FicWad

Chapter 114 - Fudges Trial

Dimension: 1375 - Earth
Date: 25th November 2001 AD
Country: Britain - England
Location: London - Ministry Of Magic
Time: Late Morning

The next day at the emergency Wizengamot session there was quite the hubbub as people discussed the turn of

events from the day before. As it was the Minister being investigated the entire Wizengamot needed to be

present, the same was true of Umbridge, as she was a high ranking Ministry official.

At that moment though Harry, Dumbledore, Adam and Tonks were being escorted up to the Minister's office by

Kingsley, Amelia Bones had requested their presence. In such cases where the Minister was thought unable to

fulfil his duties the head of the DMLE assumed the role of Acting Minister until the current Minister was proved

innocent and capable or a new Minister was elected.

The closer they got to the office in question the busier it became, there were large piles of papers and scrolls

in the corridors, so many in fact that it was only possible to walk two people down the corridor side by side

instead of the usual five or six. Every pile had been extensively labelled and documented; there were Aurors,

LEO's and other officials charging around like bees in a hive, moving from pile to pile, back into the offices

of the Minister's staff that lined either wall and then out into the corridor to the piles again. At the end of

the corridor the only area of calm lay just inside the open door to the Ministers Office where they could see

Amelia leaning over the Ministers desk talking to the two people in dark grey robes and hoods that were standing

in front of her.

As she spotted them approaching she straightened up and her two companion's heads swivelled around to look at

them, their faces were not visible as they were shrouded in darkness even under the bright lights of the hall.

As Tonks spotted them she let out a gasp before quickly composing herself.

"Albus, Harry, Professor, Auror Tonks," she called, as they came down the corridor. "Thank you for getting here

so quickly."

"Amelia," the former two replied continuing towards the office,

"Director," added the latter.

"We shall finish this later," replied one of the grey figures as they turned and walked out of the office. As

they did so each and every Ministry Official in the hall stopped what they were doing and moved out of their way

to allowing the two figures to pass. They squeezing into the tiniest spaces between piles and stacks of

documents to avoid being in their way, some even resorted to doing dangerous balancing acts on top of piles,

which by some miracle did not topple over.

All eyes followed the pair as they walked down the corridor, they did not even slow down as one Ministry

employee, who had been so consumed by what he was doing stumbled out of the way at the last second.

As they approached the five new arrivals Kingsley, Tonks, Dumbledore and (instinctively) Harry moved aside_ Adam

did not.

As they reached him the pair stopped and looked at him. The entire hall watched, holding its breath as Adam's

eyes travelled from one to the other before slowly he bowed his head.

No one moved for a second, before, much to the great surprise of everyone else, the figures bowed back and

walked around him, continuing down the corridor.

As they passed Harry, one of the figures paused momentarily and looked at him, but before anyone could say or do

anything they had reached the lift and had gone.

"Auror Tonks," called Madam Bones from the office. "Can you assist Auror Shacklebolt, he's preparing the

evidence ready for the enquiry and I am running out of qualified personnel."

"Yes, Director," replied Tonks, she and Kingsley immediately turned towards one of the nearby piles.

"Can I see the rest of you in here please; I want to discuss the best way to handle the enquiries." She asked,

gesturing the rest into the office, before closing the door and sending a look of shock at Adam "I have never

seen anyone stand in the way of an Auditor before."

"Auditor?" asked Harry. "You mean of money?"

"No, Harry," explained the Headmaster. "Auditors are members of the Department of Mysteries; they operate

independently and do not answer to the Minister. They're job is to deal with threats to Wizarding Britain and

they answer only to the Head of the Department of Mysteries."

"The only two members of the Ministry who are able to contact them directly are the Minister and the head of the

DMLE," continued Amelia. "We can request special operations from them, but we cannot control them or force them

to undertake them."

"What were they doing here?"

"Apparently they had had their eyes on Fudge for years, but they had been unable to prove anything that they

could classify as evidence damming enough to justify removing him from the Ministry. Apparently they had

undertaken several covert searches of his office but were unable to gather enough evidence. When I got back here

yesterday, I discovered a large team of them going through all the Office files. According to those two they

have been conducting secret raids all night on those that had dealings with Fudge. Apparently he has been

dealings with a large number of the less respectable members of Wizarding Britain, including many with criminal

records and convictions for holding and producing illegal and banned artefacts, devices and potions."

"What does that mean for us?" asked Harry.

"It means we have more evidence to use against him," replied Amelia. "And if he is ejected from office, but by

some miracle he gets let off all the charges, the Auditors will immediately take him into custody for

questioning, if not worse. And where Auditors are concerned its best not to ask what the worse will be. Now,

back to the issue of the enquiry, we need to discuss....
________________________________________________________________________

Half an hour later, down in the Wizengamot chambers, the doors slammed shut to signal the beginning of the

emergency meeting.

"I call this, the nine hundredth and fifty seventh meeting of the Wizengamot to order," called Dumbledore.

"Thank you. As you know we are now sealed from the outside world and the doors will not be opened for anything

less than a national emergency. This is an emergency meeting, called by Lady McGonagall, regarding a vote of no

confidence and subsequent enquiry of Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. This will be followed by a second

enquiry on the activities of Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge. As this is an emergency meeting, we will not be

hearing any petitions from the public, but will get straight on with the matters at hand."

