Four days. That's how long James Potter was in a magic-induced coma as the Healers of Saint Mongos desperately tried to save their new Minister's life. They'd tried to reason with Lily Potter that the best way to save her husband's life was to amputate the arm and so stop the spread of the curse that Fudge had used before James had finished him. Lily, in appropriate fashion, had immediately threatened to sever whichever of the Healer's arms they tried to use to take her husbands.
This was the reason the Healers were forced to put James into a coma, as they realized that whenever he awoke from the pain of the curse, it would begin to spread at double the speed at which it spread when he was asleep. After four days of a non-stop regimen of spells and potions, the Head Healer proclaimed to the awaiting crowd, who had refused to move, that their Minister would recover fully. The Daily Prophet issued a 'Breaking News' addition soon after, and it was reported that celebrations across England had come dangerously close to breaking the Statute of Secrecy.
For Harry and Rose, it had been an agonizing four days of worry in which neither had gotten much sleep. Lily had insisted that the children return to Hogwarts, stating that there was nothing they could do. James wouldn't want them to lose out on furthering their education, so the pair had been forced to try and pay attention in class while they awaited word about their father.
When word finally did reach Hogwarts, the Headmaster declared that a feast was in order, and Hogwarts celebrated as one, aside from a few from Slytherin, who chose not to attend. The following weekend, when Lily came to Hogwarts to take Rose and Harry to see James, they'd nearly broken his ribs when they jumped on top of him and began trying to hug him to death. When the Potter children returned on Monday, the whole school could see that they were as good as new; this was further proved when, during the next Quidditch game against Slytherin, the Gryffindor team flattened them by an unbelievable 180-50. The Slytherin players were so disgusted by this defeat that at the game's end, the team actually attacked the Gryffindors.
So outraged by the actions of their house's team, the Gryffindor crowd decided to attack the Slytherin side of the stadium, while Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff joined together in a mad dash for the exit. This free-for-all brawl, once finally ended by the professors, would later be spoken of in legend, and it created a school record for the most detentions ever given in a single instance.
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"It's not funny, James!" Lily yelled as James wiped his eyes and put his glasses back on. There were over a hundred children admitted to the Hospital Wing, and over a dozen of them were sent there by our children! What if those parents decide to sue? Or worse, press charges!"
"Lily, relax!" James said calmly, "No one's going to get sued, and I very much doubt anyone will press charges. Nearly all of Hogwarts was involved in that fight, and they will never know who attacked whom!"
"But Rose and Harry aren't just ANY kids; they're the Minister's kids!" Lily retorted, "And even if it's a lie, there will probably be people lining up soon to sue you!"
"Pfft, not likely," Sirius scoffed as he entered the conversation. "James Potter is the most beloved Minister we've ever had, and he hasn't even done anything yet!"
"Which is even more reason why some might take what they can from him!" Lily retorted, growing angrier as Sirius, instead of looking worried as she was, grinned at her as though in on some private joke.
"That's just as unlikely,"
"And why is that?!" Lily growled, dangerously close to hexing the man,
"Because," Sirius laughed, "James just finished showing almost all of England what happens when you try and take what is his…"
Lily seemed to pale at Sirius' words while James closed his eyes and sighed softly. Now that he'd had time to think about it, James found himself deeply disturbed by some of the things he'd done during the duel.
"You haven't seen it yet," Sirius continued, "Being in here and all, but alliances are shifting after what you did. I've already counted six families joining the light faction, and another three have switched to the neutral party."
"The dark faction has lost that many!" James asked in surprise. That was a considerable loss of power for one side, and James had no doubt that the dark faction would not react favorably to this loss.
"Yup, you should have seen Lucy's face when the Wizengamot met this morning. He looked like he'd been force-fed a pepper-up potion!" Sirius laughed. It was glorious!"
"Heh, I bet it was…" James chuckled before raising himself up more, "The Healers say I will need to be here for another few days, so Monday morning, we begin."
"Begin?" Sirius asked with a raised brow,
"Yes," James said with a nod, "I plan to make a lot of changes in the next few weeks, many of which will upset the more traditionalists of the Wizengamot. I imagine the next few weeks will be quite fun."
"You have a very strange sense of fun, Prongs," Sirius groaned, "I know I said we should upset the system, but I didn't mean in your first month in office!"
"Why wait?" James replied with a shrug, "Whether we do it this year or next, these things are going to happen."
"James, I know patience was never your strong suit…" Lily began before James cut her off,
"What are you talking about? I waited for you for seven years!"
