Harry bolted out of his nightmare, choking back a scream. The deranged image of Sirius Black slowly fading from his mind. He hadn't given his parents betrayer much thought after Madame Bones had left. The initial anger and sadness had been hard enough to push down in front of strangers the first time and he didn't want to risk a second. Wandering the alley with his guards had been the distraction he needed. But he couldn't escape in his dreams.
Doing a quick tempus spell revealed it was 5:40. He could try to go back to sleep and risk another nightmare or he could start getting ready for the day. Harry chose option 3, grabbed his history book, climbed back into bed, and hoped the dry book would induce dreams of goblin rebellions.
HP_HP
"Merlin's saggy balls, what is Albus playing at?" The head of the Department of Mysteries said as he came out of the pensive. It wasn't everyday one saw "The Unspeakable" frazzled, and Amelia regretted having to see it.
She and her fellow head were gathered in The Minister's office reviewing Potter's adventure in the chamber of secrets and his subsequent third defeat of The Dark Lord.
"What do you mean Jupiter?" Fudge asked
"I mean Albus should have come directly to me after this incident. No offense Amelia, but your department isn't equipped to handle problems like this. That is black magic and Albus knows enough to recognize it as such. Especially when the consequences of it not being handled correctly could lead to the return of Lord Voldemort." He said, making his companions flinch.
"Did you recognize what spell was used?"
"I'm not sure of the exact spell, but it could only be of 3 options. All of them horrific and require the caster to damage their soul in some way. And I don't mean the marks left behind from taking another life but actual damage to the soul. They are all horrific and right up that manic's lane."
Taking a calming breath, he continued. "I'll put together a team to start looking into the spells. Ones I know aren't sympathizers."
"Albus has been keeping secrets," Jupiter said leaning his head back against the chair. "We met a few days ago and none of this came up. How are the children? Have their families reached out to get them proper medical evaluations? I know Potter lives with muggles who may not understand how severe the situation is especially with Albus trying to downplay everything."
"You know Potter lives with muggles? Have you met them?" Amelia asked, shocked by this revelation.
"No, but Albus and I meet annually on August 1st for an update on how Potter is progressing. We have had this meeting in place since 81. We pass on our findings to the DCW afterwards."
"So the two of you meet every year and Dumbledore updates you on Potter's health and living conditions, correct? But you have never been to see Potter yourself?" Amelia tried to clarify.
"No, I had to settle for yearly updates. Bagnold and Albus decided to limit the amount of interaction Potter would have with the magical world before Hogwarts. The best I could do was get them to agree to yearly updates. Albus and I meet and he tells me about Potter's accomplishments and gives me pictures of the lad growing up."
"Well now we know for sure that Dumbledore has been covering up the abuse." Fudge chimed in.
"What?" The unspeakable growled out, sitting up straight once again.
"It was brought to my attention a couple of days ago that Potter's living conditions might be less than desirable. While looking into another matter I was able to speak to his relatives and they were more than happy to tell me how much they dislike their nephew, and were persuaded into showing me where they stored him. Yes, stored him. They made him sleep in a broom cupboard under the stairs until his Hogwarts letter came. They then moved him into their son's playroom. All while using him as their servant. We currently have them stored in our holding cell awaiting trial."
Despite the deep breaths he was taking to keep calm, Amelia could tell the man was barely hanging on to his anger.
"Where is he now?"
"He is currently staying at the Leaky Cauldron," Amelia answered, giving Fudge a look. "I have assigned two aurors to watch over him during the day and before you ask, he saw a goblin healer and had a full medical evaluation done. He gave me a copy during our meeting and the length of the document is disgusting. I will be requesting that the muggles be sentenced to Azkaban instead of Prison Peterborough. Not even putting them into the magical side of the prison would be punishment enough. They deserve Azkaban!"
"Good, but what about a mind healer? That situation would have been traumatic for an adult let alone children. All those affected should have at least one session."
"You're right," Fudge chimed in again. "I'll speak to the school board about covering the cost. They won't be able to refuse once the article gets out."
"I can't believe I forgot to ask about it during our meeting. He just kept revealing these crazy stories. One being that the chamber wasn't his second interaction with the Dark Lord."
"What are you talking about Amelia?"
She answered the unspeakable by dropping another memory into the pensive and gesturing for the other two to go in before her.
The three came out 30 minutes later, and spent the next hour going over what they saw, Hogwarts security, what they would release to the public, and how they could keep Dumbledore ignorant of their knowledge/involvement.
HP_HP
At 9 am sharp Harry received a knock on his room door.
"Who knocketh on my door?" Harry asked the agreed upon question.
"Veritas" came a female voice from behind the door. The voice didn't sound like Tonks but it was the correct password. So Harry pulled out his wand and unlocked the door from behind the table in case he needed cover.
