FREE AT LAST

J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.

I found a story that was 96% completed that I wrote in 2012. It has a special Hermione chapter in it which I went looking for and here it is. There will be about two more chapters as I have to proofread and write another page or two and then it will be another completed story.

Note: A "Guest" sent me an e-mail complaining that I only had one completed story. I have written 58 stories and 22 are completed. So there!

Chapter 1 – A Pawn No Longer

It was two weeks after the final battle and most of the funerals were at last over. The Weasleys had tried to drag Harry Potter back to the Burrow to live with them as, after all, they were the only "family" that he really had. Because he was helping to rebuild Hogwarts Harry Potter had managed to avoid going to the Burrow until Fred's burial and he only escaped staying there because he had bribed Kingsley Shacklebolt into "forcing Harry to come to the Ministry with him for important talks."

Upon hearing this both Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger followed the pair to the apparation point at the edge of the Burrow's property fully intending to go with them. Harry had prepared Shacklebolt for such a scenario and both Hermione and Ron were shocked when the Minister informed them that he just needed Harry to come with him.

Harry had also briefed Shacklebolt that Ron would say something stupid, outrageous and/or completely uncalled for and, of course, he did. "Hey Kingsley, where Harry goes we go that's a given and you should know better" Ron said.

Giving Ron a glare worthy of Snape the Minister replied, "That Minister Shacklebolt to you Weasley and you should know better. Come on Harry, let's go." With that said Harry and Shacklebolt apparated to the Ministry.

Arriving at the Ministry Shacklebolt and Harry were surprised to hear another apparation arriving immediately behind them. Yep, there in all his arrogance was Ron Weasley followed by Hermione Granger. It was then that Shacklebolt lost it and ordered the Aurors guarding the apparation point to escort Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger out of the Ministry to anywhere they chose to go but go they would. While both Ron and Hermione gave the two Aurors an argument, Shacklebolt and Harry made their escape to the safety of the Minister's office.

"I thought you were exaggerating about those two," said Kingsley to Harry.

"Nope," grinned Harry, "Ron has even come after me if he thought I was in the loo too long. Two days ago there I was sitting comfortably in the loo my pants down around my ankles while I read a back issue of Quidditch Weekly that I found lying around and in walks Ron who looked right at me and said, and I quote "What are you doing in here? Hermione says you been in here for 7 minutes." I actually had to explain to him in detail why it was taking me 7 minutes to take a…."

"Oh I have no doubt that such a thing could happen but to actually witness it personally is mind-blowing," smirked the Minister.

They made themselves comfortable in Kingsley's office. Although Harry refused the offer of tea, a butter beer was gratefully accepted.

"So what do you need Harry," asked Kingsley.

"I need…how do I put this? I need a vacation from the Wizarding World to settle some personal matters, such as setting up provisions for my godson, Teddy, dealing with the Goblins concerning the liberating of Hufflepuff's cup, getting myself checked out by an independent personal healer without the results leaking out to the Prophet or Witch Weekly or anybody else. And I NEED TO DO IT BY MYSELF, FOR MYSELF, WITHOUT ANYBODY ELSE MEDDLING."

"Harry, you have to accept the fact that you are not alone" Kingsley started saying, "and everybody, especially the Ministry, would be honored to help you with anything you need….."

"Now you are missing the point Minister," interrupted Harry. "I need to do some things for myself and BY MYSELF. I will have Andromeda Tonks helping me with the legal aspects of things, since she is a qualified lawyer and she is putting me in contact with some financial people who will act as a go-between with the Goblins. Most of all, I need a BREAK from some of the things and people that want to "keep an eye on me" for my own good and…."

But Harry never got to finish making his points as Kingsley interrupted him again with a spiel that almost sounded like classic Dumbledore. He stressed that the Ministry, Weasleys, the Order, etc. all had Harry's best interests at heart and that Harry should just "relax" so to speak in the bosom of his "family and his friends" and let the Ministry and them handle everything. Yep classic Dumbledore. Was the man still manipulating his life from beyond the grave or were others merely taking up his work?

After politely listening to the Minister go on and on for what seemed like forever, Harry eventually got to leave by promising to think about everything the Minister said. Harry got the feeling that Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt had had no intention of listening, let alone assisting Harry with anything that Harry was asking for, and had only agreed to aid in Harry's temporary liberation so that Kingsley could impress upon Harry to listen to and cooperate with the Ministry and Shacklebolt's plans for Wizarding Britain now that Voldemort was well and truly dead.

