The Curious Case of Luna Lovegood

Chapter 24: The Politician

"I don't like the sound of this" Harry sighed as he handed the Daily Prophet back to Luna.

"A Missile? There was more than one explosion! It was bombs!" Luna shouted, getting looks from around the great hall.

"Luna, most of them don't even know what a bomb is, let alone a missile," Harry groaned. "The Muggleborns are outnumbered. Whatever the Minister's going to say..."

Harry was interrupted by the sound of applause as the Minister stepped into the Great Hall. He was followed by reporters, Aurors and other Ministry officials. The parents of many students were already in the great hall, making sure their kids where safe, and of course to hear the Minister's speech.

The Minister stood up on the Podium to face the sea of faces. He raised his wand to his throat as his voice echoed throughout the room. "Ladies and Gentleman, Witches and Wizards, Fellow Britishmen, Good Morning."

Shacklebolt was applauded as he continued. "It has been six months since the war has ended. Instead of being weak and divided, THE UNITED KINGDOM HAS NEVER BEEN STRONGER!"

After more cheers the Minister spoke. "The castle has been rebuilt, the Ministry cleaned out You-Know-Who's supporters, and has become a democracy, with the Wizengamot becoming more like the Muggle's Parliament. I cannot take the credit for I could not have done it without the Wizards and Witches of England. You assigned me to fix things but it was you who did my job. I owe you, I applaud and bow to you, my countryman."

As Royal bowed, the room erupted in applause. When he spoke again his voice was more solemn. "The Castle has been rebuilt but already is in ruins again...this time by accident. Once again we will rebuild but how many more times must we rebuild our school.

"I have been met with nothing but resistance since placing Aurors at Hogwarts. Yet without them, this school would have burned to the ground! This is a place for children, not destruction. We cannot tolerate this any further. How many more children must we lose to ignorance? The Dark Lord's followers were ignorant of the Muggles, so are we."

Kingsley paused before he whispered above the crowd. "For years the Ministry has kept you all in the dark, but no more. I am the Minister now, and I am a Minister appointed by the people, for the people. I did not run for the office, the people demanded and I succumbed to their demands. I carry this burden for you. So now I must be the bearer of bad news."

Confusion spread across the crowd as the Minister waved his wand, showing an image. "This is a Bomb. It is a Muggle made device that can destroy buildings and kill hundreds."

The crowd gasped as the Minister changed the image. "This is a Missile. A bomb that can travel great distances to hit a target. A Missile can miss its target and hit another, like Hogwarts. The Muggles have no idea what they did nor will they ever find out. Luckily no one was killed."

"How did the Missile get through Hogwarts wards?" Luna shouted over the crowd but the Minister ignored her and showed the next image.

"My fellow Englishmen, This is an atom bomb. This bomb has incredible power. During the Global Wizarding War, Muggles dropped two atom bombs and each bomb destroyed a city. They destroyed both Muggle cities, wiping them off the face of the earth. I don't mean wizard cities either, which has a couple thousand people. I'm talking over a hundred thousand."

"This bomb was the most powerful ever used in war, but now Muggles have bombs even more powerful. They have thousands of these bombs. The dark truth is that Muggles have become more powerful then we can ever hope to achieve. The Muggles have the power to destroy us all."