Chapter 31 - Lies and Tantrum's and Betrayal - Oh My!

"He can't be dead!"

"Albus, he was eaten by the biggest fucking dragon I've ever seen - of course he's dead." Cornelius held up his hand to stop the old fool repeating the same mantra again.

"What convinces me he's gone for good - more than the hundreds of witnesses who saw the enormous dragon have him for a snack - is that Amelia Bones tendered her resignation immediately after the event. She's tight with Potter, probably heading to Italy as we speak, so that means they think Voldemort's gone for good too. Potter and Granger have been way ahead of the game since leaving Hogwarts - sometimes on a completely different page from everyone else."

"So you're saying you believe Potter over me?"

"Looking at both your recent records, there really isn't a choice to be made. They've squashed the Death Eaters, and everyone else who got in their way. Voldemort is dead, as is Dolores and you were made to look a fool today. We both understand what a disaster my name coming out of that cup would have been, and something Potter was clearly capable of doing. You thought you were trapping a former student, Potter not only reversed your trap - he took out Voldemort for good measure. That's not someone I want to cross in any manner."

Cornelius could see Albus still wasn't buying it. He held a different opinion, therefore Albus Dumbledore was right - and everyone else was wrong. Shaking his head, the Minister served this old fool some home truths.

"I listened to the radio broadcast today, the commentator practically christened those two as the reincarnations of Merlin and Morgan Le Fay. Your own efforts didn't fare so well, as a competitor or an organiser. Did you really not have anything in place to save a champion who found themselves in serious trouble? That Potter did, and it worked brilliantly, is simply another massive point in his favour in any comparison against you..."

"But that's preposterous!"

"Is it? Potter is no longer the Boy-Who-Lived, he's now the Dark-Lord-Destroyer. Is there any doubt in your mind Potter not only orchestrated today's event, he was in total control the entire time. That was the conclusion the radio commentator quickly came to, and so would most of those watching in the stadium. The Ministry is going to be inundated with demands that Potter gets awarded an Order of Merlin, First Class."

"You can't possibly..."

"Of course I can't - he'd very publicly tell me to stick it up my arse. The only chance we would have of Potter accepting is if we offered his betrothed the same, and probably her muggle parents too."

"The Wizengamot would never vote for that."

"Albus, it's days, like Hogwarts, are numbered as well. Amelia tried to warn me, but it wasn't until I sat down and thought about it I realised the Ministry itself is under a very real threat too. There's no point of being the Minister of Magic if there's no witches or wizards left in the country to govern. The Potter family has left Britain for good, so has the Blacks. I suspect the likes of Bones, Longbottom, Abbot, Lovegood and even Weasley will soon follow. Add in the number of families Britain lost during the Death Eater purges and you'll start to see the dilemma we're facing. I have people exploring the extent of the problem at this very minute, I'm already positive I won't like their findings."

"What can I do to help?"

"There's three areas you could really help the country, Albus. Number one, call off this tournament - it's just an embarrassment now."

"I would love to, but it can't be done. Once started, the tournament has to continue until the cup is won at the end of the third task. The tasks themselves have to be challenging, we can't have them sitting down and playing chess for the cup. There also has to be a certain break between tasks, to give any injured champions enough time to recover and compete. What are the other two areas?"

Knowing the old wizard wouldn't like hearing this, Cornelius just blurted it out. "Resign as Headmaster of Hogwarts, effective immediately."

That he had managed with one sentence to render Albus Dumbledore lost for words Cornelius considered quite an achievement. "There are two reasons Hogwarts is still operating. The other schools are providing Professors and the fact that Potter didn't take any students from your upper years. Those borrowed Professors though are using the opportunity to recruit members of those upper year groups for their own schools. When that happens, there simply won't be enough students attending to financially support Hogwarts. There has to be a new staff and new plan in place before the New Year, otherwise Hogwarts won't open next September."

"I've tried, Cornelius. I couldn't even get anyone to accept the deputy post."

