'Come in,'

Albus smiled as his visitor entered the office and plonked himself on the chair in front of him.

'I hope you had adequate rest?'

Harry shrugged. 'I suppose,' he muttered.

'So what brings you to my office?' Dumbledore said curiously. 'I admit that I did not expect to see you here so soon. Especially not of your own initiative.'

Harry looked at the pleasant expression on the headmaster's face. 'Well,' he finally said uncomfortably. 'I had some things to tell you. Unfortunately, I couldn't really do that seeing the last time…' he made an odd gesture with his hand, referring to the previous time he met the headmaster after coming back from the disaster at the Ministry.

'I see,' Dumbledore said neutrally. 'Well, I am at your disposal.'

'Right,' Harry said. He had rehearsed what he wanted to say quite a few times in his head, but now, sitting across the headmaster and looking at the pleasantly alert expression on Dumbledore's face, he found words failing him.

'Well, you know how I was hit with the Killing Curse and sort of … died?'

Harry noted warily that this was the first time he had seen Dumbledore look so intent. Clearly his opening was more explosive than he thought.

'After having seen you get up on your own power and take Voldemort, Bellatrix, quite a significant portion of the Ministry, and last but not least, me by surprise, I assumed that you had not been affected by the Killing Curse at all.' Dumbledore said quietly.

By now, Harry had the undivided attention of not only the current headmaster, but the portraits of the previous headmasters as well. A part of him wondered why they were being so nosy. But then again, surviving a Killing Curse was unheard of, let alone two. The Daily Prophet had run quite a front page spread of the whole thing with his picture dominating half of it. What was more, they had done something to ensure that his pictorial version did nothing more than just stand there and look at people sullenly.

Harry suspected the usage of curses. He felt a little sorry for his pictorial self.

'Ah,' he said eloquently. It was not easy having so many eyes on you (even if a good majority of those eyes were painted). He had not considered that viewpoint.

'What did you experience, Harry?' Dumbledore finally asked.

Harry grimaced. A part of him was bursting to share his experience with Dumbledore (mainly because he wanted someone to help him make sense of the whole thing). The problem was that what he had seen was strange to say the least. Eventually his need to rationalise won out.

'Well, when Voldemort cast the Killing Curse at me again, all I could see was bright green light. And then … nothing…'

The headmaster and the portraits of his predecessors all leaned forward as one, causing Harry to pause.

'Do you mean to say that you felt nothing?' Dumbledore asked eventually in an effort to get the boy talking again.

'Well,' Harry said with a cough. 'No, I did not. There was no pain. At first, there was blackness, but then the next thing I know, I was lying on some … surface. The first thought that went through me was that I was still alive, because I could think and feel.

'I woke up, completely naked, in a … well, a featureless nothingness. At least that's the best description I can give.' He said with a self-depreciating smile.

Albus only nodded solemnly. It seemed that the events of that night had affected his pupil strongly. Perhaps he should arrange for a healer to see the boy and help him figure the events out. Being hit with a Killing Curse just after losing a beloved family member was definitely a traumatic event. Add in the fact that Harry was fighting for his life, it was a small wonder the boy wasn't a gibbering mess yet. Albus was surprised that the boy had managed so far without needing outside help, honestly. He wasn't the only one that was surprised, either. Poppy had redone her last mental health diagnosis on Harry three times over after he had come back from the graveyard, even asking for a second opinion from St Mungo's. While the boy wasn't wholly unaffected, neither Poppy nor the specialist from the hospital had any reason to recommend counselling. Harry Potter had proved then to be quite surprisingly resilient. That still impressed Albus today.

Perhaps he should have insisted the boy go to the infirmary.

'Eventually everything started resolving itself. Oh, and clothes appeared for me to put on. Very comfortable robes too.'

'What did it resolve into?'

Harry took a deep breath.

'Kings Cross.'

There was a moment's silence. 'Kings Cross?' Dumbledore said, and Harry was sure that there was a touch of incredulity in that question.

'Yes, Kings Cross!' Harry said with uncharacteristic irritation. 'It was Kings Cross. I am really very sorry that I made it into Kings Cross. Had I known that I could control the place, I would have thought of something better. But then I would need to have gone places to fuel my imagination. Honestly, you are just as bad as them.'

'Calm down, dear boy, I was not disparaging you.' Dumbledore said in a soothing tone. 'I was merely surprised by what you said. Also, I am sorry, but what do you mean by, "them"? Who would you be talking about?'

