Harry Potter and the Final Curse

Chapter 5 - An audience with the Minister for Magic

Harry arrived in the main atrium of the Ministry of Magic with the captive Death Eater. Since it was mid morning, the Ministry was far from its busiest, although there were still plenty of people around, entering and exiting through the numerous gilded fireplaces. Harry was distracted by a Ministry employee talking to a stern looking woman with a young boy who had a cauldron stuck on his head.

"Look how many times do I have to tell you, madam," said the Ministry employee, who was obviously getting agitated but still kept his cool, "we don't deal with stuff like this. You want to take him to St. Mungo's Hospital or something."

But the woman remained adamant. "Look, I'm not leaving here until I speak with someone from the Magical Equipment Department," she said.

"I'm from that department," said the Ministry employee, "and I'm telling you we don't deal with the accidents themselves. If the accident was caused by a faulty cauldron then you can come to us, but obviously in this case your son just stuck it on his head."

"How dare you speak about my child in that way!" said the woman, furiously. "I demand to speak with your superior at once!"

Harry felt sorry for the guy as he was obviously trying his best to sort the situation out in the most peaceful way possible. Harry left before he would be able to witness the woman hitting the Ministry employee over head with her handbag, which he was sure was coming next.

Harry cast the Mobilicorpus spell on his unconscious captive and he rose from the ground like a puppet. Using his wand he willed the captive to follow him.

They passed The Fountain of Magical Brethren in the centre of the atrium, and then through the security checkpoint where you had to register your wand, but since Harry was an employee of the Ministry he didn't have to bother. The clerk at the checkpoint did however make a note of the captive's wand which Harry held on to.

As they entered the one of the many lifts, there were two people in it, one of whom he recognised as Steve Mayer, a much older man than Harry, who worked in the Department of Magical Games and Sports. He was chatting to a young man who Harry didn't know. There were a half a dozen or so memos flying overhead.

"So, Joe, how's the new job going in the Magical Creatures office?" asked Steve.

"Pretty good," said Joe. "I must be doing well as they're already promoting me."

"That was quick!" said Steve, quite surprised. "You've only been working here a couple of weeks. What are getting promoted to?"

"My boss said I'm to be the new head of the Centaur Liaison Office, isn't that great?" said Joe, totally ecstatic.

Harry and Steve just looked at each other at laughed.

"I'm sure you'll do really great," said Harry, suppressing a belly laugh.

"Hey! What's so funny?" asked Joe, not at all amused.

"Nothing dear boy, nothing," said Steve, as he turned his attention to Harry. "Who that you got there Harry?"

"Another Death Eater, freshly caught this morning," said Harry, happily.

"Nicely done," he said. "That's the second one this month isn't it?"

"No it's the third. Damn things always keep appearing."

The lift stopped and the doors opened. The soft voice of a woman spoke. "Level seven. Department of Magical Games and Sports, incorporating the British and Irish Quidditch League Headquarters, Official Gobstones Club, and Ludicrous Patents Office."

Harry had ridden the Ministry lift so many times that he knew the level announcements off by heart, and he mouthed them as he listened to the woman's voice.

"That's me," said Steve, as he got out of the lift, followed by three memos, leaving Harry with the captive, and Joe, who stood silently in the corner with his arms crossed.

"See you later Steve," said Harry, as Steve disappeared out of sight.

The lift was about to continue when he heard the welcome voice belonging to Ron Weasley, his best friend. They had been mates ever since their first day at Hogwarts together and, aside from a few glitches, their friendship held to this day. Nowadays though he wasn't just a good friend, he was a brother-in-law too, although that was never foremost on his mind.

"Hey, hold the lift!" Ron shouted from down the hallway covered in numerous posters of Quidditch Teams.

Harry pressed the hold button on the lift's control panel. Ron came running into the lift carrying an odd looking broomstick.

"Oh, it's you, Harry," said Ron, glancing at Joe standing in the corner but not taking any notice of him. "Thanks for holding the lift."