It seemed to Harry that he had served the purpose for which he had been born to fulfill and now he would only exist as the poster boy (not even poster man, but boy) for all those who could and would use every ounce of Harry's fame and popularity until that fame and current popularity was spent. It was what was expected of Harry and people would accept nothing less than Harry still doing exactly what he was told to do.

Yes, Harry's life was all planned out for him so he should not bother his scarred little head about it. Harry would live with the Weasleys, sharing a room with Ron. As Shacklebolt had already offered Harry and would in turn be offering Ron, immediate positions as Aurors, Ron would definitely accept and naturally so would Harry and therefore they would not be going back to Hogwarts for their 7th year. Harry wondered who would be the Head Boy.

Harry had no doubt that Ginny would be going back and would take her NEWTS and of course, it was expected by EVERYBODY that Harry and Ginny would get back together as soon as possible and depending whether Mrs. Weasley could talk Ginny into foregoing any type of career, Harry and Ginny would eventually get married just as soon as Mrs. Weasley could arrange it. The wedding would be held at the Burrow of course, just like Bill and Fleur's wedding.

Now Harry didn't know or even care for that matter concerning the how, whys and where of weddings. What he did know, however, was that it was the bride's family that arranged the wedding, held it on their family's turf and the groom and his family just went along with it all.

Despite Fleur's family being very important and influential in France for some reason it had been Molly Weasley who saw to it that the wedding was held at the Burrow with her doing all of the arrangements down to the tiniest detail. The only thing the Delacours would be doing would be to PAY for everything, from the food, beverages, decorations, the music and even the bridesmaid's dresses.

The only thing that Fleur had been permitted to do was decide on her own dress and fight for her way on the bridesmaids' dresses. Mrs. Weasley had even fought her tooth and nail on that but Fleur had eventually prevailed, hence the dreadful treatment she had received from Ginny and Mrs. Weasley. Bill had kept his mouth shut as had his father, but Harry remembered how Fleur's parents and relatives had looked and that was definitely UNHAPPY

Oh well, as Harry wouldn't have a say as to who he was expected to marry and his parents were dead, Mrs. Weasley would have her way in everything except when Ginny decided to throw her weight around. Harry wondered who between the two of the Weasley females would win the most rounds in the wedding battle. Harry also wondered just how much like Molly Weasley Ginny would end up looking and acting like. He shuddered at the thought.

Hermione would probably not go looking for her parents this summer – she would be too busy helping to rebuild the Wizarding World. Harry wondered if she would ever look for her parents or would she be subtlety persuaded not to? Naturally, she would go back for her seventh year at Hogwarts and she would definitely be offered the Head Girl position and could try to break Riddle's and Dumbledore's records for most NEWTS and receiving the most "O's" in her NEWTS.

What she would do after graduation was anybody's guess as she would, as one of the Golden Trio and heroes of the war, be offered her choice of positions, unlike Harry or Ron. Harry knew he would always be cannon fodder as would Ron, but Ron wouldn't know it and he would just bask in the fame and glory which he had always craved.

Would Ron and Hermione stay together now that Ron had "gotten her" and Harry hadn't or would all the girls that would be throwing themselves at Ron (but not at Harry as he was destined for Ginny) break them up?

No doubt the three of them would be getting the Order of Merlin First-Class and the money that would come with it would go to Ron's head and he would spend it on clothes, brooms, booze, woman and whatever else he could waste it on. No doubt he would be endlessly interviewed and would only stay on as an Auror until he was drafted by one of the Quidditch teams where he would make the really big money. At least that was Ron's plan.

Yes, that was mostly likely all of the big plans in their simplicity. It was already all arranged and Harry would just have to accept it as EVERYBODY KNEW HE WOULD. After all he never would or could have any say in the matter of his own life.

But that just proved that NOBODY, BUT NOBODY knew the REAL HARRY POTTER.

Ron and Hermione had apparated to Grimmauld Place and were shocked that they could not get in. The day before Fred's funeral, Bill Weasley had personally overseen the placing of another Fidelius charm on the property with Molly Weasley being the secret keeper. After all, Harry wouldn't want undesirables hunting him down, especially after he and Ginny got married and started a family.

Molly had been so busy that she hadn't had time to give Harry the good news of what she had done for him, let alone the address. When he hadn't returned to the Burrow after a reasonable time, she had sent Ron and Hermione to get him as no doubt the poor boy was wandering around the neighborhood trying to remember where the house was.

She had conveniently not told Kreacher about the Fidelius nor had she given him the address. However, due to her not ever having had a house elf of her own, she was unaware that a little thing like a Fidelius could not stop a bound house elf from still finding his master's home, especially since he had been hiding in the house the entire time Bill was overseeing the charm placement.