'My parents and Sirius,' Harry said slightly sulkily not believing Dumbledore. 'They too had opinions about being in Kings Cross.'

'You spoke to your parents as well as Sirius?' Dumbledore asked curiously. It looked like he was going to have to call Poppy as soon as possible. He mentally started preparing himself for the exercise of convincing a teenager into seeking medical help without insinuating any doubts about the boy's mental health.

'Yes, only Sirius was different.' Harry said in a faraway voice. 'He was younger and healthier. As if he had never been to Azkaban.'

He paused to collect himself.

'What did you talk about?' one of the portraits asked eventually.

'Just some things in general. There was a lot of joking around, especially between my dad and Sirius.' Harry smiled wistfully. 'I can see why people thought they were thick as thieves. Fred and George are a lot like that.'

There was a pause as Dumbledore and the portraits digested what Harry said.

'Harry have you perhaps considered–?'

'- that I imagined it all?' Harry finished Dumbledore's sentence. 'Yeah I had. In fact, I asked my parents about it at the end. They said and I quote, "Of course it's all in your head! But that doesn't make it any less real."' He took a breath. 'Personally, I think that sounds like something you would say.

'But there were things that my parents said that had me coming here to speak to you now, professor. It's the reason why I am sure that it was real, considering that it is information that I never heard before in my life.'

'Indeed?'

'Yes.' Harry gathered himself. 'My mother said that you were friends with Gellert Grindelwald?'

For a moment a look of surprise stole over the headmaster's face before the ancient wizard leaned back, suddenly weary.

'Your mother was both right and wrong.' He finally said softly. 'I was friends with Grindelwald … and more. One of my few great mistakes.' A sad smile stole across his face as he looked into the distance. Harry did not know what Dumbledore meant when he said he was more than friends with Grindelwald, but felt it was too personal a question to ask.

'But that's something that happened a lifetime ago, Harry.' Dumbledore considered his pupil with his bright blue eyes. 'Are you sure you did not hear of this somewhere before? Somewhere else, perhaps?'

Harry only shook his head mutely. 'Then everything I saw and heard is real.' He whispered.

'What else did they tell you?'

'They told me something about Horcruxes.'

There was a sharp intake of breath, as Dumbledore's face suddenly went pale.

'How did you learn of this word, Harry?' He finally said in a low voice that did not hide the alarm he was feeling.

'I told you, my parents told me about it.' Harry said again. 'They said that it was the reason for Voldemort's immortality. Apparently, they house bits of his soul? Anyway, they said that all of them needed to be destroyed if we were to have any chance of ridding the world of Voldemort.'

Seeing the flabbergasted expression on Dumbledore's face was all the confirmation that Harry needed. 'I'm right, aren't I?' he breathed.

Before the aged wizard could so much as blink, green flames suddenly erupted from the fireplace in the office.

'Stand back, Harry,' Dumbledore said softly as he swept forward, wand in hand.

Not having the time to do more than look at the fireplace, the boy nodded silently as he got up and backed up to the far end of the room. He pulled his wand out, not sure if a threat was imminent. It had been a very short time since their encounter with Voldemort and his Death Eaters, so he was not suspecting an attack. However, the unprecedented level of wariness that Dumbledore was showing had Harry equally nervous. Unbidden, the image of Bellatrix's hate filled face as the Aurors whisked her away came to his mind. Surely the witch hadn't recovered so quickly after having just recently lost her arm, and surely she wasn't crazy enough to Floo directly into Hogwarts through Dumbledore's office just after escaping to get her revenge on Harry for taking it off in the first place?

His fears were shortly allayed when the figure that stepped out of the fireplace wasn't the lean one of the powerful and insane Death Eater but the portly figure of Cornelius Fudge who was carrying an almost tangible aura of desperation.

'Headmaster!' the round man exclaimed in a tone so jovial that it set Harry's teeth on edge. 'So glad to have caught you here.'

'Minister,' Dumbledore said neutrally, lowering his wand. 'I must admit that I was not expecting the pleasure of your company.' Albus did not feel the need to mention that it was partly because he was sure that he had removed outside access to the school just recently. Clearly the office of the Minister still enjoyed the privilege of unfettered access. An oversight on his part, but nothing a few flicks of his wand couldn't fix. He discreetly proceeded to do just that.

'Ah, of course,' Fudge said genially as he made himself comfortable on the chair that Harry had just vacated, somehow managing to ignore the looks of scorn and outright derision the portraits of the previous headmasters were sending his way. 'I would have sent prior notification, but the matter that I wished to discuss with you was quite urgent. It is about the war against You Know Who after all.' He drew himself up importantly as he said the last sentence.