Looking around, Harry was able to see a vast difference in the atmosphere since the last two Wizengamot

meetings. Everyone was alert, any seat holder who had not bothered to attend the last two meetings was attending

this one and the room was absolutely full because of it.

As well as the usual seating for the Wizengamot members, the public seats in the chamber had been expanded and

turned into witness compartments, for those giving evidence for or against the accused. Each was covered by an

individual concealment charm that permitted sound and light to pass into the cubicles, but only at certain

times. No light or sound could get out of them, allowing the occupants to see and hear the rest of the room when

permitted, but not the other way around.

Added to this, every Ministry department head was present, sitting along the front of the Wizengamot seats and

lastly and most noticeably, in the centre of the floor was the same chair, complete with manacles, that Harry

had been seated in when he was on trial.

"Lady McGonagall, as you called this meeting, the floor is yours."

"Thank you, Chief Warlock," she replied, walking down onto the floor. "Yesterday, at Hogwarts School of

Witchcraft and Wizardry, I along with the Chief Warlock and several other members of this Wizengamot were

witness to an appalling display of racism by Minster Fudge. In front of no less than fifty people in visual

contact with him and almost the entire rest of the Hogwarts populations hearing range, he ordered one of our

distinguished Alumni, Angelina Johnson to, and I only use the term to explain the seriousness of this matter, to

'Shut up you Mud-Blood Nigger'."

The hall instantly broke out in chatter at the revelation.

"There is no doubt," continued McGonagall, allowing the crowd to quieten for her, "that this event took place.

We have the eye witness and pensieve testimonies of at least thirty people, including the Chief Warlock, Lord

Potter, Baron Longbottom and Director Bones to name but a few. As such the argument that this even did not

transpire is obviously not valid and should not even be discussed at this meeting."

There were a large number of nods of agreement.

"Lady McGonagall," spoke Parkinson Senior, getting to his feet. "It is my understanding, from what I have heard,

that this Miss Johnson, as well as several others present at the event, including some of those in this chamber,

had been goading and provoking the Minister."

There were mutterings of disapproval from some areas of the assembly.

"Everyone has a limit, Lady McGonagall. People can only be pushed so far, even you are not exempt from that."

Cries of disbelief.

"I never claimed to be, Baron Parkinson. But the fact that the words that the Minister used were all extremely

racist is not excusable," many cries of agreement from the crowd. "If he had said 'Shut up you stupid girl', or

even 'Shut up Muggle-Born' it might have been SLIGHTLY more excusable, but as the three words that the Minister

used the second he snapped were all racist, it proves that he did not think long about his response, so those

words must have been those that he had assigned to Miss Johnson in that split second, meaning that they are

words he would have used to describe her, which is inadmissible."

More sounds of agreement as Parkinson took over again.

"Then I propose that the Minister simply make a public apology to the girl in question. The Minister has been

under a lot of stress because of the recent attacks, one slight mistake to an individual, in all his long years

of service to our country should not be disregarded so lightly."

"One mistake!" laughed Moody. "Would you not call hiding the fact that You-Know-Who is back for a year a minor

mistake?"

Several new people nodded their support as the old Auror finished.

"There was only the word of one boy to state that he was back," replied Parkinson. "A boy who has a habit of

getting into trouble."

Harry narrowed his eyes at the comment, but did not react in time to stop Neville doing so.

"A man, Baron Parkinson that trouble seems to find, there's a difference."

"He is attention seeking."

"He is also in the room, Baron Parkinson," interrupted Dumbledore. "And if he was attention seeking would he not

have said something in his defence by now?"

"He doesn't need to, when others are willing to do it for him. We all know about how he took an illegal flying

car to Hogwarts in his second year."

There were mutterings of agreement from the Fudge and Voldemort supporting groups.

"I would consider that a feather in his hat personally," continued Dumbledore. "When he and his friend Ronald

Weasley were prevented from boarding the train, they flew to the school, rather than waiting around for someone

to realise something was wrong."

"They broke the law."

"They were cleared of all charges," replied Director Bones. "Besides, they were only twelve at the time."

"Be that as it may, at the time that Minister had been taken into custody, he was trying to arrest the boy,

along with several others. As such, they were biased against him and those charges presented by the Minister

need to be considered before this enquiry can continue."

"Agreed," added a member of Fudge's group.

"Very well," nodded Dumbledore, turning to Madam Bones. "Director, do you have a copy of the allegations with

you?"

"I do, Chief Warlock," She nodded, withdrawing several scrolls. Standing she placed the majority on her seat,

before moving to the centre of the floor with one. "The charges were as follows: Underage Magic in the year of

2000 in the town of Little Whinging, casting magic in front of a Muggle, leaving Hogwarts grounds without

permission, illegal entry to the Ministry, illegal entry to the Department of Mysteries, illegal entry into the

Triwizard Tournament and casting the torture curse on convicted Death Eater, Bellatrix Lestrange during

previously mentioned entry to the Ministry."

Harry had yet to figure out how Fudge had discovered his attempted unforgivable curse, only he and Lestrange

knew of it, so who had she told.

"I hardly think all those charges can be brushed away so lightly," continued Parkinson.

"Then I will go through them one at a time," replied McGonagall. "The illegal use of magic was in self defence

and in the defence of his Muggle cousin against dementor's. Dementor's, which the Ministry had been unable to

account for as regards their movements, or who gave them their orders. As the use of magic was proved to be self

defence at his trial that charge cannot be used again, unless additional evidence that was not available at his

previous trial becomes available. The use of magic in front of the muggle does not apply, as the muggle in

question lived with him and was therefore already aware of magic."

