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Intoxicate the Sun	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 18051 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
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Chapter Three--Today, When the War Begins

            From a letter by Auror Andrea Desang to her sister, Mara Constante:

            ...don't understand how it could have happened. Oh, he was violent and didn't have control of his temper, and I think sometimes he was angry with me because I argued with him about how the Minister was really the best Minister we could have, someone who might give us real change instead of the half-arsed efforts that Shacklebolt would have approved.

            But I would never have thought Harry Potter would go mad. I thought he'd survived worse things than just not being able to do as he'd liked.

            Some people are saying that he wasn't really mad, but you should have seen Madam Weasley-Granger's face, Mara. She believed it. She was standing there, shaking, her hands holding each other as if she was afraid that she would reach for support if they didn't. She's a proud woman, but we'll work together, I think, since I'm the one assigned to protect her and to question her about what she thinks Potter might do next. She's already given me some good ideas...

            Quibbler article for the day after Harry Potter fled the Ministry, by Luna Lovegood:

            All a Lie?

            Sources have fed us the information that Minister Jacques Duplais is expected to recover from his burns, but not to resume his Ministerial duties. Head Auror Gillian Clearwater has been tapped to succeed him, or at least so other sources, close to the Ministry, assert.

            The burning is a terrible thing. No one can deny that. Harry Potter should not have done that, and I will tell him so the next time I see him.

            But at the same time, one has to wonder why Harry would strike right then. Whatdid he know that the rest of us didn't? What had he heard from Minister Duplais that made him decide it was the right time for a revolution?

            Other trusted sources (the second ones, not the first ones) say that Harry had been sacked and the other Aurors told that he was to be taken to St. Mungo's and locked up. I would say that that's a good reason for starting a revolution. What do we really know about Minister Duplais, after all? He's not a war hero. He's a politician. And politicians have always been uneasy around war heroes. They have to control them, soothe their consciences to sleep with luxuries, or get rid of them. And anyone who knows Harry Potter has to realize that the first two would be impossible, with him.

            Why did Harry really burn Minister Duplais? That's the question that everyone needs to be asking themselves.

            Well, and one other, of course: What side would you take in a real revolution?

From the first Daily Prophet article to address the flight of Harry Potter, by Rita Skeeter:

            Dumbledore's Dark Legacy

            The twisted vines of the man known as Albus Dumbledore have finally borne fruit. Harry Potter, the brave child he tortured and had a most inappropriate relationship with, has finally fled the Ministry and turned on those who sheltered him.

            "I don't at all blame him," says Taliesin Graywood, one of the two Aurors assigned to arrest Mr. Poter. He was blinded momentarily for his trouble, and nearly burned to death in the ruins of Minister Duplais's office. "No one could keep their sanity under the pressures he had to endure. It would be mad."

            Jennifer Morgan, another Auror sent to arrest Mr. Potter, disagrees with this assessment. "He read my mind," she says. "I could feel him in there, sifting through memories and looking at images that he had no right to access." She breaks down with tears on her lovely face, her head in her hands. "It was horrible. No one knows what it's like, because so few people are subject to Legilimency without Ministry approval."

            Speculation abounds on how long the Ministry has known that Harry Potter was a Legilimens and had been using him as a secret weapon. Some estimate only a few months, but others insist that it was the reason for Potter being accepted into the Auror program at such a young age and without some of the basic training necessary for most applicants.

            "He wasn't any good at Potions," asserts a trusted source close to Head Auror and Acting Minister Gillian Clearwater, who asked not to be named because he would be in peril of losing his job. "There had to be some skill in the background that was giving him an extra boost, you know? And Legilimency, which we know that he demonstrated because of the assault on Morgan, would fit."

            Acting Minister Clearwater declined to comment, but we feel sure that she would agree with this view. (For a look at Acting Minister Clearwater's political background, please see page 6. For an in-depth investigation of her robes and makeup habits, see page 4).

            The questions are, of course, how does one arrest a daring and mad former Auror who can read your plans right out of your head? And who has the trust of dozens of house-elves and the ability to become a werewolf at will, as well...

            From the desk of Gillian Clearwater, Head Auror, Acting Minister, Mastermind of the Hunt for Potter:

            Yes, of course you're to put as many people on the job as possible. We have to corner him before he can vanish into the Muggle world. He was raised there, and God knows what kind of contacts and hiding places he still has.

