Harry and Hermione were still in shock when the PM began making calls. "Good afternoon, Anna. Can you tell me if Her Majesty is in London? Great,
I need you to connect me with her. It's an urgent matter." The minister waited for a moment before speaking again. "Good afternoon, Your Majesty. I'm calling about a very unusual group of our citizens. Representatives from that group are here with me, and they're willing to explain everything to us and answer our questions. I've spoken to them for a bit, but in my opinion, Your Majesty should hear about this as well."
After a brief pause, the minister continued, "Your Majesty, I think it will be a very long meeting." He listened to the queen's response before ending the conversation by confirming her directives. "Of course, Your Majesty. We will be there."
The minister then turned to the teens and said, "We're going to meet the queen. Come on, cars will be waiting for us." He rose from his desk, and Harry and Hermione followed him. He then turned to his secretary and said, "Rebecca, we're going to Buckingham. If anyone calls, I'm not available today, unless it's a third-world war. Understood?" She nodded and went back to work. The unusual trio found themselves in government cars, on their way to meet the queen.
To calm the nervous teens, the minister said, "I know that you're freaking out about meeting Her Majesty, but I'll give you some advice. If you show her maximum respect, she'll forgive you if you breach etiquette. When she's behind closed doors, she cares more about what you're saying than formal language and sophisticated behavior." This advice helped to ease their stress.
After a few more minutes, they arrived at Buckingham Palace and went through another security check. They were then shown to a large room meant for private meetings. They took their seats and waited for the queen to arrive. It didn't take long before she came, with a man they didn't know right behind her. The PM and teens stood up to welcome her. She went to her desk and welcomed them.
"Good afternoon, Minister Blair. Can you introduce me to our guests?"
"Good afternoon, Your Majesty. Here with me are Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. They are representatives of the Ministry of Magic."
"Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, welcome to Buckingham Palace."
"We are honored to be here, Your Majesty," replied Harry.
"You're here to explain what's going on in your society and to answer our questions, right?" asked the queen.
"Yes, Your Majesty," replied Hermione.
"Before we begin, two things. First, the man next to you is Mr. Adams, the chef of my private guard. Everyone who holds that position is informed about your world as a safety measure. Second, do you need anything to tell your story?"
While Hermione wanted to say no, Harry had an idea. "Your Majesty, it would make everything easier if we had a whiteboard here. During a conversation with Minister Blair, we found out that ministers of magic in the past had hidden almost every crucial piece of information from you. So, having a board where we could write down the most important aspects will make our conversation easier."
"Mr. Adams, do we have a whiteboard available in the palace?" the queen asked.
"I'll check, Your Majesty."
"If you'll allow us, we can take care of that problem," suggested Harry.
Queen Elizabeth nodded, permitting him. Harry took his wand and conjured a whiteboard and markers.
"Mr. Potter, how did you smuggle that thing through security checks?" Mr. Adams asked him.
"Almost every adult wizard has a wand holster that is attached to their forearm. We can simply cast a spell that will make it disappear."
"I don't know if I'm comfortable with you having your wand here," Mr. Adams replied.
"I can't offer you to hold one, as it would cause you pain. The best we can offer is to put the wands on the table next to the door," Harry offered.
"Please do this," Mr. Adams agreed.
Harry took Hermione's wand and put them away from their reach. Then he went to the blackboard to start the explanation.
"Your Majesty, how much do you know about wizards in general?" asked Harry.
"Almost nothing. I know that you had some internal conflict in the 70s and a second one that is still going on. Besides that, I know that every new Minister of Magic introduces themselves to our Prime Minister."
"Mr. Potter, please start from the beginning, as you did on Downing Street," asked the PM.
"Of course. As Your Majesty may know, in the late 70s, we had a great civil war called the First Blood War. The name is not accidental. A self-proclaimed Lord Voldemort and his followers called Death Eaters tried to take control of our society. Their main goal was to eliminate everyone who is not a pureblood."
During the meeting, Queen Elizabeth asked for an explanation of what pureblood is. Harry gave the same answer as before, but this time he wrote that information on the board, along with a short explanation of Voldemort and Death Eaters. When the Queen heard the comparison Harry used to the KKK, she was glad to be in the meeting, as she recognized that being unaware of such a group is unacceptable.