"Leaving Hogwarts grounds is an internal Hogwarts issue," contributed Dumbledore. "And while against school

rules, is not against the law. Therefore any punishment would be decided by either Lord Potter's head of house

or myself, and given what he and his friends did; I have no intention of providing any punishment."

"Neither have I," continued McGonagall. "His entry to the Triwizard Tournament was proved to have been beyond

his abilities and was admitted to by the Death Eater, Barty Crouch Junior, shortly before he was attacked by a

dementor sent by the Minister."

"Those testimony do we have to support that?" tried Parkinson.

"Mine," replied Dumbledore. "As well as that of Lady McGonagall, Professor Severus Snape and Lord Potter

himself."

"I hope you are not about to imply, Baron Parkinson, that the Chief Warlock would lie to this assembly?" asked

Amelia.

"Of course not," he replied slowly. "But you not dispute his illegal entry to the Ministry and Department of

Mysteries."

"Director Bones," asked McGonagall. "How is legal entry to the Ministry defined?"

"Legal entry requires that, if the person is not a senior ministry official, for the person in question to enter

the Ministry by way of the Main Entrance, either via use of the Public Entrance, as Lord Potter did, through one

of the official floo connection or via a Portkey into the designated Portkey area. The person in question must

pass through the security check point and providing their wand for inspection when asked. The only exceptions to

those rules are Aurors, who can bypass the security checkpoint when on official business and when they have

their badge as proof of identity, though their badge number will be logged."

"Are there any other ways into the Ministry?"

"Only three, one is the floo connections to individual Ministry departments, which only the head of that

department, members of the DMLE and the Minister can use, entry through these portals is again logged. The

second route is straight into the Ministry holding area for Aurors and LEO's with prisoners and the last is

methods into and out of the Department of Mysteries, which are classified as Top Secret and I therefore cannot

detail."

"So when Lord Potter and his friends entered the Ministry, through the Main Entrance, by one of the accepted

routes, giving a truthful reason for entry and passing through the Auror checkpoint they were entering legally."

"That is correct; the Aurors, having been killed and removed by the Death Eaters, were obviously unable to ask

for the wands of Lord Potter or his friends."

"What about entry to the Department of Mysteries?"

"The DOM has its own security measures which again are classified, but I have been assured by a representative

of the department that Lord Potter's did not knowingly break into the department."

"So he did break in then," countered Parkinson.

"May I speak?" came a deep voice from the end of the bench which the Ministry heads of department sat at. At the

end, a figure in a grey cloak stood. Each of the departments of the Ministry had to have a representative

present at the meetings, including the DOM, though whoever it was rarely said anything.

"The Wizengamot recognises the representative of the Department of Mysteries," announced Dumbledore, as the

figure moved to the centre of the floor. McGonagall and Amelia moving back to give him some space.

"Director Bones response is correct, any and all the security measures of the department are classified, but I

will say that Lord Potter and his companions did not break in, as the Death Eaters had already done so, the

remaining security measures they were able to bypass, but them doing so does not constitute breaking into the

department. I will also remind Baron Parkinson that only the head of the Department of Mysteries can press

charges relating to the Department of Mysteries, as such any related charges brought by Minister Fudge are

void."

After finishing, the figure stepped back to the seat and sat, waiting for those in the room to start speaking

again.

"I believe that is all of Minister Fudge's charges dealt with," announced Dumbledore. "Let us retu_"

"With respect, Chief Warlock, it is not," interrupted Parkinson. "There is still the matter of the cruciatus

curse being cast on Bellatrix Lestrange, during the 'legal' entry by aforementioned group to the Ministry."

Many mutterings began as Parkinson spoke.

"Can you honestly imagine, Baron Parkinson," asked Director Diggory, "that Lord Potter could cast the torture

curse on anyone?"

"Under normal circumstances possibly not," returned the Baron. "But the accused has strong reasons for disliking

Bellatrix Lestrange."

"Need I remind you Baron, that Minister Fudge is the accused, not Lord Potter," interrupted Dumbledore.

"My apologize," replied Parkinson, bowing slightly in Harry's direction. He must think he really has something

if he is being this courteous, whilst trying to dam him. "But my point remains the same; Lestrange had been

responsible for the crippling and permanent disabling of the former Baron Longbottom and his wife. Their son,

the current Baron Longbottom, is one of Lord Potter's best friends."

Looking sideways, Harry could see Neville's face was perfectly calm, but he could also see the small trickle of

blood leaking out from around his house ring in his tightly clenched fingers.

"She is also responsible for the death of Lord Potter's godfather, the now deceased criminal known as Sirius

Black, who supposedly came to his rescue at the DOM."

"How did you and the Minister, for proposing these charges in the first place, come by this information?"

interrupted Moody.

"From the recently recaptured Death Eater, Lucius Malfoy. He, along with Lestrange led the attack on the

Ministry and between the time that he escaped and was recaptured, Lestrange passed this information to him."

Parkinson paused as the information sank in, more and more of the Wizengamot were looking like they were against

Harry and he had precious little to help him, he had cast the unforgivable on her, or at least tried to, of that

he was guilty and unless he could find a way to disprove the evidence he would be going to Azkaban.