"The problem is you, the name 'Albus Dumbledore' has become toxic. Your methods of running Hogwarts have also become well known, using compulsion charms on people who work for you is no incentive for anyone to take on a position in the castle. If you don't resign, I'll be forced to take Ministerial control of Hogwarts, and then sack you. Only with Albus Dumbledore out of the castle do we have any chance of keeping Hogwarts open past June."

Albus looked more shocked than angry, so Cornelius pushed on to his next point. "After the third task, you need to disappear. The ICW are desperate to put you on trial, for multiple crimes, and are sure to take action the instant your involvement with the tournament is over. You won't survive a full-blown trial, and they're certain to make the entire process very public, so you might take the Ministry down with you. Well, Albus, can you help?"

"Of course I can help." Quick as a flash, Albus cast an obliviate at the Minister of Magic - while cursing those Italian wizards for taking his wand.

He was so busy trying to ensure the Grangers couldn't interfere with the situation, those two powerful stunners had him out for the count before he could do anything. Even now, he wasn't sure if it was losing allegiance of the elder wand that was affecting his spell casting, or simply that he was still suffering the after affects of being heavily stunned again.

His anger at Cornelius was of epic proportions. Only he knew about Voldemort's horcruxes, and that the Dark Lord couldn't possibly be dead. With a prophecy in play too, where was Potter's hand in this banishment?

"Little jumped-up pipsqueak, how dare you even think Potter could possibly be better than me at anything - in my own office too. You will forget everything we talked about, and appoint Shacklebolt as the new head of the DMLE."

With Kingsley in that position, he could begin feeding stories - manufacturing evidence if necessary - that the Dark Lord wasn't really gone. Then the gullible public would turn on their false hero, and once more look to him for guidance - and the saving of their miserable lives. Albus had many years of experience at waking his disoriented victims up, and then getting them out of his office as quickly as possible. Fudge was swiftly and surely dispatched to the Ministry of Magic.

-oOoOo-

There was a celebratory atmosphere within the Institute. Classes after lunch had been cancelled so the entire school could listen to the broadcast together. They were currently sitting down to dinner, though Harry, Sirius, Remus, Francesca and Amelia were having what looked like a very serious discussion. Hermione was sticking with her family, the three Grangers were worried how today might affect Joan.

When asked how she was feeling, her little nose still twitched but she was now confident enough just to say what she was thinking. "The bad wizard who killed Harry's mum and dad is gone, and that's a good thing. Millie made sure I didn't see or hear anything too yucky. The beautiful lady who was burned by the dragon, can we go visit her after dinner? Aunt Poppy is wonderful, and seeing the woman is going to be fine would make me fine too."

Hermione explained that it would be up to Poppy if they could visit Fleur but, if she said yes, they'd all go after dessert.

It was only seconds later that Dobby appeared to say Madam Poppy said little Miss could visit - but only for a little while. Joan's wide smile and 'thanks' made Dobby's day.

-oOoOo-

Fleur was lying in the hospital bed, with half her body swathed in bandages - it was a challenge to find a comfortable position. That those bandages were there mainly to hold the burn salve in place was a great comfort to the three adults keeping her company. They in turn were trying to offer some comfort of their own to the distraught witch. All were conversing in rapid French.

"How can I face them again? From the first moment we met, I deliberately insulted them. Yet not only did they save me, I was brought here for treatment. What am I supposed to say to them?"

The report from the mediwitch that his daughter would make a full recovery in a few days had shocked and delighted Louis Delacour. It was hard to believe such an outcome was possible after what he had witnessed today. The mediwitch insisted that getting his daughter out of the arena and into her care so promptly played a massive part in her being able to offer such a positive diagnosis.

"Perhaps you're overthinking this, but saying 'thank you' would be a good starting point."

Olympe also tried to shore up her student's feelings. "Lord Potter was of course correct, none of us had any idea just what we were getting ourselves into. Those unbreakable contracts were bad enough, but it would appear Albus had plans within plans - and we got drawn into them. Lord Potter and his betrothed were brilliant today, their power and control was unbelievable in ones so young."