            You may use any Auror who will follow instructions. Keep in mind that some of them have shown signs of rebellion even before this, and they may refuse to hunt someone as popular and dangerous as Harry Potter. If they do, say that you understand and make sure that you keep them far away from the hunt. They might be changeable in their sympathies and inclined to go over to his side if you give them half a chance. They must not know too much about your methods or hunters, in any case, so that Potter, if contacting them, will not learn anything.

            Full command of the Ministry's pegasi cavalry and Hit Wizards is yours. Keep an eye out for Potter sympathizers among the Hit Wizards, of course, but I am more confident in expecting no trouble out of them. Most of them didn't work closely with Potter and will know him as nothing more than a distant heroic figure.

            If need be, look into the Department of Mysteries for an artifact that will help you. Some of them are fully tested and may be used even by someone who isn't fully-trained. Just make sure to keep the instructions with the artifact, and spell them both to Apparate back to the Ministry in the case of unfortunate accidents.

            God grant that you catch him, and Merlin grant that Minister Duplais feels fit to resume his duties soon. I wish this need not have happened while I was Acting Minister.

From the Daily Prophet article published a week after Harry Potter's disappearance:

Minister Duplais Succumbs to His Injuries!

Healers Say That Minister Was 'Too Far Gone to Save'

            We have received word that Minister Duplais, who a week ago suffered burns from a magical fire at the hands of Harry Potter after telling him that he would be sacked, has died in St. Mungo's. The Healers admitted that the burns came from wild magic, and that they rarely deal with wild magic.

            "Most of our patients with this type of injury are children," said Healer Mathilda Rowland, whose customary look of good cheer was replaced by exhaustion and grief this morning. "It's just a matter of persuading their bodies to recognize the magic, master it, and recover from wounds that they won't have as they age. But Minister Duplais was burned from outside, and by magic that was hostile to him, rather than part of his core. There was never a chance, with as bad as the burns were.

            "This is not to undermine the heroic efforts of my brother and sister Healers," she added. "They labored over his bed night and day, and I truly believe that, if anyone in the wizarding world could have saved him, they would have."

            Minister Duplais's family has taken charge of the body. Mourners are asked to make donations to the Integration Fund, to help along Minister Duplais's fondest wish: that Muggleborns and pure-bloods should integrate and share the wizarding world.

            The funeral will be held on Saturday, immediately after the swearing in of Head Auror Gillian Clearwater as Emergency Minister...

            From the private diary of Gillian Clearwater:

            Shit.

            I never wanted this.

            I thought for sure Jacques would recover. He was too much of a reptile to die. A lizard can keep going when you cut its tail off; a snake can dance when you cut off its head, or at least some people say so. How in the world should I have expected him to be different? How should I have anticipated this?

            And then Potter. I know that we have to catch him before he can start a real revolution and undermine the stability of the wizarding world, but I wish that he hadn't left under these circumstances. I wish there was any chance of a peaceful resolution. I wish I thought I had a chance of persuading Potter to give up his wand and yield himself to the Ministry.

            I wish Jacques hadn't died.

            But there's no help for it. At least my term as Emergency Minister should only last six months at the most.

            I hope.

            Letter from Hermione Granger to Harry Potter, delivered via pigeon:

            Harry,

            I think it's best to use Hector here for a while, until I can enchant some other pigeons into delivering my post. They're the best choice I can think of. Some of the spells that function on owls will function on them, too, and no one in the wizarding world thinks to look for them in the same way they do for owls. Did you know that post-owls are a fairly recent conquest? People tried all sorts of other spells on other birds, including ravens, before they started to figure out that owls could do the best job. It was thought that because they were nocturnal, they wouldn't be able to adapt to flying during the day, and--

            I'm sorry. You probably don't want to hear about post-owls, but about the Ministry instead.

            Most people here seem to be in shock over you still, Harry. They're talking about hunting you down, but they're making lots of preparations so far and very little actual plans. I know that Aurors Morgan and Graywood have visited the Department of Mysteries three times in the past week. I'd imagine they'd be the ones sent out with artifacts to test them, if any are.

            Clearwater is Minister now, as you must have heard. She intends to continue the hunt for you, but I know that people close to her are hinting that she's reluctant to do it. She'd probably be all right to approach for a negotiation, if you want to do it. (I know that you probably don't want to).

            Auror Jerome Catcher, the one you hit with the Mindstorm, is expected to make a full recovery. I visited him in hospital, and he told me that he doesn't want to face you ever again. Sometimes I thought he was on the verge of telling me something else, but he always shut his mouth and looked away at the wall. I'll keep an eye on him and let you know if I learn anything else useful.

