Harry Potter and the Shadows of the Watchgate

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-*~| CHAPTER 7 - A New Minister?! |~*-
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As time passed on, the school started getting back to normal. They were still wary of the unknown and unpredictable times, but with no new attacks from the Death Eaters, the students were calming down and getting used to the Hogwarts environment.

However, just when everyone was settling down, shocking news rocked the school again. Because of the attacks by the Death Eaters, the Wizengamot was demanding the resignation of the current Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, and the appointment of a more responsible and fitting candidate for the job.

Harry was putting jam on his toast when the Daily Prophet carrying owl swooped down in front of him. Harry grasped the paper wildly which frightened the owl into nipping his fingers painfully.

"Owww - gerrof!"

Hermione paid the owl and they all started reading the headlines eagerly. Fudge's scornful picture was covering more than half of the front page.

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*** The Minister Steps Down ***
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After much wild speculation by the Press and the wizarding community, Cornelius Oswald Fudge stepped down from his Ministership today.

After the atrocious and dreadful attacks by the Death Eaters on Platform Nine and Three Quarters, the Wizengamot and the wizarding population as a whole, has risen to the occasion and demanded the resignation of the Minister.

We have received inside information that the attack at Platform Nine and Three Quarters was not the only reason for this resignation and it is much more deep-rooted.

The Dark Lord has been at large since last year. At the finale of the Triwizard Tournament, when The-Boy-Who-Lived claimed that the Dark Lord had risen again, nobody believed him, even when he himself was the one who had vanquished the Dark Lord fourteen years ago.

Even with Dumbledore's constant insistence, nobody believed this horrendous truth because the Minister asserted that no such incident had occurred. Nonetheless, now we know from our sources that this truth was at last acknowledged by the Ministry with the appearance of Dark Lord himself at the Ministry's Head Office few months ago, which opened the wizarding world's eyes.

Confidential information has also been leaked that Dolores Jane Umbridge, the ex-Senior Undersecretary to the Minister, who was appointed as the High Inquisitor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry last year, issued many illegal Educational Decrees during that appointment. She will be tried by the Wizarding Court on undisclosed charges, as soon as she is captured. Miss Umbridge has not been seen since she left Hogwarts premises at the end of the previous school year.

The new Minister of Magic will be appointed by the Wizengamot through the voting process. The first choice for the Minister was undoubtedly Dumbledore, but he has clearly refused this proposition. As he himself has stated, "I am more than happy with my current job."

The Wizengamot will announce the name of the new Minister tomorrow.

-*-*-

"Oh that twisted old gargoyle! At last, getting what she deserved!" Ron exclaimed happily and everybody murmured their approval.

"Hear, hear!" said Harry happily. "But where is she now? She couldn't have vanished into thin air?"

"That news makes me real worried," said Hermione with a frown.

"Blimey, what if she's plotting revenge? She was ambitious and now because of our mate here,"--Ron said looking meaningfully towards Harry--"she has lost her job and toad-like demeanor," he paused for emphasis, "what if, she wants to swallow you like a fly, Harry?"

"Well, who knows? I can't live my life if I keep on thinking about how many people are plotting to kill me right now - because some of them just are," said Harry, ruffling his already untamed hair, looking distractedly at the Slytherin table.

"Oh well, but still--we've got Dumbledore!" Ginny said cheerfully, trying to change the subject.

"He would never leave Hogwarts. Ever," Hermione said matter-of-factly.

"That's a fact, but who's going to be the new Minister of Magic?" said Harry, pondering the answer himself.

"May be it's your dad?" said Hermione looking at Ron.

"Oh no! He's been appointed the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister already," said Ginny grinning.

"Wow! Great! But how come we didn't know about this before?" asked Harry, grinning broadly.

"Well, Dad wanted to keep it under wraps till the official announcement, because his appointment will be announced with the Minister of Magic," said Ron, flushing.

"Well, he deserved to be the Minister for sure! But no matter, the Undersecretary Job is the way towards it," said Hermione happily.

