The Gulag

Chapter 5 The Gulag


The rest of the evening, Harry and the members of the Order of the Phoenix sat and hashed out what changes to make the administration. They argued and bickered and almost came to blows before the night was through, but by sunrise they had a document written of which all were very proud. The next morning a parchment was sent to The Prophet that stated their demands of the Ministry. By that afternoon there was an extra edition of the daily post. By evening, the incumbents were abuzz with the news of a new Dark Lord that was demanding changes on how they ran the country.

Dorothy Umbridge read aloud from the newspaper, “New Dark Lord demands changes.

“Left on the doorsteps of our building this morning was a Manifesto which we were, in no uncertain terms, ordered to publish. We thought long and hard before deciding if we should print this document. We will not editorialize on the substance in the manuscript--that will be for the citizens to do; we do, however, believe that this parchment, as simple as it is, may very well be the most important document in our lifetime. Please take the time to read this Manifesto and judge for yourself.”



The Wizarding Citizen’s Rights: A Manifesto

I, Harry James Potter, Vanquisher of Voldemort, Order of Merlin First Class, and Master Healer, do hereby proclaim my intentions to become the next Dark Lord of the Wizarding World if the following conditions are not met. These changes shall take place immediately or I will implement them myself. You have been warned.


1. The Gulag will be shut down and reparation given to the innocent Slytherins that have been falsely accused of crimes. Reparation shall also be made for wrongful imprisonment. Furthermore, all monies, properties, businesses, lands and titles shall be restored to these Slytherins, including Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy.
2. The remaining Death Eaters shall be imprisoned in a facility of my choosing and be treated humanly.
3. We shall all be afforded our Human and Wizarding rights and be allowed to use and practice magic, witchcraft, and sorcery as each individual deems fit.
4. We shall not be monitored for any purpose not directly connected to a breach of updated and rational Wizarding law. Spying on any citizen without due cause is a breach of trust and shall be punishable under law.
5. The right to assemble shall be restored. No meeting of any kind shall be restricted as long as private gatherings do not interfere with the rights of neighbors and Society and those in the public have proper permits.
6. Each individual has the right to free speech and dissenting opinions without fear of prosecution and/or imprisonment.
7. The persecution of so called dark creatures i.e. Werewolves, Vampires, Centaurs, Merpersons, and others shall cease and desist immediately. These humanoid creatures shall be given full rights under Wizarding law effective immediately. Discrimination against any of these creatures will not be tolerated under law.
8. The right to a fair and just electorate will be restored. The top officials in the current administration shall remove themselves from office immediately. Any member found to have accepted bribes or other favors shall be punished under the law. Bribery will not be tolerated in any future administration.

These terms are non-negotiable. You have twenty-four hours to respond to my demands. At that time, if you choose to ignore this document, I shall personally, and with great deal of bitterness, declare war on this administration.

Think carefully about everything I have said in consideration. You do not wish to go to war with me. You will be stamped out like the roaches you all are.


Your New Dark Lord,

Harry James Potter



Umbridge folded the paper and slammed it onto the Minister of Magic’s desk.

“That little twerp,” she growled, “How dare he threaten us? I should have destroyed him when I had the chance. The new Dark Lord? Who does he think he is?”

“He probably thinks that he is the strongest wizard alive, and my dear lady, he would be correct,” Dumbledore said as he sipped his tea.

“You don’t seem to be too upset,” she stated.

“All good things must come to an end,” he said in a calm voice.

“Are you giving up? Just like that?” she snapped her fingers.

“You misunderstand me, Dolores. I will not give up but the world that we have made for ourselves these past seven years will soon come to an end. Mr. Potter will see to that. We will fight but he will eventually win,” Dumbledore explained.

“Never thought of you as being a defeatist, Albus,” she poured herself a glass of firewhiskey.

“I prefer the term pragmatic. From the beginning I knew we could not keep them downtrodden forever. It was only be a matter of time before there would be an uprising,” Dumbledore steepled his fingers and tapped his lips lightly. “I am a little surprised by his methods. It’s rather brilliant, don’t you think?”

“No I don’t,” she snapped back.