"For an accusation such as this, more proof is needed than the evidence of a convicted Death Eater, who is a

known enemy of Lord Potter," returned Dumbledore.

"That is easy to resolve Chief Warlock," replied Parkinson. "Just before the start of the meeting, I requested

that Lucius Malfoy be brought here so he could be questioned."

As he spoke, Harry saw the eyes of Dumbledore, McGonagall and Director Bones widen. They had obviously not been

aware of this, as far as they knew this was all lies, the only other person other than Lestrange who he knew was

aware of his attempted crucio was Fleur, for obvious reasons. So Bellatrix must have told Malfoy, hopefully she

would have told Malfoy enough to allow him to dodge this one.

"I wish for Lucius Malfoy to be called as witness against Lord Potter."

Unfortunately there were enough sounds of agreement for this to happen.

As a rather shabby Lucius Malfoy was dragged from one of the cubicles, he briefly grinned at Harry, but it was

too fast for anyone other than Harry to notice.

"If I may Chief Warlock, may I begin the questioning?" asked Parkinson, with some degree of pleasure.

"You may proceed, Baron Parkinson," nodded Dumbledore, though he was obviously not happy about it.

"Wait!!" called Moody's gruff voice. "He should be given Veritaserum."

"For what reason?" demanded Parkinson.

"At the end of the last war, Malfoy lied to the Wizengamot and claimed he was being controlled, he therefore

cannot be trusted to tell the truth."

"There are grounds for the administering of the drug," agreed Dumbledore, nodding to one of the Aurors who had

just finished chaining Malfoy into the chair in the centre of the room.

The Auror withdrew a small vile from his pocket and poured the contents into Malfoy's willing mouth, he must

really think he had got him cornered if he is willingly taking the potion.

"Mr Malfoy," began Parkinson. "Will you please tell us of the events at the Ministry last year that were

recounted to you by your cousin, once removed, known as Bellatrix Lestrange."

"After she left the Department of Mysteries, Potter tried to pursue her."

"What did she say happened when they reached the Entrance Hall to the Ministry?"

"Potter fired the torture curse at her."

"He fired the torture curse at another person?"

"Yes."

"Did she get hit by the curse?"

"Yes."

"Did she hear him use the word 'crucio' while he was casting?"

"Yes."

"Did she, in anyway, make it sound like she might have been mistaken?"

"No."

"No more questions Chief Warlock."

Most of the Wizengamot were staring in shock at Harry waiting for him to react to the accusations; surely he had

to defend himself, and he would.

Standing he addressed the hall.

"May I question the prisoner Chief Warlock?"

"You may Lord Potter," Dumbledore replied. His look made it clear that he did not know a way out of this one;

Harry just hoped his idea would work.

"Malfoy, can I confirm that Bellatrix Lestrange's account of events agrees with mine when I say that only the

two of us were the only ones present in the Entrance Hall when I supposedly cast the torture curse?"

"Yes."

"Did Bellatrix describe to you what the curse felt like when it made contact with her?"

"She compared the pain she received to that of a stinging hex."

"So the result of supposed aforementioned curse was not the same result as would usually occur when one is hit

by the torture curse?"

"No."

"Are you aware that it is possible to pronounce one curse while casting another?"

"Yes."

"Was Bellatrix aware of this?"

"I don't know."

"Baron Parkinson, before you entered made a rather compelling case for why I would want to cast the torture

curse on Bellatrix Lestrange. I am going to present that case to you. Given the fact that Bellatrix Lestrange

destroyed the minds of Frank and Alice Longbottom and that Neville Longbottom is not only a dorm mate, but a

close friend of mine. Also the fact that I have been tricked into entering the Ministry by false images of my

godfather, one of my only two links to my dead parents, being tortured by your Lord Voldemort. In addition the

fact that along with yourself and several others, she had seriously injured several of my closest friends and

then finally, finished that off by killing my godfather right in front of me, after he had come to my

assistance. Bellatrix herself told me that you have to want to inflict pain to cast the torture curse, you must

mean it. Given all the arguments I have just presented, would you say I had enough reason, enough anger and hate

for Bellatrix to want to inflict pain upon her?"

"Yes."

"And given all that hate, if I cast the torture curse would I be successful?"

"I don't know."

"Ok, do you think I would be successful?"

Lucius shuddered slightly, realising where the line of questioning was going he tried to overcome the potion.

"Maybe."

"Yes or no?"

He shuddered again.

"Yes!" he growled out through clenched teeth.

"Now, take into consideration that I, in the two months after the events at the Ministry achieved two double

EAGLES, one of which was teaching duelling, do you believe I had the power and skill necessary to cast the

torture curse?"

"Yes!"

"And yet, when I supposedly said the word 'crucio', the result was not that of the torture curse?"

"No!"

"So taking into account all the evidence I just presented and the answers you have just given, would you agree

that it is illogical to think that I would unsuccessfully cast the torture curse?"

"I_ Agree!"

"And would you also agree, that it is much more plausible that being a so called 'do-gooder' and sometimes

referred to as the Wizarding Worlds saviour, that I, being skilled in duelling, actually cast a stinging hex and

merely verbalised the words for the torture curse, which is in no way illegal, in order to cause Bellatrix to

dodge and make a mistake so I could catch her, because she thought the identically coloured curse heading for

her was in fact much more dangerous than it actually was and that I was just unfortunate that she did not dodge

as I had intended, do you agree with that?"