"It was their teamwork that impressed me more, they appeared more in sync than Apolline and myself - and we have been married over twenty years."

It was at that point Apolline let go of her eldest daughter's hand, and moved to greet the group who had just entered the infirmary.

"Miss Granger, we cannot zank you and your 'Arry enough for saving Fluer today. Merci, Merci."

"Oh, think nothing of it. We know first hand just how dangerous Hogwarts can be with Dumbledore in charge, we also knew he wouldn't have put any safety arrangements in place. As we said to her headmistress, Dumbledore doesn't care who his plans hurt - we do." Hermione introduced her parents, and then Joan.

"She wanted to see if the beautiful lady was ok."

Joan headed straight over to the injured Fleur, taking the space Apolline had just moved from. "I'm glad to see you're ok, you were very brave. Dobby is the best elf in the world, he brought you here. Aunt Poppy will soon have you all better. She did the same for Harry, and there was blood everywhere when he got back from the Ministry. That was really frightening."

Smiling at the young girl, Apolline gently asked a question. "Weren't you frightened today?"

"Oh no, I was with our family. Nothing can happen to me then." Joan appeared to think for a moment before saying any more. "That bad old wizard knocked his dragon out when he got into bother. If mum had gotten into bother, her Harry would have knocked the dragon right out of the place. They're both very strong and clever, so I wasn't frightened at all."

Thinking that this was the person she'd called 'little boy', Fleur tentatively moved her head around to speak with Hermione. "I need to apologise for my 'urtful words today. I was wrong, and your 'Arry was so right - we didn't know what we were getting into. 'Ank you so much for saving me anyways."

"You're very welcome. Penny Clearwater will be up soon to help make arrangements for what you want to do - she's one of the Institute's assistants. Poppy wants you to stay at least tonight, and the rest of you are welcome to stay too. I need to get this one to bed, we've all had an exciting day."

As Joan said goodnight to everyone, Fleur was heard to mutter 'Elle est si adorable'.

-oOoOo-

An excited Angelina spotted Cedric in the corridor, she hurried to catch up with him. "Hey, Diggory, wait up a moment. Are you going to the ball?"

Cho possessively wrapped herself around Cedric's left arm. "Yes he is, and he's going with me - so back off!"

Holding both her hands in front of her, palms out, Angelina set the clearly jealous girl straight. "Hey, I wasn't trying to poach your date. Not only am I not going, I won't even be in the country. I'm spending the Christmas holidays in Italy with Harry and the gang. Headmistress Sprout gave me some names to invite along, and Cedric was on that very short list. If he's staying here though, I won't bother you again."

Turning, she managed to take two steps away before Cedric got his voice to work. "Hold on, Angelina, you can't spring something like that on a person then just walk away. What's this invitation?"

"Oh, we're spending the entire holiday at the Institute. The Headmistress said their school has weather wards, so they'll be loads of quidditch involved too. Anyone going though needs parental permission, a letter sent to Gringotts works. This is not an official visit, so absolutely nothing to do with Hogwarts or the Ministry. Just some friends spending their holidays together - in Italy."

Still clinging to Cedric, it was a tentative Cho who now politely asked a question she desperately wanted to know the answer to. "Who else's name is on that list?"

"Oh, I couldn't say. We need to speak with these people personally, not let them hear this kind of news second hand."

This forced Cho to ask her real question. "Is my name on that list?"

"I suppose I can tell you that. No, It's a very small list. Harry had Luna check the few Ravenclaw names on it, to see if any of them had picked on her. It looks like anyone who did won't be allowed anywhere near the Potter Institute. Cedric, I will need an answer in the next couple of days."

This time Angelina got to walk away. The couple she left behind were too busy arguing with each other to stop her again. She well remembered Cho publicly flirting with Harry during their match last year - and he still beat her to the snitch. Angelina simply didn't like the girl, wouldn't find it hard to believe she bullied a younger student, and couldn't see anyway Cho would be getting an invitation to the Institute. She headed off to track down the next name on her list.