“No, I don’t think you do,” he continued to explain. “A Dark Lord and the Chosen One, he will have the support of those who admired him and those who would kiss the hem of the Dark Lord’s robe. He will have a very large part of the population behind him. We have the Aurors firmly on our side and the fact that the majority of the population has had their magic suppressed…” he left his sentence hanging.

“Using Voldemort’s ideas to subjugate the wizards by suppressing their magic was simply brilliant,” she beamed. The thought of most of the wizard population having slightly more power than a squib seemed to bring her out of her doldrums.

“It’s a shame that Potter wasn’t around to be exposed to the gaseous potion,” Dumbledore mused. “Perhaps there is still away to expose him to it.”

Albus snickered, “I wonder what Severus would say if he knew that his invention was the cause of my rise to power?”

“I have to admit I always wondered why you didn’t keep him closer to you. He’s a brilliant man that would have been useful in our administration,” Umbridge stated.

“Yes, he was my one regret, but I couldn’t trust him,” remorse flashed on the old wizard’s face.

“Trust him? He would have died for you,” Dolores snipped.

“Yes he would have…at least at one time he would have. The only problem with Severus is that the boy has a strong sense of morals and sooner or later he would have become disgusted with this regime and would have betrayed me as he did Voldemort,” Dumbledore stated flatly.

“Then you should have disposed of him when I asked to do so seven years ago. If he knew that we used his formula to incapacitate the Wizarding World he could very easily formulate an antidote. As long as he’s alive he put us as risk,” she demanded.

“Too true. I will take you advice under consideration,” Albus said as he stroked his long white beard.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Severus had cereal with milk the following morning. The milk was from concentrate. A small tablet that when mixed with water produced ice cold vitamin fortified milk. The older wizard couldn’t help but marvel at how wonderful it tasted.

Esmeralda padded up and plopped down on the ground next to Severus, placing her dirty elbows on her knobby knees. She rested her chin on the palms of her hands and intently watched the older wizard eat his meager breakfast. With those woeful eyes gazing at him as he ate, Severus soon lost his appetite. With a deep, put upon sigh he handed the dirty little urchin his breakfast. He couldn’t help smiling slightly as she dug into what was left of his food.

“You really need to eat,” a voice told him.

Severus blocked the sun with his hand to see who was speaking. He was startled to see Potter there. His voice had deepened over the years and hadn’t recognized the timbre. He wondered why he hadn’t notice the other day.

“Wasn’t hungry,” he replied as he slowly stood. Harry reached out to steady his former Professor only to have the older wizard pull away from him.

“What happened, Severus? We used to get along so well. What did I do to make you so angry at me?” Harry pleaded for answers.

“It was never you Harry,” he muttered, the sour expression softening on his face as he strolled away.

Harry was quick to follow. He noticed that Severus no longer strutted with long strides but with slow, unsure steps. He wanted to reach out and help the proud man, but knew he would find only resistance to any aid he offered. Harry stopped suddenly, deciding that he was no longer going to chase Severus.

“I have something for you to read that you might find interesting,” he shouted at Snape.


Curiosity slowed the Potions Masters steps until he stopped. He turned slowly, facing his former pupil and proffered his hand, wiggling the fingers in irritation.

“Well?” he demanded.

Harry laid the newspaper in the palm of Severus’s hand. He was about to ask how many papers he had read over the last seven years but thought better of it. There was no reason to remind Snape of one more deprivation.

Severus read the front page article looked up at Harry with disbelief and re-read the newspaper.

“You will retract this article immediately,” he ordered.

“No, I don’t think I will,” Harry was perplexed.

“I will not allow you to become a Dark Lord. I won’t have it,” he said between clenched teeth.

“I don’t think you have anything to say about it. The members of the Order and I believe that this is the only course of action we have,” Harry snarled back at Severus.

“The Order of the Phoenix condones this?” Snape said as he tossed the paper at Harry.

Harry nodded, his mouth hung open in shock.

“Have they all lost their minds? What are they thinking? You the next Dark Lord, preposterous,” Severus was ranting. “We fought to end the realm of one Dark Lord, not to produce another.”

“Severus, please calm down before you give yourself a stroke,” Harry took his wand out and started to run a diagnosis on Severus.