"No problem," said Harry, pressing the hold button, which started the lift again with a slight shudder. "What's with the broomstick?"

"Someone sent it in for testing, saying it's the brand new Comet model, but it turns out it's just a regular muggle broom that has been bewitched to fly, doesn't even have a cushioning charm, which is all just plain dangerous," said Ron. "The person that tried to fly it didn't know that at the time though, and they were thrown off backwards at high speed into a huge stack of paperwork, which they then had to tidy up."

"And who was that then?" asked Harry.

"Yours truly," said Ron rubbing his head. "It sure hurt a lot." Harry couldn't help but laugh. Ron was always a bit too eager to try new brooms out. "Anyway I've got to take it up to the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts office; it's their problem now."

"That's my floor too. I've got to take this guy in for questioning," said Harry, gesturing towards his captive.

Ron looked at the captive Death Eater floating about a foot above the floor. The occasional memo would crash into him before flying off again.

"Not another Death Eater, surely?" he said.

"Afraid so," said Harry, "and don't call me Shirley."

Ron smirked. "So is he a real one or just one of those fakes?" he asked.

"Most definitely real," said Harry.

There were basically two types of Death Eaters - The true Death Eaters, and the untrue ones. The true Death Eaters were those that were around during the time when Voldemort was still alive, and the bore the Dark Mark, administered by the man himself. The others, the untrue ones, were those that chose to follow the message of the Dark Lord after his demise, or they followed one of the true Death Eaters. Occasionally the untrue ones would get a tattoo of the Dark Mark, but they were superficial and had no powers like the real ones did.

The lift stopped at level four, the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical creatures, and Joe got off. The doors closed again and the lift continued upwards.

Harry was glad that he and Ron were alone, which gave him the perfect opportunity to ask Ron about an important matter. "You saw Hermione last night didn't you? How is she getting on?"

"She's doing fine," said Ron, simply and quietly.

It was obvious from his tone of voice that Ron didn't want to have this conversation as every time they discussed Hermione it always ended with him telling him to just go and set a date for the wedding, which was nearly always followed by some sort of excuse. The excuses themselves became more and more extravagant (and unbelievable) as time went on, ranging from 'I'm too busy at work' to 'My long lost cousin from Germany, err... err ... Hans, yeah Hans, that's right, wants me to help him clear a dragon out of his attic'.

"Ok then," said Harry, leaving it at that. He'd have to bring this topic up again once he thought of a new plan of attack.

The lift stopped at level two, where Harry and Ron both departed. They shortly arrived at the Auror headquarters where it was time to part ways with each other.

"Are you still up for dinner later Ron?" asked Harry. "Ginny's doing her wonderful stew tonight."

"Miss Ginny's stew?!" said Ron. "No chance. I'll see you around six thirty. See you later Harry."

"See you, Ron," said Harry.

Ron left to go towards his father's old office carrying the broomstick over his shoulder, in a very casual way. Harry made his way to the holding cells, situated down a corridor to his left, where he locked his captive in. The cells weren't quite as secure as Azkaban but they would do for now while they figured out what do to with him.

"Don't you dare say the word 'impressive' again while you're still here," Harry told the unconscious Death Eater.

As Harry went to go towards his desk, where he would need to fill in a report on the captive, he was greeted by Kingsley Shacklebolt, the commander in chief of all British Aurors, and his immediate boss.

"Who's that guy you brought in Potter?" asked Kingsley.

"Some Death Eater," said Harry. "A true one. He'd been terrorising the village I was sent to."

"He has the mark then?" he asked.

"Yes," confirmed Harry.

"Damn," said Kingsley with a little anger in his voice. "Once you think you've got them all another one shows up!"

"He mentioned something about a new master too, though it might just be his mentor or something," said Harry.

"Maybe not," said Kingsley, "we've had reports from various sources that also report the presence of another master."

"So there is another big boss out there?" asked Harry.

"It's only a rumour at the moment," said Kingsley.

