That vision remained in the Hufflepuff's mind for several days and no matter how he looked at it, he could not see any kind of solution. Everything seemed to indicate that shortly, his parents were going to discover his secret... and they would automatically associate him with the thrice-cursed prophecy and try to control his life and turn him into a weapon for war.
He hated all of it... anything to do with the War or politics... it was responsible for the absence of family during his childhood. There were many who could say that the War had destroyed their family, but from his point of view, it was better when your family was dead but you knew they loved you than when they were alive but ignored you.
But the past couldn't be changed, so it was useless to regret it. The best thing was to look forward and make sure that his parents didn't destroy his future as well. After almost a week of thinking day in and day out about what he could do, it was Draco who came up with the right solution.
"Harry, you said that the Minister is interested in you going to work at the Ministry, isn't that true?"
"Yes, but what does that have to do with it?"
"What does that have to do with it? Don't you understand? The Minister wants you in the Ministry, with the unspeakable, no less, and he will do whatever it takes to make you decide to be part of it..."
"AND?"
"Well, if you were to apply for emancipation... normally they would say no, because many specific conditions have to be met, but since they want something from you, they will do whatever it takes to convince you, so most likely they would accept your application and in a month or two you will be free."
[T/N: What. DID. I. SAY! Booyah!]
"You're sure?"
"Of course! If there's one thing I've learned from my father, apart from his hatred for everything related to Muggles, it's how politicians think. He wants you in his power, so he'll try to bribe you and since you're a Hufflepuff, he'll think you incapable of refusing to enter the Ministry in exchange for such a 'favor.' "
"But you have to be very careful with that." Hermione began with concern. " I mean, if Harry refuses to enter the Ministry again, he won't have any problems and his emancipation will be taken away, right?"
"No, Hermione," one of the Weasley twins replied. "Once a request has been accepted, it cannot be rejected at a later time."
"Acceptance would be seen as a gesture of goodwill on the part of the Ministry... almost as a demonstration that it considers you mature and responsible enough to act like an adult" the blond explained "There will be no choice but to leave you permanently emancipated."
They all gathered together in the school library in order to find the books they needed to file his emancipation application. Of course, as soon as they entered, Mrs. Pince looked at them suspiciously, but otherwise, she left them alone. After a massive search by all the friends, in a very short time, they had on the selected table all the books they could find on magical civil law.
Not long after that, they were all searching through the thick, dusty volumes for the information necessary to give it at least a minimum of legal consistency. It could not be that they would grant him emancipation no matter how much favor the Minister had, if he did not at least have the minimum requirements.
"Harry, look at this! " Hermione exclaimed. "It says here that anyone who has the mental maturity to be able to complete their compulsory studies, also has the maturity to handle adult responsibilities. That's why 17 is considered adulthood, they are old enough to understand responsibilities and at the same time have a year to adapt to them. We can use it!"
"It only says here the reason why 17 years," Jonathan said.
"No, it says here that Harry is mature enough to be considered an adult. He's almost finished Hogwarts!"
"That's fantastic. We now have a legal basis for the request." Athenea cheered.
"Well, let's get started," Draco said, picking up a quill and parchment "Finally, diplomacy classes are going to be useful for something... I know all the legal jargon and formal language to write this."
After this, the Slytherin began diligently writing on the parchment what his friend was requesting, his emancipation both legally and magically, on the grounds of his need for continued use of magic and the various adult options available to him. When the request was finished, it looked as if it had been written by a lawyer rather than a thirteen year old, and without further distractions, it was sent off on one of the school's owls.
A few days later, Harry found himself at his parents' house, 'enjoying' the summer holidays. In reality, he was hiding in his room quietly reading, or writing to Ginna about his progress. It was slightly frustrating not having her around, but since she considered him sufficiently prepared by now, she had left him to fend for himself.
In fact, things would not have gone badly if it were not for his parent's constant attempts to include him in the different family activities. They seemed unable to understand that no matter what they did, the boy was not going to forgive them for the abandonment he suffered during his childhood and pre-adolescence... from his point of view it was already too late for that.
For their part, the Potters were slightly desperate. No matter what they did, it didn't seem possible that their son would want them around, that he would forgive them for their behavior years before, and their many attempts to include him in family activities ended with the boy locked up in his room. The worst of it all was that they also knew they deserved such an attitude, but it was frustrating when everything you did to fix the situation fell on deaf ears.