-oOoOo-

Cornelius swaggered up to his secretary. "Maureen, please send for Auror Shacklebolt. I need to speak with him in my office." As he headed through the ornate door to the Minister of Magic's office, Maureen opened her desk drawer and knew what she had to do.

Shouting "enter" as his office door was knocked, Cornelius was shocked to see Maureen enter with four aurors - and none of them was Shacklebolt.

"What's the meaning of this?"

"Just following your orders, Minister. If you didn't come back and give me a certain passcode, you ordered me to hand you this and have aurors take you to St Mungo's to be checked for compulsion and memory charms."

She handed over a scroll, one that he'd obviously sealed himself. Breaking the Ministerial seal, he then read the missive - penned in his own hand.

If you're reading this, don't be angry at Maureen - she's doing exactly what we ordered her to. We were heading to Hogwarts to confront Dumbledore over today's farce. We had three points to raise with him - cancelling this tournament, him resigning from Hogwarts and disappearing before the ICW get hold of him.

Knowing he wasn't going to like any of that, we thought it wise to take this precaution. It's now time to go to St Mungo's, and discover if this precaution was necessary. The aurors received their own roll of parchment, giving them a Ministerial order to take you to St Mungo's.

That he'd signed it, and put 'Minister of Magic' underneath his signature ended any possibility this could be a fake. Only Cornelius Fudge would know that, even although he was going to be the only person to read this, he would still sign it as Minister of Magic.

He silently held his hand out to the lead auror, and read their orders - again in his own handwriting. The only way out of this would be to order the aurors to stand down, something these written orders specifically ordered the aurors not to accept.

"Well, I suppose we better get this over with." Cornelius left for St Mungo's, under auror guard.

-oOoOo-

Using any scale of measurement, Sirius Black just had a stellar day. Voldemort had been the quintessential bogieman for the entirety of Sirius's life, a figure so scary that witches and wizards were afraid even to say his name. The impact he'd had on Sirius's life was immeasurable, and all of it bad. With Voldemort now banished for good, the world was definitely a lighter place tonight.

Sirius was spending the few remaining hours of that day sitting on the terrace of Harry's home - a glass of exquisite single malt scotch whisky in one hand while his other arm was around the equally exquisite Miss Rossi. The beautiful view across the Bay of Naples held no attraction for the marauder, it paled in any comparison with the beautiful woman currently cuddling into his side.

As expected, Amelia had jumped at the chance of being involved in their latest project. It was the sparkle in Francesca's gorgeous blue eyes that had caught and held Sirius's attention. Sirius was sure he was reading the signs correctly, but he'd never done this before so there were a certain amount of his nerves jangling too.

"You looked really excited about our latest project..."

"Oh Sirius, it's an architect's dream to be given a brief like this. Design an entire village from scratch - not just houses but an environment where a whole community can thrive. Yes, I'm excited."

"How would you like to design one of those houses for us to live in?"

There was a sharp intake of breath, before Francesca asked a question. "Are you asking me to move in with you?"

Leaning over, Sirius kissed Francesca with all the love and tenderness he possessed. "Move in together, marry me, spend the rest of our lives together raising our family - the choice is yours. I just know I will always want you in my life, in whatever form I can get."

The smile Francesca sported eclipsed the moonlight they were currently bathed in. "Francesca Black does have a lovely ring to it."

Discarding his whisky, Sirius was now down on one knee - determined to do this properly. "Miss Francesca Rossi, would you do me the immense honour of becoming my wife?"

She bent over and kissed him. "Just so you're sure, that's a yes."

"We need a ring, then fix a date - any suggestions?"

"Plenty of jewellers in Naples. The date can be whenever we decide but I'd like to get married where my life changed - right here. Do you think Harry would let us get married in his home?"

"You have no idea how happy that would make him, and the rest of our crazy family."