"During the first war, two fronts were created. On our side, we can mention two groups. One was the Ministry of Magic and their Aurors. The other one is the Order of the Phoenix, an organization created by Albus Dumbledore. They were actively working to end the war by defeating Voldemort.
The enemy side contained Death Eaters and several dark creatures that joined their side, hungry for blood," Harry elaborated.
"And the Ministry was losing that war. Even though we had a numerical advantage, our side was too afraid to fight them properly. For far too long, the light side had restricted themselves to using only non-harmful spells. But even that had not helped much, and in 1981, they were very close to taking control of the Ministry."
"Then how did the first war end?" asked the Prime Minister.
"By a miracle. You see, Voldemort was obsessed with two families that were posing a great danger to him. On October 31, 1981, he went to attack one of those families - the Potters, to be more specific. Hermione explained.
"Any relation to them?" Queen asked Harry.
"My parents and me, Your Majesty," Harry said sadly.
"During the attack, Harry's parents were murdered. But when he tried to kill him as well, a miracle happened. Voldemort had planned to spare Harry's mother, as she was supposed to be a reward to one of the Death Eaters. Lady Potter had refused to step aside, and she died trying to protect him. Her sacrifice created a shield that protected him. When Voldemort used a spell to murder him, it bounced from Harry and hit him back, destroying his body."
"Wait, wasn't Voldemort a leader during the second war?" asked the Prime Minister, surprised.
"He was. In 1981, the curse had destroyed his body, but it had not killed him. He was able to survive in the form of a ghost."
"Is it common for wizards to stay alive as ghosts?" Queen asked.
"Sometimes it happens that wizards are afraid to move on after they die. But normally, they stay in ghost form forever. Voldemort is the first one who managed to return to physical form. And he was only able to do it because he used the darkest and most vile magic possible."
"What happened after he vanished? Did the Ministry manage to catch his followers, or did they manage to vanish?" asked the Queen.
"The answer is far worse. Besides a few fanatical followers who refused to denounce him and preferred to be in prison instead, around 90% of them went scot-free," Harry replied.
"What? Your Ministry allowed murderers to go free without any consequences?" the Queen asked angrily.
"Officially, they all claimed that they were put under the Imperius curse. The curse, if cast properly, allows the caster to take full control of the victim. The victim will mindlessly follow the order, no matter what. They could order a victim to jump from the cliff, and that person would find the nearest cliff and jump instantly. While it sounds like a reasonable excuse, the truth is that only a few percent of them were true victims of the curse. The rest simply bribed those responsible for sentencing them, so they were allowed to go free."
"All they had to do was throw some money, and they were pardoned? Why did your government allow that? Why did your parliament allow that? And how corrupted did your judicial power have to be to make it possible?" asked the Queen.
"Here is the problem, Your Majesty. In wizarding Britain, judicial power and legislative power are the same body."
"What?" exclaimed the Queen.
"It's a sad truth. Wizengamot is a legislative power, but there is a need for them to act as judges, and they are responsible for justice."
"But why were they allowed to sit in the Wizengamot? Who chose them for that function?" asked the Prime Minister.
"No one chose them. Seats in Wizengamot are hereditary."
"Is there a way to take a seat from the family?" the Queen asked.
"Technically, there is, but in reality, it is impossible."
"Mr Potter, how well do you understand the Wizengamot and how it works?" asked the queen.
"My theoretical knowledge is perfect. The only thing I lack is experience, but that will change in the upcoming weeks," replied Harry.
"Does your family have a seat?" asked the Queen.
"Yes, it does. Every Most Ancient and Noble house has a seat that gives it three votes," responded Harry.
"What is a Most Ancient and Noble house?" asked the Prime Minister curiously.
"Every family in the wizarding world can be put into one of five groups. Starting from the most important, we have: Most Ancient and Noble, Ancient and Noble, Noble, Clan, and Family," explained Harry.
"What are the criteria that decide which group your family belongs to?" continued the Prime Minister.