“Put your bloody wand away. I am not your patient and if I were ill you would be the last Healer I would go to,” Severus stated vigorously.

“Severus, stop your ranting immediately. You’re scaring the children,” Draco spoke softly through clenched teeth. The young Slytherin had come up from behind his godfather when he heard the tumult.

Severus looked around and saw the terror on the children’s faces. There was an ache deep inside him when he saw their dirty little faces looking at him. They had been through so much that they shouldn’t have to deal with a half mad Potions Master. As tears were falling down his face he fell to his knees as he opened his arms wide to the children that he had watched grow. Wide smiles replaced the look of fright. They all made a mad dash into the arms of the camp leader, tumbling him backward. Severus was lost from sight under a pile of scamps and urchins.

Harry and Draco started to peal the children, one by one, off Severus.

“All right, the lot of you go and find something useful to do,” Draco ordered. “Bartholomew, why don’t you go over their numbers with them?”

There was a universal groan from the smaller children. Bartholomew would have been going to Hogwarts this year, if he was allowed. His parents were Slytherins but fought against the Dark Lord. They both died the first year in prison, his mother from starvation because she gave the meager food she had to her growing boy. His father soon afterwards killed himself, not wanting to live without his beloved wife, leaving the sandy haired youth a ward of Severus. The ex-professor had nine children that he considered his responsibility. Bartholomew being the oldest and Esmeralda being the youngest of the children he adopted.

“Come on,” Bartholomew bossed, “after we get done with your numbers I’ll tell you a story.”

Appeased, the children trotted after him.

Severus groaned about how he was tired of picking himself off the floor as he climbed back onto his feet.

“Can I ask what the two of you were arguing about so loudly that you were terrorizing the children?” Draco asked.

“No!” Snape snapped.

“Yes,” Harry replied.

Severus glared at Harry. Harry couldn’t help but snicker. The older Slytherine still had a glare that could melt steel.

Throwing his hands into the air Severus turned to Draco and said, “He wants to be the next Dark Lord. Isn’t that the most ridiculous thing you ever heard?”

Draco paused for a moment before he answered, “There is something very Slytherin about that idea.”

“For Merlin’s sake, don’t tell me you approve of his harebrained scheme. All he will accomplish is to get everyone killed in here. Besides,” Severus voice softened, “who would ever believe that Harry could be a Dark Lord. Everyone knows he doesn’t have it in him to be evil.”

“Please do not talk about me as if I was not standing here,” Harry grouched. “And what makes you think I couldn’t be a good Dark Lord? It’s not like I’m Saint Potter.”

Severus turned and looked deep into his emerald eyes, “You should be. You’re perfect and should not soil yourself for the likes of us. You have always been better than the rest of us. You must stay that way.”

Severus took a step forward and ran the back of his knuckles over Harry’s cheek, “I beseech you; do not become the next Dark Lord.”

Severus was surprised how tall they young man had grown. He found himself eye level with the young man.

Before Severus could pull his hand away Harry covered it with his own and brought it to his lips to kiss the palm.

“Is that the reason you left me? You think I’m too good for you?” Harry asked.

Severus squared his shoulder and looked down his substantial nose at the boy wonder, reminding Harry so much of the Professor he knew at Hogwarts, “The reason I left is no concern of yours. Now do as I say and retract that news article. You will not become the next Dark Lord. That’s final.”
The two silently watched the proud Slytherin disappear into the house, until Draco asked his nemesis, “You plan on doing what he said?”

“Hell no!” Harry answered. “Where did he get the notion that I was so damn ‘pure’?” He asked.

“You don’t get it do you? He sacrificed his love for you so you would not be soiled by the evil Death Eater. If you become the next Dark Lord, his sacrifice will have been for nothing,” Draco explained.

“Are you saying that he left me because he didn’t think he was good enough for me?” Harry asked, incredulously.

“That exactly what I’m saying,” Draco stated.

“For being so damn smart, he can be really stupid,” Harry grumbled.

“I don’t think he’s the stupid one here,” Draco sighed.

a/n I would like to thank IvyLady for all of her help with this chapter. The Manifesto may have been my idea but the wording is totally hers. I bow to her in appreciation.

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