Francesca was now laughing. "Yes, you are a crazy bunch. What's that old proverb - may you live in interesting times - I think we've got that covered. My family is just mum and dad, who you've met. We could get them here for Christmas, meet the rest of the gang too."

"That's a wonderful idea. How does a Christmas wedding grab you?"

"If we talk it over with my folks, then we'll see."

Sirius wanted to head for Naples right now, desperate to be there in time for the jewellery shops opening. "There's no way I want to give you any time to change your mind about marrying me."

"Oh, you'll find I'm very stubborn when my mind's made up. You're not getting away from me now, Sirius Black."

That declaration deserved a kiss, possibly many kisses. On this stellar day of days, Sirius was sure he'd saved the best bit until last.

-oOoOo-

Cornelius should also have been experiencing a stellar day, and a glass or two of whiskey sounded just about perfect at the moment. After ranting and raving for at least fifteen minutes, with numerous swear words peppered in there too, it was time to calm down and do his job. The biggest problem he faced right now was Cornelius didn't know who he could trust.

The Minister ordered the quartet of aurors who'd accompanied him to St Mungo's to undergo the same tests as he had. When one of them was found to have a loyalty charm on them, it just made Cornelius more determined.

He sent for the head of the hospital and, after they had been given a clean bill of health, Cornelius explained the problem.

"Dumbledore has been rather charming, playing fast and loose with memory, loyalty and compulsion charms. We have no idea how many charms, how many people or even how long it's been going on. I suspect decades but at the moment, the only people we can trust are currently in this room. We need to change that, and quickly. That will take a massive involvement of your staff, but I think they need to be scanned first - with the auror department next in line."

The mere thought of someone casting spells on any of his staff had the head of St Mungo's instantly agreeing. They would begin the sweep of the hospital staff immediately, with Cornelius assigning two aurors to help quash any objections those about to be tested might have. The Minister then sent the third to track down the head of the Unspeakables, and bring them here. He held onto the fourth as a personal bodyguard, they were currently playing everything by ear and the next few hours would be critical.

-oOoOo-

Like many residents of magical Britain, Augusta Longbottom had partaken of a few celebratory drinks to mark the passing of the abomination who called himself Lord Voldemort. Watching her grandson proudly march into that stadium, his lovely betrothed at his side, was also an occasion worthy of a celebration for Augusta. She was shocked when, after turning in for the night, her house elf announced the House of Longbottom had important visitors.

Making her way down to the reception lounge, she was greeted by the Minister of Magic, along with a healer and auror.

"What's the meaning of this intrusion, Cornelius? I better like your reason, otherwise there will be consequences."

"Madam Longbottom, could you indulge us for a moment? We need the healer here to scan you for any behavioural modifying charms or potions. I really can't tell you anything else, until we discover if you are clear of these abominations."

A serious Cornelius was enough for Augusta to agree, she also wanted to hear his explanation. With the healer nodding she was clear, Augusta invited them into the lounge for a seat. Somehow Augusta thought she might need one.

"Today I went to Hogwarts and confronted Dumbledore, things just can't continue they way they are. I came back to the Ministry with no memory of our confrontation, the only thing in my mind was to appoint Albus's suggestion to fill Amelia's now vacant post. I had left some orders with my secretary though, and found myself dragged to St Mungo's. There it was discovered I had been memory charmed by Dumbledore, and not for the first time. Scanning my accompanying aurors, we discovered one of them had been charmed too."

Augusta got straight to the heart of their dilemma at once. "Who can we trust? I understand now why you scanned me first."

"I decided we needed to test those who would be doing the scanning first, so instigated a sweep of St Mungo's - with terrifying results. The reason we're here is because every healer who worked on your son and his wife have all been compromised. We need to sweep the aurors next, followed by the Ministry, the Wizengamot and then anyone else who wants a check-up. With St Mungo's now on full alert to tackle this unprecedented challenge, the hospital itself will be running with a skeleton staff. I wanted to offer you the chance of moving your family somewhere else - just until things can get back to normal here."

