A Badgers Love

Chapter 8

It had been a little over a week since the murder of Delores Umbridge and the breakout of prisoners at Azkaban when the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge stood before a group of reporters and Ministry employees gathered in the atrium to hear what he had to say, thought whatever it was, they knew it couldn't be good based on the grim look he had on his face.

"Witches and Wizards of Magical Britain," Fudge said loud enough for everyone to hear. "Since the events that lead to the arrest of the former Undersecretary, who gave me misleading advice on the subject, I had ordered an full investigation into the claims of Harry Potter and Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore about the return of the dark wizard You-Know-Who. It is with a heavy heart that I regret to inform you that he is indeed back."

Everyone gasped and began talking and asking questions upon hearing that statement.

"Please, everyone, if you shall remain quiet for a moment, I have more to say, then I will be more than happy to answer some of your questions."

Once everyone quieted down, Fudge continued. "As your Minister for Magic, I promise you that now that we know he has returned, we shall be taking steps to prevent a war like what happened the last time he was around. We are currently investigating ways to detect anyone branded with the dark mark. We will also be investigating each and every witch and wizard that had been placed under the imperious curse during the last war to ensure that they have not been imperioused again, and if so, to offer them some form of protection in case they are approached. I have also recently signed a bill to increase the budget of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to ensure that we have enough aurors to not only protect everyone, but to end this threat as quickly as possible. Lastly, under the advisement of some of my colleagues, I shall be taking a page from our muggle neighbors and placing a reward for information leading to the capture of He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named of the sum of two hundred thousand galleons."

The roar of so many people talking at once was so loud, it was hard to hear what anyone was saying. They were so busy talking about the huge reward, no one bothered to ask any questions.

Fudge walked over to Martin Abbott and Amelia Bones and said, "I hope you two are right about this reward thing. Because if you're not, I just painted a huge target on my back."

"Trust me," said Amelia. "With a reward that high, we very well may be getting information from You-Know-Who's own people."

"And even if they aren't brave enough to betray him," said Martin, "he'll be wondering if one of them might turn against him for the money. It will cause a bit of chaos amongst his own ranks, allowing us time to put an end to them once and for all."

"Not to mention that he is cruel and vile enough to kill his own people if he suspects them of turning him on them, thinning out his own ranks himself, making the job for my aurors that much easier," added Amelia.

"They better," said Fudge. "Otherwise I can kiss my re-election goodbye."

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"Alright everyone, settle down, settle down," Professor Shacklebolt said in his deep voice, getting everyone's attention. "Thank you. Today's class is going to be a little different than normal. With the Ministry's announcement this morning about You-Know-Who being back, I believe it is time to see just how well each and every one of you can defend yourselves. This way, I know where each of your strengths and weaknesses are and we can work on improving them in the event that you are forced into a situation where you need to defend yourselves."

Everyone in the class talked excitedly about this, while Harry sat with a small smile on his face. Not only had it been proven that he had been telling the truth and everyone stopped looking at him like he was a few ingredients short of a potion, but the Ministry was actually taking steps to do something about Voldemort.