"You STALKED me, you mean," Lily scoffed, "Anyway, AS I WAS SAYING, I know patience was never your strong suit, BUT if you truly are intent on not just changing the system but creating a completely new one, then we need to do it slowly. Try and change too much too fast and you might see the opposition join together to see you fail and protect their way of life. We need to keep them guessing, keep them from seeing what we're doing until it's too late to stop it."
The room was dead quiet for a moment, and both men stared at Lily in open-mouthed awe.
"Merlin…" Sirius breathed after a moment, "You're a devious woman, you know that!"
Lily said nothing and grinned in delight before she rose to her feet and stepped over to the sink to refill James' glass.
"She's right," James replied. Pick the laws we want to implement that will upset the least number of people. Those are the ones we'll start with. While we're doing that, I want you to whisper in a few ears on the opposition's side."
"Oh? And what will I be whispering?" Sirius asked with intrigue,
"You said that your grandfather, Arcturus Black, kept a book of dirt on almost everyone in the Wizengamot. Was that true, or were you pranking me?"
"It's real," Sirius replied in a no-nonsense tone, "I saw it once, but you're not thinking of blackmailing the Wizengamot, are you, Prongs? That's beneath you."
"No, I'm not going to do that," James replied, taking the glass of water from his wife and quickly taking several gulps, "I want you to look through the book and find whatever you need to make the dark faction turn on each other. We'll use their own grievances and hidden sins against them, and they'll be so busy fighting each other that by the time they realize who their true enemy is, it'll be too late to stop the laws I plan to push through."
"Merlin, James!" Sirius said in a mock-horrified voice, "Lily has turned you into a snake!"
"Oh, shut up!" Lily replied, sending a mild stinging hex at Sirius and making him yelp as it struck him in the bum.
"Have Moody help you if you need it," James continued, "But I want everything ready when I walk in on Monday morning."
"I'll do my best," Sirius grumbled, still rubbing his butt, "I'm sure Old Mad-Eye will enjoy taking down those arrogant Purebloods a peg or two."
With a final nod, Sirius departed, leaving Lily and James alone; slowly, Lily climbed onto the bed with James, causing him to move over a bit to let her in, wrapping his arm around her lovingly.
"I hope this works," Lily whispered, "I just want our children to grow up in a better world than I did."
"They will, Lily Flower," James replied, "I will make one for them, and I won't let anyone stand in my way!"
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The rest of the year passed by without much fervor; Gryffindor went on to win the Quidditch Cup, something that had Sirius promising both Potter children a brand new Nimbus 2001 when they hit the market in a few months. To the surprise of all, Hufflepuff won the house cup for the first time in nearly seventy-five years; many suspected that the only reason for this was due to how many points were taken off of the other three houses during 'The Great Quidditch Brawl.'
As many had correctly guessed, James came out of St. Mungo like a man possessed; within his first month in office, he had audited the entire Ministry of Magic and reappropriated a vast amount of funds that had been 'improperly distributed.' He had those funds sent to the correct departments, and the change could immediately be felt. Six months later, the Auror department suddenly went from not being able to afford any new hires to being able to hire dozens, if not hundreds, of fresh recruits. Several other vastly underfunded departments underwent an overhaul. They were either shut down entirely if seen as unnecessary or given the appropriate funds that Fudge had denied them for entirely too long.
Remembering what Harry had told him about his life with his Aunt and Uncle, James created an altogether new department called 'The Magical Child Protection Department.' Its sole mission was to visit magical children after their first bout of accidental magic and see how the children were being treated by their parents as a result; should the investigators discover any evidence that the child is in danger or that they might be treated like Harry had been, the child would be removed, and the parents obliviated to forget they ever had a child, to begin with.
The child would then be sent to a loving home where they would be raised without fear of being hurt for their gifts. This revolutionary act of altruism and mercy had made James' popularity soar to meteoric heights and made his enemies even more reluctant to oppose him or his new laws, no matter how much they might hate them. And hate them, they did. Unable to slow James' momentum, they chose to rant to anyone who would listen that the new Minister was destroying traditional Wizard values and would unleash anarchy if not stopped.
These voices, however, were drowned out by the overwhelming roar of applause that James was receiving as each new law put forth made the poor a little less so and the outcast a little more welcome.
One of the first laws that James put forward was one he, Lily, and Dumbledore had put together in order to forestall Voldemort from finding any support amongst the creatures he once called allies. 'The Magical Creature Protection Act' as it was called was one that many were calling 'the greatest piece of legislature ever put forward in the Wizengamot,' though whether that was just obsequiousness or true was anybody's guess. The MCPA basically said that any Magical creature that had 'near to' or 'greater than' human intelligence would henceforth be regarded with a level of respect equal to that of a human. The fact that it was now illegal to discriminate against these creatures instantly made life easier for many creatures who had been forced to the very fringes of civilization due to the laws of the Ministry.