A quick glance at the clock had Augusta diving for the phone on her sideboard. In another ten minutes, the phones at the Institute would be switched to that thing where you had to leave a message - a message that wouldn't be listened to until tomorrow morning.

After a few rings, her call was answered. "Hello, Augusta Longbottom here. Is that you, Percy?... I am perfectly aware of the time, young man. The fact that I'm calling at this hour should instantly alert you that this is an important matter - I have a bit of an emergency on my hands. Can I speak with Pomona or Minerva?" Covering the mouthpiece with her other hand, she let her flabbergasted audience know what was happening.

"Percy's trying to connect me to Pomona. I'll need to apologise for snapping his head off next time I - oh, hello Pomona, I'm so glad I could catch you...

No, no one is hurt but we have a serious problem here. Albus has been casting a lot more charms than we thought, and for a lot longer too. He memory charmed the Minister again today, but this time Cornelius went to St Mungo's and got treated...hold on a minute, Pomona."

Covering her mouthpiece again, she quickly explained that Harry, Hermione and Poppy had witnessed Dumbledore casting a memory charm on the Minister in the Hogwarts infirmary. Only Harry and Hermione getting the drop on Dumbledore saved them suffering the same fate. Knowing they wouldn't be believed, Poppy cast a memory charm on the headmaster while Dobby tucked the old git into his own bed. That was the night they all decided to leave Hogwarts.

"Pomona, the healers that have worked on my Frank and Alice have all been targeted by Dumbledore." She had to hold the phone away from her ear as Pomona gave her opinion on that - rather loudly.

"Yes, I totally agree. St Mungo's is going to be operating with a skeleton staff, while just about every witch and wizard in the country will need to be scanned. I don't want to leave them there.... Oh thank you, Pomona. If you could let Neville and Harry know... Yes, that would be wonderful. Thank you so much, and see you soon."

It was with a sigh of relief Augusta placed the handset down. "Pomona will organise everything. Frank and Alice will be in the Institute tonight, under Poppy's care. I don't want to get my hopes up here, but we've not had any hope at all for over a decade. Dumbledore is not a friend of our house, anything he did won't be to their benefit but will possibly be reversible."

Thinking it would be easier to achieve what they needed to at St Mungo's with the Minister of Magic, a healer and an auror in their group, Augusta offered them refreshments while she went and changed for travelling. The Longbottom matriarch had just returned when the wards alerted her a portkey had entered their home. With Neville in their party, the Longbottom wards would allow their party entry.

Neville came racing in and hugged his grandmother. "I want to kill him, Gran. Dumbledore's a bigger Dark Lord than Voldemort."

"Git intae line, Neville. Ye'r wey doon th' queue fur a shot at that lanky bearded sassenach."

Augusta knew her friend must barely be holding her temper in check for her accent to slip that badly. Minerva spotted Cornelius the minute she entered, and he was next to feel her wrath. "Minister, 'n' whit urr ye daein' aboot this monster wha aye heids a schuil?"

"At this minute in time, we're having to ensure the people we send to arrest him are free of any spells Dumbledore might have placed on them. You have my word he won't be in Hogwarts come tomorrow morning."

Minerva wasn't angry with anyone here, but the mere mention of Dumbledore's name stirred her Highland blood - and saw her primed and ready for battle. Her 'aboot bloody time' was almost spoken in her normal accent.

Harry completed the trio of visitors and approached Augusta. "Ma'am, House Potter considers House Longbottom family. Whatever I have is yours for the asking, anything we can do will be done."

The emotions of tonight caught up with Augusta, tears were running down her cheeks and she couldn't answer Harry's formal declaration of aid. Neville stepped forward though and accepted by shaking Harry's hand.

Minerva was now back under control and able to fulfil her part in tonight's shenanigans. "Poppy has asked for all medical records pertaining to Frank and Alice Longbottom. We would also like samples of any potions they were prescribed. Our Potions Mistress is standing by to determine what exactly they were been drugged with."