Surely, that situation would have lasted forever, if it weren't for the arrival of his NEWT results at the end of the first week of summer. That made the boy go down to the dining room and had to remain in their presence.
"Harry, your NEWT's!"
That simple exclamation from Lily Potter made the boy rush out of his room, closely followed by a black cat. Without looking at who was in the room, the boy grabbed the envelope and began to open it impatiently. Ignoring his parent's questions, he opened the parchment and checked his results. What he saw made him smile.
"Let us see it, let us see it." His father said over and over again with an impatient expression.
For a few moments, Harry considered burning the parchment and leaving them wanting, but the joy of knowing that he had his best chance for freedom made him hand them the parchment, which they took with impatient hands.
"Wow..." The man muttered "These grades! I've heard of someone taking their NEWT's early."
"All O's, " Lily said smiling. "Not even Dumbledore got these grades back in the day and his grades in both OWL's and NEWT's were magnificent! I'm so proud of you."
"Funny," Harry said, taking the parchment and leaving the room. "As far as I know, I've always been nothing but a disappointment to you two. Even when I received my letter from Hogwarts you didn't show a shred of pride, only surprise that I wasn't a Squib."
With that comment, he left the room, ignoring his father's expression, as if he had been punched in the stomach, or his mother's tears. He had wanted to tell them something like that for a long time... he just needed the cue.
[T/N: Yeah Harry do your thing!]
While Harry was enjoying the satisfaction of the results of his efforts, his request for emancipation had reached the appropriate official. At first, when he looked at the name, he did not give it much importance and only read the content of the letter, but then, when he went to the boy's file, he was surprised when, first of all, he read a note on the cover of the file in which it said that any matter pertaining to said citizen should be dealt with directly by Minister.
Shocked, he looked at who exactly the file was from and couldn't believe it when he realized it was a mere teenager of almost 14 years old, although later he was able to see that he was a rather amazing teenager if we considered that he had managed to complete all seven years of Hogwarts in just three years. And he was even more surprised when he saw that he was Master Severus Snape's apprentice... yes, he was beginning to see why the Minister was taking a special interest in him.
Taking his documents and the application, he notified one of his colleagues and headed to Fudge's office, quite nervously, it must be said. He had been working at the Ministry for almost five years and still hadn't been able to enter that office... it was quite a social challenge.
"Good morning, I would like to see the Minister." He said to the minister's secretary.
"Do you have an appointment?"
"No"
"Then you can't see it."
"But it is important!"
"Yes, of course... and what else..."
"Tell him it has to do with Harry Potter and let him decide."
"What good will it do?" Said the secretary before getting up and entering the Minister's office. Not even three minutes had passed before the secretary came out with a surprised expression. "He says to come in right away."
Inside the office, the Minister was sitting with a pensive expression, obviously trying to imagine what it could be about. With an uncertain step, the bureaucrat approached the man who looked up when he felt him.
"Good morning, I think you told my secretary that you had something for me."
"Yes sir... this has arrived at our department."
"Let me see it."
The minister reached out and took the application, reading it carefully. After looking it over a couple of times, he looked up and asked.
"An emancipation?"
"Yes sir."
"Is there a legal way out?"
"Normally, a minor of only 14 years old would have to meet a whole series of requirements, which this young man does not meet, but he has placed his request on a certain and valid legal basis. This law exists, and is in force, so it would be legal."
"I wonder why such a request... after all I doubt it is just the reason you state but fine."
" What do I do, sir? I accept the request and we grant him emancipation, or I deny it..."
"No, no... Please grant him that... we are interested in the boy being on good terms with the Ministry... he is a powerful wizard and practically a prodigy. I would like him to be part of the Ministry and he won't do it if he doesn't appreciate us."
"I'll start the administrative work right away."
"Perfect."
[T/N: Yes...Perfect! Finally, our boy is getting the RESPECT! he deserves! If you enjoyed this chapter then leave a comment, write a review, and drop some stones. If you are impaint then check out the P@treon or the Ko-fi to read the rest of the novel. Also if you like this novel then check out my other book, A Gamer in Game of Thrones.]
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