I do no own Harry Potter. I do own Hogwarts Legacey on the PS4. (i dont get the hype)

Chapter 36

Harry had gathered the executive committee of the Order of the Phoenix in Dumbledore's office.

"The arrest of Hermione was a shot at me." Harry said. "Fudge knows we have a relationship, he knows that in the Wizengamot I will champion change. I will push for pure blood reforms, I will push for the rights of other magical creatures and I will oppose any dark magic use."

"I believe that you are right, Harry," Dumbledore agreed. "But there's very little we can do, under the circumstances. And any affection we may have for Miss Granger notwithstanding there are more pressing matters at hand."

"What do you mean Albus?" Moody asked. "I'd say the safety of Granger would be a top priority."

"It is my only priority," Harry added.

"Bigger things are afoot Harry," Dumbledore cautioned. "Just last night poor old Cornelius received two large shocks within moments of each other. First the Queen announced she would be touring the Ministry and addressing the Wizengamot, then, from what I can understand moments later he received an international albatross informing him that his Ministry has been judged not up to the task by the ICW and he must either resign as Minister or Britain will face censorship. We will be cut off, cast aside from the international community."

"So what will happen?" Harry asked,

"I believe Cornelius will resign after Her Majesty's visit." Dumbledore explained. "And there will be an election. However in the interim it is customary for the Chief Warlock to step in and assume the Minister's duties. Invariably they will fight the election."

"You've been dodging the Minister's Mantle for years." Moody smirked. "I can't believe by being removed from the office of Chief Warlock in the summer you have managed to dodge it again!"

"Luck, it would seem, is smiling down on me." Dumbledore agreed with a smile. "We will have to prepare to back a likely candidate in the weeks to come."

"Why would we want to interfere?" Harry asked. "We should be focusing on Voldemort."

"But my dear Harry, with a change in government, the right change, we will be able to rouse Ministerial support for that very aim." Dumbledore explained.

"Or at the very least whoever gets the job will stop bloody interfering." Moody spat.

"All right, so what do we do?" Harry asked

"We have two choices before us." Dumbledore said. "We can either throw our support behind a candidate of our choosing, or, if no such candidate presents themselves, we may choose to put our own candidate into the field. The former is a lot easier, but the latter guarantees us a certain amount of influence in the legislative agenda."

"So who do we choose?"

"At the moment that is not possible to answer. Of course as Chief Warlock Amelia will step in as the interim Minister and should she decide to pursue the Ministerial position for herself I would not stand in her way, but I do not know if she would seek such elevation, or even if she did she would want our public support. If we where to create such a candidate I would recommend either Sirius Black or indeed perhaps Arthur Weasley. Both would be loyal to our cause."

"So we have to wait then?" Harry mused. "All right. I suppose we can wait and see which way the wind blows on this, but I'm not the one to tell Sirius he has to run for Minister."

"If that eventuality comes to pass I shall do the dubious honours." Dumbledore smiled. "And if there's nothing else on our agenda I believe we must be about our day."

"There is one more thing Professor." Harry said as the others left the room. "I've noticed that America Auror is still sitting at the staff table."

"Indeed. Agent Pritchard has graciously offered to stay on at the school to liaise between myself as the Supreme Mugwump and the Confederation." Dumbledore acknowledged, "That is the official line, but I rather think the good Agent is hoping to spend more time with yourself."

"What for?"

"I wouldn't presume to know Harry." Dumbledore shrugged. "But you must understand your position Harry. You are currently one of the most influential wizards in England. Professor Lupin tells me he, on your behalf, receives several owls a week asking for your advice on trivial matters from all corners of England. I believe that Agent Pritchard would like to attach her train to your star, so to speak. Why do you ask?"

"I would like for her to teach me how to shoot." Harry said. "The Death Eaters will never suspect it. Is there even a magical defence for a bullet?"

"I do not believe so, Harry." The elderly Headmaster mused. "And I agree your average Death Eater would not know how to defend against such a weapon, but I do not think it wise for this to become common knowledge."

