When consciousness finally returned to James Potter, the first thing he registered was pain. Pain and a sudden weariness ached to his core and made him groan softly; the second thing he realized was that he was alone in his office, lying on his couch under an old red blanket.
Thankfully, his glasses were still on his face, so he could see that he was alone, as he previously thought; with another groan, James began to level himself up into a sitting position. He'd almost managed it when Sirius entered the office, followed closely by Moody; both paused for only a heartbeat when they saw James was awake, but the spell was broken an instant later when Sirius rushed across the room and gently helped his friend rise the rest of the way up.
"Easy, Prongs," Sirius said softly, "Go slow…"
"What happened?" James asked in a pained voice, "Where's Fudge?"
"Currently being looked after by half a dozen Saint Mungo's Healers," Moody said with a cruel smile, "You really did a number on him, lad."
"Guards?" James demanded, making Moody scowl at him,
"What do you take me for? Some raw recruit fresh out of the academy! Of course, I left guards!"
Sirius brought James a cool glass of water at that moment, and James all but snatched it from his friend's offered hand, taking several deep gulps before sighing in relief and nodding gratefully at his friend.
"What happened to me?" James asked as he sat the glass beside him, "Did Fudge stun me?"
"No…" Sirius said in a broken voice, "That was me, James…"
"You…?" James asked in shock as a feeling of betrayal passed through him. Gritting his teeth in pain, James turned to stare at his oldest friend; though his back was straight as an arrow, there was a sadness to Sirius that seemed to make the man shrink in on himself.
"I had to!" Sirius cried at once, "You were beating Fudge to death! You nailed Frank in the jaw when he tried to pull you off and knocked out two of his teeth! If I hadn't stunned you, you would have killed Fudge!
"Then you should have let me!" James snarled back, lunging to his feet and wobbling for a moment as though he might fall back down, before regaining his balance, "Fudge nearly killed my family! Your family! He set a pack of rabid animals loose on children, and now, many of them will be cursed for the rest of their lives! And that's if they don't kill themselves first when they realize that they'll probably never be allowed back to school!"
Sirius and Moody could say nothing as James continued his rant, his eyes rolling wildly and making both men worry momentarily if the new Minister had gone mad before even reaching office.
"And if I had let you beat that bastard to death?" Sirius demanded, "What then! You'd be sitting in a cell in Azkaban Prison before the sun sets, and the Purebloods will have won! We have a chance here, James! A chance that very rarely comes along for guys like us. A chance to create real change and leave this world better than when we found it. You are our only hope of finally breaking the Purebloods' stranglehold on how our world operates! So that the next time a Dark Lord tries to take over, they can't do it as easily as Voldemort almost did!"
Sirius' words slammed into James like physical blows, and he found no rebuttal that he could offer that wouldn't make him look like a complete jackass; so instead, James chose to fall back onto the couch, resting his elbows on his knees, and bury his face in his hands as he tried to calm himself down from the rage that threatened to consume him.
"I know you're right, Padfoot…" James said after a moment, "But even so…. Even so, I want to kill that corrupt bastard for what he did… For what he almost took from me…"
"You needn't worry about that, lad," Moody growled as he leaned heavily on his walking stick, "Word is out about what Fudge did and what happened during his attempted escape. I imagine the Prophet is working double time to get the story out as quickly as possible; by nightfall, all of Britain will know."
"And when that happens…" Sirius growled darkly, "No force on earth will be able to save Fudge."
Moody said nothing, simply nodded and causing the temperature in the room to plummet as the realization of what was coming struck all three men.
"The recruit that Fudge killed…?" James asked softly, "Did he have any family?"
"Aye," Moody replied sadly, bowing his head, "Two surviving parents and a little sister about to start her sixth year. I sent Kingsley to inform his family."
"I want him up for an Order of Merlin," James said at once, making both men look at him in surprise, "Second class, if I can wiggle it. That boy more than earned it."
"It will mean a lot to them…" Moody replied with a nod of respect, "I'll be glad to see you in the Minister's chair in a few weeks."
