The Intelligent Potter

*** Iliad's Quarters, Hogwarts

The Master of Death.

Harry still couldn't come to terms with it.

Nicolas Flamel's proclamation had been met with a lot of incredulity from the rest of the congregation of assorted leaders.

Even Dumbledore, who Harry knew had the highest regard for Flamel, was extremely against the possibility of Harry becoming the 'Master of Death'.

Truth be told, Harry himself did not think he could be the Master of Death. He could feel the connection which he had with the ring. He could feel the aura of Death surrounding it, he was sure it was an aura of Death, but there was a feeling emanating from the ring, and it was not exactly subservience.

The ring felt like it was his tool to use, but it did not feel like he was the Master of Death.

He could not explain the feeling, no matter how he tried, but it was as if the Stone was communicating with him somehow. It had formed some kind of relationship with him, but whatever it was, it was not that of a Master and his servant.

The young Potter could not get that idea to sit very well in his head, but the oldest man in the world seemed very sure of it.

Harry fingered the ring. He did that a lot, he realised. The black pearl - stone - inside of the ring glinted back at him, and he wished he could speak to it in english instead of vague and random feelings.

Harry jerked his head up at the sound of paper slapping slab.

Iliad had thrown down his newspaper in disgust.

Harry noticed the byline of the article before he even managed to comprehend the headline, and he knew immediately that the article could only possible spell some kind of bad news.

It was, after all, written by Rita Skeeter.

"That woman writes absolute trash," Iliad said. He was clearly disgusted by the article, and from the headline, Harry had a bit of an idea as to why the Greengrass Lord was irritated.

"What's this?" Hermione asked, wiping her forehead of sweat after her training session with Iliad.

"Daily Prophet article," Harry provided as much as he knew about the article which had been angrily thrust upon the marble slab of the coffee table in the living quarters of Iliad at Hogwarts.

"What does it say?" Hermione asked, always full of questions.

"Nothing good I'm sure," Daphne said darkly, scooching across the floor from where she had been sitting cross-legged to be next to her two friends, and to crane her head to head the article along with them.

"Oh my," she gasped.

Harry could not believe what he was reading.

"This is complete and utter balderdash," Hermione bit out angrily, she had become a lot wiser than her naive self from first year, when she had believed in the sainthood of the printed word, but she was still outraged by those who abused the medium of print in the way that Rita Skeeter did.

"Don't we have some dirt on Skeeter which we can use?" Harry asked thoughtfully, thinking of their previous interactions with the vile woman, where they had come out on top, "About her animagus form, or something like that."

Iliad shook his head, "That only holds weight if the Ministry would take any action against her on our word. As it is, she is far too valuable an asset to Voldemort for them to lose her to something as insignificant - to them - as the law."

Harry sighed, and finished reading the article, along with the other three people who were with him.

"This is not good," Iliad summarised, grimly.

TRAITOR BONES FLEES MINISTRY. ELECTION'S SECOND PLACE THICKNESSE TAKES OFFICE

Rita Skeeter

October 31, 1994

In the early evening yesterday, Sunday, October the 30th, traitor to the Ministry, former Minister Amelia Bones, fled the Ministry, upon an attack by revolutionaries, who seized control of the Ministry on behalf of the people.

Traitor Bones grabbed the top office with two greedy hands upon the tragic passing of previous Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge - who will always be remembered as one of our greatest leaders. Incidentally, Fudge was assassinated while under the protection of an Auror detail entirely loyal to Bones, who was the head of the Department for Magical Law Enforcement at the time, for those who do not know. It is not hard to speculate upon Bones' possible involvement in the assassination, as she certainly had the power to effect such.

Celebrated Auror, Oggy Selwyn, claims that Bones was a much hated head of the DMLE, and says that he was passed over for promotion several times due to her strong bias against those pure of blood, remaining a Junior Auror, despite his greatness.

Following the assassination of Minister Fudge, Bones took office in an emergency rushed procedure, which left much to be d.e.s.i.r.ed. She rose to power on the back of a smear campaign upon Lord Voldemort, as opposed to any merits of her own. (More on the incorrect portrayal of the Lord Voldemort on page 3)

The rightful Minister, Pius Thicknesse was denied the top role due to this smear campaign, but still lost by only a simple margin of 100 votes. At the time, he ceded the position graciously to Bones, hoping that she would be able to do a better job as Minister than she did as the head of law enforcement, and trusting in the power of the people.

After Bones took power however, Pius saw her vengeful campaign against Lord Voldemort, who she targeted and provoked into retaliation with little basis in anything that concerned the governance of the Wizarding World. Pius was bewildered by her aggression but this reporter has found out what was up with Bones.

Amelia Bones' brother, Edgar, was a member of the terrorist group known as 'The Order of the Phoenix'. Because of his actions as part of the Order, he was involved in a confrontation with the Lord Voldemort, and passed away as a result. Bones clearly blames the Lord for the death of her brother, which has caused her to lambast him.

More to the point, seeing the suffering of the British people under the administration of Bones, Pius organised a revolution, which stormed the Ministry for Magic, and deposed of Bones, who fled the scene with her tail between her legs.

Following the despot's deposition, Pius humbly accepted the post of Minister from those that supported him. As he came second in the vote which was held, the Ministry decided, unanimously, that it was not necessary to hold another vote, and the existing vote would hold sufficient weightage. To justify his taking of office, Amelia Bones has been declared a public enemy, which makes her election ineligible, which makes Pius' taking of office completely legal.

We can only hope that Pius leads our country to better times, but this reporter, for one, is confident that he will live up to the legacy of Minister Fudge, and lead our country into the next great age of Wizarding Britain.

*** End of Chapter