chapter 6

Fudge shifted in his seat uncomfortably "Yes, well… When you put it like that…"

"There is also the case of the arrest of Rubeus Hagrid during my second year," said Harry "I'm not entirely sure how accurate the Hogwarts rumour mill is, but I believe that the phrase "The Ministry has got to be seen to be doing something" was thrown about."

The Minister paled slightly, and Harry had to fight to hold back a smile. That quotation wasn't a rumour. Harry had been there, under his invisibility cloak the night that Hagrid was arrested and heard the words coming straight from the mouth of the Minister himself. But by saying it was a school rumour, Harry had covered himself at the same time as making his point to the Minister.

Harry continued "And then there was that shocking embarrassment at the Quidditch World Cup, with all those Death Eaters marching about, tormenting Muggles and setting fire to peoples' tents… I seem to remember an announcement of a reduction in funding for the DMLE sometime early during my second year at Hogwarts, and the following summer Sirius Black escapes from Azkaban Prison and then the next year we have to suffer that embarrassment, especially with the Ministers from many other countries present, as well as the media…"

"Yes, yes…" said Fudge with an air of someone who really did not want to think about such embarrassments.

"All in all, putting those things together, it's not hard to come up with a possible reason for Dumbledore's actions," Harry continued "But as I said, I'm just a pawn in the middle of Dumbledore's grand schemes."

Deciding to move the discussion along, Madam Bones asked "So when did Dumbledore approach you with his plan to seize control of the Ministry?"

Harry considered his words carefully before answering "Well, the first that I knew for definite was shortly before the third task of the Tri Wizard Tournament. I think it was not long after Mr Crouch turned up at Hogwarts, raving mad, before disappearing again. Dumbledore didn't come right out and confess the entire plan, he just said something along the lines of "The Minister is not prepared to listen to reason." I don't remember it all word-for-word, but the gist was that you were no longer listening to every word coming out of his mouth and it was time for you to go."

Fudge noticeably bristled "Really? Just who does that blustering old coot think he is?"

"One thing I have noticed about Dumbledore," said Harry "is that he doesn't like people who don't dance to his tune."

"And what made you go along with the plan, Mr Potter?" asked Madam Bones.

"Well to put it simply," replied Harry "I am one of the many who has been trained to dance to Dumbledore's tune."

Madam Bones frowned and demanded "Explain?"

Harry steeled himself. It was now time for him to reveal some truths about himself that he was not usually comfortable talking about with anyone.

"As you learned from my trial earlier, if you didn't already know, I live with Muggle relatives from my mother's side of the family. Simply put, they don't like magic. In fact, they hate it. And they have no love for me. Although they took me in, begrudgingly I might add, they were very neglectful towards me, and blamed me for everything that went wrong in their lives. As such, when I showed up for Hogwarts, I was both meek and eager to please, two traits that I am very certain Dumbledore exploited to his advantage."

"How did he take advantage?" asked Madam Bones.

"The first person from the Magical World I can ever remember meeting was Hagrid. And you know how loyal he is to Dumbledore. And my first friend at Hogwarts was Ronald Weasley, and you know how loyal the Weasleys are to Dumbledore too. From say one it was "Great man, Dumbledore," and "He's bloody brilliant." Combined with his Grandfather-like persona, I was quickly sucked into the crowd of people who believe that the Hogwarts Headmaster can do no wrong."

"And add to that your desire to keep away from your relatives, you end up becoming the perfect pawn." finished Madam Bones.

"Exactly." said Harry "I am in the perfect position to be made to see things from Dumbledore's point or view, and that makes be especially vulnerable to his manipulations."

"And how did Dumbledore convince you to go through with his plan to destabilise the Ministry?" asked Fudge.

"He told me that if I didn't go through with it, he would snap my wand, bind my magic and send me back to my relatives' house permanently." replied Harry, the lie forming easily.

Fudge frowned as remarked "I know you said that you don't like them, but how can it be so bad that you would go to such lengths to stay away from them?"

Harry gave a sigh. It was time to reveal something that he had told to no one before. He stood from his seat and undid his robe. Then he lifted up his shirt and turned around. He heard a gasp from Amelia and it sounded like Fudge had knocked something off of his desk.

On his back were several scars.

"See the longest one?" asked Harry "The one going across the small of my back from, starting slightly higher on the right?"

"It looks like you were it with a whip." observed Madam Bones.

"My Uncle did that. At school I got told off for throwing bubble gum into a girls' hair. The problem was that it wasn't me, it was my cousin Dudley. When the teacher asked who did it, my cousin and nine others all pointed the finger of blame at me. I protested but she told me off, and my accidental magic turned her hair blue. When I got home, Dudley told his parents. Uncle Vernon then took his belt and beat me with it."

"Did they often do things like that?" asked Madam Bones.

Harry shook his head "Only when the magic I did was highly obvious. Normally they just settled for locking me in the cupboard under the stairs, which is where my bedroom was. If the magic was deemed worse I would get punished. See the scar below the left shoulder blade? That one was because I was being chased by bullied and accidentally apparated onto the roof of the school."

Harry lowered his shirt and picked up his robe to put it back on "I trust you now realise why I don't want to go back to my relatives."

Fudge nodded "Yes, of course. Anyone would want to avoid that. But what made you think that Dumbledore could take your wand and force you to remain there?"

Harry tilted his head to the side, as if considering his response before giving it "Surely you must have noticed, Minister, that the Headmaster gets away with a lot of things that the average witch or wizard would not. And I have good reason to believe that it was Dumbledore who put me with the Dursleys in the first place. When I first met Hagrid, he admitted to pulling me from the ruins of my parents' home and taking me to the Dursleys. It's not that hard to believe that Dumbledore ordered him to do it."

Fudge nodded "Yes, yes that is true. Dumbledore does get away with a lot. And he did tell the Wizengamot at the time that you have been put in the care of family from your mother's side. I remember that it didn't sit too well with some people. Some wanted you in a wizarding family, some thought that they had a claim in being able to raise you, some thought it was wrong to hide you… of course some of that last group turned out to be Death Eater sympathisers."

Madam Bones turned the talk back to the subject at hand "So how much of the events of the night of the Third Task were Dumbledore's manipulations in progress?"

"Honestly?" asked Harry "I have no idea. I think Dumbledore knew the truth about Barty Crouch Jr. impersonation Alastor Moody very early on. Think about it; Dumbledore and Moody are supposed to be old friends, so how could Dumbledore not notice an impostor easily? I believe that there being another convicted Death Eater on the loose was meant to help in destabilising you, Minister. The story of Voldemort's return, however, was entirely fabricated. It was meant to spread a mass panic that would help his cause."

"And who killed Cedric Diggory?" asked Madam Bones.

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