Burning Day
Councils of War
By Kinsfire
Disclaimer: Are we going through this again? Does anybody out there believe that I actually own the Harry Potter universe and characters? I wish that were the case, but it's not. That honour goes to JK Rowling. I think I might own some of the plot and the twists therein, but beyond that? Nothing involved in this story belongs to me.
Harry looked at the parchment for a long moment and then laughed. It was not a pleasant sound.
"Well, she's got what she wanted. I'm now officially her enemy. I need to make a few Floo calls and set up a war council." With that he stepped from the room.
Severus looked at the others. "He will need you at his side, now more than ever. Umbridge is bound and determined that she will crush him underneath her heel before she dies, because he is the first person never to kowtow to her and to do it openly." He sighed. "As far as the wizarding world is concerned, she has just created a new Dark Lord, and this one will succeed where all others have failed. Harry will change the wizarding world forever."
"She wants a war; she's got a war," he said. "I refuse to sit around and let her keep control of my daughter. She's wanted me hurt for years, ever since what I said about Riddle turned out to be true. She probably had nothing to do with the death of Fudge, but she's canny enough to take advantage of it." He shook his head. "Anyway, I've made my calls. Owls will be sent out to a number of people from Gringott's, ostensibly concerning this or that matter. The fact that all of them will be sent to the same secure boardroom that we'll be Flooing to shortly is hopefully going to escape the notice of the Ministry. I think we should all get ready and then head out." He snapped his fingers. "I forgot to mention to the goblins to include Ron, Ginny and Daphne."
"Don't worry about it," Ron said as he came into the room with his wife and brother, the Potter children milling around their feet, seeming somewhat worried. "After that littler titbit from the Ministry, you'll need someone to guard your children. The Ministry will not get these children without a fight," he finished with a growl.
"We'll contact Ginny and tell her as well," Daphne said. "You guys need to leave."
Half an hour later, Harry was in Gringott's, in one of the most secure meeting rooms that they had. Arrayed around him were many of the teaching staff of Hogwarts, Severus Snape, all of his adult family, every Weasley except for Ron, Ginny, Molly and Charlie, Amelia Bones, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Nymphadora Tonks and Michaela Pamir. That there were goblins present was understood by all.
"Let us begin," Ragnok said. "Harry? Care to explain?" Several of the people there started at hearing the head of the goblin nation refer to Harry in such a familiar manner, but Filius Flitwick just grinned widely.
"Thank you, Ragnok," Harry replied, ignoring the reactions around the table. "There should be some background before I tell you why you've all been asked here. However, this information is sensitive enough that if you choose not to be involved in what I feel needs to be done, then you will need to be Obliviated of that specific information, if only for your protection. Does anyone here at the table have any ethical or other concerns over this, or is not willing to be Obliviated?" No one reacted. "Good. It seems that the names were chosen wisely."
"It's hard to say when it began, but I ended up involved in this in the last twenty-four to forty-eight hours. I and my family were rather enjoying our time on the beaches of my island, not bothering anyone. Then, in rapid succession, a message from someone in the Ministry came to tell me that a new Dark Lord was rising, and rather than dealing with him themselves, they insisted on calling in the last Dark Lord killer. This was the gist of the information given to me at the time."
"Before that was even finished, we received word that Cornelius Fudge had been assassinated and a Dark Mark was found floating above his body. Needless to say, this backed up the information we'd been given concerning the new Dark Lord."
"Again, before the dust had even settled from our learning that the old Minister had been murdered, we received a quick call from my father-in-law Lawrence Lovegood that my daughter Lorelei had been taken by people in dark robes."
"As that call was finishing, an owl that I didn't recognise found our island and dropped off a note that claimed to be from the new Dark Lord, calling himself Lord Basileus. It also dropped off this package." He slid the ring box forward and opened it.
"We've kept it preserved, on the extremely slight chance that it can be reattached, if we can get to her in time. But that's Lorelei's finger, right down to that little scar on it from cutting herself on a seashell two months ago."
The murmurings around the table were dark and angry, and Morgana Sinistra said, "If you want help dealing with this 'Basileus', I'm in."