"I_ Ag_ ree!!"

"Thank you Mr Malfoy," Harry smiled, before heading back to his seat. "No more questions Chief Warlock."

He took two steps then paused.

"Actually, two more question. Would you or your wife's sister Bellatrix, lie if you could, in order to achieve

your aims, to take revenge on someone you have a grudge against or just because you could?"

"Yes!!"

"And would you say that both you and Bellatrix have grudges against me?"

"Yes!!"

"Thank you."

As he walked back to his seat he could almost see Parkinson fuming.

"You cast the torture curse, I know you did Potter!!" exploded Malfoy, as the last of the potion wore off.

"You have no proof Malfoy," Growled Moody. "And considering the fact that you are a convicted Death Eater, that

you obviously lied about being a Death Eater after the first war and that you yourself just agreed that it was

highly unlikely that Lord Potter cast the torture curse, your accusation does not mean much."

"Unless anyone else has an objection I suggest we move on." re-commenced Dumbledore.

Malfoy and Parkinson exchanged a quick look.

"Yes Chief Warlock," the latter began again. "We must investigate this further."

"How would you recommend we do that Parkinson?" asked Moody. "Malfoy can't be trusted, Lestrange is not in

custody and Lord Potter's wand will have cast far too many spells by now to be able to backtrack to the date in

question."

"Then subject Potter to Veritaserum."

"For what reason?" asked Dumbledore. "There is no valid reason for doing so, in fact quiet the reverse, I cannot

recall one occasion where Lord Potter has lied and until this meeting every bit of evidence he has provided,

whether it be regarding his own failed trial last year or regarding Voldemort's return to power, has been proved

accurate. There are no grounds for administering the potion."

Harry was beginning to wonder whether Dumbledore actually suspected he had really cast the curse and if that was

why he was resisting, or whether he was just trying to conceal other information like the contents of the

prophecy.

Either way his defence was successful as no other objections were raised as a shouting Malfoy was removed.

"Now getting back to the subject at hand, I suggest we proceed with the enquiries. The original plan was to

conduct Dolores Umbridge's first, but as we have started the Ministers, I suggest we finish it. Bring him in."

As Fudge was brought out and chained into the chair at the centre of the room he wore a look of confidence,

obviously convinced that he could counter any attack.

"Minister Fudge," began Dumbledore. "A vote of no confidence has been called against you, an enquiry will now be

held to determine what the result of this vote should be. Baron Parkinson, would you care to act as the

Ministers defendant during this enquiry?"

"I would Chief Warlock," he replied, walking down onto the floor to stand beside Fudge.

"Lady McGonagall, do you still wish to carry out your call of No Confidence?"

"I do Chief Warlock."

"Then it is up to you and Baron Parkinson to present evidence for and against the Minister, you may both call

for additional assistance in this, from both witnesses and other Wizengamot members. Lady McGonagall, please

begin."

"Thank you Chief Warlock," she nodded, turning to Fudge and beginning to walk around him and Parkinson. "Members

of the Wizengamot, we all know how the Ministry, under pressure from the Minister, did whatever it could last

year to cover up the return of You-Know-Who. The Minister not only tried to have Lord Potter convicted, but he

also pressured this assembly to have the current Chief Warlock removed for supporting Lord Potter. It is also

well known that the Daily Prophet had, until this year, become the Ministry's mouth piece; it was only when the

Minister was proved wrong, that the Prophet started to disobey the Minister's instructions."

"Objection, the Ministry has no control over the Daily Prophet. How could the Minister force the Prophet to

print anything?"

"The Minster might not have direct control over the Prophet, but he doesn't need to. He controls the tax rates,

he could introduce legislation to tax every sold copy of a newspaper, he could remove the Prophet's owners from

the VIP lists of certain Ministry events, he could revoke their reporter's access to Ministry personnel,

lessoning their ability to gather information for articles. There are any number of things that he could do to

gain influence over what they published."

"Objection overruled."

"The Minister last year, also overturned long unchanged Ministry policy and interfered with the smooth running

of Hogwarts. In doing so he appointed Dolores Umbridge, a woman who had no training or skills in teaching, as

demonstrated by the test results of the year," McGonagall added quickly, as she saw Parkinson move to interrupt,

"to be the position of Defence Professor. Then after the Minister raised her position to that of Hogwarts High

Inquisitor, a position that Ministry laws state should never have been created, she starts firing the Hogwarts

staff and introducing 'Education Degrees', forcing certain clubs, including the only successful defence

education group to become illegal, the discovery of this groups then causes the Minister, after seeing the name

that Lord Potter and his friends jokingly gave to the group, 'Dumbledore's Army', to try to arrest the Chief

Warlock, despite the fact that the Headmaster had nothing to do with the group. Following the Headmasters

departure Dolores Umbridge was appointed as Headmistress of Hogwarts, further directly going against the rules

of Hogwarts and the Ministry which forbid the Ministry from having any influence over the running of Hogwarts."

"The Minister is head of the Ministry," replied Parkinson. "He has the right to overturn Ministry rules if he

wishes."

"Not without the agreement of the Wizengamot, which he only got after forcing the Chief Warlock from that

position. The Hogwarts governors also have to agree to any Ministerial interference with the school, which they

did not. In the circumstances I, as Deputy Headmistress should have taken on the roll of temporary

Headmistress."