"Anyway, I better fill in the report and then go back to the village for the clean up operation," said Harry.

"I admire your devotion to your job, Potter," said Kingsley, "but someone else will be assigned to that task. I have another assignment for you."

"What is it, sir?" asked Harry

"I don't know exactly myself," said Kingsley. "The Minister has requested an audience with you personally to discuss the matter. All I know is it's something to do with Hogwarts."

"Hogwarts?" asked Harry curiously.

"Yes Hogwarts. I can't give you any more information than that. I suggest you go to see the Minister right away."

* * *

The Minister's office was on level one in the nicest part of the ministry complex, complete with stunning works of art, ornate fountains, and marble floors. Harry briefly thought about how much of the taxes he paid went to fund all of this.

Although they were underground, there were still windows, but these were magic windows that gave the impression of being above ground. The windows in this part of the ministry showed a very nice rural scene with green fields, big trees moving in a gentle breeze and a river with an old stone bridge, which was very pleasing to the eye. Harry had known the scene to change according to current events, like the time of the last world cup where an approximation of a Quidditch match could be seen.

Harry had been here a few times before and they were all on personal visits, but this was the first time it was an official one. There was a desk out the front of the Minister's office upon which his secretary was stationed. Percy Weasley must have worked here at some point he thought, but now there was a very pretty young fair haired witch who didn't look like she'd been out of school for very long. Harry would have thought about asking her out if he were twenty years younger and wasn't married, so he just settled with a polite smile.

"Harry Potter, here to see the Minister of Magic," he stated.

"Yes go on through," said the young witch, "he's expecting you."

Harry entered the office of Arthur Weasley, the Minister of Magic, and also his father-in-law. After the resignation of Cornelius Fudge, not long after he finally admitted that Voldemort had returned, the whole Ministry was in disarray. Many witches and wizards followed Fudge's example and quit soon after he did, obviously in fear of Voldemort, as the Ministry was always a prime target. Only the bravest wizards remained including Arthur Weasley and he quickly rose in the ranks, which eventually lead to the role of the Minister itself, which he achieved about five years ago now. Arthur turned out to be a great Minister, some say the best that they've ever had, and is greatly admired throughout the wizarding world.

The office he had now was a complete contrast to the tiny cramped office that Harry first saw him in. The décor was more or less than same as the surrounding area with one major difference - it was covered in various muggle artefacts, including a telephone and a toaster. Mr. Weasley still found things associated with muggles fascinating and wasn't afraid to show it.

"Hello, Harry," Mr. Weasley said with great delight, looking up from a large pile of paper work.

"Hi Mr. Weasley," said Harry.

"Harry, how many times have I told you, you can call me dad," said Mr. Weasley.

Harry, no matter how close he was to his father-in-law, could never get used to calling Mr. Weasley dad. He called him Arthur a few times but they were all in social occasions.

"Sorry, but it still doesn't feel right," said Harry. "Especially not at work."

"Well suit yourself," said Mr. Weasley. Harry knew that Mr. Weasley would bring this topic of conversation up again another time, but for now he was glad it was over. "Sit down," the Minister gestured towards one of the two comfortable chairs in front of his desk.

"You wanted to see me about something at Hogwarts," said Harry.

"Yes that's right," said Mr. Weasley. "Minerva has been in contact with me regarding a little problem with their Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher."

Mr. Weasley and Professor McGonagall were on first name turns with each other, just like Dumbledore and Mr. Fudge had been. They had an excellent professional relationship with each other which Harry thought must be partially thanks to the time they spent in the Order of the Phoenix together. The order itself was no longer really active anymore although all those that called themselves members, including Harry, would re-band again if there was a sufficient enough threat in the world.

"Again?" said Harry, unsurprised. "That job really is jinxed."

"Yes, well the regular teacher, Professor Tyler, had rather an unfortunate accident," began Mr. Weasley. "Apparently his wand backfired when he was casting some sort of stunning charm and now he's ended up in St. Mungo's, in the long term care section. They found him alone in his classroom, totally unconscious."

