A/N: "Anyone can become angry �“ that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way �“ that is not easy."
Aristotle �“ The Nichomachean Ethics
He wasn’t quite sure what it was that was going on but the second they had landed in the kitchen Elizabeth turned on Moody with a ferocity that Harry would not have believed her capable of. For the first few moments she was shouting at such a level that her words were indistinguishable, they were just an overwhelmingly loud babble.
The air around her crackled with magical energy and there appeared to be a faint glow of gold around her outline. A vase that was sat on the sideboard a few feet behind her smashed into a thousand tiny little pieces, everyone seemed to have shrunk away towards the edges of the room, terrified that if they got in her way she would turn on them as well. Remus thought about wrapping an arm around her shoulder but decided against it when she shot him a furious look that he did not deserve. Molly watched the scene in front of her with a shell-shocked silence. Charlie had paced away from her towards the sink, the only person who hadn’t moved away from her was Moody, he put a hand up to stop her fleetingly, and addressed Bill.
“Get in that fire and get Dumbledore, he should be at Hogwarts,” Bill promptly followed orders. He grabbed a handful of floo powder and threw it into the fire; the green flames licked him as he called out ‘Headmaster’s Office, Hogwarts.’ When that was done Moody lowered his hand and Elizabeth continued with her tirade.
“WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT?” she bellowed at him.
“To keep you out of trouble,” he answered her very simply.
“TROUBLE! LUCIUS MALFOY IS NOT TROUBLE. I’M NOT A SILLY LITTLE GIRL ANYMORE ALASTOR.”
“I know that you aren’t. Lucius Malfoy is more trouble than he’s worth, he could make things very difficult for you young lady.”
“NOT IF HE’S DEAD HE CAN’T!” every fibre of her body shook with every word she said.
“So next time you just want me to let you kill him do you?” Moody’s voice was deadly calm.
“YES, THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT I WANT YOU TO DO. WE’VE SPENT TOO LONG MESSING ABOUT, LETS JUST KILL THE LOT OF THEM AND HAVE DONE WITH IT,” a sharp carving knife shot out of it’s wooden holder and launched itself into a cupboard door with such ferocity that it could be seen on either side of the door.
“Do you really think that Malfoy is worth a lifetime in Azkaban?” although Harry understood Ellie’s hatred of Malfoy he had to agree with Moody, pond-life like Malfoy wasn’t worth losing everything for.
“MAYBE NOT BUT AT LEAST I’D FEEL BETTER!”
“And how many people are you going to have to kill before you realise that it won’t bring them back,” there was unprecedented softness in his voice
“I KNOW IT WON’T BRING THEM BACK, I NEVER SAID THAT IT WOULD. IF I THOUGHT THAT KILLING MALFOY WOULD BRING ANYONE BACK I WOULD HAVE DONE IT AL LONG TIME AGO.”
“So what would you have achieved then?” Harry realised that Moody knew what he was doing. With each outburst Elizabeth’s anger weakened, he obviously thought that it was best that she took her anger out on him rather than anyone else.
“THERE’D BE ONE LESS DEATH EATER ROAMING ABOUT FOR A START…”
“There will always be another one to take his place.”
“MAYBE THE REST OF THEM WOULD THINK TWICE ABOUT WHAT THEY’RE DOING,” it was obvious from the shake in her voice that even Elizabeth wasn’t convinced of this.
“Do you really believe that?” Elizabeth didn’t get a chance to answer however as Dumbledore emerged from the fire right between them. He looked from Moody’s unreadable expression to his granddaughters puffy, red face.
“What happened today?” his calm voice seemed to dispel the tension in the air.
Neither Elizabeth nor Alastor made any attempt to answer instead Charlie filled the silence, he recounted the events of the morning to Professor Dumbledore he sounded very quiet in contrast to the heightened voices of Ellie and Moody.
“I see. Elizabeth would you mind telling me why it was that you were shouting at Alastor?” his face was a perfect calm; she could not look at him.