"The governors did not offer any resistance to the Minister's changes," countered Parkinson.

"How could they, when Lucius Malfoy was head of the Board of Governors, most of them would not dare go against

someone like him and those that would were too few to do anything about it."

"Lady McGonagall, all you have managed to prove is that the Minister MAY have done some things that he

technically was allowed to. The most you have managed to prove is that maybe he cut a few corners, you have no

proof he influenced the Prophet, his legal influence at Hogwarts was not opposed, he denied the return of

Voldemort only until it was verified and if he, as you say 'forced' the Chief Warlock to step down then he could

only do so by majority vote of this assembly. Have you ANY hard proof that he had done anything illegal."

"This is not going well," mumbled Neville.

Luckily Harry had an ace up his sleeve.

"May I give evidence against the accused?" he asked, standing. He noticed how several members of the Wizengamot

who had until recently been looking extremely confident suddenly looked worried.

"Of course, Lord Potter," replied Dumbledore, whose expression clearly showed to those that knew him that he had

no idea what he was about to do.

"Thank you Chief Warlock. I request that the accused by given Veritaserum."

"For what reason Lord Potter?" asked Dumbledore as some in the room moved to object, Harry knew that the

Headmaster had to appear as neutral as possible.

"We already know that the Minister concealed Voldemort's return from us for a year, he also, as we saw earlier,

invented charges against myself. I therefore submit that he cannot be trusted to tell the truth." He paused

briefly but not for long enough for others to jump in. "But to prove that statement, I propose the following;

that he be given the potion and then I will ask him one question, if the answer to that question is no, then I

will not question him further while he is under its influence and I will pay for that dose of the potion. If the

answer is yes, I will be allowed to continue questioning."

"What question do you propose asking?" asked Parkinson.

"I would rather not say beforehand as it may give the accused a chance to object to the questioning."

Parkinson went to speak again but Dumbledore got there first.

"Administer Veritaserum to the Minister."

"No, wait," ordered Parkinson, but too slowly as Director Bones herself quickly poured the potion into the

Minister's unwilling mouth. She obviously realised that he had something planned.

Harry waited but a moment for the potion to take affect before speaking.

"Fudge, would you lie to me, your administration, this gathering or the general public in order to protect

yourself and your job? Answer yes if you would and no if you wouldn't."

"Yes," replied Fudge.

"I think we will all agree that the potion was needed," Stated Harry, turning to Dumbledore. "May I continue

Chief Warlock."

"Continue Lord Potter."

"Thank you Chief Warlock," he smiled, turning back to Fudge but still speaking to the room. "As Baron Parkinson

has pointed out; everything that has so far been levelled against Fudge has had no definite proof, so I will ask

him a few simple questions on the matter. Mr Fudge," he began, enjoying the way the Minister flinched at the non

use of his title. "Did you force the Prophet to print only what you wanted it to print regarding myself,

Voldemort and the Chief Warlock?"

"Yes."

"Did you force the Wizengamot to have the current Chief Warlock removed from his position in the Wizengamot?"

"Yes."

"Did you place Dolores Umbridge at Hogwarts against the laws of this country and of Hogwarts?"

"Yes."

"And are you biased against Non-Purebloods, part humans, women and people whose ancestry does not originate in

the British Isles?"

"Yes."

Throughout the line of questioning Parkinson along with many other members of the Wizengamot were starting to

groan as the Minister dug himself deeper and deeper into a hole.

"Thank you. Now I shall describe a crime, which is most definitely illegal, even if some of the aforementioned

were not and that only a very few people in this room are aware of. Mr Fudge had previously, as I am sure most

here are aware, held the positions of Advisor to the Minister and head of the Ministry's Accounts Department.

During which time he was in control of all the Ministry's finances and the finances of any wizarding family that

did not have an heir of legal age."

Harry inwardly smiled as comprehension dawned in Fudge's eyes.

"I would like to call a witness to explain to you exactly what he did with that power."

"Call your witness Lord Potter," nodded Dumbledore.

"I call Lord Ragnok, head of the Goblin Parliament."

There was instant uproar.

"The head of the Goblin Parliament, here!!"

"No Goblin has ever been allowed into the Wizengamot before!!"

"As if Lord Ragnok would come here at your request!!"

"He IS here at my request and there is no law that prohibits a Goblin from entering the Wizengamot," replied

Harry, as the Goblin in question emerged from one of the cubicles along with a younger Goblin carrying a handful

of papers. "Lord Ragnok, thank you for coming."

"My pleasure, Lord Gryffindor," replied the aging Goblin, moving to a seat that he conjured with a snap of his

fingers while the other Goblin took place behind him.

"May my witness proceed Chief Warlock?" Harry asked the rather stunned Headmaster.

"Of course Lord Potter, Lord Ragnok, please continue."

"Thank you Chief Warlock," replied the Goblin in his usual rough voice, before turning to the Wizengamot. "I am

here at the request of Lord Potter to give evidence of the financial dealings of one Cornelius Fudge. As most of

you are no doubt aware when Lord Gryffindor's parents died, his money got passed to the British Ministry for

safe keeping. As head of the Ministry's Accounts Department, the aforementioned Fudge was in control of the

Potter estate until Lord Gryffindor was declared an adult."