"Thank you," he said, "but Malfoy's already been dealt with," he said simply.
"Draco Malfoy was trying to be the next Dark Lord?" Sinistra asked, incredulity colouring her voice.
"My thoughts exactly," Harry replied with a small smile. "He sent some of his people to capture me, and it worked because he managed to hire at least one competent minion. I spent some time unconscious because I was Portkeyed out in mid leap, and smacked into the wall when I arrived."
He laughed. "I awoke chained to a wall and naked -"
"Haven't tried that yet," Hermione murmured loud enough to be heard, a slight smirk on her face telling everyone that she intended it to be heard.
"Yes dear," Harry said, "As I was saying, I was chained to the wall and stripped completely. Malfoy comes in and crows, snaps the wand he found on me, threatens my wives and children, and I proceed to kill three of his people in anger. Everyone else is in recovery, because I slammed them all against the walls, and quite a few broken bones resulted. I called the Aurors, and Madam Bones and a few Aurors arrived, and Draco proved that he can be goaded into giving up important information if you kick his ego hard enough."
"He admitted to being the new Dark Lord," Amelia said. "He did so within my hearing."
"He also stated that he knew nothing of the whereabouts of Lorelei. Considering the note stated that he personally knew, that meant something else was going on. We got back to the Ministry where we discovered the identity of one of the Aurors on the team that abducted Lorelei."
"That would be me," Michaela Pamir said. "I made the mistake of believing that Umbridge really had the interests of the child in mind. I know better now, but wish I'd had that information then."
"Tell me about it," Bill growled. "I was the guy that helped you get in to get the child, hurting Harry yet again." He paused for a moment. "Before this goes any further, I need something answered, if I may?" Harry nodded. "I thought you had cast Narcissa and Draco out of the Black family and denied the marriage to Lucius, legally making Draco a no-named bastard. Why do you keep referring to him as Draco Malfoy?"
"Ah," Harry answered. "Simple. Apparently Lucius realised that Draco was his last possible chance at the Black family fortunes, having forgotten that Andromeda had been welcomed back into the family. He remarried Narcissa and accepted Draco as his son, assuming that once they successfully killed me and took over the wizarding world, they could overturn the will that Sirius wrote, thereby giving them all the money." He smiled. "That dream was crushed along with Lucius's head when I killed Voldemort. Interestingly enough, with the only living Malfoys both being in prison — for life, I assume for both — that means that the money in that vault goes to whatever Malfoys may exist in the world. If there are none, I could likely make a claim for it, but not as a Black. Is there a rule of combat?" He shook his head. :Not that I need the money, to be honest. Let's get back to the situation at hand, though."
"Apaarently as soon as Umbridge realised that we knew about Miss Pamir's involvement, she called an emergency meeting of the Wizengamot, where she tried to put me on trial for attacking a fine upstanding member of the community, and closed things down immediately after she lost spectacularly, without ever giving me a chance to deal with the Lorelei situation. I have just recently received a missive from the Ministry informing me that all polygamous marriages in Britain are to be considered illegal, and that all illegitimate children are to be brought to the Ministry to be given to proper homes."
He stood and began to walk around. "I could take the route of marrying one of the ladies, and adopting all the children that way, but I'd imagine that Umbridge is considering that I'll do that, and has prepared a counter to that already."
He stopped and slapped his hads on the table loudly, startling a few of them. "So I won't take the legal route, at least not obviously."
"Let me take the legal route on this, Harry," Amelia said. "I believe that I can hit her where it hurts almost immediately. I'm quite certain she looked at certain statistics, and I know the people she would have had to talk to. If I'm right, I'll call my own Wizengamot session and ruin her political career."
"Do what you can legally, Amelia, but be aware that I've come to the decision that I need to do to the Ministry what I did to Hogwarts' Board of Governors. It needs to be disassembled and rebuilt," he replied.
The group at the table looked at each other for a very long time before Professor Sinistra spoke again. "That school has run better in these last five years than I'd ever seen since I started going. I'm behind you on this."