'I see,' Dumbledore said politely as he settled behind his desk. He resigned himself to having this meeting. Fudge might be disgraced and on his way out, but he was still Minister. Besides, the man could have a good idea. After all, miracles were possible. Harry Potter certainly was proof of that. If surviving two Killing Curses wasn't a miracle, he didn't know what was.

'Perhaps we can have our discussion at a later time, Harry,' he said to his pupil. The revelations the boy had just made, while stunning and possibly of immense importance, would have to wait for another time.

Oh how Albus wished that he could have that discussion now.

At least, on the bright side, there was no need to convince the boy to go to the Hospital Wing!

'Ah, Harry! I did not see you there.' Fudge said with a laugh as genuine as leprechaun gold. 'In fact, it's a good thing you are here. I wanted your input in this matter as well.'

It was only because of his long and voluminous beard that nobody could see the tic on Albus' face at this last statement. Clearly he was out of his quota of miracles.

'I fail to see why one of my fifteen-year-old pupils would be needed in a matter of state, Cornelius,' he said blandly.

'I shall be glad to enlighten you, Albus,' Fudge said, not dropping the joviality at all. 'Please, Harry, sit.' He patted the chair next to him.

Feeling like he was going to be caught between an argument, Harry warily perched on the squashy armchair that Dumbledore conjured for him right next to his desk and opposite the eagerly smiling Minister. The placement did not escape his notice either. It was quite clear that Dumbledore considered this as an "us versus the minister" situation.

That was just fine by him. He'd be lying if he didn't feel the same way.

As soon as he was sure of their attention, the Minister started speaking. 'Well, considering the events of just two nights ago, where … you know,' Fudge trailed off, not wanting to admit that the two in front of him had been right all along.

Clearing his throat, he forged on. 'Well, anyway, so I was talking to my political advisor and we both agree that the first order of business would be to give you, Albus, your position of Chief Warlock back.'

Fudge paused, looking at Dumbledore rather expectantly. Harry thought that it was rather melodramatic of the Minister as he glanced between the two men in the silence that seemed to stretch for an eternity in the room.

Dumbledore, meanwhile was regarding Fudge with an inscrutable expression on his face, his fingers interlocked in front of him. 'I see,' the venerable wizard finally pronounced gravely.

'Indeed,' Fudge said, not having dropped his falsely bright voice. 'Secondly, and just as importantly, I have also decided to revoke all the Ministerial Decrees that were made this past year.'

'That is good news indeed,' Dumbledore said pleasantly. 'I take it that we won't be hosting your, ah, delightful undersecretary either?'

'Yes, I think Dolores would be happy to have her old job back.' Fudge replied. 'Not that teaching isn't a good job. No higher calling, and all. But I think that Dolores isn't the best person to be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts at the moment.'

Fudge's smile faltered slightly upon hearing the snort of derision from Harry that was poorly disguised as a cough.

'Thirdly, I think we, as in the three of us here, should do something to ensure that public morale is kept up.'

Dumbledore politely raised his eyebrows. 'You have a plan in mind, Cornelius?'

'Naturally,' the man was all smiles now that he seemed to have a receptive audience. 'It is quite an ingenious plan, actually. And Harry here is a major part of it!'

'How?' Harry asked suspiciously.

'Well,' Fudge said with an indulgent smile that Harry had last seen directed towards him over a year back. 'I was thinking that I could arrange a couple of guided tours over at the Ministry for you. You know, to show you around the place so you can see where you want to work after you finish school. I could arrange meetings with the different heads of departments, especially Rufus Scrimgeour, the head of the Auror force. Dolores told me that you want to be an Auror. Of course you won't be able to meet all the department heads in one day, as they are all very busy people. But you could find out over your summer holidays which Ministry career suits you best in case the career of an Auror does not appeal to you.' He paused to give Harry another indulgent smile. 'Then, while you are there, you could meet some members of the press and tell them what you think about how things are run, if you know what I mean.'

Harry knew exactly what the man meant. The problem was that he was currently too shocked at the outrageousness of what was being suggested to articulate a response. His first instinct was to punch the minister in the face, and he would have followed through on that if he wasn't aware of where he was and who was sitting next to him.

'I see,' he said slowly after he was sure that he had his impulses under control. 'So you want me to spend my entire summer waltzing through the Ministry and telling people how much of a good job the government is doing, am I getting that right?'