"Exactly why I would like to use the American agent." Harry explained. "I saw on the telly when I was at the Dursleys that Americans all have guns and all like to shoot them."

"Indeed. I believe it has something to do with their Constitution."

"Is it constitutional for Americans to shoot their children in schools?" Harry demanded incredulously.

"Thankfully not." Dumbledore smiled at Harry's unusual display of political attunement and wit. "But alas they do seem to think it is constitutional that they have the right to to bear arms. Very well I will arrange for Agent Pritchard to teach you to shoot. I must caution you however I can not allow a firearm to be freely accessible in the Castle."

"I understand Sir." Harry agreed. "Whatever safety procedures you feel are necessary I will agree to. After all, here in the UK we think school children have the right to not have to fear being shot in our classrooms."

The Minister for Magic stomped out of the lift into the DMLE flanked by his Senior Undersecretary Umbridge. He marched past the various offices until he finally reached the Aurors office. He strode past the desk Sergeant and through the bullpen which held the various aurors not currently out on patrol but busy investigating crimes or reviewing the latest Death Eater intelligence. Tonks, who was sat at the very back of the room caught Kingsley Shacklebolts eye slightly raising her left eyebrow. In return her superior officer scratched his chin. In return Tonks gave an almost imperceptible nod of her head. She dipped her quill into the ink pot in front of her and finished scribbling the report she was writing then slipped quietly out of the room. Something wasn't quite right here.

Fudge pushed the door to the Directors office open and barged in, Umbridge closing the door firmly behind them.

"I gave you an order." Fudge snapped. "I told you I wanted to see that little cow Granger in front of the Wizengamot on trial for murder and for extinguishing the line of a pure blood family."

"I have tasked one of the best Aurors we have to the case." Scrimgeour said standing up. "Auror Dawlish said he has struggled to find any evidence to make the charges stick. Pettigrew was a confirmed Death Eater who was attempting to cast the killing curse on Harry Potter, who had himself just duelled He Who Must Not be Named to a draw yet again. There's no way we could get a conviction."

"You didn't try." Fudge spat.

"Hem hem." Umbridge coughed. "If I may Minister? Rufus, you will bring charges against the Granger brat within the day or you will be replaced."

"And who will be replacing me?" Scrimgeour demanded standing.

"I will!" Umbridge spat. Fudge spun around to his undersecretary in surprise, then recovered himself before returning his gaze to Scrimgeour.

"Exactly." Fudge nodded. "Dolores will replace you and manage both your duties here and her own as my Undersecretary."

"I don't understand Minister. We are wasting a lot of time, you can not hope to get a conviction."

"That's not your problem." Umbridge said. "Let us worry about what happens in the courtroom."

"All right." Scrimgeour conceded. "As you wish. I will have Dawlish bring her back in for charging."

"Will she be remanded in custody?" Fudge asked.

"You ask too much, Minister. Granger is a school girl and what's more is the girl friend of a Lord of an Ancient and Noble house. There's not a single Magistrate that would order her detention. The best I can do is have the girl charged and recommend a speedy court date."

"By the end of the day!" Fudge demanded. He turned heel and marched out of the room.

Scrimgeour scribbled a note on a parchment.

"Dawlish, get in here!" he shouted. A few moments later the Auror entered the office.

"Gov." Dawlish said, using the nickname for the former Chief Aurora. Scrimgeour handed him the note. "For God's sake gov!"

"I know Dawlish." Scrimgeour held up his hand. "It's not my idea. They want her in here and charged by the end of the day."

"Potter is going to kick right off."

"I know." Scrimgeour nodded. "I think that's what they are banking on"

"I will go up to Hogwarts and bring her in." Dawlish sighed. "Much good it will do them."

Pritchard was carrying a brief case and on entering a clearing, he put it down on a handy tree stump

"This Lord Potter," She said opening the briefcase "Is a Glock 9mm semi automatic pistol. It fires hollow point bullets. This is not a toy, My Lord. This thing will kill sure as shit!"

"Please Agent Pritchard, call me Harry. I'm not your Lord and I understand that these things are very dangerous. I am actually counting on that. If I can learn to do this right a gun could well be my Ace in the Hole against the Death Eaters."