"There are two main criteria: money and how old your family is," clarified Harry.
"Gentlemen, I think we should get back on track and find out why our citizens have died in the last three years and why the Ministry of Magic was denying it. I am sure we can ask Mr Potter and Miss Granger to come back here at a later date, and they will answer our other questions," suggested the queen.
"As you wish, Your Majesty. After Voldemort vanished, life got back to normal. Even though there were rumors that he was still alive, no one took them seriously. Then in 1995, he managed to kidnap me from Hogwarts and used my blood in a ritual to give him his body back. I managed to escape, but the problems arose after that. Unfortunately, ex-Minister Fudge was a very good friend with one of the "Imperiused" Death Eaters. When I tried to warn everyone that Voldemort was back, the Ministry of Magic started a campaign to destroy my reputation. During that time, Voldemort was getting back his strength and had gathered his army back. So, in 1996, when he showed himself in public for the first time, we were already in big trouble. We were not only unprepared, but during those years of peace, Fudge had cut the budget of Aurors, making them weaker. So, everyone had started hoping that I would stop him again," explained Harry.
"Why you, Mr Potter? You were only sixteen years old then. Why would they turn to you?" asked the Prime Minister.
"In 1980, Sybill Trelawney gave a true prophecy. That prophecy stated that a boy born at the end of July would stop the Dark Lord. So, in 1996, somehow rumors about that prophecy had surfaced, and as no one had too much faith in the Ministry, they all turned to me. But to carry on, in 1996, Albus Dumbledore, leader of the Order of the Phoenix, and I had started working on a plan to defeat him. We knew that the first thing that needed to be done was to prevent him from coming back to life again. Unfortunately, in the meantime, two tragedies struck us. The first was the death of Albus Dumbledore. It was a big blow to morale because he was the only wizard that Voldemort was truly afraid of. The worst thing happened in July 1997. On the last day of the month, Death Eaters attacked the Ministry and murdered Minister Scrimgeour, taking control of magical Britain," continued Harry.
"They took over the Ministry?" asked the Prime Minister in shock.
"Yes, they did, and we had to start a guerrilla war. We were also still working on the task of making him mortal again. The culmination of both wars came precisely a week ago, on 2nd May 1998. That day we became very close to making him mortal, but he found out what we were working on. So we decided to fight a battle then and there. We had only one shot because if he managed to survive, we would lose our chance of making him mortal. So we took a risk, and I managed to kill him. Unfortunately, we lost many good people during that battle," finished Harry.
"What happened to the Death Eaters now?" asked the Prime Minister.
"Some of them were killed during the battle, and some of them managed to escape. But only a few days ago, we managed to find them and capture many of them. It was during that fight that I was injured. There are still a few characters that need to be caught, but we are working on that," replied Harry.
"And what about the Death Eaters that were caught? Will they be able to buy their freedom again?" asked the queen.
"No, they won't. Minister Shacklebolt will never allow them to go free," said Harry.
"Shacklebolt is the new Minister? The same one who was my guard for some time?" asked the Prime Minister, surprised.
"The same one," replied Harry.
"What is he planning to do now?" inquired the queen.
"We are focusing on rebuilding our country. While we have a lot to do, I am confident that we can do this," Harry assured them.
The queen looked at the teens and formulated a plan. "Mr Potter, from what I understood, Minister Shacklebolt wants to create a good relationship between our governments, am I right?" she asked.
"Yes, Your Majesty," replied Harry.
"Glad to hear that. Of course, we are also interested in building a good relationship between us. But there is so much we don't know about you. So, we would like to ask you and Miss Granger to visit us again, so we could get more information from you," said the queen.
"Your Majesty, we will be honored to meet with you again, but we would like to ask for a bit of time. We still have funerals to attend, and Hermione is soon leaving for Australia to take care of some family matters. So, if Your Majesty will allow it, then we would like to delay that meeting for at least a few weeks," requested Harry.
"It is not a problem for us. We will contact Minister Shacklebolt in a few weeks, and we will choose a date that will work for everyone. Thank you," said the queen.
"Thank you, Your Majesty," Harry replied.