-*-

Oh the perfect Harry Potter! I can see him now, with his ever loving, ever sacrificing, ever doting friends! The Hero! The Boy Who Lived! The Prince Charming! Who made so many girls' hearts a flutter! The one for whom people can't stop chanting.

Sometimes it makes me so queasy just to look at him. There was a time when I was too besieged by him, but now... I couldn't even... How much I despise him! He would never know... because he wouldn't have a chance to... ha... I will strike at the opportune time...

The person sitting not so distant to Harry Potter smiled in triumph. It was a very eloquent smile but if someone looked closely, the smile was tinged with such malice and abhorrence that it completely altered that person's features.

He is in for the time of his life this term! that person thought gleefully.

-*-

Next day they all found out about their new Minister of Magic or rather, 'Mistress of Magic'. It was none other than Amelia Susan Bones, the former Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The Judge who was supposed to carry Harry's Hearing of Underage Sorcery last year, when he used a Patronus Charm to save his cousin Dudley from the Dementors in Wisteria Walk.

There was a lot of hue and cry over the appointment of a female Minister of Magic, mostly from the minority groups, who mostly consisted of the Pure-blood conservative wizarding families. After Voldemort's return, these people had become very covert because they neither wanted to attract attention nor speak aloud anything incriminating. These were the people who believed that only Pure-bloods should be considered wizards, not the Half-bloods or Muggle-borns.

But still, Amelia Bones became an instant success with the majority, because within a week of her appointment, she cleared up a lot of mess created by Fudge, including his incompetent staff and slack rules.

She became a celebrity overnight and Harry had no problem with that. The more he was away from the limelight the better. At least now Daily Prophet would have enough material without bothering with their usual Boy-Who-Lived cameo topics.

Harry was busy working on Sirius's diary along with his school work; working on different jumbles of words and browsing the Library for an effective Cracking Charm which could do the trick on secret diaries.

-*-

A cold wintry morning welcomed Harry as he awakened from a very disturbing dream. He had dreamt that he was falling in an abyss which was shaped like a snake's gaping mouth.

He was drowsy and because of the chilling weather, he wasn't much motivated in rising early. So he just rolled onto his side and wrapped the blanket tighter around him.

As it was a Sunday morning, he could very well have a lie in. He was somewhere in between wakefulness and dozing when Hermione came crashing through their dormitory door.

Dean, who was on the process of shoving off his blankets, wrapped the blankets tight around himself again because of the intrusion.

"Harry! Harry! Wake up!" Hermione came squealing towards his four poster bed.

"Keep your hair o-on! I'm awa-ake," said Harry, yawning.

Because of too much noise, other boys also peeked through their curtains; Neville almost went in shock and thumped to the floor because he lost his balance in between his long peek, and straightened instantly to save face. Whereas the other boys who were seeing the proceedings, started snickering, making Neville go red more than usual.

"Oh c'mon, get off the bed," said Hermione cart-wheeling on the balls of her feet.

Ron also woke up and hit his head on the base of Harry's four poster bed in shock, and then started fidgeting with his hair because it was standing on end. Harry couldn't help but laugh because, more than his hair, he was looking completely ridiculous in his ankle high Chudley Cannon's pyjamas.

"Stop it, Harry," Ron said flailing his arms towards Harry to smack him playfully.

"Oh, c'mon! Shake a leg, you two. MOVE!" Hermione ordered.

"What's the rush, Hermione? It's Sunday, for crying out loud," said Ron straightening his fringe.

"It's important, that's why! Harry, five minutes," she said by pointing towards her wrist-watch and went out of the room.

Harry and Ron freshened up and headed downstairs in the record time of six minutes.

"Cough up! What's so special?" asked Ron, sliding to his favorite arm chair.

"I think you should read this, Harry, it just came in the post," she said handing him a copy of 'Witch Weekly'.

Amelia Bones was smiling at him from the cover.

