luna and her father; and a grin spread across his face.

Author's Note: Man, super long chapter. Luna and Draco are in the next one though! Thanks for reading! Here's what the numbers mean.

(1) Monologue time! Every story has to have a monologue sometime!

(2) I just had to put that in there. Can't remember where I heard it, but the exact quote is not mine.

(3) That should totally be a word!

Now, review, you know you want to.