Therefore, the day of Fred's funeral Harry had been in the shower when Kreacher pulled him out and had taken him to the Black Family house for Harry, as Head of House Black, to dissolve the charm and prevent the admission of any one not on the accepted list. Neither Hermione nor any of the Weasleys or members of the Order or the Ministry were on that list. It was just Harry, Kreacher, Winky, Andromeda Tonks and Teddy Lupin, Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom and Filius Flitwick. Harry had managed to bond Winky to him without anybody knowing other than Luna Lovegood, as it was her idea after all. Winky was also looking around for other now masterless elves for Harry to interview.

It really didn't matter in the long run, as Harry would only be temporarily using Grimmauld Place as a base. Actually, after his discussion with Kingsley, Harry had apparated to Longbottom Lodge to hide out. It had been arranged with Neville beforehand and he had talked his grandmother into helping Harry hide out and keeping it secret.

Augusta Longbottom had finally realized not only the worth of her only grandson but what Harry Potter had actually been put through thanks to the likes of Dumbledore, the man who she had always blamed for the condition of her only son and his wife.

Andromeda Tonks was there with little Teddy and Augusta had taken to the orphan to the extent that it was going to be difficult to pry him away from her. Such was Augusta's enthusiasm for the child that Andromeda had asked her if she would mind giving Teddy shelter while she and Harry were in Geneva. Augusta had jumped at the chance.

Harry had warned Andromeda of his plans to meet with Shacklebolt, just to make sure that there was no hope of any cooperation from Magical Britain. Filius Flitwick was also there as he was going to be one of the go-betweens with the Goblins. It seemed the Goblins were trying to confiscate everything that Harry owned due to the break-in at the bank to get Hufflepuff's cup.

When the break-in happened, Tonks had told her Mother that "Harry had to have had a very good reason for breaking in and no doubt the Goblins would use this as an excuse to rob him blind. Since Harry was Sirius' heir, the Black fortune would also be lost. Andromeda had immediately flown to Geneva via Muggle transportation and started the wheels turning.

She would not put anything passed the Goblins and since Goblins were very competitive, especially with each other, the best way to prevent the seizure was to appeal to the Goblin High Council located in Geneva. Once Harry had told her of the reason for breaking into the bank, she had reported it to her contacts in Geneva and now that the funerals were over Harry could be brought forth and his case pled.

She had also not been surprised to hear that the Ministry, via Bill Weasley, had already started negotiating with the British Goblins the day after the Battle of Hogwarts. The British Goblins had informed the Goblin High Council that they preferred to deal with the British Ministry through their employee William Weasley to negotiate an outcome more profitable to the Goblin Nation.

That had set off all sorts of alarms and Andromeda's fellow lawyers slammed the Goblin High Council with such words as "sell-out, fraud, cover-ups, robbing orphans of Ancient and Noble Houses" among others. All seven years of Hogwarts' History of Magic books, listing all of the Goblin rebellions in great detail, were sent not only to the Goblin High Council but to the ICW and Magic International THE NEWSPAPER for Magical Europe. All that was needed was the appearance of Harry Potter.

Harry Potter appeared wearing his usual Muggle attire under some threadbare robes that were about 3 inches too short for him. He was still too skinny, pale and unhealthy looking from his rough living of the past year (not to mention his entire life) and still bore some of the bruises, scratches and cuts that he received in the battle. Since none of them were life threatening, he had merely glamoured them so that nobody would fuss over him especially since there were far too many people with serious wounds to be seen to. For once his selflessness had done him some good and being glamoured he had forgotten about them and hadn't allowed his magic to heal them like he did when living with the Dursleys.

The British Goblins had been summoned by the Goblin High Council, meaning that this was not a negotiable matter. Ragnok, the Chief Goblin of Gringotts in Britain was accompanied by half a dozen Goblins as well as several large carts containing the ledgers of House Potter and House Black as well as the ledgers of House Lestrange listing all the contents contained within that particular account for the last fifty years.

It had also been demanded that the ledgers from the vaults of Albus Dumbledore and ALL of the Weasleys be produced as well as Cornelius Fudge and Lucius Malfoy. Ragnok and the other six Goblins had to stand before the entire assembly of Goblins and Magicals and swear on their life and the lives of their entire clans and their magic that a thorough and totally complete compilation of the accounts were done on all of the accounts requested and were being produced for the perusal of this august body.