"You wanted me to see this?" inquired Harry, raising an eyebrow.

"Not the Minister, look inside!" she said egging him on. He started leafing through the magazine with Ron craning his neck beside him.

He saw the caption in the content page: "A Hero behind the Dark Mask: the truth about Sirius Black."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
|||| A Hero Behind the Dark Mask ||||

There has been a lot of restructuring going on at the Ministry after the appointment of the new Minister of Magic. Many old files have been re-opened and one of them includes the official records about the alleged mass murderer and fugitive, Sirius Black, who till now was believed to be a Death Eater. He comes into a new light after his tragic death at the hands of Death Eater, Bellatrix Lestrange, who is an escaped criminal from Azkaban.

From the information released, we understand that Black was framed into life imprisonment at Azkaban because of his own friend, Peter Pettigrew, a Death Eater, who is not dead as previously believed, but is still among the living. Pettigrew is also responsible for several other deaths, including twelve Muggles, Ministry official Bertha Jorkins and Triwizard champion Cedric Diggory.

Sirius Black was completely innocent but nonetheless imprisoned without a trial for twelve long years and was hunted down like a criminal for more than two years.

With new found evidence, another striking feature has been revealed: Sirius Black was also the Godfather of Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived. Black broke out of Azkaban with the purpose of bringing the truth to light, but couldn't live to see the same truth realized.

The Ministry has decided to honor Sirius Black's audacity and courageous efforts to unmask the real traitor behind these malicious murders.

In a private ceremony, Harry Potter will receive a Special Award: Order of Merlin, First Class on behalf of his Godfather from the Ministry.

~*~*~*~

So, now the Ministry was apologetic and ready to hand him down Special Awards! Where were they when Sirius was cooped up in hiding just because of their short sightedness? Harry thought malevolently.

Ron and Hermione were looking at each other, waiting for a cue. Harry coiled the magazine's pages and stood up suddenly.

"I'm going to the Library," he almost barked.

"But- but-" Hermione stuttered and Ron managed a small confused, "Harry?"

Harry didn't even look back. He was on a mission because he had to solve the puzzle of Sirius's diary TODAY!

He spent the rest of the morning and afternoon leafing through old books, for finding some kind of clue, a hint, ANYTHING! He was becoming more desperate by the moment.

Ron and Hermione came to visit him at the Library to coax him out of there but he just shooed them away.

"I'll tell you what's going on when I solve this puzzle!" said Harry ruffling his hair irately.

"May be we can help?" said Hermione hopefully.

"No! Just leave me alone will you? I need to do this on my own!" said Harry dismissing them.

-*-

Harry was on his way to the dormitory laden with as many books he could carry. He was almost kicked out of the Library for having such a mess on his table (a mountain of books and papers scattered all over). Madam Pince kept huffing that she would have to spend more than half an hour to clear his mess up before closing.

Harry hadn't eaten anything the whole day and that's why his stomach was rumbling rhythmically, but the irony of the situation was that the dinner time was over too. He was thinking of nicking food, but was saved the trouble of raiding the kitchen by Hermione, Ron and Ginny, as they were waiting for him in the common room with dinner.

Hermione and Ron were completely engrossed in a conversation and Ginny was reading a book. That's why they didn't notice him as he entered through the portrait hole. Harry didn't know what were they talking about but it seemed something important.

When he ahemed for attention, Ron and Hermione broke apart like something had jolted them.

"You are back!" said Hermione happily.

"So, found anything in your crusade?" asked Ginny.

Harry didn't answer but started wolfing down everything in sight. They could clearly see that he was in no mood of telling them what he was up to.

"Professor McGonagall was looking for you, Harry. She told me to inform you that she'll be expecting you in her office tomorrow after class," said Ron timidly.

"All right," Harry said simply.

After eating he propped himself in a comfortable position on his favorite squashy chair and started leafing through the books again. He selected "What to do - when there is no other way" and got engrossed in it without even exchanging a look with his friends.

