Disclaimer: The author of this story has no connection with J.K. Rowling, Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Publishing or AOL Time Warner Inc. This is purely a work of fan fiction and as such, no permissions have been given by any of the aforementioned parties. As this story is published on the internet on a strictly not-for-profit site, no infringement is intended. Rights to the characters mentioned is neither claimed nor implied. I am naught but an unworthy cur riding on the coat tails of my elders and betters!

Chapter 1 – Prologue

Great Britain, September 2006

In the eight years since the end of the Second War, things had changed.

Few could argue that the changes wrought had not been for the better or that they had not been entirely necessary at the time, but that had been then and this was now.

In an attempt to stabilise the battered magical community for a period after the tumultuous events of the second struggle against Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters, a state of martial law had been declared. It had been decided by the Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, that only those who had fought in the Battle of the Brae would be able to hold high office. These witches and wizards had proven their integrity beyond doubt by putting their very lives on the line in a final, hopeless battle against a vastly superior force of Death Eater Legions.

The Auror Phalanxes had been erroneously named, as only half of the forces of the Order of the Phoenix that fateful day had consisted of Aurors. The remainder had been comprised of adult volunteers from all walks of life who had answered the call to arms issued by the Ministry of Magic. From the wizarding population of a little over 60,000 individuals in mainland Britain, only 300 had stepped forward to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Aurors. It was Scrimgeour's disgust with what he saw as the general population's cowardice which was one of the main impulses for him to take his radical decision.

In effect, all surviving veterans were drafted, willing or not, to serve the 'public interest'. Great efforts were made to match each person's individual talents to the posts they were assigned, but at the end of the day the most important factor was trust. The Minister of Magic needed to know that he had below him people who were neither talentless political appointees nor servants of the Dark. As positions under high office were still open to the all candidates, the real impact on the average witch or wizard was slight and the plan enjoyed strong public approval.

With his power base secured, Rufus Scrimgeour went to work. There were pogroms conducted against any and all who had been connected to Voldemort in even the slightest way. Enlisting the aid of each and every foreign country which bordered Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, he effectively quarantined the wizarding population for over six months. The justice was swift and harsh, with a great many people being thrown to the few surviving captive Dementors for the Kiss. The executions were held publicly, with the condemned being chained to a post in the middle of an open-air amphitheatre. Perhaps surprisingly, the public had remained deathly quiet throughout each of the numerous killings instead of baying for the blood of the doomed individual, a fact which made the proceedings all the more unnerving.

After the condemned's soul had been sucked out, they faced the final ignominy of having a poison forced down the throat of their still-living, though entirely empty body. Still chained to the broad wooden post, and dressed as they were in filthy rags, they would mewl and thrash as their bodies died. For the once-proud supporters of the Dark Lord to die in such a manner was seen by all as a fitting end.

When he had finished with the collaborators, Scrimgeour had gone after the corrupt with a vengeance. These fresh purges against the bent bureaucrats and crooked politicians had proved to be no less popular than the previous round conducted against those who had aided and abetted the forces of darkness for so long. This time, however, the convicted were not sentenced to death but to long terms of imprisonment in the newly refurbished Azkaban prison. With no Dementors to continuously torture the prisoners, a new regime was devised. The inmates were marooned on the island with no wands or any other magical artefacts and left to fend for themselves. On this desolate, wind-swept island in the middle of the North Sea, the inmates would have to catch fish, farm whatever crops they could and affect repairs to their few clothes in the Muggle way. The shock of being forcibly removed from magical society and forced to eke out such a miserable existence killed many of those so sentenced. Few tears were shed for them.

The sight of a deflated Cornelius Fudge being led away in chains to begin his fifteen-year term at Azkaban had marked an end to this stage of Scrimgeour's plan. Society was as clean of the sins and sinners of the past as it was ever going to be and life began to settle down once again. The final step was to write a constitution for the wizarding community, something which it had been lacking up until now. It was acknowledged to be a fairly good attempt at one at that and enjoyed the support of a broad cross-section of wizardkind. All in all, it was a time of consensus.