"I have here," continued the old Goblin, as his assistant handed him a large scroll of paper, "a copy of the

bank records of the Potter account during that time. During the period other than the standard income from rent

and interest on the account there is only one other sort of entry listed and those are all withdrawals of large

amounts of currency measuring in the millions, all authorised by the head of the Ministry's Accounting

Department. As we also control all the Ministry's vaults and we controlled the transfers, we know that only a

relatively small percentage ever actually made it to the Ministry Accounts, where is could only remain if it was

withdrawn as a loan and so long as it was returned with interest, which neither it nor the rest of the

unaccounted money was. The rest of the withdrawals we have traced to the accounts of known Death Eaters like

Lucius Malfoy, the Minister's own private account and the accounts of several members of this assembly,

including Baron Parkinson."

"How dare you!!" bellowed Parkinson, as much of the room started speaking and looking around at each other. "I

have not taken any money from Lord Potter, Minister Fudge did buy several artefacts and pieces of valuable

furniture off me, but I have never accepted any other money from him," he said, pointing towards Harry.

"Your own bank records say," continued Ragnok, exchanging the papers in his hands for another from his sharp

assistant, "that, and I quote, 'Loan agreement: Vault 339 - Potter to Vault 873 - Parkinson, amount: 500,000

Galleons, authorisation Cornelius Fudge, 0% interest per annum, repayment in 4 years'. That loan was taken out

two months after the deaths of the former Lord Potter and his wife and it is only the first of fifteen similar

loans that have been extended to your account, Baron Parkinson. I was also mention that the interest rate, as

written in the Ministry's own laws for managing other wizards accounts state that the minimum interest must be

2.5% per annum, I can also inform you," continued Ragnok turning to face the rest of the assembly. "That Baron

Parkinson has monthly bank statements sent to his house and that he has, in the past, noticed what he believed

to be discrepancy of fifty galleons where he neglected to take into account the service cost of a particular

financial service. I would find it hard to believe that a person who could spot a mistaken negative irregularity

of fifty galleons, would not notice a positive discrepancy totalling over," he paused, while he examined the

document and tallied the results. "5.4 million galleons."

Several members of the Wizengamot, who could see the way the wind was blowing, were switching their looks from

worry to look disapprovingly at both Fudge and Parkinson.

"Lord Ragnok," began Dumbledore. "May we know how long these loans been taking place for?"

"The entire duration of time between the day after the Ministry took control of Lord Gryffindor's vaults, until

two days before we noticed an irregularity this summer and suspended all transactions on the account that

weren't authorised by Lord Gryffindor."

"So Minister Fudge was still authorising transactions after he moved away from the Accounts Department?"

"That is correct," nodded the Goblin. "I have given the Aurors details of all the illegal transactions and have

reversed them to the amounts that the current balances of each account will allow, though Lord Gryffindor is

still owed monies totalling over one million galleons from four different members of this assembly, and another

three million from others outside it including the late previous Minister of Magic."

Hearing their cue, Kingsley and half a dozen other Aurors emerged from the cubicles and raised their wands.

Several different types of reactions resulted, many members started shouting in outrage at what they guest was

about to happen, others decided having a wand pointed anywhere near them was a bad idea and started scrambling

to get out of the way, most of those on Harry's side either looked stunned or subtly drew their wands and lastly

those that knew they were in trouble including Parkinson either panicked or started cursing.

The whole event took less than ten seconds before Dumbledore bellowed:

"SILENCE!!"

Instantly making everyone stop.

"Auror Kingsley, I trust that is all the disruption that you need bring to this meeting?"

"It is Chief Warlock," he replied, as the last of those who resisted was brought down from the seats and placed

inside one of the cubicles. "We have detained everyone we planned to, our apologies for the interruption."

"Whose orders were you acting on Auror Kingsley?" demanded Amelia, who looked rather annoyed that she had not

been in on the events that just occurred. "You obviously do not have warrants for their arrest as I have not

signed them.

"On evidence provided by Lord Ragnok and Lord Potter I signed the 'detain for questioning for six hours'

authorisations and Lord Moody was good enough to permit us access to this hall once we had the authorisations,

the arrest warrants for their arrest are on your desk ready to be signed Director, pending the results of our

questioning."

"I confirm that," nodded the grizzly old Auror.

"Very well," Amelia nodded. "Carry on."

As everyone returned to their seats it was evident that there were quite a few holes in the Fudge and Pureblood

groups of the Wizengamot.

"In all these illegal transactions the Ministry official who authorised the transfer was Cornelius Fudge,"

concluded Ragnok.

"Thank you Lord Ragnok," smiled Harry, before turning to Dumbledore. "Making illegal use of protected funds is

against the law, we have dozens of written example of this illegal behaviour and concrete evidence from all

these occasions is more than enough to have the Fudge removed from office, stripped of his possessions and

holdings in order to pay back the loans and to gain compensation for those who have had their money

misappropriated and to have him arrested and imprisoned in Azkaban."

"Is there anyone who wishes to speak in the Minister's defence?" asked Dumbledore.

Those in the hall could see the panic spreading in Fudge's eyes as all his supporters remained silent.

"Very well. Cornelius Fudge, you are hereby removed from the office of Minister of Magic, you are ordered to pay

back all the money you removed from Lord Potter's and anyone else's accounts that you illegal withdrew money

from, with an additional 2.5% interest on all monies that went to you and an additional 10% on ALL the monies

which were removed on your authority. You will then be taken to Azkaban where you will be incarcerated for a

minimum of twenty years. Aurors take him away."