"Sooner than that, once this story breaks…" Sirius mumbled, making the two stare at him momentarily before the realization struck them again: there would be a lot of work to do in the coming days.
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Fudge implicated in Hogsmeade Massacre! Murders two in attempted escape from Ministry!
By: Scott Travers
Yes, my readers, you did not misread that title, nor is it an exaggerated claim by the Daily Prophet to attract more readers. No matter how much I might wish for this story to be false, it is my unfortunate duty to report that this story is one hundred percent true, told to this reporter by none other than the newly elected Minister for Magic himself, James Potter.
According to our new Minister, after an intensive interrogation of the werewolf Fenrir Grayback by senior Auror, Alastor Moody, the monster eventually gave up the one who hired him to attack Hogsmeade village: Cornelius Fudge.
Upon learning this shocking information, Minister Potter himself led a team of Aurors to arrest the former Minister. Still, it seemed that Fudge was one step ahead of them. While trying to empty a hidden safe of his ill-gotten gold in his office, he was ambushed by several Aurors, including Sirius Black, and Alastor 'Mad-eye' Moody. Rather than surrender and face punishment for his crimes, Fudge instead chose to fight back and, in the process, murdered a fresh recruit who had only graduated from the academy six months prior (For more information on Nathan Miller, turn to page 3). But was that the end of his murder spree? Unfortunately, not!
After senselessly murdering Mr. Miller, Fudge apparently blasted his office wall to smithereens and fled from his pursuers, managing to lose them in the chaos. After sealing the Ministry to prevent Fudge's escape, Minister Potter immediately sent out the Aurors to track down Fudge and bring him back alive, if possible. After tearing apart the Ministry, department by department, Minister Potter came up with the brilliant idea that with the Ministry sealed and Apparation made impossible due to the lockdown, Fudge would only escape through one avenue: Portkey.
I wish I could report that Minister Potter and his Aurors managed to make it to the portkey office before Fudge could kill any more innocent people; alas, I cannot.
In a desperate attempt to flee justice and escape with his gold, Fudge murdered another innocent Ministry employee; this time, one who had faithfully worked in the Ministry for over twenty years, Sarah Bealls (For more information on Ms. Sarah Bealls and her career with the Ministry, please turn to page 3.)
After the senseless and cowardly murder of a woman who, by all accounts, was a close friend of former Minister Fudge for close to thirty years, Fudge then attempted to create an illegal Portkey that would ensure his escape from justice. Thankfully, that attempt was stopped when Minister Potter and his Aurors invaded the Portkey office and confronted Fudge in the act, with poor Ms. Beall's body still warm not far away at her desk.
Upon seeing the body, Minister Potter seems to have become enraged beyond all reason and promptly attacked former Minister Fudge, forgoing magic entirely and choosing instead, in his anger at the man who nearly killed his family and then murdered two in his attempt to escape, to beat Cornelius Fudge to death with his own two hands.
So enraged at all that Cornelius Fudge had done that James Potter seemed to have gone temporarily mad and would have, no doubt, beaten Fudge to death if not for Auror Sirius Black, who stunned his friend after all other attempts failed to stop Minister Potter from his quest to kill the man that nearly killed his family.
To this reporter's surprise, when word spread of what Cornelius Fudge had done and what Minister Potter had almost done to Fudge as a result, the people weren't demanding that Minister Potter be arrested for nearly killing their former leader. Rather, James Potter's approval rating has shot to an all-time high. Minister Potter's approval rating climbed even higher when he made it known that both of Fudge's victims would be receiving an Order of Merlin (Second class for Mr. Miller and third class for Ms. Bealls) for their part in ensuring that Cornelius Fudge faces justice (To read the interview with the victims' families, turn to page 2).
In fact, this reporter is astonished to write that no Minister in the last century has held approval ratings this high before, and when interviewed, many citizens offered congratulations and cheers to their new Minister; one man, when asked for a comment, had this to say:
"It makes me proud to know that finally, FINALLY, we have a leader who's not afraid to stand up and fight for his people!"