'Well,' Fudge said with that irritating smile still on his face. 'In a nutshell, yes! I think it would do the public a good turn. Give them confidence and hope. Dark times are coming, after all. We need all the hope we can get.'

It took Harry a good half a minute to get his initial impulse of shouting at the minister in response (and the second impulse of strangling the man that followed almost immediately) under control.

'Well, uh, Minister, I must say I am surprised.' Harry eventually said in what he hoped was a pleasant tone as he folded his arms to hide his clenched fists. 'For one, I certainly wasn't expecting the Ministry to have anything to do with what I have to say now or will say in the future. After all, I am an "attention-seeking deluded liar" who "thinks he is a great tragic hero" and "expects people to worship him".' He smiled aggressively. 'I do believe that's the gist of what the Daily Prophet has been saying about me, what with all those snide comments being put in the papers over the past year. With the way they have been going one would think that they prefer that I had died with my parents.'

Fudge momentarily had the look of a penniless person who, just as he was about to bend over to pick up a shiny galleon found on the train tracks, instead, caught the Hogwarts Express right on the small of his back.

'Ah,' the minister was quick to rally, adopting a very sorrowful expression on his face. 'I deeply apologise for what the press has been saying about you, dear boy. Very unfortunate business, that. However, I would like to point out that those are the opinions of the press, Harry. Not the Ministry. This is just a simple misunderstanding –'

'A misunderstanding?' Harry said, his voice rising a little. 'Well, it looks like we have a different opinion on how things went down this past year. I certainly recall Professor Umbridge calling me a liar many times on occasion while adding prefixes like "nasty" and "horrible". I also recall her exclusively targeting me and unfairly taking both house points and privileges as well as assigning detentions for the smallest of reasons while infringing upon my personal privacy and making my life as unpleasant as possible!' By the time he was done, he was on his feet and breathing hard. 'And if I am not mistaken, she happens to be part of your Ministry!'

'Harry,' Dumbledore said slowly, looking at the boy clenching and unclenching his fists. 'Take a deep breath and calm –'

'NO I WILL NOT CALM DOWN!' Harry shouted. He whirled at the Minister with a pointed finger. 'NOT AFTER WHAT THIS, THIS PERSON HAS DONE TO ME!'

Growling, he stalked towards the Minister. 'You send dementors after me, nearly causing me to lose my soul, and then when that didn't work, you try to use the fact that I used magic to defend myself to get me expelled. And now you sit here, with the audacity to ask me to support you?!' He barked out a laugh. 'Dream on!'

'Harry,' Dumbledore said calmly before the boy could continue. 'Please sit down and tell me what the problem is.'

There was a long moment where student and headmaster stared at each other. Finally, Harry grudgingly sat down, while still giving the Minister filthy looks.

'Thank you,' Dumbledore said in a measured tone. 'Now, if you would please, slowly and civilly tell me what you meant about the dementors.'

Harry took a deep breath. 'He sent the dementors after me last summer.' He said curtly while pointing at Fudge.

Albus shot the Minister a quelling glance before the man could voice a denial. 'That is a rather serious accusation to make,' he said gravely. 'How did you come to such a conclusion?'

'Umbridge told me.' Harry said, sneering at the name. 'She said that she had sent the dementors after me last summer. She openly admitted to it. Hermione, Neville, Ginny, Ron and Luna all heard her say that, so you can ask them too.' He sneered at the minister. 'Nothing like having good witnesses, eh, Minister?'

Fudge tried once more to defend himself, but Harry wasn't having any of it. 'Did I forget to mention that Umbridge said all that just after she had decided to use the Cruciatus Curse on me to get me to tell her about your whereabouts, Professor Dumbledore? After all, that confession about the dementors came after Hermione protested her use of an Unforgivable Curse by saying that using the curse was illegal to use on human beings.'

'What?' Fudge bleated as Dumbledore's face grew harder and the portraits behind him all gasped. 'Dolores wouldn't do something like –'

'Are you calling me a liar now, Minister?' Harry asked quickly shooting to his feet once again. 'After all this time, after being proved wrong before, you are still going to call me a liar?!'

He thrust his right fist towards the minister's face. 'Well, guess what? Thanks to your precious undersecretary that isn't something I am.'

Fudge had a nice long moment to look at the marks on the back of the fist before it was encased in a pair of old hands.

Fudge watched in dread as the powerful old wizard slowly bought the back of the boy's hand up to his face to read the letters that had been carved on the flesh.