"And that is the only reason I have agreed to teach you how to use this. And you can call me Pritch. Here." Pritchard handed Harry the unloaded gun.

"Its heavier than I thought." Harry said.

"It is." Pritchard agreed. She began to show Harry the various parts of the gun from the grip to the hammer and most importantly the trigger. "Now I haven't given you a loaded gun." She went on. "That would be nearly suicidal of me. You don't know how to shoot and you don't know how the gun works. The most important thing on this here pistol is this little switch here." she pointed to the safety catch which was currently engaged. "The safety prevents the firing mechanism from engaging and the weapon will not go off. To load the gun you have to eject the magazine by pressing here." She showed Harry the eject button and how to slide the magazine out from the butt of the gun. "There hasn't been much research in what magic can be done to affect guns, but there's one charm we use in the Bureau." She took her wand out and tapped the gun lightly. "Salutem capiens" she cast as the weapon glowed blue. "This is the safety spell. You cast it and if there is a blue glow the weapon is safe. I could load it, cock it and press the trigger until my finger comes off but it won't matter at all , the weapon is completely inoperable. When the weapon is not in use then you must always use this spell."

"I understand." Harry nodded.

"Good. Simply repeat the spell like so…" Pritch went on and the gun glowed red "And it is ready to fire. Now this is how you load the weapon." Pritch showed Harry how to slide a loaded magazine, cock it and disengage the safety catch. "And now it is ready to fire. Luckily for you I am a firearms instructor at Quantico."

She waved her wand and a standard target appeared about 30 feet in front of them. She then showed Harry how to stand and aim his weapon before he was finally allowed to fire the gun. He shot twelve rounds at the black silhouette target and managed to get eight into the neck and head portion the rest hitting in various parts of the body.

"Not bad Harry." Pritch approved. "Most people can't get any in the head on their first go." She then went on to correct Harry's aim and he fired again, this time getting ten in the head.

"That will do for today. I will meet you here at 4:30 tomorrow afternoon and we will try again. Before we go I want you to have this."

She got a shoulder holster out of the briefcase and helped Harry put it on and adjust it.

"Now cast the safety charm." she told him, watching carefully as he did so. When she was satisfied he had done it correctly she showed him how to put the gun in the holster.

"Now this holster comes with an impenetrable charm as well as anti summoning and most importantly, notice-me-not charms. Your weapon is to stay in the holster unless you are using it, and your holster is to stay with you unless you're sleeping or showering."

"Yes Ma'am." Harry nodded.

"Now I just have a couple of forms for you to sign." She said taking some sheets of paper out of her briefcase. "These are just forms where you acknowledge receipt of this gun and holster, and the other is you agreeing to use the weapon safely and within the confines of international law." she handed him a ball point pen. "Much neater than a quill don't you think?"

Harry signed and the pair made their way back to the castle.

Auror Dawlish was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He knew that if he went into Hogwarts and took Granger by force he would make an enemy of Dumbledore, not to mention Lord Potter who may very well be Minister of Magic some day thereby committing professional suicide, but he had been given a direct order from the Director of the Department and should he disobey that order he would most assuredly be committing career suicide. Instead of going into Hogwarts all wands blazing he decided to try a bit of tact and placed a floo call to the Castle. He explained the situation to Dumbledore, and despite the old man's misgivings the Headmaster agreed to allow Dawlish to come to the Castle and once again take Hermione to the Ministry. Dumbledore had even graciously allowed Dawlish to arrive at the castle by floo.

As Dawrlish stepped out of the fireplace into Dumbledore's office he was greeted by the Headmaster, Granger, her lawyer and Lord Potter.

"Headmaster Dumbledore." Dawlish nodded. "Thank you for allowing me to come on short notice."

"As if we had a choice." Harry spat.

"I have orders." Dawlish said holding his hands up. "I don't want to be here. I don't think there is a case to answer here either, but a man is dead and you, Miss Granger killed him."

"We have already explained the circumstances of that death." Ted Tonks clipped.