"Then it is time for us to part ways. Mr. Adams will escort you from here."
They all stood up and waited until she left. Then Harry and Hermione took their wands and left Buckingham Palace and went to the Leaky Cauldron. They took a cab, and soon enough, they arrived at their destination. They were silent during the ride, as they were trying to understand what happened mere moments before.
"Harry, don't get me wrong, as I can't imagine my life without you, but I am waiting for a vacation from you and everything that is happening around you," Hermione exclaimed.
Harry laughed, hearing that, and hugged her, declaring that he understood as he would like to take a vacation from himself as well. They decided that Harry would give Kingsley a report, while Hermione would go to Hogwarts for a bit. They hugged again and parted ways. He used floo powder to get to the Ministry and walked to Kingsley's office. He greeted his secretary, who informed the King about his arrival. After a second, he was invited inside.
"Harry, glad you are here, I was starting to worry. How was the meeting?" he asked nervously.
"Besides the fact that I almost had a heart attack, I would say it went great."
"What happened?"
"When we started telling the Prime Minister about Death Eaters, he decided that we should invite some to that meeting."
"Who did he invite?"
"Queen Elizabeth II."
"Holy crap."
"Exactly. We moved the meeting to Buckingham Palace, where we told them everything about the First and Second Wars and answered questions about Wizarding Britain."
"I imagine they were not happy."
"They weren't. But they don't hold that against us and are open to building a good relationship."
"I am very glad to hear that, Harry. You and Hermione did a great job."
"Thanks. In a few weeks, they will contact you, as they want to meet again to find out more about us."
"I see no problem with that."
"If there is anything else you want to talk about?" asked Harry.
"I need to talk to you about something," said Kingsley, sighing heavily and nodding at Harry.
"What is it?" asked Harry.
"Did you know that Hogwarts is not the only school of magic in Britain?"
"There's another school? Why haven't I heard about it?"
"Because almost all the students who attend that school are Muggle-borns. Sometimes there are half-bloods, but only if one of their parents also attended the school."
"Why didn't they attend Hogwarts?"
"A long time ago, the Board of Governors decided that only wealthy Muggle-borns or those with great potential would be allowed to attend Hogwarts. The rest went to 'Manchester Magical Academy'."
"Purebloods!" exclaimed Harry. "But why are you telling me this?"
"A few weeks ago, Death Eaters attacked the Manchester Magical Academy. All the teachers and students survived, but the building was destroyed. It is the Ministry's job to take care of that, so my first thought was to combine Hogwarts and MMA. That's why I'm talking to you."
"I am all for that. Hogwarts was half empty anyway. But first, I need to speak with Susan, the Hogwarts staff, and of course with the MMA Headmaster. There is a lot to discuss before we make a final decision."
"I understand, Harry. I will let Headmaster Craig know, and he will send you an owl so you can set up a date. And if I could ask you, please speak with Susan and the professors soon. Parents of students, especially those who are not from Britain, are impatient and want to know what the situation looks like."
"MMA has foreign students?" asked Harry.
"To be completely honest, 90% of their students are foreigners," answered Kingsley.
"Why do so many foreign students choose to study there? And how many students does MMA have in total?"
"They have over 900 students," replied Kingsley.
"But that's more than Hogwarts! In my 5th year, which was just before the war had started, we had 700 students."
"I am aware, Harry, but I know that Hogwarts can accommodate all of you."
"Like I said, I need to speak to Susan and the teachers first, then I will let you know. By the way, why do so many foreign students choose to go to MMA?"
"I know that you hate the fact that Muggle-borns are discriminated against in Britain, but in almost all of Europe, the situation is even worse for them. So MMA was the best option for them."
"Damn, purebloods. Ok, I will do my best to give you an answer as fast as possible."
"That's all I am asking, Harry," replied Kingsley.
They spoke for a bit, and then Harry left for the Burrow. When he arrived, he borrowed an owl from Ron and sent letters to Susan and Professor McGonagall, asking if they could meet tomorrow. Then he went to rest, as tomorrow would be another hard day, not only because of additional work but also because he would attend the funeral of Colin Creevey in the evening.