(For more interviews and comments from citizens, turn to page 2.)
Now we ask the most important question of all: Why did Cornelius Fudge hire a pack of werewolves to attack Hogsmeade village? Why did our former leader allow a pack of rabid animals to kill so many of our children and damn so many more to a life of horror? Well, my friends, that is the most disgusting thing of all.
Cornelius Fudge hired Fenrir Grayback and his pack of monsters because he was angry that he lost the election to James Potter! That's right, my loyal readers! The reason why Cornelius Fudge, former Minister of Magic, allowed a massacre of innocents to occur was because he was a sore loser and wanted his opponent to suffer for beating him in an election. I can honestly say that when I was first told this information by Auror Sirius Black, I actually laughed out loud at the absurdity of it. Surely a mature individual like Cornelius Fudge was above petty things like throwing a temper tantrum over losing an election? But no, Auror Black's story was corroborated by Minister Potter himself, who showed the reporters in attendance the memory of Fenrir Grayback's interrogation, in which the werewolf admits that he was hired by Cornelius Fudge to assassinate Minister Potter's family as punishment for Potter beating Fudge in the election for Minister of Magic.
I have been a reporter for more than twenty-five years. As such, I have seen stories and even written a few that have pushed the very bounds of what is possible and what is fiction. Still, I can honestly say, without exaggeration, that I have never witnessed such a pathetic and dishonorable reason for murder! Cornelius Fudge's trial has been set for later this week, and I know that I am not alone when I say that I hope they throw Fudge's miserable, dishonorable corpse into the veil!
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James Potter sat straight in his seat, his eyes closed as he listened to the buzz of excitement surrounding him. The day of Fudge's trial had come, and the courtroom of the Wizengamot was filled almost to bursting as a result. Reporters had fought tooth and nail (in some cases, literally) for the best seats in the gallery, and the remaining seats had been taken by those lucky enough to find one. Lily had thankfully chosen to stay home with the children, agreeing with James that they did not need to be reminded of the nightmare that Fudge had caused.
Fenrir's trial had already taken place and had concluded in under an hour, ending with the werewolf being dragged kicking and screaming to the veil, before being thrown into it to the cheers of the watching victim's families; now it was Fudge's turn. As time seemed to stretch interminably and James still hadn't moved, the other members of the Wizengamot began to whisper to one another in hushed tones. Word had spread like wildfire about how James had nearly beaten Fudge to death a week prior, so enraged at the man for almost killing his family, as well as killing so many innocent children, not to mention the two more murders Fudge had committed during his attempted escape.
Combined with his decree that both of Fudge's victims would receive an Order of Merlin, James suddenly gained a reputation as a ruthless yet honorable man. As a result of the way that James had handled the Hogsmeade Massacre, as well as what followed, many of the Wizengamot now looked upon James with a new-found respect for ensuring Fudge faced justice; others, however, had gained a new sense of fear of James Potter, and a few Purebloods were silently reevaluating their choice to become an enemy of House Potter.
Behind him, Sirius and Mad-Eye stood on guard; both were wearing identical expensive-looking black robes with red lining, having been appointed as James' personal security after the incident with Fudge. As they waited for James to do something, Sirius' eyes swept the crowd, taking in everything. Beside him, Mad-Eye was doing the same, his fake eye rolling through the crowd as it searched for possible threats.
Slowly opening his eyes, James took a deep breath to calm his rising temper; around him, the other members of the Wizengamot suddenly shushed their neighbors as they saw their new Minister ready to speak. The crowd, taking their cue from the seated officials, also quieted down until, at last, the courtroom was as quiet as a tomb.
"Bring him in," James said in a tight voice as his hands clenched around the arms of his chair so hard that the wood began to whine in protest.
A moment later, four Aurors entered the courtroom, with a heavily bruised man wearing chains and prison robes walking in the middle between the four; as they reached the center of the courtroom, a stone chair suddenly materialized, and the Aurors roughly shoved the Fudge into it. An instant later, chains sprang from the arms and lower part of the chair, pinning Fudge's arms and legs; while this was happening, another chain wrapped around Fudge's neck, pinning it back against the chair.