One of the most affected were the Werewolves, who instantly found that their lives had become much easier. Though still viewed with extreme suspicion by some and downright hated by many more, Werewolves could now hold any job they wished and were required under law to have two days before and two days after the full moon off work to allow for the change. James had gone further by lowering the price of the Wolfsbane Potion for Werewolves by nearly 2/3, further helping the Werewolves of England. When asked by the Daily Prophet why James would aid the very creatures that had almost slaughtered his son, James responded with, "Fenrir and his pack are the ones who nearly killed my family, and they're all dead. Those poor souls are just victims afflicted by a terrible curse and need help, not hate."
James' popularity soared after that interview, and amongst the Werewolves, especially, one of the students who had survived the attack on Hogsmeade actually broke down in tears as she thanked Jamed for securing her future. Now that many of the creatures that had been drawn to Voldemort through the ostracization of the Ministry were, at last, being given the chance at a new and better life, he would find it far more difficult to grow his ranks. And that was exactly what James and Dumbledore wanted.
Listening to the advice of Dumbledore, James waited until he had been in office for six months before he moved forward with his next bill that would curtail any chance of Voldemort returning to power, not wishing to push forward too many changes too fast. Surprisingly, Sirius and Mad-Eye had made a glorious team in sowing discord amongst the Dark Faction and even the Light Faction a few times. Too busy attacking each other meant that they didn't have the strength to stand against James.
James' next act was to make it mandatory for all children attending to attend muggle schools until they turned eleven and began attendance at Hogwarts; this act was meant to begin showing children of magical birth that muggles were not animals to be feared or hated but were just like them. The Pure Bloods were nearly apoplectic with rage at this and tried to vote him out of office, but when the leaders of this movement were attacked in the street by a mob of James' supporters, the idea to remove James from office swiftly died, and the bill was made into law.
Furthermore, a new class would be taught at Hogwarts to all Purebloods that would cover all Muggle history for the last century to catch them all up and change their viewpoints on Muggles. Lily Potter had been made the class's first Professor and was already creating a lesson plan, seeing as how Muggle Studies would now be defunct; likewise, a similar class would be taught to all Muggleborns covering Wizarding culture and traditions so that they might have a better understanding of the world in which they were now entering. After much grumbling and gnashing of teeth, both sides agreed that it was a fair trade-off and looked forward to seeing what their children would learn once the new year began.
Even crime had gone down in the six months that James had been in office; giving Mad-Eye a virtual army of Aurors, James sent the old bastard into Knockturn Alley with orders to arrest anyone they caught breaking the law. James wanted the alley cleared out once and for all. For ten days after this order, droves of Wizards and Witches could be seen being dragged out of the alley in handcuffs by Aurors either for selling dark objects or for some other crime.
The only dark cloud that had appeared so far in James' reign was an apparent rash of disappearances that seemed to be occurring in increasingly large numbers; the only thing that all of the victims shared seemed to be that they were all Muggleborn, and both James and Dumbledore agreed that Voldemort was no doubt responsible. Hoping to find the monster before any more innocents could be hurt, James prioritized the case and put a team of twenty Aurors on it, led by Mad-Eye, with a particular insistence on solving it as quickly as possible. Furthermore, James ordered the number of Auror patrols in Magically populated areas to be doubled and had given an interview in the Daily Prophet about the disappearances, and warned all Muggleborn to take great care until the person responsible was caught. He'd also made a curfew for Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade and ordered his Aurors to arrest anyone caught out after dark until the one responsible was caught.
This had caused some grumblings amongst the populace, as many did not like being told they could no longer enjoy the nightlife, but they understood the reason for the order, even if they did not like it.
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Lucius Malfoy gasped for air as he laid flat on his back, his body twitching from the after-effects of his master's latest displeasure; Lord Voldemort had been incensed when James Potter had taken away half his forces by introducing that insufferable MCPA bill. But his rage had truly awoken when he read the new law requiring Purebloods to send their children to Muggle schools. Mingling with those disgusting creatures of filth? Never! It was below the dignity of any Pureblood! The last and final breaking point that had caused Lucius to end up the subject of his master's wrath was when James Potter had issued a curfew warning, thus making it nearly impossible for Lucius to bring his master any more victims to drain. As Lucius painfully raised his head off the ground and stared at his master, he couldn't keep the horror off of his face. Whereas before, one could still see a trace of humanity in Voldemort's form, the months of draining the magic of others in order to keep his own had transformed Voldemort into a true monster.