Not all the changes were so drastic or immediate, however. The new post of Prefect General was created for the greatest surviving hero of the Second War, Severus Snape. It was a lifetime post which gave him carte blanche to act in any manner he saw fit and he did not shy away from using the full extent of his powers on occasion. The remit of this new office was to,

"…maintain the safety of the general public, police the actions of the Personnel and Offices of Government, and seek out any and all agent provocateurs who would seek to foment discord within the wizarding community and/or engage in activities deleterious to the general well-being of society."

He did not need to trouble himself with the less desirable individuals in society as Moody was attending to that matter in that usual unsophisticated, yet effective, manner of his. Rather, Snape wielded his power behind the scenes in order to reshape wizardkind by eradicating Muggle influences and re-introducing lost wizarding ways. A new era of traditional, courtly manners was gradually introduced over time. Formal public events would take place with cries of '…make a leg…' and '…your best curtsy…' now once again being commonplace. Formal dress balls, courting rituals and manners were gradually gaining popularity amongst the wizarding population, be they pureblood or otherwise.

Muggle chic was firmly discouraged by the simple expedient of making life increasingly uncomfortable for the parents of those children who chose to practice it. However, few examples were needed when all Snape needed to do was make a few choice comments within the earshot of any reporter who valued their own skin. The next edition of whichever publication the lucky journalist belonged to would invariably carry an article quoting the Prefect General extensively and extolling the virtues of whatever his point of view happened to be. It was a process which took place over many years and the changes were willingly embraced by the general population. By returning to the genteel customs of a bygone age they were drawing a line under the previous disastrous era of wizardkind.

People wanted to forget; people needed to forget.

A Premature Epilogue - Monday 30th September 2007

The two figures huddled together in the deep shadows of the doorway, despite the muggy warmth which made them sweat so. The hoods of their dark robes were covered in cobwebs and dust from the seldom used front door, and trailing creepers of ivy brushed against the taller figure's shoulders. Only a passer-by with exceptionally keen eyesight would have spotted the toecaps of their boots peeking out into the silvery moonlight.

Although one was intent on dissuading the other from his chosen course of action, they knew they were both here to bid farewell to one another as it would be a long time, if ever, before they would meet again. There was a long silence punctuated only by the occasional hoot of a passing owl before the taller figure finally gave in to his rising sense of frustration.

"You've already lost everything else and now this!" he hissed.

"I'll survive," said the other in a dead tone of voice.

"Surviving isn't enough!" protested the first.

"We used to think so," stated the second with a ghost of a smile on his face. He was staring out over his favourite vista, desperately trying to fix each and every detail of it in his mind.

"That was then! We've both…we're not…they won't let you go!" finished his friend hotly.

"Why not?" asked the first with a shrug of his shoulders. "I'm not telling them," he stated matter-of-factly.

The second figure froze, shocked to his core by the implication of those seven words. "You can't!" he protested.

"I must!" was the fiercely whispered reply.

After long moments of silence, the first figure reached out a hand to draw his resisting friend into a fierce embrace.

Author's Note

Arthur C. Clarke, that Grandee of science fiction with whom I would not dare to lump myself in with, took a very practical view of the books in his Odyssey series.

He considered his sequels to 2001: A Space Odyssey not as linear to the original story, but rather as variations on the same theme. The subsequent books, 2010, 2061 & 3001 involved common characters and situations, but were not necessarily set in the same universe.

I would like to take a leaf out of that wise man's book and ask you to view this sequel to 'Harry Potter and the Fatal Fury' in much the same light. If you like what I have done with J.K. Rowling's characters and my own plot for them, feel free to 'staple' it on to what I have previously written. If, however, you think I have made a complete arse of things, you can consign it to the wastepaper basket of your mind and your computer!

Regardless of what conclusion you come to, I hope that I manage to surprise you!

Fish & Bird