Come Home + Sirius Black

nineteen: answers

 The conversation with Harry was off to a rough start. He didn't seem happy to be at headquarters at all, and he was rightfully upset to have secrets kept from him all summer.

But they were patient with him. Anyone would have been upset in his position, and they all knew that. So the remaining members of the Order were patient with him as he asked his questions, his temper seeming to rise after each one. "How can he think that? How can he think Dumbledore would just make it all up — that I'd make it all up?"

"Because accepting that Voldemort's back would mean trouble like the Ministry hasn't had to cope with for nearly fourteen years," said Sirius. "Fudge just can't bring himself to face it. It's so much more comfortable to convince himself Dumbledore's lying to destabilize him."

"He's already had to face a lot with Sirius's trial," Charlotte added. "He may not have been in power yet when he was locked up, but now he's facing all the backlash for it — on both sides, too. You've got the people that believe he's innocent and believe that he still hasn't got enough justice for his wrongful imprisonment. And then you have the people that are angry that he was even allowed a trial in the first place, that are outraged that a 'murder' is allowed to walk free."

"Which is why it doesn't feel much like freedom," Sirius said bitterly.

"I'm just surprised they haven't started blaming you for the rumors of Voldemort's return," she continued. "Of course, that would mean admitting that he's back."

"You see the problem," said Remus. "While the Ministry insists there is nothing to fear from Voldemort, it's hard to convince people he's back, especially as they really don't want to believe it in the first place. What's more, the Ministry's leaning heavily on the Daily Prophet not to report any of what they're calling Dumbledore's rumor-mongering, so most of the Wizarding community are complete unaware anything's happened, and that makes them easy targets for the Death Eaters if they're using the Imperius Curse."

"But you're telling people, aren't you?" Harry asked, looking around at all of them. "You're letting people know he's back?"

"Well, a big portion of the community still thinks I'm a mad mass murderer, so I can hardly stroll up the street and start handing out leaflets, can I?"

"And I'm not a very popular dinner guest with most of the community," said Remus. "It's an occupational hazard of being a werewolf."

"It's pretty common knowledge around the Ministry that I believe you and Dumbledore as your legal guardian. But I used up all of my grace last year. All they need is one tiny slip-up from me," Charlotte admitted.

"Your godmother would lose her job at the Ministry if she started shooting her mouth off. Tonks and Arthur too," Sirius added. "and it's very important for us to have spies inside the Ministry, because you can bet Voldemort will have them."

"We've managed to convince a couple of people, though," Arthur added. "Tonks here, for one — she's too young to have been in the Order of the Phoenix last time, and having Aurors on our side is a huge advantage — Kingsley Shacklebolt's been a real asset too."

"But if none of you's putting the news out that Voldemort's back — " Harry began, exasperated.

"Who said none of us was putting the news out?" asked Sirius. "Why d'you think Dumbledore's in such trouble?"

"What d'you mean?"

"They're trying to discredit him," Remus explained. "Didn't you see the Daily Prophet last week? They reported that he'd been voted out of the Chairmanship of the International Confederation of Wizards because he's getting old and losing his grip, but it's not true, he was voted out by Ministry wizards after he made a speech announcing Voldemort's return. They've demoted him from Chief Warlock on the Wizengamot — that's the Wizard High Court — and they're talking about taking away his Order of Merlin, First Class, too."