Albus cleared his throat. "I am just a small amount your senior, dear Morgana," he said with no little humour, "and I can say the same — these past five years at Hogwarts have been a joy since the new Board of Governors took control. Were it any other than Harry suggesting the dismantling of the body that governs our very way of life, I would fight it both tooth and nail. Instead, I shall use my fame as one of the greatest Light side wizards for some good and support Harry's efforts with the public." His voice showed his distaste of the label that he had been given by the public.
"In that vein, I need the goblins to do something for me in their role as my bankers and investment team. I want the Daily Prophet. I will either own it or force the Ministry to nationalise it, at which point the game changes completely." He turned to Albus. "Thank you, grandfather."
Arthur Weasley stood. "Mr Potter, I and my wife wish that we could take back what we did to you those five years ago. We've always held out hope that perhaps someday, something could be worked out and we would get back into your good graces. I say this purely to explain that, while I do not believe it to be the case, my decision to join in your quest for a more fair Ministry could be caused by a desire to fix things with you — to support you as we should have before. My support is with you in your endeavour, but be aware that the support may be due to ulterior motives that I am not consciously aware of." He sat back down and looked to his hands.
"Weasleys are fond of sweeping gestures, are they?" Harry asked with some amusement. "Bill tried to apologise for his part in this by snapping his wand, but I bought him a new one, because we can use a good curse-breaker and ward builder, and he was sincere. Ginny apologise in the Great Hall at Hogwarts, which was not an easy thing, I'd imagine. Ron is the one who takes after you the most, I think. The apology was private, but no less heartfelt and self-deprecating, warning me to watch out for his reactions. It was that blinding honest that allowed me to be willing to allow the chance to forge a new friendship with them, and now with you. I'll accept you on the team, and maybe someday be able to visit you at the Burrow again." Arthur's head shot up in surprise, and Harry simply smiled at him. "It's a start, sir. No promises, but we can at least start."
"You know we are behind you," Ragnok said, "and if you need troops to fight actual battles, we will be with you." He turned to Amelia. "You may wish also to point out to your Minister Umbridge that we do not take kindly to the declaration that our citizens must surrender their children to the Ministry in order that they must find 'proper' homes. In fact, we would appreciate the return of the child of one of our citizens to his proper family, lest we be forced to sever all ties with the wizarding world, and all that such a severing entails."
"Who did they take of yours?" Harry asked. "If this has started already -"
"Ah, it seems that we forgot to tell you that we have appreciated your work for us so much that we have made you and your family honorary goblins. You are subject to our laws, but you have never broken any of them that I am aware of, or even bent them."
"You're losing your touch, Harry!" Tonks laughed from the other side of the table. "You're becoming respectable!"
"Hush, Nymphadora," he said with his own answering laugh, which drew a scowl from her. He stood and walked to Ragnok, kneeling before him and exposing his neck to the goblin leader. Ragnok simply chuckled and motioned for him to rise. "You do me great honour, sir." Ragnok simply waved off the comment, but it was obvious that there was some affection in the movement.
Turning back to the rest of the table, Harry said, "So, we need to get this going, and we need to do it right. Any suggestions? Remember that we're talking ... the goblins could get in serious trouble if word ever got out that they were involved in this thing to the slightest degree. We are literally talking an overthrow of the current administration, and rebuilding the government of the wizarding side of Europe from the ground up. We can expect no help from the other wizarding governments. In fact — Amelia, Albus? Be prepared to speak to the other governments and let them know that we have no designs on their lands. We only want things to change here, and since the normal way stopped working a long time ago, someone decided that it was best to fix things the only other way that they can be fixed."
"We shall work on the diplomatic side," Ragnok said. "Keep them off balance for a time. You are aware that you are likely the one who will have to take the reins of power for a short time, until someone you deem trustworthy can take over?"
Harry's grimace said far more than any words could. "And that is why we all shall help you, my child," Albus said with a smile.
Amelia Bones strode through the halls of the Ministry building with a purpose, and it was evident to all who saw her. They also knew her, and felt that being somewhere best defined as 'elsewhere' was a very good idea.
She entered the Hall of Records and walked to the office of the Senior Secretary. "Janice, may I speak with you?"
A woman of similar age to Amelia looked up and a grin split her face. "Amelia Bones, you sly old fox! How have you been?"