“He should have left Malfoy to me,” it was clear that although she would shout at Mad-Eye she wouldn’t shout at her grandfather.
“If he had done so what would you have done?” he was asking a question that he already knew the answer to.
“I would have most probably hexed him into the middle of next month,” at least she answered honestly.
“Malfoy’s very quick with his wand,” Moody informed her.
“I’m quicker,” she said it with such steel in her voice that no one in the room could have been in any doubt that it was true.
“Perhaps. Do you believe that he would have let an event like that go un-avenged?” Dumbledore asked his granddaughter yet another question to which he knew the answer.
“Of course not,” Elizabeth was staring at the floor.
“Then you could have placed every person in this room in great danger of an attack,” this seemed a little bit harsh in Harry’s opinion. Weren’t they all in danger of being attacked anyway?
“I know,” she tilted her round face up towards his and revealed the tears that were beginning to slide down her face.
“I understand your anger Elizabeth, it is fully justified. You have every right to be angry, there is nothing wrong with anger but you must remember that it is only righteous when it is directed at the right person, at the right time and for the right reasons. Alastor prevented you from making a grave mistake today, he is not to blame and as such does not deserve to bear the brunt of your fury.”
“I realise you were just trying to protect me Alastor. My behaviour was inexcusable. But I’m tired of waiting around doing nothing while that piece of slime wanders around like he owns the place. I’m sorry,” her eyes begged and pleaded with Moody.
“I don’t like Malfoy anymore than you do, but you’ve got more important things to be doing rather than getting yourself in trouble for taking care of a slimy little snake like him. Killing him isn’t going to make you feel any better, and it’ll only hold you back in your future. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. I want you to remember that we don’t make Aurors out of criminals. You were mighty quick drawing that wand, those are the kind of reflexes we need,” Moody gave her a small smile and laid a gnarly hand on her shoulder.
“Thank you. I’ll remember that,” she returned his smile before turning away from him and moving towards the sink where she proceeded to dab her face with a damp cloth. Charlie moved beside her and took the cloth from her, he began to tenderly dab her face with it. Harry could hear him whispering but could not make out what it was that he was saying.
“I must get back, I’m afraid that I must ask Alastor, Kingsley and Tonks to come with me. The Ministry is in a state of disarray, it has been brought to light that the Minister is missing.”
“Missing?” everyone echoed.
“Yes, he didn’t appear at the Ministry this morning, his senior aide and Auror Dawlish went to his house to find it empty. There was no sign of the Minister what so ever. The entire contingent of Aurors are searching for him as we speak, I believe that your assistance would be very much appreciated,” Moody was the first one into the fire, he was very quickly followed by Tonks and then Kingsley. “I must also take my leave but I shall be back, we’ll be hosting an emergency order meeting tonight if that’s alright Molly?”
“Of course it is Albus.”
“We can talk more later Elizabeth,” he glanced back at her, she was currently being cradled against Charlie’s chest.
“Yes grandfather,” she mumbled. Dumbledore then stepped into the fire and said ‘The Ministry of Magic’ very clearly.
After ten minutes or so everything had almost returned to normal, Mrs. Weasley had guided Ellie into a seat at the table and put a steaming cup of tea in front of her, Charlie was sat to her one side and Remus to her other. The furious meowing coming from the travelling cage reminded him that he had a gift for Ginny. She was peering at the cage with curiosity. Harry put it on the table and set the kitten free. She bounded up and down the table gaping at everyone in turn, she pawed at Ginny’s hands until she gave in and started to scratch the adorable fluff ball behind the ears. After a minute or so she was curled up in Ginny’s lap purring contentedly.
“Harry she’s sooo cute!” she gazed down at the kitten affectionately.
“I’m glad you like her.”
“What’s her name?”
“Whatever her new owner decides to call her.”
“But why did you buy her? You’re only around one pet at Hogwarts,” she was gently stroking the kittens head.
“She’s not for me.”
“Oh, did you buy her for this girl you like?” Ginny was trying to sound casual.
“Yes.”