            Auror Andrea Desang has been assigned to follow me around, bodyguard me, and pry as much information out of me as she can, as gently as she can. She thinks I don't know that last part. She always asks me questions about the ending of our friendship, and she really does do that gently. I have the impression that she lost a friend herself recently, or in something of the same way. What do you know about her, Harry? I heard the way you spoke to her. Did she do something to you? I'd ask, but I don't want to seem too interested in her. I'm playing the part of someone so absorbed in her own grief that she doesn't even notice when someone else questions her about it.

            It's a dangerous game, but you can tell Ron that no one suspects me so far. They think I'm still in shock, still on their side, but might not be when I have time to think about it. So they're feeding me misinformation about you and what you intend. It's not as useful as straight information would be, but at least I can sort out what they believe and the principles that will guide their hunt for you.

            For example, many of them think that you've been concealing advanced abilities for years, not just wild magic but the ability to transform into a werewolf on command, fly at will like Voldemort could in the last part of the war, and other such drivel. I wasn't sure whether you would want me to crush that nonsense or not.

            You can send word back with Hector. No matter how small he seems, he can still fly faster than the spells they'd use to catch him and hold him back. And we'll work out a more secure method of communication as soon as we can. You don't know how anxious I am to hear your voice and see you again, Harry. Give my love to Ron, and tell him that I expect him to be holding strong and helping you, instead of getting into one of those broody, sulky moods the way he did when he discovered that I was earning more Galleons than he was. Remind him of that; he should know what I mean instantly, and if he doesn't, then I'm not above showing up to remind him.

            Love,

            Hermione.

            From a sign on Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, positioned above the front door and lettered in a careful, large hand:

CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

            From a Quibbler article entitled "The Ministry Brooks No Opposition":

            Faithful readers might have wondered about the delay of our next edition after the one announcing the escape of Harry Potter and the rebirth of divisions between wizard and wizard. The simple truth is that the Quibbler'shome press was attacked, by Ministry officials leading a force of Inferi. The Quibbler now operates from a more secure location, and of course our editors are proud to serve you, the people, who deserve to know more about the deadly forces that your Ministry has created and is experimenting with.

            Yes, they were Inferi. Your faithful editor came close enough to smell them. Not as bad as Scaly-Skinned Stinkbugs, but close. And of course, one could always recognize an Inferius by the lack of soul in its eyes. Your faithful editor saw no one she knew, but it is always possible.

            The Quibbler has been attacked for doing no more than reporting knowledge that everyone should have. We now declare our allegiance whole-heartedly: Help Harry Potter!

            From the private diary of Gillian Clearwater:

            The only blessing about the reporting of that bloody stupid attack in the Quibbler is that most people are going to think the Inferi are only another of Lovegood's delusions.

            Jacques left revealing papers--very revealing. He'd been experimenting with some of the artifacts removed from the Department of Mysteries's inventory. And he'd actually been encouraging the necromancers and those idiots who think Muggle demons are real and we can summon them.

            The Ministry is in a shambles. But to tear it out root and branch, the way Potter wants to do, is not a solution, either. Reform is the only thing we can do. I hope that I can attend to that around and even over the hunt for Potter, although most of my colleagues won't like that last part if they get wind of it.

            Slow work, the only kind that works. I wonder if Potter will see that? Or is the situation sweeping him along with everyone else, and he can only ride the wave and worry about where it crashes?

            A letter from Harry Potter to Hermione Granger, delivered by Hector the post-pigeon:

            Dear Hermione,

            You don't have to worry about Ron. The minute I said something to him about the Galleons you make, he turned as red as a bull and said that he was going to prove to you that he would make a good revolutionary even if he wouldn't make a good spy. He puffed and huffed and practically bounced up and down, then went to work with George on the next trick that he's putting together. (He sent along a letter for you that I'm folding inside this one).

            There are only three of us so far, but, Hermione, we've got such ideas.

            George is the one who comes up with most of them. That's why I went and got him. I knew that we'd need him to help survive this war and come up with most of the good attacks. George is transforming his jokes into weapons of war. He and Fred could probably have done more of that in the war against Voldemort, if anyone had asked them, but they were worried about other things, and I don't blame them.

            And George was different, then. I'm not sure that he would have wanted to kill anyone, even Snape when he cursed his ear off. But Fred's--gone, now, and you know what that did to him. Maybe better than anyone, since I recall that you spend a few weeks talking to him after the war.

            Thanks for the news. I might be able to negotiate with Clearwater, after all, and the facts about Morgan and Graywood are interesting. I wouldn't be surprised if we end up facing them in battle with artifacts; they'll want to prove that they didn't fail to arrest me because they're on my side or something like that.