'How has this come about?' Dumbledore asked simply. The cold steel behind his words was very apparent, though.

'She had me write lines using a "special quill" that she gave me.' Harry said quietly. 'It didn't need ink, you see, because it used my blood.'

The air just seemed to grow colder even though Dumbledore's expression had not changed. 'How many times?'

Harry laughed humourlessly. 'Till the message "sank in" to use her words.' He withdrew his hand from Dumbledore's grasp. 'I'm not the only one. I know for a fact that Lee Jordan from Gryffindor was subjected to the same treatment. And his crime? Giving Umbridge a bit of cheek. Something that Professor McGonagall or any other competent teacher who had an inkling of professionalism would have just taken some points for.'

There was a very uncomfortable pause that followed. Dumbledore slowly turned towards Fudge, an unreadable expression on his face.

'I expected you and your employees to take some liberties with regards to me and mine this past year until such a time came that Voldemort's existence was proven, Cornelius. That I was prepared for. However, I certainly did not expect you to stoop so low as to deliberately target innocent children.' Dumbledore finally said quietly, although, judging by Fudge's flinch, he might as well have been shouting them at the hapless Minister.

'I would have forgiven the unconstitutional, unprofessional and borderline illegal attacks upon my person, the oppressive actions taken against members of my staff, and the downright thuggish and cowardly attacks on two of my professors. But this.' He swept a hand towards Harry. 'This is simply unconscionable, Cornelius. Simply unconscionable.'

'N-now see here, Dumbledore, I had no –'

'I have a copy of each and every single one of your so-called "educational decrees",' Dumbledore thundered picking up a stack of parchment, clearly having lost his patience with the politician. 'All of them individually signed by you and your undersecretary. So do not presume to plead ignorance.' He plucked out one sheet. 'Here is Educational Decree Twenty-Nine, giving Argus Filch full authority to use a horsewhip on the children here.' He flung the parchment towards the minister contemptuously. 'A horsewhip. Do you think of the children of your voters to be mindless beasts, Cornelius, to approve of such barbarism that even the Muggles you deride so much would disapprove of?'

Dumbledore contemptuously tossed the rest of the decrees onto his desk resulting in them all spilling forward. 'And I won't even talk about the rest of this.' He paused for a long moment, spearing Fudge with a thoroughly disappointed look. 'I shudder to think what would have happened had you been left unchecked any further. I suppose I should be thankful that Voldemort decided to show up when he did even though one innocent man lost his life and an even more innocent boy nearly lost his.'

'I – I had no idea about the content of this decree,' Fudge said desperately waving the parchment containing Educational Decree Twenty-Nine. 'I trusted – I had not read –'

'I fail to see how that is in any way my problem, Cornelius.' Dumbledore said unsympathetically as he sat back down at his desk. 'Your signature is right there, showing everyone plainly that you consented to this. You cannot hope to expect that anyone would find your excuse of not having read what you signed valid. I would say that this was surprising, but considering what you attempted on a fifteen-year-old boy last summer and what your undersecretary has done in your name a few days back to the same boy, I can hardly claim to be surprised.' He took a deep breath and leaned back. 'Regardless, as I said before, Cornelius, we have reached a parting of the ways. We already had last year, but it is plain that there can be no reconciling.'

'Now see here –!'

Whatever the minister was about to say next died in his throat when Dumbledore leaned forward, exuding an aura of power that was nearly oppressive.

'No, you see here, Minister,' the old wizard said quietly, his face cold and hard. 'We are done. You made it clear that we were no longer going to be having a working relationship, and your actions since then have only reinforced that. And now, in light of what I have just heard, I find myself unwilling to take any steps at reconciling with you. I am also frankly disgusted with your actions this past year. You have done irreparable damage by giving a great and powerful enemy the advantage of an entire year of unmolested preparation, instead, opting to pursue fanciful notions that I harbour an ambition to replace you. You never once considered that I have never wanted your office. You have also made a mockery of the memories of all those good witches and wizards who died opposing Voldemort and his Death Eaters. And I cannot even begin to express the deep distress I feel at the perversion you have made of those educational decrees that I and many of my colleagues at Hogwarts and the Ministry have spent countless hours and days in framing and pushing through the Wizengamot in order to better and standardise education in Wizarding Britain. I won't be surprised if people start to lobby for the banishment of all the decrees, the good and the bad.'

Fudge helplessly glanced between the two. There was no sympathy in the impassive face of the old wizard. The hostility in the boy's eyes more than telegraphed the younger wizard's feelings towards him.

