The next morning, Harry stumbled into the Great Hall eagerly looking forward to breakfast. Gauging from the platters on the student tables and the number of students gathered, Harry deduced that the elves had only just barely served the food. This was good because it would give him plenty of time to hastily prepare for his first class of the morning.
Upon arriving at his spot on the professors' table, he discovered two letters awaiting him. Harry ignored them and shoveled generous helpings of eggs, potatoes, and bacon onto his plate. A little syrup to sweeten it up, and Harry was in heaven. He sipped some pumpkin juice and then turned his attention to the mail.
The first letter proved to be from Alastor Moody. The body of the letter was terse. In it, Moody requested that Harry meet with him at the earliest possible juncture regarding the death of Minister Black. Harry was to suggest a time and place. If the time Harry chose wasn't soon enough, Moody would be glad to offer an escort to the place of his own choosing.
Harry rolled his eyes. Moody or Prewitt or both probably thought he was guilty of killing Black and Malfoy. A truth potion or a magical oath could solve that. There wasn't anything that had happened that night, except for Malfoy bequeathing his gold to Harry, that Harry was not prepared to share with the Ministry. They might even be impressed as discovering I quite nearly became and undersecretary, Harry smirked. What would Umbridge think then? Vaguely, Harry wondered if the odious witch had yet begun her employment with the Ministry.
The next letter was both unexpected and puzzling. It was from Professor Dumbledore. Harry's presence in the headmaster's office was requested immediately after the conclusion of Harry's breakfast.
Harry lingered over his food longer than normal as he pondered what Dumbledore might want with him and what he would say. It could very well be that Dumbledore wanted details about the dark lord killing Cygnus Black. Harry could provide that. He had already decided to stick with and broadly disclose most of the events as they had happened. Would Dumbledore want more? Harry supposed he could drop a few tidbits. Perhaps he could even play it so that he became a primary source of information for Dumbledore and eventually the Order. At the very least, it would make him more cognizant of the Order's movements.
Realizing that the stop at Dumbledore's office would make him late to class if he didn't hurry, Harry quickly finished up his meal and exited the Great Hall. A few minutes later, he was ascending the moving staircase and knocking on the headmaster's door.
"Come in," Dumbledore called.
Harry entered, shutting the door behind him. Dumbledore tiredly motioned for Harry to take a seat across the desk from him. Clearly, the headmaster was tired. His movements were slow and his blue eyes were quite dull. Harry was unnerved not only by seeing Dumbledore so tired, but by the fact that Dumbledore's dull eyes were now focused intently on him. Eventually, the headmaster reached for his bowl of lemon drops and offered it to Harry. "Lemon drop?"
"Yes, thank you," Harry said, accepting the lemon drop in an attempt to be very polite.
"The loss of Minister Black is a tragedy," Dumbledore said, returning the lemon drop bowl to his desk without taking one himself. "Perhaps more of a tragedy than anyone realizes," he added.
Harry nodded in agreement, though he didn't feel like saying anything-not even anything just to fill the void of silence.
"I understand that you were there when it happened," Dumbledore said slowly.
"Yes," admitted Harry. "It was pretty bad. I was lucky to escape with my life."
Dumbledore nodded in agreement, his eyes now pointed toward one of the various portraits on the wall, though he didn't seem to be looking at it. "I'm sure the Ministry will want you to tell them everything you know. I hope you will cooperate. Not only do you have information about what happened last night, you also undoubtedly have information on what you, the Blacks, and the late Mr. Malfoy did to combat this dark lord."
"Of course," said Harry. "I've already been contacted. I'll make myself available."
"Good," said Dumbledore. He paused for a little bit and then pressed on. "You, the Blacks, and Mr. Malfoy accomplished more than you may realize. The Ministry has been prepared for conflict and put in the right mindset. I can assure you, Harry, that the former Director Foxe would have been a very poor leader in the upcoming difficulties. Then, there was Minister Thornton." Dumbledore frowned at Harry. "I'm not entirely sure her removal from office was as legitimate as Orion Black led us to believe. I will admit, though, having her in command now would have been inconvenient."
Harry shrugged modestly. "I can't really say that I was directly involved in that political maneuver."
"No, I didn't think so," Dumbledore said. He smiled briefly. "Had you been more involved in the political negotiations made by the Black family, you would have spent the night rallying their allies. As it is, Davian Prewitt did that. It would appear he has become the heir of the alliances the Black family forged. I think it is safe to say that he will be our next Minister of Magic, Harry."
"I see," said Harry, wondering if maybe he could have actually had an effect on who would have become Minister. It wouldn't have mattered anyway, he mused. I could have never become Minister myself, and I can't think of anyone else that would be more competent than Prewitt .
Dumbledore nodded, leaning back in his seat and staring off into space. Eventually, he put a serious expression on his face and addressed Harry. "I have another purpose for having summoned you here this morning, Harry."
"Oh?" said Harry.
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