Andromeda stated the facts mostly dealing with the two Voldemortic wars. To simplify matters, she had produced and distributed to all assembled a brief outline concerning the two wars' history. She emphasized Harry Potter's role in both wars and even explained in detail exactly what a Horcrux was and Harry and his two companions search for them. The facts were laid out concerning the Hufflepuff cup not only being a Horcrux but secured in the Lestrange vault. As it was the only way for Harry and companions to obtain the Horcrux they had risked their lives.

Harry Potter, at least, had been completely unaware that the Goblins were honor bound to turn over such a dark object and they had the means to test for dark objects before they were secured in a Gringotts vault. They never did and were liable to prosecution by the Goblin High Council as well as the British Ministry of Magic. Ironically, Harry Potter was doing a service to Magical Britain and British Gringotts had no grounds whatsoever to condemn and prosecute him.

Griphook's role in the incident, as well as his price for his assistance, was mentioned in great detail. His greed and his cooperation was enough to have him and his entire clan executed at the pleasure of Ragnok. Ragnok was questioned under oath and he admitted that Griphook's involvement was known to him as well as other Goblins. Andromeda had asked the question Ragnok feared most – that Griphook's guilt had been ignored so that Harry Potter could be blamed and his vaults confiscated. Ragnok answered yes.

"Why was only Harry Potter being prosecuted when Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley assisted him in acquiring the cup?"

"Hermione Granger is a Muggle and has no vault. Ronald Weasley has a personal vault but it is only worth 5,000 galleons" Ragnok said. Harry was shocked to hear that Ron had so much money and wondered where he had gotten it.

"Still," asked Andromeda, "They assisted him and therefore share the crime you accuse him of. There are other Weasleys with other vaults which you could confiscate, but yet you don't. You were asked to provide information concerning all Weasley vaults. What is the total amount of all those vaults?"

One of the Goblins gave a surprisingly large total. When asked for a breakdown per vault, it noted the Weasley Twins having a respectable amount due to their business whereas Arthur Weasley had hardly anything.

Ginerva Weasley had a vault with a bride price in it of 50,000 galleons and Molly Prewett Weasley had a personal vault of 50,000 galleons. Andromeda asked the Council and Court to mark the vault ledgers of Ronald Weasley, Ginerva Weasley and Molly Prewett Weasley as exhibits for further inspections.

Andromeda then asked for the details of the negotiations of British Gringotts with William Weasley and the Ministry of Magic. Apparently, the Ministry would pay for acquiring another guard dragon and any repairs needing to be done in return for dismissing Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger of any and all fault in the incident.

In return for this, the Ministry would allow the Goblins to have the entire contents of any and all Lestrange vaults as well as four other modest vaults of Death Eaters would were being confiscated by the Ministry. Also, the contents of Harry Potter's trust vault would be given over to the Goblins. The Ministry would acquire any and all contents of House Black vaults as their negotiating fees.

Harry Potter would be allowed to retain all of the House Potter vaults and his parents' personal vault but was only to be informed of his parents' personal vault, and not the existence of the other Potter vaults, upon his marriage to Ginerva Weasley. Apparently Dumbledore, as his self-appointed magical guardian, had not only sealed the Wills of James and Lily Potter, but had arranged a marriage contract with Molly Weasley hence, the transfer from Harry Potter's trust vault of the sum of 100,000 galleons divided equally and placed in the vaults of Molly Prewett Weasley and Ginerva Weasley.

A slight riot broke out in the assembly at these revelations. Within the next ten minutes a decision had unanimously been made by the Goblin High Council. Considering the presence of the ICW representatives as well as the press and other notable invitees only ONE VERDICT could be made and it would be ruinous for British Gringotts. But then British Gringotts had endangered the reputation and honor of ALL Goblins and there wasn't a word for mercy in the Goblin language.

All charges would be immediately dismissed against Harry Potter. Not one Knut would be taken from Harry Potter or one Knut to be taken from him by the British Ministry of Magic. All the vaults belonging to Harry Potter would be carefully audited not only by the Goblin High Council but by representatives of the ICW, The Confederation of Mighty Dwarfs (the chief competitor of the Goblins and demanded by the legal team representing Harry Potter) and all this would be done within the next ten days.

Naturally, all of this would be done free of charge by the Goblins. As each vault was audited, the contents would be temporarily transferred to Gringotts Geneva. The contents of the trust vault would be turned over immediately to Harry Potter to pay his legal fees, personal expenses and at the request of his legal team, relocation expenses, as no doubt he would need to flee his native land due to the remaining Death Eaters still at large as well as from the British Ministry.