The entire hall watched as the Minister was dragged from the room, too shocked to even utter a word of protest.

"We must now decide who is to take the position of Minister of Magic," explained Dumbledore. "As is procedure in

these matters, members of the Wizengamot must nominate either, other members of this assembly or Ministry

Department Heads who are present. You are not allowed to nominate yourself. After a list of candidates has been

made, each will give a short address as to why they should become Minister, we will then have a series of votes,

each time the candidate with the lowest number of votes will be removed from the list of candidates."

"I nominate Albus Dumbledore," announced Moody in his usual gruff voice. Many cheers began at the

recommendation.

"Regrettably, I do not have time around my position as head of this Wizengamot, Headmaster of Hogwarts and my

position as Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, but I thank Lord Moody for the

recommendation."

Moody sighed and shook his head before Dumbledore continued.

"I however would like to nominate Minerva McGonagall."

The Professor who along with Harry and the others had resumed their seats snapped to attention as her name was

spoken.

"She is a very capable woman who has served on this assembly and as Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts for many

years and is perfectly suited to carry out the job."

"I agree with the recommendation," seconded Moody, obviously thinking that if he could not get Dumbledore into

the position he might as well have the next best person.

Slightly stunned McGonagall stood.

"I accept the nomination."

Several cheers went up from those that had cheered from Dumbledore, following the Headmaster and Moody in their

support.

"I nominate Harry Potter," called the familiar voice of Amos Diggory. As he heard his name Harry also snapped

around to face his advocate, this time as well as quite a lot more cheers there were also quite a greater number

of shouts of outrage, if anyone had tried to second the support their voice was lost in the din. "He has proven

time and again that he can fight and win against Voldemort, as well as maintaining his position while under the

barrage of the press and a lying Minister, he is well suited to bring us through this war victorious."

There had been more shouts during the speech, some more had come round to Amos's way of thinking but just as

many had swung the other way.

Standing up he ended the arguments as all fell silent.

"I too must regretfully decline the nomination. If I was successful in attaining the position it would be

because of the legends surrounding me, not because of ability to do the job." Many people sighed, groaned or

breathed sighs of relief "I however would ask those who would have supported me to follow my support of Director

Amelia Bones of the DMLE."

Amelia's eyes widened as he spoke and made several small 'no' and 'stop' gestures which got more urgent as he

continued speaking in her favour.

"She has been proved to be a very effective head of the DMLE in both times of war and peace and she is exactly

what this country needs to help get this country through this war."

"I second the nomination," announced Neville, whether it was because he agreed with the recommendation or

because he trusted Harry's opinion was not evident.

There was quite a bit of chattering over this one, mainly due to what people wanted the Minister to do and what

the Director would do if she achieved the post. During the chattering Amelia and Harry had been undertaking a

silent conversation, each mouthing or making small gestures to get their point across, only Dumbledore seemed to

catch any of the exchange and only enough to see Harry tell her to take the nomination as she could always back

out later.

"I," she began reluctantly causing the room to fall silent, "accept the nomination."

After she accepted four others were nominated, Amos Diggory himself was among the number and obviously thought

that it was better to have two people he thought could do the job in the running as he accepted (the other being

Harry's nomination). There was also Rufus Scimgeour, the Chief Auror of the DMLE who was second in command after

Amelia and ranked immediately above Kingsley, while he was a very capable Auror he was known to disregard non-

Purebloods, not actually insult them or call them inferior but more along the lines of ignoring them whenever

possible. The last contestant was definitely straight out of the Fudge and Death Eater blocks of the Wizengamot,

former Auror and now Law Advisor to the Minister, John Dawlish. He was someone that Harry recognised, he had

(when he was still an Auror) accompanied Fudge when he had been caught by Umbridge after the DA meeting, he was

also there when she attempted to arrest Hagrid and when Fudge arrived back at the Ministry after the

confrontation with Voldemort, he had since been appointed as Fudge's advisor and several believed that because

of his heavily Pureblood leanings that he had been put on Fudge's bodyguard and then appointed to be advisor so

that Fudge could be controlled by those in the Wizengamot that wanted to. Unfortunately he had almost the

complete backing of the entire Fudge and Death Eater sections of the Wizengamot as he was everything that they

stood for despite the fact that he had never actually stated support for Voldemort; He was Pureblood, he could

trace his family back ten generations with every single member being magical, he was strong and was a very

competent Auror who had passed through both Hogwarts and Auror training with top marks and had when he was still

with the DMLE been described as either the Barty Crouch or Alastair Moody of the modern Auror Division.

Basically it came down to, a fully competent and unbiased Professor and Administrator who Dumbledore would try

to influence, a fully competent and unbiased head of the DMLE who everyone would try and fail to influence, the

unbiased but probably rather easy to manipulate father of a Death Eater victim, the slightly biased but not

necessarily bad Chief Auror who couldn't be influenced and a former Auror who was fully competent but extremely

biased and would probably welcome Voldemort with open arms as soon as he was in a position to do so.

Professor Minerva McGonagall, Director Amelia Bones, Director Amos Diggory, Chief Auror Rufus Scimgeour or Law

Advisor John Dawlish.

One of them would be Minister; it had better not be the wrong one.