“She’s a very lucky girl if you’re going to buy her presents like this,” she was again smiling at the kitten in her lap.
“So you think it’s a good present then?” He was edging closer and closer to telling her who it’s new owner was.
“Of course, look at her,” she held the ginger and white ball up as if for Harry’s inspection. “She’s the sweetest thing that I’ve ever seen. How could any girl not be impressed by this?” she rubbed her nose against the purring kitten.
“I really am glad that you like her so much.”
“Why?” Ginny looked at him perplexed.
“Because she’s yours,” there he had told her.
“But I thought you said…” she looked at Harry strangely and then her mouth formed a silent ‘Oh’. She got up and rushed from the kitchen. Harry didn’t understand what the matter was. He looked to Hermione.
“I’ll go after her,” she then disappeared from the kitchen as well.
“Harry, do you like my sister?” Ron was watching him carefully.
“Er…yeah. That’s ok right?” a horrible thought came upon Harry, what if it wasn’t alright?
“Better you than Michael Corner,” Ron shrugged, Harry took that as a yes.
Soon after Mrs. Weasley sent them all upstairs to pack away their shopping. When he returned to the kitchen Ginny was back. Harry caught Hermione’s eye and she met him at the door and ushered him back out into the hall.
“What happened earlier?” he quizzed.
“Ginny’s still going out with Dean Thomas, and then you go and tell her you like her. She was a bit confused, she really likes Dean but as you know, she really likes you too and has for a long time.”
“So what do I do?” Harry was so relieved that he had a close friend who was a girl it meant you could ask all these stupid questions and find out what the right thing to do was.
“Well I wouldn’t do much more for the minute, she’s sent Pig away to Dean with a letter telling him that she wants to break up because it’s not working,” Hermione broke out into a smile.
“Does that mean she likes me too?”
“It means, Harry, that if you give her a little bit of time and space then she will almost certainly start going out with you,” Hermione was still grinning at him.
“Right. Thanks for your help ‘Mione,” he gave her a quick hug.
“What are you doing to my girlfriend?” Ron was standing in the doorway fixing Harry with a menacing stare.
“Just trying to say thank you. Nothing else,” he quickly stepped away from her.
“S’okay mate, I know you wouldn’t,” Ron’s menace turned to laughter. The three went back down in to the kitchen and sat down to some lunch and every now and then Harry caught Ginny’s eye and smiled at her, she smiled back and blushed crimson.
After dinner Mrs. Weasley rushed Harry, Hermione and Ginny from the kitchen. They were preparing for the order meeting. As usual they made their way to the drawing room to play some game or other. They saw the many figures filing past the drawing room door on their way down into the kitchen, they recognised the figures of Moody, Kingsley, Tonks, Snape, McGonagall, and the enormous frame of Hagrid. The meeting seemed to go on forever.
In that time Ginny settled on a name for her new cat. She was sitting crossed-legged on the floor when she suddenly said, “What do you think about Snuffles?” everyone looked down at her.
“I think that’s a great idea,” Harry smiled.
“I just thought that she could be this constant reminder of Sirius. Every time we look at her we’ll think of him.”
“It’s kind of like a memorial to him,” Ron nodded before they returned to their silence.
After what seemed like an eternity but was actually only two hours everyone filed out again. Charlie, Elizabeth, Fred and George slipped into the room looking utterly exhausted.
“Did they find the Minister yet?” Harry had grown to dislike Cornelius Fudge in this last year but he understood that the Minster of Magic disappearing was not a good thing.
“Oh they found him alright,” Fred’s tone was indistinguishable.
“Where was he?” Hermione enquired.
“He turned up in his office,” George replied.
“Where had he been?” Ron was beyond confused.
“We don’t know,” Charlie was stroking Ellie’s hair gently, completely lost.
“Why not? Why didn’t you just ask him?” Harry had a deep and terrible sense of foreboding.
“Because he was dead. They sent his body back to his office via a portkey, they used a copy of the Daily Prophet that came out the day after Voldemort revealed himself at the Ministry,” Ellie’s face showed the strain of the day more than anyone else’s.