"Come in."
The door eased open to let in a 5'5 woman in her 40s with brownish-red hair and green eyes. The woman wore brown muggle pants and a loose white cotton blouse. "Watcher Harry!"
"Hi Tonks." Harry said, easing his grip on his wand. "I didn't know you could change your voice as well."
Switching back to her normal voice Tonks answered. "I can only change the pitch of my voice. I have to work on accents the same way anyone else would."
"Where is Kingsley?" Harry asked, pocketing his wand now that the danger had passed.
"He's scoping out the pub and letting it be known that there are aurors around. The ministry wants people to feel safe coming out to the allies. It looks like you've already had a pot of tea. Have you already eaten breakfast?"
"I had a few scones earlier but I could go for some more food if you lot are hungry. Otherwise I can wait for lunch."
"Kingsley and I are fine. We are ready for whatever you have planned for the day."
"I just need to drop by the bank to exchange some gold for muggle money. I don't really have anything else planned. I figured I would work on my summer assignments and get them out the way so I can have fun. But I can work on it later if you guys would rather explore more of the allies." Harry offered, not wanting to trap his guards in his room while he wrote his papers.
"Having you stationary makes our job easier." Tonks replied, her bubbly personality slipping into her bright smile. "Why don't we go to the House of Raven Public Library. You will be able to spread out your books and I can review for my finals."
HP-HP-
After a quick stop at the bank to exchange some gold into pounds the group entered Madam Jacqueline's Délicatesses for a morning snack.
The bakery sat across from the entrance to Emerald Alley. Walking in, one was hit with the fragrance of freshly baked bread and the numerous fillings that went into them.
Six circular tables sat between the window and the counter filled with an assortment of baked goods. The selections ranged from sausage rolls, breakfast danishes, and croissants to petit fours, cookies, pies, and elaborate cakes.
Harry couldn't resist the pain au chocolat. Tonks and Kingsley grabbed their orders of strawberry danish and sausage rolls respectively and joined Harry at the table.
"So what's on the agenda today," Kingsley asked, putting up a silencing charm.
"Our dear Harry has decided to be a swot today and work on his summer assignments." Tonks answered with a giggle. "We'll be spending the majority of the day at the House of Raven Library."
The group finished their breakfast while discussing the subjects Harry was going to work on that afternoon.
HP_HP
"But Minister, we spent hours mapping out their travel paths, organizing their auror escort, and setting up a feeding schedule. Everything has finally been approved by the appropriate parties and all you have to do is sign this document and the dementors are good to go. Don't let Amelia Bones ruin all our hard work just so she can take the credit for setting up the Hogwarts protection. There is nothing wrong with our plan; she just wants to be in charge!"
"I'm sorry Dolores, but she and Glenda brought up some points that I can't ignore. It will be safer to go with Amelia's idea of auror protection on the grounds. Any mistakes they could make would be far less deadly than if a dementor went rogue." Fudge explained, trying to calm the woman down. He was starting to wonder if he needed a new secretary.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I've already had a very long morning and I have plenty of work to see to that does not involve Harry Potter or Hogwarts."
"Unfortunately Minister, those will have to wait a little longer", Amelia said from the door. The woman was looking concerningly frazzled considering she had left his office an hour ago calm as a cucumber after speaking about the dark lord returning.
"If you'll excuse us Dolores" she said, ushering his secretary out the door and firmly closing it behind her.
"What has happened now?"
"Please tell me you have Sirius Black's court case."
"No, I thought you were having it pulled for your investigation."
"I asked for it to be brought to my office after our meeting on Sunday. When the initial search turned up nothing I tasked all of the records department to fine it thinking it was misfiled. Ryan swears his team has searched high and low for the court files and it is not in the records room. I've just spent the last hour personally searching our investigation files and the only thing that comes up for Black's arrest is this single piece of parchment" she said handing it over.
"It's the same story we've been hearing for years. When the team got there Pettigrew yelled out Black had betrayed the Potters, Black started laughing, and then the street blew up. There aren't any interviews, pictures of the scene, or evidence collected!"
Starting to massage her temples she continued "I'm getting a bad feeling about this Cornelius. How did Black end up in Azkaban without an investigation or trial?"
"I see what you mean," Cornelius said, feeling his own headache coming about. "I have a few people on staff who worked under the former minister. I can discreetly inquire about what they know."
Thanks for the follows and reviews. I always enjoy reading your thoughts and guesses for the next chapter.
Story Recommendation: Let's Try Again by DayDreamer315
Harry Potter/Fred Weasley/George WeasleyAfter the war Harry Potter's world falls apart. Then he is offered a chance to try and make a better future for himself and his friends. Of course things are never simple.