"Where is he, Dumbledore?" Fudge hissed under his breath. He could see the waiting reporters were beginning to get impatient.
"Mr. Boot said he needed to clean up after the Care of Magical Creatures class." Dumbledore told him. "From what I understand, Hagrid had a baby Axex in class today and they are known to be rather rambunctious."
Just as Fudge was going to ask Dumbledore to have Boot check up on Harry, the door to the anteroom opened and a young man with messy dark hair walked in and Fudge couldn't help noticing the staff he gripped in his right hand.
The conversations of the reporters ground to a halt as they got their first good look at the Boy-Who-Lived. No reporter had really seen him since the day he was sent to Azkaban and any attempts to try and take pictures of him had all failed, because they all came out blurry. He hadn't changed that much from the last time they'd seen him. He was still rather short and very slender, but unlike on previous occasions a few things stood out. His hair while still messy was now shoulder length and he had long bangs covering the trademark scar.
Also his hair was now a mixture of black and silver, making it resemble a lake reflecting the night sky. His face was expressionless as he caught sight of the reporters, and his eyes seemed to burn with emerald fire. He was wearing a deep green and silver robe that was opened in the front and underneath it he appeared to be wearing a muggle t-shirt and jeans. Those closest to him could see there was writing on the shirt and it took them a few moments to make it out: 'Don't let your mind wander. It's too little to be out on its own.' They also noted that on the emerald green robes there were three House emblems. They recognized the ones for the Houses of Potter and Black, but they couldn't place the third, even though it looked familiar. They made a note to research that house device because depending on which House it belonged to Potter might wield almost as much power as the Minister, though most of it was bound to be economic.
The item that attracted the most interest among the reporters was the staff he was holding in his right hand. They had heard rumours that he had gotten one, but since they hadn't been allowed on the Hogwarts grounds until now they hadn't been able to confirm it. It wasn't very tall. The deep green, glowing gem cluster mounted on the top of the staff, was just level with the top of Potter's head. The staff itself was ash white in colour and from what those closest to Potter could see there appeared to be intricate grey lines, like Celtic knotwork running all over it.
Following the instructions given by the Minister, they stood back respectfully to let Potter through. Fudge had promised all their questions would be answered by Mr. Potter after he had made his presentation.
"You wanted to see me, Fudge?" The tone of Potter's voice left little doubt in the mind's of the reporters, that he was not fond of the Minister.
"Y-yes Harry," Fudge stammered.
"That's Mr. Potter to you, Fudge." Harry corrected, pleased with the effect he was having on the Minister.
"Y-yes, of course," Fudge had to look away from the icy green eyes that seemed to be looking right through him as if he weren't there.
He took a deep breath and tried again. "I asked you to meet with me today, because I wish to present you with the highest award that a Wizard or Witch can receive."
His new aide stepped up and handed Fudge a scroll, which he opened. "For saving the Wizarding World from the threat of Lord V-V-Voldemort, it is my privilege to award to Mr. Harry James Potter the Order of Merlin First Class."
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The aide handed Fudge a small opened box, containing a medal. Fudge held this out to Harry, but he made no move to take it.
"I don't want your stinking medal. I didn't destroy Moldyshorts for you, Fudge, or anybody else in the wizarding world." The contempt in Harry's cold voice could be heard from one end of the room to the other. The temperature in the room seemed to drop as he continued "I destroyed Voldemort for my parents, for Sirius and Remus. I destroyed him for Cedric and Neville. And I did it for me. I also did it for those in the non-magical world who couldn't protect themselves from Voldemort and his Deatheaters. If it hadn't been for the fact that he wanted to destroy them as well as you, I would have let Voldemort raze the wizarding community to the ground."
Fudge's mind raced trying to come up with something to say as one of the reporters spoke up and said. "Surely you don't mean that, Mr. Potter. After all you are a Hero to the people of the wizarding world."
"I rarely say things I don't mean, especially these days." Harry kept his attention on Fudge. "And I'm only a hero until you need a scapegoat. I have been both to the wizarding world and I am tired of it. You are all a bunch of hypocrites, who are led around like sheep believing whatever the Ministry tells you and the rest of the wizarding world follows right along with whatever you put in print." He paused for a moment before continuing. "I have had first hand experiencing with how destructive the lies the Ministry tells, as well as the lies the wizarding press is willing to print can be."
"Come now Mr. Potter, the Ministry does the best it can for everyone." Fudge found his voice. He was not going to let this boy wreck his career or topple the Ministry, no matter how powerful he might be. Public opinion still carried a lot of weight and it favoured the Ministry and the stability it created. "We are only human and I grant you that sometimes mistakes are made, but we correct them as soon as we can."
"You are only human," the look that Harry gave the Minister had him cringing and wishing he had listened to Dumbledore. "I have my doubts about that. Human beings learn from their mistakes, or at least they try to, but the Ministry and the Wizarding world just keep repeating theirs. And none of you have owned up to or corrected your mistakes. Actually I should rephrase that last part. You do sometimes try and correct your mistakes, but only after it's too fucking late for the person you have wronged. And then only after your face has been rubbed in the fact that you were wrong ."
"What mistakes has the Ministry made that they haven't owned up to?" Harry recognized that voice as Rita Skeeter's.
"Ah, Rita, if you only knew how long I have waited for this day." Harry smiled as he turned to face her. "You are one of the ones that caused the most damage during my fourth year. If you hadn't written all those nasty articles of yours about how I was only trying to get attention and that I was delusional and dangerous, then the Minister might have believed me when I told him Voldemort was back.
I do say might, because this idiot was determined not to have his calm and ordered world disturbed by the truth. Then there were the articles you wrote about me for the trial. They were pretty much in the same vein as the stuff you wrote in my fourth year. I would have thought you learned your lesson after Hermione found out your little secret, but I guess that was too much to hope for."
"What secret?" One of the other reporters demanded.