Quickly agreeing to all of that, the seven then flooed to a very busy St Mungo's.

-oOoOo-

Totally unaware of the drama unfolding elsewhere, Dan was lying in bed with a wife who was struggling to sleep. He could feel Emma's apprehension through their bracelets and decided to face head-on the pachyderm that was currently sharing their bed.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

After a minute or so, Emma was ready to air her thoughts. "Today I shot a man - or was it a woman - in front of hundreds of people, and I don't feel one iota of remorse. Shouldn't I feel at least a little regret that someone died today - and we played a big part in it."

Dan tried to answer as honestly as he could. "If a rabid dog was getting ready to attack people, and you had your gun, there would be no hesitation and you'd take the shot. That might have looked like someone's grandmother today, but we were both there when it was born in a cauldron of bone, flesh and stolen blood. It wasn't a person who died today, that was

a murdering monster. There was absolutely no humanity in that body he manufactured. Because of what we did today, our family will now be able to live normal lives."

She knew her husband was cracking a joke, but every now and then Dan somehow managed to nail one that was actually funny. After she stopped laughing, Emma started jokingly berating her husband.

"Our family couldn't do normal if they tried. A couple of gun toting former dentists, our fifteen year old daughter has a four year old calling her mum and Harry levitates dragons - in his spare time. Our family parted ways with normality the instant the doors were magically blown off our old home. I wonder if they ever got all the blood out that kitchen - I used to spend hours ensuring it was spotless."

That got Dan chuckling, remembering how particular his wife had been about keeping her beloved kitchen so clean you could eat your dinner off the floor. "You forgot to mention the in-laws - a big black dog, a werewolf and an adoring elf. Yip, that's definitely not normal."

As they lay snuggling, Emma had another thought. "With Voldemort and his Death Eaters gone, there's nothing to stop us going back to Britain and taking up our old lives."

This shocked Dan. "Do you really want to?"

"Hell no! I much prefer what we do now, and we sold everything back in Britain anyway. Apart from the odd visit to Ambrosia's - which we can do anytime - what else is there to miss? What would we have to talk about with our former friends? We spend our days trying to teach magical children how our world works, but we can't tell anyone from our world what we now do for a living. Told you we don't do normal."

"You had me worried there. I couldn't go back to pretending interest on how the new club Charles Wilkie just paid way over the odds for is going to improve his golf game."

"His wife is worse, explaining in excruciating detail how to avoid suffering from a soggy bottom when baking pastry. Listening to that is about as exciting as performing root canal treatment on someone with really bad halitosis."

That had both of them chuckling. They now embraced each other with the same enthusiasm they had for their new lives - and family.

-oOoOo-

Poppy loved her new job - new life - but was also enjoying the challenge of tackling the problems currently in her infirmary. When she'd discovered two Institute students would be facing dragons, she'd immediately contacted three separate dragon reserves - asking for a sample or formula of the burn paste they used. All three had replied, and Miss Delacour was benefiting greatly from the salves and knowledge Poppy had received.

The Longbottoms were a different matter altogether. After stopping all medication - she didn't trust anything Dumbledore had a hand in - Poppy was monitoring them through the night, while using that time to study their medical files. Something wasn't adding up here, and she was determined to get to the bottom of it.

Looking at the box of potions, she was positive that's where the answers lay. Poppy was also positive that the Institute's Potions Mistress would be up to the task of deciphering whatever secrets they held.

Poppy's thoughts were disturbed by someone entering her infirmary. "Couldn't sleep, love?"

Ginny came over and wrapped her arms around her second mother. "Too much has happened too quickly. I really wanted to see Tom ended today, give me closure as my healer would say. I also understand why I couldn't go, something else Dumbledore robbed me off."

"Surely you talked to Luna, she would tell you exactly what happened?"