“So it was Voldemort that killed him?” Harry felt a horrible twist in his gut.
“We think so,” Charlie pulled Ellie on to his lap and held on to her tightly. Everyone sat in silence, it could have been for a minute or ten or even an hour. Voldemort killing the Minister for Magic was going to create widespread panic and hysteria.
After a while Ellie stood up, “Everyone should go and get some sleep. They next few days are going to be rough, there’s likely to be a lot of commotion. I’m afraid that things are going to be very different from now on.”
“Yeah, we might get a Minister who actually knows what they’re doing,” George quipped emptily.
“Don’t speak ill of the dead George,” Ellie reprimanded.
“Well come one it’s not like any of us liked him all that much. He was an arrogant twat most of the time, look what he did to Harry last year!” he protested.
“Just because he allowed himself to be influenced by the wrong people does not mean that he was a bad person and it certainly doesn’t mean that he deserved to die,” there was a power in her voice that kept all of them quiet. They tramped up to bed feeling very dispirited.
She was right; although Fudge had been an arrogant twat he didn’t deserve to die. He’d made mistakes but that was because he was weak, not because he was evil. Harry knew that the next few days really would be very turbulent.
When the day dawned it was almost as if the weather outside the window reflected the mood inside the house. The sky was dull and grey and there was the distant rumbling of thunder. When Harry reached the kitchen Mr Weasley and Tonks had already left for the Ministry, and Bill had gone in for some sort of crisis meeting at the bank. It looked like Ellie had gone another night without sleep she was staring into space and the bags under her eyes were very noticeable. Strangely Mrs. Weasley was not fussing over her, she was sat at the table looking lost and alone. Harry sat next to her, he wasn’t sure what to say but he decided to start with the basics,
“Morning Ellie, how are you feeling today?”
“Do I look that bad?” she broke into a smile that was a shadow of her usual self.
“No that’s not what I meant. It’s just that well you look tired and a little bit ill.”
“That was very diplomatic. I didn’t sleep very well last night and I do feel rather sick.”
“Are you worried about what happened yesterday?”
“Well that’s part of it yes. I popped into Diagon Alley earlier with Bill, Fred and George, it was deserted, not a single person. Half the shops are shut and everyone is terrified. If the Minister for Magic isn’t safe then no one is. Malfoy is free to walk around threatening people and my behaviour isn’t much better.”
“Don’t be thick, you’re nothing like Malfoy, he’s pond scum. He had to buy his way out of Azkaban. You’re better than that. Dumbledore once told me that it’s our choices that show what we truly are, not our abilities. You can tell just from the way you act that you have power but you don’t use it. You could have killed him on the spot, there was plenty of time but you didn’t. I know you said that you weren’t above killing but you are. You know what it’s like to have someone taken and you wouldn’t impose that on anyone. You’re more like your granddad than you realise.”
“That’s very kind Harry, thank you. I see you’ve been listening to my dear old granddad very closely.”
“Can’t help it, he’s got one of those voices that you have listen to,” Harry smiled at her in what he hoped was a comforting way.
“Very true,” she seemed to have bucked up a little.
Over breakfast Harry asked Ellie and Charlie what would happen now that Fudge was gone. Apparently a series of meetings had to take place, all the senior members of the Ministry had to meet and discuss who would be suitable for the post, then the Wizengamot would meet and vote for the person they thought was best, whoever they chose would then go through an important ceremony before they became the Minister for Magic. So there would be a box placed in the atrium of the Ministry into which all those who wanted to be considered would put their names, it would remain there until noon. Then this afternoon the heads of the various Ministry departments would meet and narrow the list down to about five candidates, the Wizengamot would meet tomorrow and discuss those left and then the day after would bring the ceremony.
Ellie had also spoken to Dumbledore and found out that he had been asked to by several Ministry heads to put himself forward for the position and he had once again refused. Normally all the heads of Ministry departments would put their names into the draw. All that was left for everyone else to do was wait.