Cleaning the Wizarding World

Harry Potter met with some of his oldest friends to discuss several things. At his house that night, were Neville, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Luna and George.

The matter that would be discussed was the advances of the community after the Second War against Voldemort. Or, to be more precise, they would discuss the lack of them.

The pureblood families had taken the control of the Wizengamont and made sure that they kept all of it for themselves. The rights for the Muggleborn, half bloods and others were cut as always.

The promises done during the war were forgotten as soon as the Dark Lord died at the battle. Only the purebloods were recognized for the fights and the others were ignored.

Kingsley Shacklebolt had tried everything but had little success on his job and it was rumored that his job was on risk.

"We need to do something soon!" Hermione shouted furious as she read the new laws against the rights of the Muggleborn students.

"You can't do anything unless you kill the 75% of the pureblood families. And it would be impossible," Neville commented with a sigh.

"We could do it like the mob: to make it look like an accident," George said with a sarcastic smile.

"You can do it with one or two families. But with so many?" Ginny asked with sarcasm.

"What are you thinking about?" Ron asked his best friend, who was silent.

Instead of answering, Harry stood and went to one of the bookshelves. He started to look at them and suddenly found the book that he looked for. He started to read the pages quickly and a grin appeared on his face.

"Dear friends, I think that I have an idea." The black haired wizard said with a twisted smile.

"Can that idea kill several families without us going to Azkaban?" Luna asked arching an eyebrow. When he nodded, she exclaimed, "I'm in!"

"How will you do that?" Hermione asked confused and curious. Harry showed her the book and she exclaimed, "I'm in!"

"We don't want to be left out of this, so we are in too!" George exclaimed in name of the three redheads.

"I'm in too, even if I have no idea what is your plan," Neville said with doubts about what they had in mind.

"What are the most important things for all of those families?" Harry asked with a smile.

"Money and power!" Everyone said at the same time.

"That's exactly what we'll offer them," Harry said with a smile before he explained them what he had in mind.

… … … …

The next morning, Neville went with Harry to meet Kingsley and to sell him their plan. They had a little argument with Percy who claimed that the minister was busy and had no time to see them. It finished when the former Auror left his office to see the reason of the noise and invited them in.

"Kingsley, how are you doing in this beautiful day?" Harry asked with a smile that scared the minister.

"Ok, spit it out!" Kingsley said, unsure of wanting to hear the answer.

"We want to have a celebration for the anniversary of the end of the war," Neville said seriously.

"Go on."

"It would be a competition for all the wizards and witches older than 15 years old and the prize would be a million galleons in cash," Harry said, as serious as his friend.

"And what would be that competition exactly?" Kingsley asked with an arched eyebrow, not showing his shock with the money.

"It would be a nonstop walk between London and Hogwarts. The first who arrives to the school gates wins the money," Neville explained him, showing him a map with the route that would be followed.

"How long would it last?" Kingsley asked, as he checked the map.

"It would take two or three days." Harry said seriously.

"And the catch on this is…" Kingsley said. Then both young wizards smiled so evilly that the minister regretted having asked the question.

… … … …

Two days later the 'Walk of the Century' was announced to the media.

Kingsley explained the competition and the rules in a press conference at the Ministry's atrium.

"All the competitors will march through the country, starting in London and ending at Hogwarts," the minster said and showed the map in which the whole route that it would be followed was seen.

"It will start on August 29th and will end when the first person arrives to the school's gates. That person will get the prize of a million galleons in cash." Gasps of shock were heard, as he continued:

"Everyone's wand will be confiscated at the beginning so no magic will be done. Also, we'll use charms to stop anyone from aparating.

"The walkers will receive bars of food and water through the whole way, so as not to suffer from the loss of calories that due to their marching."

The conference continued and he explained who could be part of it and the fee that had to be paid for entering it: 200 galleons. There wasn't a limit of competitors so anyone could enter it.

The Wizengamont voted a law so only members of pureblood families could be part of it and soon a long list of people had entered it.