"She did, and of course I believe her, I just wish I could have seen it for myself. Luna's with Neville just now, visiting the room his gran's staying in. I don't think any of them will get much sleep tonight either. Without Luna there, I didn't want to be in our room alone tonight - and knew you'd be working on this... I hope you don't mind?"

Kissing Ginny's forehead, Poppy got up and made them both hot chocolate in the little refreshments alcove built into her office. She'd always hated calling for elves to supply her with tea or coffee when the situation demanded Poppy had to work through the night. The elves now simply checked her alcove was topped up with fresh supplies, just one more thing Poppy loved about her new infirmary.

Sipping her hot chocolate, Ginny then broached the subject that was really bothering her. "Now that he's gone, do you think people will still come to the Institute?"

Knowing Ginny as she did, Poppy understood she wasn't looking for blanket reassurance here - rather an honest answer. "If the Ministry of Magic ever get their act together, and if Hogwarts becomes a top school again, I could see years where we might not get twenty students from Britain. Now, bearing in mind the massive changes needed for either of those conditions to be met, I'm sure we'll be full for many years to come."

Seeing that had settled Ginny somewhat, Poppy brought out the big guns. "The Institute also has an agreement with the Italian Ministry that, should there be spaces available within a year group, those spaces will be offered to local Italian students. The Potter Institute is here to stay Ginny, and Harry's already looking at places for students or staff to live when they graduate or eventually retire. At the moment, that last bit is a secret - but definitely happening before you graduate."

Finishing her delicious hot chocolate, Ginny hugged the woman who'd quickly become someone who meant a great deal to her. She could now head back to bed, relaxed enough to sleep, and hopefully dream about building a new life in the future - a future that would be spent in Italy.

-oOoOo-

Albus was down early for breakfast, he needed to see what damage today's newspaper was going to do to his reputation. He never doubted for a minute that he would soon repair and rebuild that reputation, and Albus Dumbledore would once more be considered the greatest wizard in Britain. That Fudge had the audacity to think that Potter was the better wizard still really smarted, a right kick to the ego. The idiot had so many loyalty charms on him, he should have been arguing that Orders of Merlin be renamed to Dumbledore. That pleasant thought was interrupted by a squad of eight aurors marching into the great hall.

Rather than being alarmed that the Hogwarts wards hadn't warned him of their approach, Albus was more worried that Kingsley was near the back of the group - rather than leading them.

It was a different delivery that was going to ruin Albus's day, as the lead auror removed a scroll from his robes.

"Albus Dumbledore, you are under arrest for crimes too numerous to list here. You have already been sacked from a Ministry controlled Hogwarts, and will accompany us to the Ministry of Magic - where formal charges are being prepared."

Albus didn't have to act shocked as he took to his feet. "This is preposterous..."

He was interrupted though by the same auror. "Three of this group were under the thrall of spells you personally cast on them. We find this unforgivable, and are hoping you won't come quietly."

The standoff ended rather quickly, and somewhat anticlimactically. Severus had stealthy drawn his wand, and silently stunned Dumbledore in the back. He then slowly and carefully laid his wand on the table before raising his hands - all the while offering an explanation.

"Aurors, my wife here is pregnant, while our son is sitting down to breakfast. Dumbledore might have been happy with an all out duel taking place in the great hall, I am not. Over the years, too many people inside Hogwarts have been hurt by his schemes - not today."

As the head of the group nodded in acceptance of Severus's actions, four of his aurors raced to search and restrain Dumbledore. The old wizard twitching was enough provocation for another two stunners to be cast upon him. Shackled and then trussed up like a turkey, Dumbledore was physically dragged from the great hall by his ankles. Thankfully for all who witnessed this, his bindings ensured those garnish robes stayed in place and protected Dumbledore's modesty.

In the now silent hall, the thump, thump, thump of Dumbledore being dragged down the entrance stairs could clearly be heard. Looking around, the same thoughts were shared by everyone - though a sixth year muggleborn Hufflepuff summed it up brilliantly.

"Albus has left the building!"