To facilitate this audit, British Gringotts would be closed immediately. ALL ACCOUNTS, especially those of the Ministry and any member of the Ministry, would be frozen until further notice. There would be no reason given to either the Ministry or the British press. The European press present in the assembly could, at the current time, only mention an investigation of a serious scandal in Britain was being done which would be revealed upon its completion.

Everyone present at the hearing was under oath not to reveal the existence of the Horcruxes or what a Horcrux was. They were, however, allowed to hint that this scandal would be far reaching and the need might arise for the ICW to declare Martial Law in Britain. Although this had never been done before, and probably wouldn't unless some really serious dirt was found out, it would be enough to worry a lot of guilty people in Britain.

Harry Potter was missing, but nobody was really worried. He had no money, only the clothes on his back and one mean, bitter old house elf to his name. Harry had been told by Bill Weasley that if he or his elf tried to go to Gringotts, they would be arrested on the spot. The Goblins could be worse than Voldie himself and were subject to their own laws and not the Ministry. Harry wouldn't survive and neither would Kreacher.

Ron had managed to "obtain" Harry's invisibility cloak before the funeral and the stupid git hadn't even noticed. It was safely hidden in Ginny's room. At least he thought it was until he went looking for it and it wasn't there. Unknown to anybody, Winky had liberated it as well as the rest of Harry's belongings. They were safe in his new room at Grimmauld Place. After Sirius' death, Ron had painted his – uh their room, Chudley Cannon orange without asking Harry's permission.

Only Minerva McGonagall was really worried about Harry. There were Death Eaters still out there and if they had the boy – well she didn't want to think about what would happen to him if he was caught by any of them.

Kingsley Shacklebolt had assured the Weasleys that Harry had asked for help to "heal" or some such nonsense, but he had set the kid straight.

Bill Weasley thought something was up, but didn't want to worry any of his family so said nothing. He had gone to work two days after Fred's funeral as he had some family matters to attend to and since he was helping the Goblins negotiating the "incident" with the Ministry, he knew he would be given some slack work-wise.

The bank was strangely silent. The Goblins serving Wizards were not being their usual nasty, rude selves, but Bill ignored it. He was told that certain Goblins involved in the "incident" affair were unavailable to meet with him and he would be summoned when he was needed. He still didn't worry and was actually grateful for a slow day.

However, when he arrived home he started to worry. At his front door were two French Aurors who were barring him entrance to his own home. While his French had improved in the long months during the war, it still wasn't all that great and the Aurors would or could not speak English so fighting with them was futile. All he could really find out was that they were there because his esteemed father-in-law was visiting his daughter Fleur and BILL WAS NOT ALLOWED in until Minister Delacour left.

Bill considered going to the Burrow and have a good meal but then the door opened and out came his father-in-law followed by a weeping Fleur along with her mother.

Before Bill could say anything, Minister Delacour spoke sneeringly to Bill, "I have dissolved your marriage to my daughter. You are a dishonorable man from a dishonorable family and I spit on you and yours. If you ever try to contact my daughter, I will have you killed. So mote it be."

That being said, he nodded to the Aurors and he, Fleur and Mrs. Delacour port keyed from Shell Cottage forever. The Aurors stayed for a moment and one of them said in much better English than he was using before. "Minister Delacour means what he has said. If you chose to even set foot on French soil for any reason, you will be escorted out of the country. Your Ministry will be informed of this." The two Aurors then port keyed away leaving a bewildered Bill Weasley.

Like Minerva, Hermione had begun to worry about Harry once he had been missing for two days. He couldn't possibly take care of himself. She hoped he wasn't doing anything stupid but wouldn't bet on it. She was rather annoyed when Ron started razzing Harry, calling Harry all the names he usually did when in one of his jealous rants. When Hermione started fighting back and defending Harry, all Ron did was to try and "get a little sugar" from his Mione, but only ended up getting his face slapped as his idea of a "little sugar" was extremely different from Hermione's.

Things got very tense at the Burrow. Ron wasn't getting what he really wanted from Hermione, Mrs. Weasley couldn't keep her big, overbearing, critical mouth shut and when Bill came back home actually crying about his non-existent marriage, Hermione couldn't take it anymore.

As all the Weasleys knew that Hermione didn't have any place to go now that Grimmauld Place was locked down and Harry was nowhere to be found, they started turning their wrath on the poor girl. It never occurred to them that Hermione did have somewhere else to go. She went back to Hogwarts to help Minerva with the rebuilding.