"And if that is true, Miss Granger will have nothing to fear. I am not here to question you. I am not here to take you to Azkaban on remand, but I must insist you come with me to the Ministry."

"Auror Dawlish, you know as well as I do, any custody sergeant can declare charges. We are willing to cooperate but there's no way my client is going into the Ministry of Magic when the DMLE as well as the Ministers office is being so adversarial towards not only her, but Lord Potter as well."

"That is fair enough." Dawlish agreed. "How about Edinburgh Auror station?"

"That will be fine by us. Shall we floo?"

"All right Miss Granger step forward please." the Auror asked. "I need to search you and I will forgo the manacles this time."

"Damn right you will!" Harry muttered. Dumbledore held his hand up to silence the young Lord.

Dawlish passed his wand over Hermione. She was clean. Once again she handed her wand to Harry so that it didn't get taken from her and the auror motioned for her to follow him through the fireplace.

Once they reached the auror station Dawlish led Hermione and Ted to the desk sergeant and handed him a scroll. The sergeant read the scroll thoroughly and gave Dawlish a curious look but carefully rolled up the scroll and placed it in front of him on his desk.

"I am Sergeant MacDavies." he told them. "I understand my colleague has already searched you before transport so I am willing to move on to the next step." He drew a deep breath and began to speak. "Miss Hermione Granger you are hereby charged with one count of murder contrary to the Ministry of Magic Homicide Act of 1893, the use of Muggle weaponry against a magical person contrary to the Ministry of Magic Misuse of Muggle Armaments Act of 1776 and the Ministry of Magic Misuse of Modern Muggle weapons Act of 1900 and the extinction of a pure blood line contrary to the Wizard Council of England Bloodline Laws of 627AD. You do not have to say anything unless you wish to do so, but anything you do say may be held against you in the Wizengamot. Do you understand the charges as I have read them to you?"

Hermione swallowed deeply, tears in her eyes.

"Yes Sergeant, I understand." she answered.

"Very well, I believe a ruling has already been made as to the subject of you being held on remand, so I am going to bail you on your own recognizance so long as you agree to not leave the British Isles until such time as your case comes to trial in the Wizengamot. Further to this you must agree to wear this monitoring chain so that the Department of Magical Law Enforcement may monitor your whereabouts until you are called to appear."

"I agree to your terms sergeant." Hermione said, holding out her left hand. The Sergeant waved his wand over her wrist and a thin gold chain shimmer into existence.

"This will monitor your whereabouts. When you are called to trial should you not present yourself a bench warrant will be issued against you and a team of Aurors or Hit Wizards will be dispatched to apprehend you. If you interfere with that chain in any way, including trying magically remove it, cutting it with a magical or non magical blade Aurors or Hit Wizards will be dispatched to apprehend you or if you attempt to leave the country by either magical or muggle means International Aurors or International Hit Wizards will be dispatched to apprehend and repatriate you. You are free to go."

Hermione was led by Ted back to the fireplace to return to Hogwarts.

Aurthers Notes:

We have come to that time again. the Authers notes. First of all I want to appologise for the long time between updates. My job has begun in full force and I am back to working lates and 12 hour shifts. On the plus side I did get this chapter written over the corse of a couple of night shifts. thank you for all the likes and follows of my self and my work. Some where in this chapter we have hit the 100,000 word mark. I'm very proud of that. This story is going to be winding down, I know what is going to happen and when it is going to happen just not 100% on how it will happen and how much further we need to go to get their. but I am affraid my freinds, the end is in actual fact nigh.

Jkarr: Thank you as always. I love that you leave a review every chapter.

N. A, Wennerholm: That was quite an essay you wrote their my freind. I respect your views but i dont feel like i know enugh abuot them to engage in a debate with you. Thanks for reading.

Charlee56: Thanks for the review. hope you enjoy this chapter

Acetaeon Black: Dont worry, i'm not done with Umbridge. But she will not have a happy ending.

Thanks again for reading. I hope you all enjoy this update and I will hopefully be able to write more in the next couple of untill then stay happy, stay safe and stay healthy.