            Just keep an eye on Catcher. I know him, and I think I'll know what he'll do, but it's not tremendously important in the scheme of things. I think you'll be surprised.

            About Desang...she challenged and criticized me constantly when I was in the training program. She was only doing her job, I thought, but I discovered later that she'd taken on the role of deflating my swelled head, not that it had much time to get inflated with all the things I was discovering that I did wrong.

            She poked and prodded at me, set up situations that were harder than any other trainee had to face, and told me again and again that my mistakes would cost lives. That's true for anyone, though. Why did she decide that I'd be particularly prone to make mistakes and they'd be particularly devastating? Because I was the Boy-Who-Lived? I thought that anyone who spent time around me at all should know that I don't believe in that shit.

            I'm sure she'll be even worse now, because she'll think that she was proven right and I was just waiting to start a revolution, rather than being driven to it by necessity and because someone had to do something about everything that was happening around us.

            I don't know. You might try reasoning with her if you can, Hermione, but don't listen too much to what she says. I did, and for a long time I doubted myself and wondered if it was my fault that I resented her and the challenges she set. I worried that everyone thought of me the way she did, or at least would if I refused to be calm and reasonable at all times.

            Then I realized that I didn't need a minder. I'm an adult now, and I intend to continue being that way.

            You can encourage the rumors, or at least look coy and stay silent about them. They might be useful.

            Watch yourself, Hermione. I'm not sure what the Ministry would do if they caught you spying, but I do know that I don't ever want to find out.

            Love,

            Harry.

            From a private report sent to Minister Clearwater from Acting Head Auror Judith Summers:

            Minister, you asked to be notified of rebellious sympathies in any of the Aurors. I fear I have worse news than that to report.

            As you may have noticed, Auror Jerome Catcher was hit by the Mindstorm Curse on the day that Potter escaped. The curse came from Potter's wand. He appeared to have made a recovery, but the Healers had noticed that he often requested long stretches of time by himself, more than a patient recovering from that curse should have. They kept an eye on him to ensure that he would do himself no damage.

            Yesterday afternoon, one of their wards rang. Auror Catcher had vanished from his room.

            They feared murder or kidnapping at first, but no sign of Potter was discovered in the room, and the spell that we have developed to track his magical signature revealed no trace of him. We did, however, discover a note that Auror Catcher left. It shows every sign of being written in his hand and not without thought, eliminating, as much as one can, the possibility that someone forced him into writing it. [Note enclosed]

            We have lost our first Auror to Potter, Minister. Auror Catcher has fled to join him...

            Hermione Granger, second letter to Harry Potter, delivered by Hector the post-pigeon:

            Dear Harry,

            How did you know what Catcher would do? I hope that he'll prove a valuable addition to your ranks.

            The Ministry is boiling now. Auror Desang keeps asking me new questions, and all the other Aurors go about looking at each other sidelong. Rumor has it that Clearwater spent all day yesterday closeted with Auror Summers--she's the new Head Auror--and Hit Wizard Jeffries.

            I'm sorry that I don't have more concrete information to report. I can tell you that I haven't seen Morgan and Graywood in a few days. I don't think they're here right now. They might have headed into the field with their artifacts. The Department of Mysteries has stockpiled many things over the years that it should have no right to, including some of the more powerful Dark heirlooms that belonged to pure-blood families who lost their power in various centuries. Watch out for them.

            You've probably read the Quibbler article where Luna reports encountering Inferi. I've spoken to her, under the guise of persuading her to support the Ministry, and she insists that she knows what she saw. I can't argue with her, but at the same time, it's hard to believe. Is the Ministry really creating Inferi? Is it really encouraging their creation?

            That makes it hard for me to believe there are any redeeming features left to them.

            I'm going to try and make friends with Desang. Now that I know what grudge you have against each other, I think I know what to say.

            Keep Ron safe. Tell him he's not to step into the middle of any roads without looking both ways and not to ride any cursed broomsticks. The enclosed letter is for him.

            Love,

            Hermione.

            From a private memo from Acting Head Auror Judith Summers to Minister Gillian Clearwater:

            Minister, ten other Aurors, besides Auror Catcher, have now left our ranks with the stated intention of joining Potter. We have also lost twenty Hit Wizards, though it is not as clear that all of them left to go to him...

            Private memo from Minister Gillian Clearwater to Acting Head Auror Judith Summers:

            You are hereby advised to use any method against Potter that you care to and think may contain or stop him.

            And, Judith?

            I do mean any method.

*

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Intoxicate the Sun