"You know how it goes, Janice. Good times, bad times, and now ... I'm looking something up. It involves my niece, and I'm rather worried about her."
"This involves that stupid Executive Order that Acting Minister Umbridge enacted, doesn't it?"
"As a matter of fact, it does. Would it be safe to assume that someone came down here investigating polygamous marriages not long ago?"
The woman named Janice scowled angrily. "The 'Great One' herself did. Turned out that the only existing marriage of that type was just dissolved by her proclamation."
"So Harry's marriage to my niece and the other girls was the only one affected?"
"Precisely. Came in here asking for the information, and left cackling madly about showing somebody how to do things." She paused. "Given the way she looks, it's more like she should have been croaking, not cackling. Never met a person who looked more like a toad than that woman."
"Are you willing to come to my office and sign an affidavit about this information? Maybe even leave a copy of the memory in an Evidence Pensieve?"
"That worried about this?" Janice asked.
"She's set herself up against Harry Potter, Janice. The young man killed the deadliest and most dangerous Dark Lord of at least a century or two. And now she wants to pit the Ministry against him?" She softened. "Besides, she's hated him for seven years. He made Fudge look bad by trying to say that Voldemort was back, and she was most definitely Fudge's toady." She smirked at the reference.
Janice stood. "Shall we? We can catch up on old times on the way up to your office."
"This is highly irregular!" Umbridge exclaimed the next day.
"I agree," stated an elderly man with a monocle in his eye. "Emergency meetings of the Wizengamot are unusual to say the least, and now for two to be called in the same week?"
"This never would have happened if Dumbledore was still the Chief Warlock!" another cried.
"It quite likely would have," Amelia said quietly, still managing to make herself heard. "And we can not rely on one man to dig us out of our troubles all the time. That was part of what led to the last 'emergency' session." No one missed the sarcasm colouring the word 'emergency'.
"Explain," demanded the monocled man.
"Quite simply put, Acting Minister Umbridge is abusing the powers of her office for a personal vendetta against a single individual, namely Harry Potter."
"You have no proof of this!" Umbridge shrieked.
"Incorrect," Amelia said. "We have enough that you are likely to be stripped of your Ministry career, if not sent to Azkaban for a short time."
Amelia faced the remainder of the Wizengamot, while motioning to Kingsley Shacklebolt to keep Umbridge in his sights at all times. "As many of you saw at the last meeting, Miss Lorelei Potter was kidnapped at the request, or possibly orders, of Madam Umbridge. This was so that a letter could be sent to Harry Potter, in order to get him to take care of a problem that they chose not to worry about, as if Mr Potter were something that they owned and could order about."
"He is a national resource," Umbridge said sternly, "and it is the Ministry's right to oversee and utilise such resources."
"By less than legal means, it seems." You have seen the proof of the kidnapping, and have heard from Mr Potter concerning the letter regarding Draco Malfoy's other identity. Since at the time he received that letter, only Malfoy's people and some of the Ministry knew of the name Basileus, there were only two possible sources for the letter. Only the Ministry has access to the spells that permit an owl to pass anti-owl wards, and those are only used in the direst of circumstances. They must be justified every time that they are used. This means that it was either a Ministry job, or someone highly placed in the Ministry was in the employ of Draco Malfoy. We have seen that Dolores Umbridge was the one to whom Lorelei Potter was delivered, so she needs to explain how it is that a young child in her care, whether by the family's choice or not, ended up missing a finger, which was sent with the letter that set Mr Potter on Draco Malfoy's trail."
"Follow that trail. Umbridge has Miss Potter kidnapped. A letter is sent by someone in the Ministry to get Mr Potter to deal with the up-and-coming Dark Lord that we later discovered was Draco Malfoy. This letter contained the finger of Miss Potter as proof that she was being held."
She looked at each member for a moment. "This alone proves misuse of power, but then we have the Executive Order from yesterday, which was designed purely to affect Mr Potter once again."