After carefully ensuring that the chains were tight and that there was zero possibility of escape, the Aurors stepped back and formed a four-man perimeter around Fudge as the reporter's cameras flashed interminably.
As James glared hatefully down at his enemy, he felt a small measure of petty satisfaction as he took in Fudge's injuries; the healers either were of poor quality or else wanted Fudge to suffer for what he had done, and as such, only repaired the bare minimum. Fudge's left eye was swollen shut, and the man's face was a sickly yellow and purple from all the bruises adorning it; added to that, Fudge's nose appeared to have been improperly healed and, as such, was crooked and swollen to an almost comical degree.
"Before we begin," James intoned, causing silence at once, "Will anyone step forward to defend the accused?"
Only silence met James' question as he swept his eye along the rows of seated Wizengamot members before returning to Fudge, who had gone a deathly pale as he realized no one would stand for him.
After waiting a respectable amount of time, James finally nodded and turned to his scribe, who sat with quill ready,
"Very well, then. Note that Cornelius Fudge has no one willing to act as his barrister and, as such, is forced to defend himself under Article Three, sub-section Six of the Ministry's Constitution."
"So noted, sir," the scribe replied at once as he wrote down James' words just as fast as he said them.
"Cornelius Fudge!" James boomed, his voice echoing like thunder, "You have been brought before the Wizengamot to answer charges of attempted murder of the Minister of Magic as well as that of my family! You are further charged with the murder of twenty-five innocent people as well as causing the infection of eight people when you hired Fenrir Grayback, a known werewolf, to assassinate my family, as well as kill and infect anyone they chose! Finally, you are charged with two additional murders when confronted by arresting Aurors. Have you anything to say in your defense?"
"You don't deserve to sit there!" Fudge exclaimed angrily as he tried and failed to lunge out of his seat, "You stole my position from me! I should be Minister, not you!"
"Do you have anything to say in your defense?" James asked again, trying desperately to keep calm.
"It's all lies!" Fudge screamed, "I am being framed by enemies seeking to destroy me! I would never commit such horrifying acts of villainy!"
"You were mentioned by name by Fenrir Grayback as the one who hired him to attack Hogsmeade village," Amelia Bones retorted from her chair, causing Fudge to turn his head to look at her.
"And you would believe the word of a filthy animal, a Dark Creature, over me? Someone who has dedicated twenty years of loyal service to the Ministry!?"
"Perhaps we would believe you," Frank Longbottom spat from his seat, "Were it not for the fact that Fenrir was given enough Veritaserum to make three men spill their guts."
"That beast was a Dark Creature!" Fudge snarled back, "Who knows if Veritaserum even works on them!"
Grumbles of anger began to sweep through the crowd at Fudge's words for a few moments before a dark-skinned witch in a black mourning robe stood up and shrieked,
"You lying bastard! You killed my William! You and your monsters butchered my son!"
"Order!" James shouted as other men and women stood and began to hurl obscenities at Fudge, "We shall have order in the court, or I will have the gallery cleared!"
Grumbles of anger followed James' words before, finally, the courtroom settled into tense silence again; taking another calming breath, James turned back to Fudge and struggled to swallow his urge to leap across the table and finish beating him to death.
"Even if your ramblings were true, which I can assure you no one here believes," James said in a cold voice, which was quickly followed by cries of 'aye' from the other Wizengamot members, "That still leaves you with the murder of Nathan Miller and Sarah Bealls. What honeyed words do you have to try and excuse that?!"
At that, Fudge had no answer, choosing to stutter and mumble instead before finally settling on anger as the realization that he was caught swept over him.
"They wouldn't have died if you hadn't stolen my office! I deserve to be Minister! And I'll kill a thousand worthless Ministry peons before I let some arrogant bastard steal it from me!"
The courtroom exploded in a cacophony of noise as Wizengamot members and civilians alike screamed abuse and obscenities at the bound prisoner. At the same time, the Aurors tried to hold back the crowd from storming the floor and ripping Fudge apart.