Hermione gave him a very stern look but didn't say anything. After a while of waiting around and seeing total non-communication from Harry, they all stood up for their nightcap.

When Harry didn't give any indication of movement, they all said, "'Night," to Harry and went to their separate dormitories.

Harry waited for a while and then made his way to his room. Ron's snores told him that he was asleep. Even then, he rummaged through his trunk carefully and tip toed towards the stairs clutching his invisibility cloak, Sirius's diary and the Marauder's Map.

He draped the cloak around him and headed for the portrait. Fat Lady was already bleary with sleep; therefore she didn't notice that nobody went out of the common room after the portrait swung shut.

Harry checked the map for any intrusion in between. Filch and Mrs. Norris were patrolling the area near the Library and the trophy room respectively. Nobody else was in between his way.

After some flights of stairs and shortcuts, Harry faced Barnabas the Barmy being clubbed by a moth eaten Troll.

I need a quiet place for solving a puzzle, he kept on repeating this in his mind and pacing the length of the wall beside a man-sized vase. A mahogany door appeared right beside him after his third pace. He opened it and looked inside.

It was a very comfortable looking room, not as big as he remembered when he used it for the DA meetings. On the left side the whole wall was covered with a built-in-cabinet containing books about solving different magical riddles and a lot of small boxes which Harry didn't touch, as he knew better.

On the right side there was a huge working table with supply of many quills, different colored ink, parchments etc. There was also a very inviting plush chaise lounge in the center of the room on which Harry propped himself placidly.

He took out the Marauder's Map for help as he thought there must be some hidden clue in the map. He had already thought up a way to work out the diary. He just needed to try it.

He unfolded the Marauder's Map and tapped his wand on it without saying the incantation, "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good." But nothing happened...

He tapped his wand again saying, "Padfoot, show yourself."

Still nothing....

"Padfoot, it's me, Harry! C'mon, reveal yourself to me!" he said with an urgent tone.

Harry forgot to take his next breath, because an invisible hand was writing something on the map.

"Mr. Padfoot is bowled over by the courage of this sixteen year old, who--" the flowing tilted writing paused for a moment, "looks astonishingly like Mr. Prongs."

Harry smacked his head, chastising himself for not trying this before. There was more writing to read:

"Mr. Prongs is very angered that some good-for-nothing boy is taking on his appearance."

Harry chuckled tensely, because at that time, his father James didn't know that someday he would rear a son almost like him.

"Mr. Moony would like to add that the sodding git's nose is not clean."

Harry involuntarily wiped his nose with his sleeve.

"Mr. Wormtail would like to affix, 'ha ha ha'."

This is going nowhere, Harry thought, amused. He tried again but this time he tapped the map and said, "Sirius, it's about your diary! Tell me how to work it out!"

"Mr. Padfoot would like to add three words to Mr. Harry, 'hair brained git'."

Harry thought that either this was too easy or a very stupid joke and waited for others to say something, but none of the other Marauders wrote anything back.

He thought about Sirius and how he would have chosen a password or incantation for his diary. The Sirius he knew was almost always serious except when he was with him, when his newly acquired cynical wit would get the better of him; however, the young Sirius was a firecracker as everything was a joke for him.

Could this really be... could this be IT? he thought.

He didn't waste another second and took out the diary and tapped his wand on it saying, "Hair brained git," thinking, This is so stupid!

However, the events that followed in a microsecond succession made him thump to the ground in surprise.

The room around him changed, it was as if a paintbrush had painted the walls of the Room of Requirement into something very familiar. Harry stood up to see, that he was somehow back at the Grimmauld Place and was standing in Sirius's room. Still, this change was more disconcerting because the whole scene around him was black and white. He checked his glasses and rubbed his eyes, finding that his vision was working absolutely fine except there was no color.

He was moving for the door of the room when his heart did a somersault and started beating in his head instead. Harry had just heard someone call his name, and that someone was none other than Sirius himself.

~*~