All of them received a book of rules which detailed the whole competition. None of them bothered at reading it and signed that they had done it and understood the rules.

"This is going to be soooooooooooo good," Neville commented to Harry and Kingsley when they met again a few days after the first meeting.

"Are you sure that this is legal?" Kingsley asked them seriously.

"They were warned about what would happen to them if they stopped walking. It was left very clear in the rule book. It's not our problem if no one read it. When they signed it, they made it legal," Harry said with a smile.

… … … …

During the next two months, all the pureblood wizards and witches trained for the walk and the gyms and personal trainers got a lot of money for that.

There were a lot of betting pools as to who would be the winner, but there was no favorite for it.

The route was ready and the posts were prepared to receive the walkers that would be part of the competition.

Hogwarts would hold the ending ceremony, although Minerva McGonagall suspected that something was odd about it. The prize was too big for starters. She had tried to talk to the minister, but he had shared no information.

"If you don't tell me what's going on, Shacklebolt, say goodbye to using the school for the ceremony!" The Headmistress had threatened him in one occasion.

"Minerva, I'm not the brain behind this and neither is the Ministry!" Kingsley told her seriously. Then he gave her one of the rulebooks and told her to read it.

"What must I look for?" Minerva asked confused.

"You'll know it as soon as you see it," Shacklebolt said with a smile.

"You can't be serious! Is this legal?" McGonagall asked as she read what she was supposed to.

"Everyone signed their agreement to those rules, Minerva, so it is legal," Harry said with a smile and joining the chat. Kingsley had asked for his presence, as soon as he gave the book to the Professor.

"I should have guessed that you were involved in something like this, Harry," Minerva said with a smile. Then she turned serious and said: "So this competition will…"

"Clean the economic and the wizarding worlds all at once." Kingsley said with a nod.

"I'm in!" Minerva said with a twisted smile. She would love this!

… … … …

The day of the competition, more than 500 wizards and witches showed up at London to start it. The ages ranged from 15 to 70. Goblins were there and confiscated their wands and charmed them to not aparate.

Kingsley stood in front of them and explained them the rules once more. He also informed them where would be the food and water stands.

"Good luck for all of you!" He said before he officially started the competition.

At Hogwarts, a lot of people started to wait for their arrival, even if they knew that it would pass at least two days before some got there.

There were two boards. The first was updated every hour and showed who dropped out of the walk. The second was updated every 10 kilometers and showed the first 25 positions.

After the first six hours and 50 kilometers, the number of people had dropped to 450. In the lead were Narcissa Malfoy, Blaise Zabini and MacNair. Lucius Malfoy was near 150th place and Draco had abandoned the race after the first hour.

"It's a pity. I thought that the ferret would last longer than that," Ron commented to Harry, who laughed.

The hero had spread the word among all of his pureblood friends to not enter the competition and gave them compensation for it. He also briefed them on the reason behind it and what would happen to those who dropped it.

"Is this legal?" All of them had asked when he explained it to them and he had to repeat once more what he had said to Kingsley and Minerva.

For the end of the first day, the number was reduced to 350. Narcissa was still in first place, but now was followed by Zabini and his mother. Lucius was now near the 50th position and far from his wife.

During the second day, some people started to wonder where those who were dropped out of the competition anymore were. But no one gave them an answer and promised it for when the march finished.

At the second day's noon, the number was of 260 competitors and Narcissa remained in first place. Lucius had dropped out sometime during the night. Several other Death Eaters were no longer part of the competition either.

"What do you think: who will win?" Luna asked Harry during the afternoon. Since noon, the number continued decreasing and now it was of 160 people on the march. Narcissa was still first, but Daphne Greengrass was now very close to her.

"I go for Daphne," the hero said after thinking for a few minutes. Then he asked the rest of his friends. Most went also for her or for Zabini, who was now in the fifth place.

That night the number of walker had decreased to 120 and the next morning had gone to 65. A lot of people had grown tired and had quite a few foot injuries.