A sudden explosion caused the noise to end instantly as everyone dove for cover, only peeking up from where they had hidden once they were sure the coast was clear. Mad-Eye Moody stood with his wand raised above his head and a harsh look on his face,
"Thank you, Mad-Eye," James said, not bothering to turn around, "If you all would kindly take your seats, we can continue this trial."
As everyone returned to their seats, Mad-Eye stowed his wand back up his sleeve, all the while glaring at the still-shaking men and women.
"Members of the Wizengamot," James called out once order had been restored, "I see no reason to continue this farce of a trial. Cornelius Fudge is guilty. We all know it. Yet, we live in a nation of justice, so I now ask you to raise your wand and show a red tip if you vote guilty, or a green tip if you believe him to be innocent. On the first count, orchestrating the attempted assassination of the Minister and his family, how do you find the defendant?"
Almost as one, the seated members of the Wizengamot raised their wands and flashed a red tip; not one green tip was to be found, and Fudge turned pale as he began to break out into a cold sweat.
"On the second count, the murder of twenty-five innocents as well as causing the infection of eight more during the 'Hogsmeade Massacre.' How do you find the defendant?"
Again, every member raised their wands, and again, every wand showed a red tip; by this point, Fudge had slumped almost catatonically in his seat.
"On the final count, the willful murder of Nathan Miller and Sarah Bealls. How do you find the defendant?"
For the final time, all wands raised into the air, and for the final time, they all showed a red tip; Fudge didn't even acknowledge it, simply staring lifelessly at the floor in front of him as James smirked cruelly in victory.
"Cornelius Fudge," James called out, once the cheering had stopped, "You have been found guilty on all three counts, and now sentencing will be decided-"
"I demand trial by combat!" Fudge screeched, cutting off whatever James was about to say next and causing cries of surprise, shock, and anger to reverberate throughout the crowd.
"You can't be serious?" James scoffed, causing Fudge to turn crimson with humiliation and anger in equal measure.
"I have the right!" Fudge snarled back, "Any defendant charged with any crime may demand a trial by combat to prove their innocence! It was voted into law by the Wizards Council in 1266 and never repealed when the Wizengamot took its place!"
"Bones!" James cried angrily, turning to the Head of the Department of Magical Law, "Is what he says true?"
"I'm afraid it is," Amelia replied through grit teeth, "The law predates the Ministry, and as such, not many know about it."
The courtroom once again exploded as a hundred different conversations began simultaneously. At the same time, James gripped the arms of his chair so tight that the wood once again started to while in protest.
"We can't let this bastard walk because of some ancient law, Prongs," Sirius whispered into James' ear, "You have to do something!"
"Like what?" James growled back, "The law is still valid, which means he's allowed to exploit it!"
"The arsehole is an incompetent duelist," Moody hissed into James' other ear, "Let me deal with him. He'll be a puddle on the ground before he has time to blink."
"No," James said softly, as the memory of how terrified his children had been returned to him, "Fudge is mine!"
Moody had just raised his wand over his head when the crowd began to quiet down, causing the old Auror to grin as he lowered his wand back down,
"Guess they can be taught," Moody said with a chuckle, causing Sirius to snort.
Slowly rising to his feet, James glared hatefully down at the man who had nearly taken his family from him and who had taken so many others.
"Your challenge is accepted under the law," James growled, causing Fudge to smirk, "However, as Minister of Magic, as well as the one you tried to assassinate, I will be your opponent, and I promise you that I will show you the same mercy that you showed those children in Hogsmeade."
The courtroom exploded again with cries of shock, awe, and support, yet James ignored all of it; his sole focus was on the deathly pale man seated beneath him, who seemed to realize how idiotic his demand was.
XXXX
Author's Note:
Merry Christmas, Happy Yule, and Happy Holidays to you all, no matter where you are on this giant blue marble. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and don't worry, the next one will take less time. Next time, we watch the epic duel between Cornelius Fudge, who really wants to live, And James Potter, who really doesn't want him to! Lol, see ya next time!