The Weasleys hadn't even noticed she had left until a very drunk George had dared an even drunker Ron to "either get what was rightfully his or shut up." Since it was considered impossible for a Weasley to shut up while ranting, Ron had drunkenly sought out Hermione, couldn't find her and then threw such a drunken temper tantrum that it out did the ones his mother was currently throwing.

Andromeda had returned to Longbottom Lodge to thank Mrs. Longbottom for taking care of Teddy and to brief them about the day's proceedings. Augusta had been so shocked that for once in her life she was speechless. Neville had a feeling it would be bad, but the revelations forced out of the British Goblins astounded him especially those about the Ministry's negotiations. "Harry saved us all and they are robbing him blind," he had asked.

"Basically yes, but thanks to my daughter, we were able to act fast and be well armed to do battle."

"Does this mean Gringotts will close?" asked Augusta now worried for her family's financial future. As with most of the Magicals in Britain, a very large portion of the Longbottom money and special heirlooms were kept in their Gringotts vaults. There wasn't much choice as Gringotts was the only banking system allowed to operate in Britain.

Despite all of the bloody Goblin rebellions and unfair financial practices, the Goblins had full control. It was a well-known fact, which the Ministry refused to ever admit to, let alone investigate, that gold changed hands frequently between Goblins and Ministers of Magic and certain members of the Wizengamot to keep this monopoly still strong.

"No," replied Andromeda, "The Goblin High Council will do anything to save face and this scandal will definitely not go unpunished. The Council will audit our Gringotts within an inch of its life, especially with the ICW AND the Dwarfs breathing down their necks. The press will still have a field day and it will take years for the Goblin Nation to recover."

"Also, the Dwarf Coalition has been petitioning Magical Britain for centuries to be allowed to do business here and have been refused every time. Because of this scandal and with the ICW getting involved – without being hindered by Dumbledore's interference – the Dwarfs stand the best chance they have ever had to move in on the Goblins' territory."

Augusta added, "I heard the Dwarfs are better business people and while gruff they are still more polite and honest than the Goblins.

Tea was served while the two women debated the benefits of Goblins versus Dwarf s while Neville, although listening intently, was happily playing with Teddy.

Meanwhile Harry had been given shelter in the home of Pierre DuBois, one of Andromeda's team. Chateau DuBois was small but nicely set up and heavily warded. Pierre had been friends with Jean Delacour for years and after asking Harry's advice and permission, contacted Jean and told him of what had happened and would be happening.

Since Jean was a highly placed Minister in Magical France, he could be trusted to keep secrets, however, as a father he informed Pierre that he would be going to Britain to retrieve his daughter and protect his family's honor. Pierre couldn't and wouldn't blame him and just asked that the son-in-law not be told in advance. "Let him find out with everybody else in Britain just what his treachery and that of his family has cost him. He deserves nothing more."

Thus, the Delacours told their daughter what had happened and gave her the choice of letting her father declare her marriage null and void or staying with the dishonorable Weasleys and cast out of her own family and be officially and irrevocably cursed by them forever. Besides, the female Weasleys were still treating her badly and it looked as if it would continue and Bill said "I can't do anything about it" and didn't even try. Fleur chose the only possible choice and left England.

Bill would find out with everybody else when he received his copy of the Prophet, its headlines blaring

GRINGOTTS IN LOCKDOWN

BANK CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

SCANDAL COULD CAUSE COLLAPSE OF BRITISH MAGICAL ECONOMY

It would be difficult to say who was the most upset. Thousands of Wizards and Witches were horrified to read of the bank's closure. Nothing had been said as to when, if ever, it would be reopening. Thoughts of the various Goblin rebellions were in people's minds.

How would businesses go on without cash or credit? Since the introduction of bottomless bags and debit cards, most magicals were not carrying a lot of cash around nor were they keeping any reserves in their homes. How would food be bought, bills paid or currency exchanged? Panic in the streets had already started when the Aurors showed up.

Despite the prominent notice posted on the door of the bank, crowds were pounding on the door to be replaced by the Aurors ordering the Goblins to open up in the name of the Minister of Magic. A few spells were thrown by the Aurors, although they knew it would all be in vain as the bank was famous for being impenetrable and it was living up to its fame.

So far no one had made any connection with the missing Harry Potter and the closing of the bank mainly because the Ministry had kept Harry's disappearance secret. Neither the Weasleys nor the Ministry thought for a moment that Harry had managed to do anything on his own despite Harry having told Kingsley that Andromeda Tonks was representing him regarding his Gringotts problem.