His face had become pale white and scaled, as though his inner snake had finally managed to work its way to the surface; this image was made worse by the fact that Voldemort's ears had shrunk into his head, and his head had become slightly pointed, while his neck became slightly elongated; his eyes, blood-red and slitted glared hatefully at Lucius as he gasped for breath,
"Your inability to slow James Potter's continued annoyances is becoming increasingly tedious, Lucious," Voldemort hissed, rising from his seat and moving to stand over his servant,
"Forgive me, master," Lucius gasped. "Since his duel, few have been willing to make an enemy of James Potter!"
"I don't want excuses!" Voldemort snarled, his snake-like tongue flicking out of his mouth for a moment, "I want these inconveniences to cease! Crucio!"
Lucius thought his voice would break as he screamed out his agony, his body violently shaking and twitching as he tried to break away from the curse; finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Voldemort ended the curse, and Lucius found himself sobbing onto his mahogany floor.
"I have had enough of James Potter and his accursed family! Tonight, we begin the conquest of England! And when I am done, I will make James Potter watch as I wipe his bloodline from this earth forever!"
"What do you mean, master?" Lucius asked through his tears, his body twitching uncontrollably,
"Summon the rest of my servants and prepare them for war," Voldemort hissed, "Tonight, we raid Azkaban and free my most loyal, my most powerful. Tomorrow, we plan our revenge!"
Lucius' eyes widened in horror as Voldemort's cruel laughter echoed around him; he realized which inmate, in particular, his master was referring to Bellatrix Lestrange. Voldemort's second in command who had taken down over two dozen Aurors the night she had been captured; the witch once referred to as the 'Dark Angel of Death'. In fact, the only reason she was alive was because she WANTED to die after Voldemort's fall, thinking that life wasn't worth living with a powerful Lord like Voldemort no longer to continue his conquest and put Mudbloods in their place. Many considered it a far worse punishment to keep her alive and locked away in a tomb ruled by monsters. What better fate for a monster, after all?
"Why are you still lying there?" Voldemort's voice asked, breaking through Lucius' temporary lapse in attention, "Do you wish to taste more of my disapproval?"
"No, master!" Lucius gasped, slowly and painfully rising to his feet, "I will summon them all immediately!"
As Lucius limped quickly away, he swallowed the bile in his throat as he came to a horrifying realization: he MUST betray the Dark Lord; there was simply no other choice. Before, when his lord had been powerful, Lucius had followed because he agreed with his lord's vision about what the world should be, but now? Now, the only future that Lucius could see was one of darkness, where every magical being was looked at as nothing but food to satisfy Lord Voldemort's unending hunger until the day finally came when nothing remained but wasteland and sun-bleached bones. No matter how much he might hate James Potter and his ilk, Lucius would ally with even the devil himself if it kept his family safe from Voldemort. With a gasp of pain, Lucius stumbled into his study and muttered a quick silencing spell to seal the room. Once that was done, Lucius grabbed the nearest blank parchment he could find and wrote a quick message:
'To Sirius Black-
I hope you will believe the truth of this letter
and act on it as soon as you possibly can
Voldemort plans to attack Azkaban Prison tonight
and free his most powerful servant.
You know as well as I do that he must not
have Bellatrix Lestrange returned to him.
Please believe me and act accordingly.
Signed-
An Ally.'
Carefully sealing the letter, Lucius called out in a pained voice,
"Dobby!"
Instantly, a house elf appeared from nowhere with a loud 'pop,'
"Master calls for Dobby?"
"Yes, Dobby," Lucius said softly, "I need you to take this letter to Sirius Black. Shove it into his hand if you have to, but make sure he gets it! Understood!"
"Yes, master," Dobby replied softly before disappearing again with another loud 'pop.'
Left alone, Lucius took one last pained gasp of air before angrily pulling up his sleeve and looking down hatefully at the tattoo that defamed his once pristine skin.
Taking a shaky breath, Lucius finally pressed one long finger to the Dark Mark tattooed on his forearm. Gasping with pain as it suddenly turned black, he felt the call go out to every other person who had one.
"Please let them believe the letter," Lucius whispered as he limped back out the door to the meeting hall where the others would soon arrive.
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Author's Note:
I'm sorry it's been so long since the last update. I hope this one meets your expectations. As always, review it and tell me what you think.
