Mad Scramble

The Ministry, July 16, 1997, 11:00pm

Because of the sudden appearance of almost one hundred Deatheaters, the Minister in his nightclothes, and the Headmaster of Hogwarts among others, the Ministry was humming like a hive of startled bees.

Since the Ministry was in lockdown, due to the intruder alarm going off, none of the Deatheaters were able to apparate out. A few of the Deatheaters, who knew the layout of the Ministry, were quick to take advantage of the chaos in the main hall to try and disappear deeper into the Ministry building, hoping to escape later.

Shacklebolt and Moody, ignoring the Minister for the most part, set about trying to restore order.

The Minister seeing that they had things in hand, headed to his office to change into the spare set of robes he kept there for emergencies. He had heard the not very well-concealed sniggers at the sight of his nightshirt and wanted to regain some of his lost dignity. He also needed to arrange to get a reporter from every major wizarding paper here as soon as possible to tell them about Voldemort's demise, and that Harry Potter had been found innocent, as well as the news about Sirius Black being innocent, once they had the details from Pettigrew about what happened the night the Potters were killed by Voldemort. If he worded things right, he could fulfil Potter's conditions and still come out of this with his job intact.

Dumbledore seeing things were under control, as much as they could be with a hall full of Deatheaters, headed for one of the fireplaces. He needed to get the members of the Wizengamot here as soon as possible, if he were to have a chance of preventing Harry from disappearing. He wasn't going to have another angry young wizard disappearing, only to reappear as the newest Dark Lord. Harry's anger needed to be negated or at least turned outward so it could be dealt with and since he was partially responsible for the situation, it was up to him to try and fix it.

...

Fudge, backed up by Arthur Weasley, who had actually been there, stood facing the crowd of reporters in the Atrium of the Ministry.

"Um hem," Fudge cleared his throat and that silenced the reporters who were talking.

Looking at the pile of ash that Potter had transported to the ministry along with the people and one of the Aurors had placed in a sealed glass box, Fudge decided to get the most important, at least to the wizarding world, news out of the way first. "It is my great pleasure to announce that You-Know-Who has finally been defeated, once and for all."

The noise level became almost deafening as all the reporters began firing questions at once. Fudge held up his hands signalling for quiet.

"One at a time, please," he requested, then catching sight of a rather well-built blonde in a form fitting robe, he said, "You, Miss...,"

"Parton, from the Quibbler." She identified herself. "How can we be sure that You-Know-Who is really gone? After all Minister, you did spend an entire year denying he'd come back."

Fudge bristled slightly at the implication that he was lying, but before he could blast the witch, he remembered Potter's warning about not trying to make himself look good. "That is why Arthur Weasley is here to confirm that the pile of ash in the container in front of me is that of the Dark Lord. He and Albus Dumbledore, who is currently in a meeting with the Wizengamot, were there when Harry Potter destroyed He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

"Harry Potter!" A number of the reporters chorused, then Magera from the Daily Prophet asked, "Why would Harry Potter destroy the Dark Lord? He joined him last summer or so we were told and he also killed Neville Longbottom on his orders."

"Ah yes... well, we made a mistake there." The Minister said quickly.

Before this could degenerate into an attempt by Fudge to save his job, Arthur quickly put in, "Voldemort, before Harry destroyed him, admitted that one of his Deatheaters framed Harry for killing Neville Longbottom."

"You said Potter destroyed You-Know-Who." Rhiat from the International Wizard Standard asked. "How did he reduce him to a pile of ash? I thought being in Azkaban prevented you from doing any magic."

"I have no idea why Harry was able to work magic and I have no idea what spell he used." Arthur told them. "I can only tell you the effects of it. I saw the dark green fire as it came out of his eyes and mouth. It engulfed the Dark Lord and reduced him to a pile of ash in seconds."

The reporters stared at the pile of ash with shock and a little fear. Their curiosity quickly over came their fear and they began firing questions more rapidly.

....

Wizengamot Chambers

"Albus, there should be no problem, enacting the statutes you need," Amelia Bones told him, "but are you sure this is the right way to handle this? From what little you've told me, Mr. Potter is currently a very angry young man and with good cause. Won't this just make him angrier?"

"I am aware of his anger, Amelia, and that is the reason, I want these edicts passed." Dumbledore told her. "Yes, Harry, in all likelihood will be angry, at first, but I am certain that he can be made to see reason. I made a mistake once of allowing a young wizard's anger to fester and grow, instead of trying to defuse it. My neglect allowed a promising young Wizard named Tom Riddle, to become Voldemort."

There was the expected flinch from the other members of the Wizengamot, and Dumbledore sighed. He would've thought that knowing the Dark Lord was finally and irrevocably dead would have given them the courage to say his name, but apparently the fear was too ingrained.

"The other reason, we need to passed these edicts, is because, whether he knows it or not, Mr. Potter, needs the Wizarding world as much as we need him." Dumbledore said in conclusion. "We just need time to convince him of that."

#~#~#~#~#

Leaky Cauldron 12:01am July 17,1997

A very thin man with shaggy dark hair and ragged, shabby robes appeared in front of the Leaky Cauldron. If someone had been there to see his arrival, they would have shaken their heads, wondering if their eyes were playing tricks on them. Because where there had been a shabby, unkempt man, under the streetlight, was now standing a golden-haired man in neat robes.

The bell over the door that led into muggle London rang as the door struck it.

Tom looked up surprised. He hadn't expected anyone to be using that entrance this late at night.

The tall, well-built wizard walked up to the bar and asked in a low, husky voice. "Can I get a room for a few days?"

"Of course," Tom pulled a key off a hook and handed it to him. "And your name, sir?"

"Edmund Cristo," the man said as he headed for the stairs.

Tom noticed the man had no luggage, but before he could say anything, the man had disappeared.