A Change In Perspective

Displaced

"There are quite a few inconsistencies in the stories."

Cornelius Fudge closed his eyes, biting back his scream of frustration, as he slowly counted to ten. He opened his eyes, meeting Dumbledore's grim blue eyes before hastily looking away. His world was in chaos and he did not like it. Harry Potter, the boy he had signed out of school and into his personal care, had not only vanished from his sight but somehow managed to vanquish Voldemort in the process. To top it all off, he was being forced to work closely with Albus Dumbledore in exchange for the Headmaster promising to convince Harry's relatives to say they never requested the boy home in the first place. Fudge was quite certain he could have manipulated the situation on his own, were it not for the fact that Petunia Dursley had slammed the door in his face once he'd introduced himself as the one charged to bring her precious nephew safely home. Well, that, and the fact that he didn't have the faintest fucking clue where the boy had disappeared to. Sometimes, he really hated his life.

"Minister?"

"I heard you, Shacklebolt." He opened his eyes wearily, looking around the dilapidated room with something akin to despair. He sighed. Deeply. "What seems to be the most consistent report?"

"I interviewed seven different Death Eaters, and have come to the resulting conclusion that Sev… Malfoy was assisting Harry in some way. Potter was brought here, interviewed by the Dark Lord, and somehow managed to kill him without once referencing his wand." Kingsley gestured to his partner.

"Err…" Nymphadora Tonks bit her lip, exchanging glances with Kingsley Shacklebolt. Honestly, sometimes it seemed as though the two were not one hundred percent loyal to the Ministry. "Well," she continued uncertainly, "according to Bellatrix Lestrange, Harry Potter is either a demon of immense proportion or morphed into a demon of immense proportion." Tonks looked up from her notes, offering a weak smile. "She was rather hysterical during the interview. Then… well, Harry either used his demon powers to conjure a mythical instrument of death to murder her beloved, or he carried an artifact with an immensely dark spell upon his person and used that to suck out You-Know-Who's soul." Fudge closed his eyes, rubbing his temple wearily.

"According to Goyle, Sr," Auror Stevenson piped up, "Harry used the Imperius curse to persuade Severus Snape, Lucius and Draco Malfoy, and Pansy Parkinson to give him control of their powers while he turned the Dark Lord's familiar against him. Then he stole the snake, laughed maniacally, and disappeared with his entourage."

"And according to," the young Auror paused, shifting through his notes with an irritated expression, "well, his name isn't documented. Anyways, according to one of the Death Eaters, Harry came here with Lucius Malfoy with the intent to commit nefarious purposes. Then he poisoned the Dark Lord and took the snake."

"And according to MacNair and Nott," George piped up helpfully, "they have been loyal to Harry all along and were only acting negatively to protect their families. They would also like to point out that Malfoy is a two-faced slimy bastard who should have died in Azkaban. Oh, and apparently Draco held Harry close and told him what to do to off the bastard."

"Thank you, Weatherby," Fudge muttered absently. "I didn't know you came from the office?" He sighed again, looking around in bewilderment before turning to Dumbledore with a helpless look.

A slight whisper from Shacklebolt drew Minister Fudge's attention briefly, before the most wonderfully warm feeling settled over him. "A commendable job, Cornelius!" Blue eyes twinkled brightly at his Order members. "You allowed Harry the time to kill Voldemort, and arrived in time to prevent the majority of the known Death Eaters from escaping. Naturally, Harry could not be brought forth for questioning, as he needed to be taken to a safe place, but he will give an interview once he has recovered from this emotionally trying ordeal."