Kingsley arrived to Hogwarts at 1:30 p.m. and brought a lot of ministry officers with him. At that point, the number was down to 25 walkers. Narcissa was at the head of the competitors with Daphne and Zabini in second and third place.

"How long before this ends?" Percy asked Kingsley, who looked at Harry and Neville.

"It should be another two or thee hours if they keep this rate," Harry said after checking the map and making several calculations.

… … … …

The walk continued and for when the competitors were 20 kilometers away from Hogsmeade, only Narcissa and Daphne remained in it. The odds were for either, although the oldest witch paid more than the teen.

A lot of people started to wonder what had happened to the rest of the competitors that had dropped out. They got the answer when Narcissa fell to the floor exhausted, barely 200 meters away from the gates and Daphne was left to win it.

One of the goblins reached next to her and told her to stand and continue. The blond didn't answer as she had fainted. The goblin repeated the order and got no answer. After a third time, he got a sword and cut her head and left her body on the spot.

Everyone gasped in shock and shouted to Kingsley to arrest that goblin. The minister smiled to them and took the book of rules.

"Article 8:" He started to read aloud so everyone could hear him: "The competitor agrees that if he drops out of the walk, he'll be killed by one of the security goblins that walk along them." Then he added, "All the people that took part of the walk and haven't arrived here are dead. They also had read, agreed and signed this contract so no charges will be pressed against the goblins."

"Is my Father dead?" Daphne asked Harry and Neville as both went to congratulate her for winning. Her mother and sister were there too. When both wizards nodded, she shouted, "YES!"

"That's not the reaction I could expect from someone who is said that she lost her family," Harry commented to his friend as the winner hugged her mother and sister.

""We hated that bastard, but as I could not get a divorce, we had to wait till he died to get his money," Mrs. Greengrass explained both men with a smile.

"Well, Madam, you won't get all of his money." Neville said and the three witches arched their eyebrows. He showed them the book and said: "Article 12."

"How much money did you get with this?" Daphne asked shocked as she read it all and saw what they meant.

For every competitor that died, his or her family's vault would suffer a loss according to the condition inside of it: 35 percent for a father; 25 per cent for the Mother; 15 per cent for the eldest child and 10 per cent for the younger ones.

"Our estimation is of two or three dozen million galleons. Add or take a few thousands." Harry said with a wide smile.

"And with the heads of the most important Pureblood families dead…" Mrs. Greengrass started to say suddenly, as realization hit her.

"We clean the Wizengamont and the Wizarding world at the same," Kingsley said with a smile and congratulating Daphne for her victory.

"You knew it then?" Daphne's mother asked Kingsley with an accusatory tone.

"I knew it from the beginning," the minister said with a nod.

Then they started the ceremony for Daphne, although most of the people had left to go to pick up the bodies of their relatives. In the meantime, the goblins had informed them about the new states of their vaults. The news was not appreciated and several of them almost attacked the goblins. These attempts were stopped immediately by the guards that had no problem in showing their swords and using them if necessary. Fortunately, the people seemed to think of it and left the place without further problems.

… … … …

The Wizengamont had lost almost the 75% of its members after the walk and Kingsley decided to re-allocate the seats, assigning them to second or third generation Muggleborn. Several half-bloods also got seats and they allied to make the necessary changes in the Wizarding world. The remaining pureblood families realized that they had to join the change or they would die, so they allied themselves with the new members.

Soon the changes started to happen: more rights for the Muggleborn and half-bloods; rights for the werewolves and other creatures; the recognition of the non pureblood wizards and witches for their job during the final battle against Voldemort. These were the first changes that were introduced and everyone knew that more would come.

The galleons that were taken from the dead people's vaults helped to clean up the all the financial problems that were at the Wizarding world and Hogwarts used part of that money to update the school's subjects and to hire more competent professors.

"We did it, ladies and gentlemen, we cleaned up the Wizarding world!" Harry said to his friends when they met to celebrate after the vote of the first changes that would happen.

"Amen!" Everyone chorused and toasted for it.