He tried for a final attempt at a defence. 'I assure you, Albus, I had no idea about any of Dolores' actions towards Harry or any of the students here and I most certainly would not have agreed to any of those measures! You have to believe me!' He said plaintively. He hoped that Dumbledore could see the sincerity in his words. He was genuinely shocked at the way Dolores had abused the liberties granted to her.

His hopes were in vain.

'It seems that there is a reversal of roles here,' Dumbledore commented. 'Now I find myself unable to believe your assertions. I would give you the benefit of doubt Cornelius, but considering your own actions and the fact that Dolores is not here to speak for herself, I find myself unable to do even that. How am I to trust your word and not dismiss it as an attempt to dump all responsibility on her?'

'Dolores!' Fudge said in desperate hope. 'We can get her here right now and question her! I am sure that in the presence of the Aurors she will be forthcoming with the truth! Where is she?' He looked around himself as if expecting her to materialise out of thin air.

'Well, I am afraid that I have no idea, Minister. I was under the assumption that she had left for the Ministry.'

'Sh-she is not here?' he stammered out.

'Well, she certainly isn't in the castle.' Dumbledore replied neutrally. 'I did go down to her office to check for myself, many minutes ago. All I found that her door wasn't a door but ajar. There were no signs of her inside her quarters. Her possessions are still there, though.' He sighed with gravitas. 'I certainly hope she comes back soon before her belongings are vandalised. She certainly hasn't made herself very popular with the school from what I have heard. It would be a shame if those lovely decorative plates of hers were to be destroyed.'

'C-can't you …?'

'I am just the headmaster and soon to be officially the Chief Warlock, Cornelius,' Dumbledore replied modestly. 'And we both know that the Chief Warlock is a ceremonial position, and as headmaster, I have limited authority outside Hogwarts. A fact that you, yourself, were more than happy to point out on many occasions over the past year as you ran roughshod over the country indulging in your delusions. I do believe that it is the Aurors who have the authority to deal with this matter. And that reminds me…' he took out his wand and made a complicated motion with it, ignoring the Minister's flinch.

'Wha-what did you do?' Fudge asked nervously.

Dumbledore stowed his wand back casually and took out parchment and quill. 'The way the Aurors have brutalised poor Professor McGonagall with their spell-happy ways has me concerned.' He said, his hand swiftly and gracefully dashing across the parchment. 'And so I have decided to change the charms on all the entrances into this school. From now on, none of the gates or doors are going to allow entrance to any Auror. I would hate for any of the innocent children under my care to be exposed to such thuggish brutality.'

'Y-you can't do that!'

'As headmaster, it is my prerogative to deny entrance to a person or persons if I have proof that their presence is detrimental to the health and well-being of my students.' Dumbledore said blandly, finishing his letter with a flourish. 'The way the Aurors have behaved has raised many concerns that I am sure the parents and the Board of Governors will not hesitate to share.' With precise motions, he replaced his gold coloured phoenix tail feather quill back in its holder.

'Of course, I am not an unreasonable man,' Dumbledore said in an appropriately reasonable tone of voice, rolling the parchment up. 'I will rescind that order as soon as I get an unreserved apology from Scrimgeour himself and an assurance that his Aurors are going to behave themselves in the future.'

The minister could only look at Dumbledore dumbfounded. 'But – but.'

'You may have left school a long time back, Cornelius, and I cannot give you detention or take points from your house anymore.' Dumbledore said. 'But that doesn't mean that I cannot still punish you. Let's see you tell the Head of the Aurors why he is going to be taking time out of his rather busy schedule to come up to Hogwarts and make an apology to me. In fact, I will also be personally writing to him to ensure this.' He waved the roll of parchment. With a flick of his wand, it had disappeared, its destination wasn't a mystery.

'Yes, well,' Fudge said with an air of defeat as he got to his feet. 'Then I shall do that.'

He strode towards the fireplace and threw a pinch of Floo Powder. Only to stop short when nothing happened.

'Oh dear,' Dumbledore said. 'It seems that my fireplace is no longer connected to the Floo Network. I must have forgotten to renew the connexion, what with being absent for so long. Thankfully the door and stairs outside are still available for usage. You will be happy to know that they are still operational.' The door of his office then opened of its own accord. 'Goodbye, minister.'

Well, I think that took care of a few questions that many have had.

At first I had written out the whole scene with Harry in Kings' Cross, but then I realised that it was quite overdone ... that's why I decided to explore another way to reveal this encounter of his.

Anyway, till next week!