Amelia Bones turned and nodded to Auror Tonks, who opened a door to allow entry to several people — Harry, Auror Pamir, her friend Janice from the Hall of Records, and Albus Dumbledore. "These people are all here to give testimony regarding this. All have affidavits signed and memories stored in Evidence Pensieves concerning this information. Janice Bardstone, of the Hall of Records, will be able to state that Madam Umbridge entered the Hall before the Executive Order was created, looking for information into polygamous marriages, and found that Mr Potter's was the only one currently existing. The order came out not long after that information came to her attention. In asking Madam Bardstone about the information, she volunteered the memory that Madam Umbridge left laughing when she found that there was only one current polygamous marriage."
"Shall we be permitted to examine the evidence, or take your word for it?" one crochety member asked.
"We should retire to chambers and review the evidence. If what I say is shown to be correct, then I believe that we should at the very least place sanctions upon Madam Umbridge, if not completely remove her from office. She would also not be permitted to leave our custody, if no legal damages are assessed against her, until Miss Lorelei Potter is back with her parents. This would require that we overturn the blatantly abusive Executive Order that she placed into effect."
The Wizengamot nodded and slowly filed into the chambers behind them, leaving Umbridge guarded by Shacklebolt. In surprisingly short order, they had returned to the main chamber, almost all of them scowling at Umbridge for a moment.
The monocled man stood. "After reviewing the evidence, we determined quite a few things. First is that Mr Potter is not someone to be trifled with. I can't say as I'd be too happy if someone kidnapped my child and sent me her finger, had I a daughter. The evidence chain does show that Miss Potter was delivered to Dolores Umbridge, who had a responsibility to keep the child safe and unharmed. To make up for the pain and suffering on the part of the family, for each hour that Miss Potter has been missing from her parents care, Madam Umbridge shall be assessed one thousand Galleons, counting from the hour that Auror Pamir's memories show that Miss Potter was delivered to Madam Umbridge. These monies are payable to the Potter family." He looked to Umbridge. "For the sake of your bank account, I would recommend that you send an Auror to retrieve Miss Potter."
"The Executive Order has been overturned and declared to be null and void in all ways, and this information shall be published immediately." He inhaled. "The last involves the final punishment of Madam Umbridge." The woman looked up in fear. "We shall not pronounce the punishment until Miss Potter has been reunited with her family, in this room. We do not trust that Madam Dolores Umbridge would not make an attempt to use the child as leverage to lessen the punishments."
Dolores Umbridge sagged as much as it is possible for a toad to sag. She looked to Shacklebolt and said something too low for Amelia to hear, but Shacklebolt obviously understood. Without taking his eyes from the woman, he motioned for several Aurors to approach him, and he rapidly gave them orders, never once removing his eyes from his charge. I'm going to have to see that he gets a good position in the new regime, Amelia thought. Very professional, which is as it should be.
It was only twenty minutes later when Nymphadora Tonks came running into the room, grinning madly and giving Harry a thumbs-up. "She's just being looked at by one of our Healers," she said, "but she looks good," Tonks said.
Harry grinned. "I trust Auror Tonks with my life and my children's lives, so if you want to stop the clock, you can. If she says that Lorelei is safe, then she is."
The man with the monocle nodded. "Very well. Dolores Umbridge, for the blatant misuse of power shown during your time in the Ministry, you are to be stripped of your title and pension, and sentenced to fifteen years in Azkaban. There is evidence of years of such abuse, which is why the Azkaban sentence was levied. If there is any money remaining upon payment of the damages to the Potter family, you will need to live on that when you are released." He nodded to Kinglsey Shacklebolt. "Aurors, take her into custody."
She was quickly shackled and dragged off, screaming, "This is all your fault, Potter!" as she was removed.
A few minutes later, Tonks came in again, leading a small child, who immediately screamed "Daddy!" and ran to Harry, leaping into his arms at the last moment. He caught her and spun her around joyfully.
"I love you Lorelei," he said. "How are you doing?"
"I'm okay, Daddy. I was a little scared, but not now."
"I'm glad," he said. "How are your hands?" he asked sadly.
"Fine," she replied. "I washed them before they brought me here. See?" She held up both hands to show him.
Two completely unblemished, undamaged hands.
By the way - that last part was planned from the beginning, concerning Lorelei's finger...