"Is foul play suspected?" asked Harry.

"No, it just looks like an accident," said Mr. Weasley. "They sent a substitute teacher, a Professor Argyle, to fill in for him but after a week on the job he got into an accident himself."

"His wand backfired too?"

"Yes, while casting a disarming spell. He was found in his office, and is now in Mungo's too."

"Going to St. Mungo's long term care section sounds a little extreme for a wand backfiring," said Harry. "It happened to Ron loads of times in his second year and the worst he got was a quick trip to the school hospital wing. And after Lily's little accident the other day, she was as good as new within a few minutes."

"Well I thought it was a little extreme myself, but the injuries they sustained say otherwise," said Mr. Weasley. "But from all available information they still look just like accidents."

"Hmm," said Harry. "Has they been anymore teachers having accidents?"

"There was the replacement, replacement teacher."

"Don't tell me his wand backfired too?!" said Harry with scepticism.

"No, actually it didn't," said Mr. Weasley. "Anyway it was a woman, a Professor Quail."

"What happened to her?" asked Harry fearing the worst.

"She fell of her broom just inside the grounds," said Mr. Weasley. "Fell a hundred feet onto hard ground."

Harry knew how that felt. He'd lost count how many times he'd sustained a broomstick related injury.

"Ouch," said Harry wincing slightly. "She just fell off? What grade of flyer was she?"

"D grade I think, so she knew what she was doing with a broom."

There were several different grades a broomstick flyer could be, the lowest of which was N, which stood for Novice. Then there was P for Proficient, D for Decent, E for Excellent, and finally the highest grade was W, which stood word World cup. At Hogwarts, students were normally taught till they were at least P grade. Harry himself was E grade, although that was largely due to natural ability than actually training hard.

"Is she alright?" asked Harry.

"She had to spend a couple of days in the school hospital wing," said Mr. Weasley, "but after she recovered she was disheartened by the whole thing and decided to quit."

"Can't say I blame her after what's been happening."

"We've tried to find another teacher, but so far no luck."

Harry somehow knew what was coming next.

"I'm just taking a wild guess here," said Harry, "but I take it you want me to fill in?"

"Yes," said Mr. Weasley. "We've thought long and hard about who would prove to be a suitable replacement, and the best name we've come up with is you, Harry. We all think you'd do a wonderful job."

"Maybe so but all these accidents sound a little fishy," said Harry. "What if I have an unfortunate accident too?"

"It is something we've thought about quite seriously but, unlike the other teachers, you really do have real world experience, and your job as an Auror makes you more careful when it comes to even simple things," explained Mr. Weasley. "But we can't force you to do it. It's entirely your choice."

Harry thought about it for a moment. It's true he'd be good at the job. Although he didn't have any real teaching experience, his time with the DA must count for something. But then Harry remembered Snape, who was still at Hogwarts as far as he could remember.

"What about Professor Snape?" suggested Harry. "He's been after the Defence Against the Dark Arts job for ages."

"Professor Snape, is currently preoccupied teaching potions and doesn't have the time to take two classes at once. They did consider bringing in a substitute potions teacher, but none of them, according to Snape himself, are up to the task."

Harry didn't really want to do it but it felt like he couldn't really refuse the offer.

"How long will I have to fill in for?" asked Harry.

"It will be at Minerva's discretion, but I'd imagine it will end once they find another suitable replacement," said Mr. Weasley.

Harry stood quietly in thought for a moment, pacing Mr. Weasley's office in the hope that the answer would be on one of the walls somewhere, but unfortunately it wasn't, not even on the poster titled 'Top Ten Solutions to Wizarding Problems'. He weighed up all the pros and cons of going back to Hogwarts, and he after a lot of consideration, he chose the course of action that he though was the best.

"Alright I'll do it," said Harry.

Mr. Weasley beamed at him, apparently very pleased. "Excellent," he said. "I shall send an owl at once."