As Kingsley had told the boy, the Ministry, assisted by Bill Weasley, was handling the matter on his behalf, the boy should have accepted that and called off Tonks, as she would be given no chance to deal with the Goblins. Kingsley considered the matter closed and so should Harry.

It wasn't until a delegate from the ICW arrived with a summons for Shacklebolt and others to appear before the full International Court that it started to sink in. Somehow Potter had gotten away from their control. It was then that Kingsley ordered the arrest of Andromeda Tonks and a full fledge manhunt to find Harry Potter.

But Andromeda was no fool and after making plans with the Longbottoms she had taken Teddy with her back to Pierre's home. Kreacher had been left behind to keep watch on Grimmauld Place. Two newly acquired elves had been left with him. They were to guard and protect the home and its contents from everybody. All the heirlooms, books and anything of monetary value had already been shrunk and packed as well as hiding them in case a need for a hasty departure arose.

Augusta had taken the opportunity of the chaos to take Frank and Alice from St. Mungo's. Longbottom Lodge was also placed in lock down with hasty departures measures put in place if the need arose. All but two elves were to man the Lodge. The other two were helping Augusta and Neville in caring for Frank and Alice and seeing them to the clinic where they would be re-evaluated.

The only reason they had been at St. Mungo's all these years was that the Ministry paid for their care. Should Augusta move them or even decided to bring in a specialist from another hospital outside of Britain, their free care would cease. The cost would have been prohibited and although the Longbottoms were a wealthy family, these costs would have seriously undermined the estate especially considering that as wizards, Frank and Alice could possibly live to be 200 years despite their condition.

Augusta had considered taking them home and hiring a private healer to evaluate them and then a permanent care nurse. At least they would be at home and not in some cold, impersonal hospital and the salary of a nurse or two would be doable even for 200 years. She now remembered that it had been Dumbledore who talked her out of doing so but she could not remember how he had persuaded her. Strange, wasn't it.

From what Andromeda had been telling her about some of Dumbledore's manipulations, alarms went off. Then Neville told her of his friend Luna Lovegood going with him when he went to tell his parents that "it was finally over." Luna had taken one look at his parents and started questioning him about their care and treatment. She had even snuck a peek at their charts.

It was a little known fact (but Augusta had known) that Pandora Moonstone, Luna's mother, was a descendent of seers and there were even hints of Faes being ancestors. Luna had urged Neville to have his parents evaluated by someone outside of Britain and she had "this feeling" that….well that his parents could get well but only if they left St. Mungo's.

The final decision was made when Neville let slip what Harry had told him of the prophecy. Augusta had put two and two together and smelled a rat – a rat by the name of Dumbledore. Andromeda had arranged for the transportation of the four Longbottoms and two elves via the contacts assisting in Harry's case. They also arranged for Frank and Alice to be admitted to a very secretive but excellent clinic. Harry had even offered to pay for this once he had access to his main accounts.

So the Longbottoms and the Lovegoods left while the situation in Magical Britain was the same as usual. The Goblins ignoring the Wizards and their financial plight, the Ministry still corrupt at its heart despite the recent war for "freedom" or whatever the current cause was, Wizarding families attempting to keep or trying to acquire money, power and fame and last but not least, trying to control and screw over Harry James Potter.

An extremely nervous Kingsley Shacklebolt stood before the entire World Assembly of the ICW. Usually it was just the European Wizards and they were on the leash held by the late Albus Dumbledore. Now it was a full assembly.

Wizards and Witches from ALL the Magical World's Ministries were here, as well as representatives from the non-human magicals and even a few Muggle Ministers, such as the British Prime Minister and selected members of his staff. If Kingsley hadn't been nervous before he saw the British PM, he was now. In fact, he was petrified considering the look the man was giving him.

The session was being chaired by the American Minister of Magic, assisted by the Ministers from Australia and Japan. The American called the assembly to order and then called for Shacklebolt to approach the Court.

Kingsley approached and stood in the Circle of Questions. The American nodded and a herald read out the reasons for assembly.

