The Intelligent Potter

*** Hogwarts

Albus Dumbledore was having a bad day.

Bad days seemed to getting far more common for the old wizard, they were almost the norm at this point. Unfortunately for Albus, however, his day was going especially badly.

He awoke to an owl from Amelia Bones, the head of British Magical Law Enforcement.

Albus,

Minister Fudge has been murdered, get to the Ministry quickly,

Yours truly,

Amelia Bones

Head

Dept. Magical Law Enforcement

Albus felt a cold feeling of dread envelop him.

This was bad.

He absorbed the implications of the assassination very quickly. It was obvious that Voldemort would attempt to put a stooge into power, but even aside from that, the ICW's large anti-British faction would be all over this.

They needed a new Minister and quick.

*** Amelia Bones' office, DMLE, Ministry

Amelia's office was not particularly large, smaller, in fact, than any of her predecessor's offices had ever been. For the most part, this didn't bother the head of the DMLE, if anything, she had come to like the comforting coziness of the small office, which along with a couple charms could be a very comfortable place to crash after pulling an all-nighter or getting involved in a late-night mission.

Unfortunately, the small office was quite cramped when it came to having other people in it. The Ministry had fallen into chaos after the untimely death of the previous Minister, it was obvious that they needed to elect a new Minister, and quick, lest the ICW instal their own government in Magical Britain, but the two opposing halves of the Ministry were unable to come to an agreement.

Magical Law stated that they had to hold a democratic election to vote in the next Minister for Magic but with no candidates actively running and the ICW on their tails, it was likely that the voting would be entirely blind and Amelia wouldn't put it past Lucius Malfoy to fill a lot of pockets to ensure that their stooge won the election.

The Wizengamot was to meet the next day to discuss the details of the elections and who the candidates were.

To get a candidate through the Wizengamot itself would be very hard, as the body was largely occupied by supporters of Voldemort and politicians savvy enough to know that opposing Voldemort's candidate likely held an untimely death for them in the near future.

Of course the magical public were free to vote for whoever they wanted, but there was little to no chance of them voting in a Minister who wasn't officially endorsed by the Wizengamot, despite having done similar things for Albus Dumbledore in the past.

Albus himself was unlikely to ever accept the post for Minister, and Amelia was a little glad for it. Smart as the old man was, she doubted he would do well as a Minister, despite his talent for politics, his personal philosophies would certainly affect his wartime policies, while with his incredible power, Albus could go around knocking people out, Aurors were generally not skilled enough to take out their opponents painlessly and refraining from seriously injuring their opponents would inhibit their skill and likely get many of them killed.

With that said, Albus Dumbledore was still likely the greatest asset that the Light side of Magical Britain had on their side. Not only his immense magical prowess, which would no doubt be instrumental if they were to win a war, but also his ability to inspire hope in people, not to mention his immense political clout, every bit of which would be required to hold back the ICW and get sufficient aid from them.

Presently, inside her office were the most important members of the light side at the Ministry.

Arthur Weasley, head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office, along with a couple other department heads who Amelia wasn't very familiar with, but was confident in their support of the light.

The ICW Team, consisting of Babajide Akingbade, Pierre Moreau, Anu Iyer, and Cyril Cosmos were all present.

Cyril had been heavily bandaged and didn't look like he was in any way ready to be out of the hospital but he had point blank refused not being there and was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room.

Her newly appointed Head Auror, in light of the unfortunate tale of Bromophenol Blue, Rufus Scrimgeour was also present, along with his new deputy, Kingsley Shacklebolt.

The Head Healer from St Mungos, Bromophela Blue (related to Amelia's recently deceased Head Auror Bromophenol) was also present, and particularly furious at recent developments.

The latest person to join their party was Albus Dumbledore himself, along with his own contingent, including the Lord Black, Arcturus, and the Lord Greengrass, Iliad.

There were some suspicious looks cast at the two Lords, of traditionally dark and neutral houses, respectively, but a few smiles and confident looks from Albus later and most people in the room were comfortable with the two Lords.

"We are here," Amelia began, now that the last of her invitees had finally arrived, "To discuss the future of the Ministry of Magic, after the untimely demise of the late Minister Fudge. In the situation that we are in currently, there is no doubt that the Dark side will attempt to install a stooge and block any attempt to put in place any other Minister. Under no circ.u.mstances can we allow this to happen, as it would be the same as handing Magical Britain to Voldemort on a platter, there would be no opposition to his rule once the Ministry had been taken over, short of the ICW." at this she gave Babajide a meaningful look.

The Nigerian Wizard stood up, "There is no doubt that the ICW will be shortly taking some action at the most recent developments," he said, "An emergency meeting has been called, the 4 of us as well as Albus will be there. It is very likely that, unless you can find a competent Minister to allay our worried, the ICW will send someone of their own choosing to hold the position until this war is over. You must understand that the ICW's top priority is to stop this war from spreading at all costs, and to shut down Voldemort as fast as possible, and that, as well as the large anti-Britain contingent means that you will have to act quickly to avoid a takeover. I would however ask that you treat that possibility with an open mind, if it does come to having an ICW-appointed Minister, we will do our best to install a competent open-minded Minister who will be willing to work with you and do his or her best to put an end to the war with Voldemort. At any rate, it may not be the best possible situation, but it'd be a whole lot better than any figure appointed by the Dark."

Amelia frowned, "Be that as it may, it is an extremely desperate option, there will be too much pushback to the autonomy of the British being overtaken by the ICW, there would be no trust between our people or our troops, and more would be persuaded to join Voldemort."

Amelia took a deep breath, "In your opinion, who do you think would be the best option to run for Minister, who can conceivably win the vote but also assuage the fears of the ICW." she asked seriously.

Babajide was silent for a long second, giving a glance to his own companions and Dumbledore, all of whom gave him a slight nod.

The Nigerian Wizard looked at Amelia.

"You."

*** End of Chapter