The Art of An Ending

Chapter Two: A New Normal

Erica Riddle was breathing quietly and deeply. She had been sitting in a chair beside the living room window for the best part of two hours, staring out at the darkening street, and had finally fallen asleep with one side of her face pressed against the cold window-pane, her lips parted and eyes scrunched closed. The misty fug her breath had left on the window sparkled in the orange glare of the streetlamp outside, and the artificial light drained her face of all colour so that she looked ghostly beneath her shock of wavy black hair.

The room was strew with various boxes between the furniture, piled up against one another, and there were several blankets and pillows on the sofa, which had clearly been slept on. A number of spellbooks lay higgledy-piggledy among the mess, stacked on top of cardboard boxes as well as on the bookshelves that framed the fireplace, and there was a mess of newspapers that sat on top of the blankets on the sofa. The headline of one blared:

HARRY POTTER: THE CHOSEN ONE?

Rumours continue to fly about the mysterious recent disturbance at the Ministry of Magic, during which He Who Must Not Be Named was sighted once more.

'We're not allowed to talk about it, don't ask me anything,' said one agitated Obliviator, who refused to give his name as he left the Ministry last night.

Nevertheless, highly placed sources within the Ministry have confirmed that the disturbance centred on the fabled Hall of Prophecy.

Though Ministry spokeswizards have hitherto refused even to confirm the existence of such a place, a growing number of the wizarding community believe that the Death Eaters now serving sentences in Azkaban for trespass and attempted theft were attempting to steal a prophecy. The nature of that prophecy is unknown, although speculation is rife that it concerns Harry Potter, the only person ever known to have survived the Killing Curse, and who is also known to have been at the Ministry at the night in question. Some are going so far as to call Potter the 'Chosen One', believing that the prophecy names him as the only one who will be able to rid us of He Who Must Not Be Named.

The current whereabouts of the prophecy, if it exists, are unknown, although (cont. page 2, column 5).

A second newspaper lay beside the first. This one bore the headline:

SCRIMGEOUR SUCCEEDS FUDGE

Most of this front page was taken up with a large black-and-white picture of a man with a lion-like mane of thick hair and a rather ravaged face. The picture was moving- the man was waving at the ceiling.

Rufus Scrimgeour, previously Head of the Auror Office in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, has succeeded Cornelius Fudge as Minister for Magic. The appointment has largely been greeted with enthusiasm by the wizarding community, though rumours of a rift between the new Minister and Albus Dumbledore, newly reinstated Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, surfaced within hours of Scrimgeour taking office.

Scrimgeour's representatives admitted that he had met with Dumbledore at once upon taking possession of the top job, but refused to comment on the topics under discussion. Albus Dumbledore is known to (cont. page 3, column 2).

To the left of this paper sat another, which had been folded so that a story bearing the title MINISTRY GUARANTEES STUDENTS' SAFETY was visible.

Newly appointed Minister for Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, spoke today of the tough new measures taken by his Ministry to ensure the safety of students returning to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this autumn.

'For obvious reasons, the Ministry will not be going into detail about its stringent new security plans,' said the Minister, although an inside confirmed that measures include defensive spells and charms, a complex array of counter-curses and a small task force of Aurors dedicated solely to the protection of Hogwarts School.