"Now standing before this Honorable Assembly is Kingsley Ignatz Shacklebolt, currently the Temporary Minister of Magic for the Magical World of Britain. Temporary Minister Shacklebolt, it has come to the attention of this Honorable Assembly the overwhelming evidence of the following:

Serious crimes and corruptions;

Corruptions, manipulations, and the denial of rights to magical entities;

Fraud;

Bribery;

Denial of fair trials, unlawful holding and/or incarcerations of innocent persons due to either no sound evidence or unsubstantiated evidence;

Unfair hearings and/or trials resulting in the release of accused parties due to bribery and/or corruption;

The holding of sham trials and/or the withholding of knowledge of such trials from the public sector;

Manipulation of the trial system to the detriment of the accused with the intention of the irrevocable and unfair sentencing of any and all such accused for the purpose of damaging any of the accused's personal or professional reputation, familial reputation or ethnic or racial reputation;

The usurpation and/or misuse of proxy votes in the Wizengamot;

Illegal sealing of Wills, especially Wills of a person or persons of an Ancient and Noble House;

Fraud committed against an orphan minor or minors, especially orphan minor or minors of an Ancient and Noble House;

Illegal usurpation of the guardianship of on orphan minor or minors of any House, but especially a Noble or an Ancient and Noble House;

Collusion with other entities, such as the Goblin Nation via its British Representative known as Gringotts Bank, to mislead, mistreat, threaten with dire consequences for no true legal reasons in an attempt to swindle any and all person or persons of his, hers, theirs or its rightful inheritance(s), funds and personal possessions…."

The list seem to go on and on as Kingsley stood there listening while trying to think how he was going to answer these charges. Granted, some of them were not his fault as most of them went back years, even centuries. But the newer ones were due to Fudge, the likes of Malfoy, et al., Rufus Scrimgeour and, last but not least and most importantly, Albus Dumbledore.

Before his death Dumbledore had left a letter to be magically given to whoever succeeded him as head of the Order with the exception of Minerva McGonagall and/or Harry Potter, "should either of them become head for some inexplicable reason. The letter was charmed to be re-delivered if and when the person or persons succeeding Dumbledore also died.

Unknown to the recipient, of course, a charm had been placed on the letter compelling the reader to act on and follow Dumbledore's instructions detailed in the letter. It was, after all, for the Greater Good, and the only way Magical Britain, or at least the Magical Britain as envisioned by Dumbledore, could survive Voldemort and become the utopia that would be Dumbledore's legacy to Britain and to history. Shacklebolt never had a chance to do anything but obey Dumbledore.

But how was Shacklebolt to explain to the ICW all that had to be done to meet Dumbledore's orders and vision. Shacklebolt had just been in the right place and at the right time and had it seemed that only by Fate's fickleness to be name Minister of Magic, not to mention the most high ranking survivor of the Order (well besides McGonagall who Dumbles claimed was unsuitable).

He was pulled out of his thoughts due to the herald reading louder as though the herald noticed that he hadn't been paying attention to his words and thus Kingsley heard the words "….From said orphan minor and the withholding said orphan minor's redress of grievances…." Yep, it was Harry Potter they were talking about despite not mentioning his name.

"….Committed and abetted by the Ministry of Magic, its members and/or the Wizengamot….." continued the herald. "It had to end soon" thought Kingsley, "and I still don't know what I am going to say."

And then it did end with the American Minister asking Kingsley, "What have you to say in response to this list Temporary Minister Shacklebolt?"

The only answer Kingsley managed to say was "Uh…." – an answer which was not exactly what the assembly wanted to hear. "Could you please be more specific in your reply Temporary Minister Shacklebolt?"

So then in the time-honored tradition of the British Ministry of Magic, Shacklebolt replied, "I believe that former Minister Cornelius Fudge may have the information requested."

All eyes then turned to former Minister Cornelius Fudge. Silence reigned. Finally a very flustered Fudge copiously pissed himself and then fainted falling to the floor in an ungraceful manner while making a good deal of noise while doing it.

"Can you suggest anyone else, Temporary Minister Shacklebolt?" asked the American Minister. Stalling for as long as possible, Kingsley looked around to see who exactly was with him before spying Percy Weasley who had been called due to his position as an assistant to the late Minister Scrimgeour.

"Mr. Percy Weasley should be able to answer those questions." This was the ultimate pass off, but then Percy had made no secret of his desire to one day be Minister of Magic, so here was his big chance to show his true political acumen.

Now all eyes turned to Percy, who strongly considered following Fudge's example but that would ruin him completely and forever and he would never hear the end of it from his Mother. Never in his life had he been so frightened. He would rather be caught wearing his Mother's under garments (a truly horrible sight on her) while staring Voldemort in the eye informing the Dark Lord that he had a bad nose job and should sue someone to correct it.

Unfortunately, Percy was basically standing in front of the entire Magical World who was awaiting an answer, an answer from him. Percy held the fate of the British Ministry in his sweaty hands and despite all his intelligence and all the studying he had done, all he could answer was "Yes that sounds like us all right."

The silence was deadly.