Faery Heroes

Chapter 30: Cause and Effect

Disclaimer: Did Harry rescue a male redheaded git and allow a pair of second-rate Quidditch seekers grab the two teenaged girls? If so, I don't own the Harry Potter franchise; it belongs to J.K. Rowling, Scholastic Press, Warner Bros., and whoever else she sold the rights to.
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Harry looked up at Hermione's muttering. "What was that?"

She sighed, her eyes still focused on the parliament of owls floating overhead. Considering it was lunch being served at the moment rather than breakfast, such an sight was an odd event indeed. "I said, this is without a doubt the most unique birthday present you two have ever given me."

"What about the twenty-foot-tall peanut-butter-and-chocolate bunny statue we made you?"

"I'll admit that one was different," she told the blonde sitting on Harry's other side, "and tasty, too, but it just isn't the same as wrecking a million-or-so galleon business and blaming it on a terrorist group that is doing their best to stay hidden from the public eye."

It was at that moment that Neville rushed up to their seats at the Gryffindor table, puffing as he tried to catch the breath lost during his sudden sprint. "Did you hear?"

"Hear what?" Luna asked, not a hint of guile appearing on her face.

"Death Eaters! They burned down the Daily Prophet office last night!"

Hermione let out a fairly-credible gasp of surprise, and Luna ducked her head, but not before Harry glimpsed the faint grin she was hiding. Smiling in the wake of what the rest of the country honestly believed was an actual attack by Voldemort's forces was sure to create suspicions that they would rather not deal with just now. Quietly clearing his throat, he inquired, "Are they sure?"

"According to my gran, it was definitely the Dark Mark floating over the building," the young Lion replied, waving the letter clenched tightly in his hand. "She said that it was probably in retaliation for denying that You-Know-Who was back. They were never shy about who they killed or what they destroyed last time. The Ministry's facing serious backlash from this since, you know, they spent the entire summer covering it up and calling you a liar."

"That's... that's terrible. I need to tell my parents right away," Hermione finally managed. She rose and fled the room, Harry and Luna nipping at her heels. She eventually stopped in an empty room on the fourth floor immediately off the stairwell, placing it just a few minutes' walk from McGonagall's classroom for the fifth-years and Binns's room for Luna. The brunette locked the door and cast a quick silencing charm over it before laughter spilled unimpeded from her mouth. A minute later, finally calm again, she explained, "Sorry, sorry. I just couldn't sit there any longer with a straight face while Fudge and Umbridge's plans went up in smoke like that. I mean, three months of libel to destroy your reputation, and it took one spell to turn the tables on them?"

Luna smile faded away, replaced by a sharp frown. "Oh, bloody hell."

"What?"

"I just realized that we've also completely cocked up our own plan. This is as bad for Fudge as when he and the other department heads saw Voldemort after we broke into the Ministry. If he gets ousted like last time and Scrimgeour takes his place, we'll be in serious trouble. Even minor crimes were enough for suspicion of being a Death Eater and therefore spending time in Azkaban."

"I don't think we'll have to worry about that, necessarily," Harry answered slowly, calling forth his memories of the summer in question. "I may be totally wrong about this, but I'm pretty sure he only got the job because Madam Bones, his boss at the time and now, was assassinated. She's still alive, and while I've only met her the once, she didn't have that whole 'slimy politician' feel like Fudge and Scrimgeour do. If she does get offered the job, I suspect she'll turn it down, and I doubt Mr. Chuck-Em-All-In-Azkaban would immediately be considered after that. I have no idea who will take his place, though, and that's assuming that Fudge even loses his position."