Post by Jujukittychick on Oct 27, 2019 22:19:04 GMT -5
Summary:
At the start of Harry's 8th year, a massive incident at the Ministry leaves wizarding UK in a tail spin as the minister and most of the wizengamot are killed. With his recent victory over Voldemort, the public decides that Harry should come to the rescue once again.
Notes:
Vaguely inspired by what little premise of the show Designated Survivor I understand from the tv trailer. Had the idea of drunk Harry whining about why they picked him to be in charge, but then I needed a reason for him to be in charge and thought of the tv show.
Harry and the other Gryffindors are in the common room, pretty much everyone still in some form of shock or tears, and quite a few just like him and verging into the realm of overly drunk. The incident had happened the 2nd day of school, Minerva and the other teachers barely hanging on as they gave the information in the Great Hall that there had been "an incident" at the Ministry killing hundreds. The kids were all being asked to stay at Hogwarts as apparently rescue crews were trying to get through the wreckage and find all the missing people as well as the cause. Owls were sent out immediately, trying to reach parents and relatives, trying to get any news at all.
Three days later and the body count had been finalized (barring any who were in the hospital still hanging on by a thread). The Minister was dead as was the majority of the Wizengamot as they had been in session at the time, not to mention support staff and members of the various departments surrounding the blast site of whatever had happened. Almost every half blood and pure blood student were missing at least one parent or other close relative. Following so closely after Voldemort's last reign of terror and all the deaths from that, quite a few students were now orphans.
And if all that wasn't horrible enough, suddenly Harry was being called on again to come to the rescue, he was the Boy-Who-Lived, the defeater of Voldemort, surely he can save them all again. Nevermind that he hadn't actually finished his schooling, on the run as he was the previous year, or that he knew nothing at all about government, or that just recently the same public was calling him insane.
"This is bloody ridiculous!" Harry waved an arm out, his words slurring slightly, and started to tip over on the couch where he was sitting as he overbalanced. "What the bloody hell do I...do I know about running things?" He patted Hermione's hand in thanks as she shoved him back upright, though she wound up overbalancing herself and leaning against him afterwards instead. "If it was up to me...if it was up to me, I'd get rid of those stupid rules about creatures. And make someone check...check on Muggle born and half...half blood students to make sure they're...they're safe."
"Oh! And...and make Muggle born students get intro...introduct'ry classes so they...they know what to do when they get to...to school." Hermione chimed in helpfully.
"Get rid of bloody Binns..." Ron's sleepily suggested from his place on the floor between Harry and Hermione's legs, his head resting back on the seat cushions.
"Update Muggle studies."
"Bring the clothes into this century."
"Better transportation."
Harry waved his arm again, an all-encompassing type of gesture that threatened to topple him off the couch if Hermione wasn't pinning his other arm to the couch as other students voiced their suggestions. "Exactly! I mean...I mean...if it was up to me, I'd totally do all of that. If it was up to me...if it was...up...to...me... Bloody fuck!" Harry jerked upright, tumbling to his feet, and causing Hermione to squeak in surprise as she toppled over with a "language, Harry!".
Harry stared wild eyed at his fellow students. "It is up to me! They...They want me to fix things!" He started laughing, half hysterically as he looked around at the startled faces of his fellow students. "Guys, they want me to fix things! It is all up to me! We can fix everything!"
Hermione and Ron, ever faithful, and more than a little drunk, simply started nodding as their minds started working out how to enable Harry to do what he wanted to do. Hermione looked up at him upside down from the couch. "We're going to need help."
Ron pointed toward the rest of the students. "We need all the ideas."
Harry, nodding along, waved his wand and summoned Prongs, startling most of the students with the sudden appearance of the spectral buck. Patting the patronus' nose, he tried to speak clearly. "Find Draco, tell him to bring all the...all the 7th and 8th year Slyth...Slyth...Slyth'rins. And Snape. To, um, the Great Hall."
"Malfoy?!" Ron scowled. "Why do we need the ferret?"
Harry turned to look at Ron, stumbling slightly before he gave up and plopped down onto the floor. "Need everyone. Ron, Nev, 'Mione, Gin...send patronus...patronuses?...patroni? to...to the others. Need all 7th and 8th years. And the teachers. I have a plan. Or need a plan? Working on a plan"
Watching Ron and Harry trying to get to their feet, Neville giggled drunkenly and decided to ask for somebody to find some sobering potions and maybe some coffee too.
~~
An hour later, the group of students from all four houses entered the Great Hall to see Harry sitting on top of the teachers' table front and center, Ron and Hermione flanking him with Ginny and Neville on either side of them. All five were giggling and pretty much leaning against each other, trying to keep each other upright. The rest of the older Gryffindors were sitting at their regular table in various states of inebriation. The four heads of house followed the stumbling students of the other three houses as they entered the Great Hall, apparently the other houses had decided to drink or medicate the pain away as well.
As the three other houses started to move to the their tables, Harry waved his hands, causing Ron and Hermione to start laughing as they grabbed his arms to keep him from falling off the table. "Nonono. Everybody up, up! We are colla....collaba...We're sharing ideas! Tables together!" Harry gestured towards the tables and brought his hands together as if shoving them together.
Everybody fell back in shock as all four of the humongous tables slid across the floor to form one massive table in the middle of the room as his hands connected. Harry simply fell into a giggling fit as Ron turned to look at him wide-eyed with a "blimey mate!" Even the teachers were staring at him in shock before Snape finally strode forward, the wicked scars down the side of his neck from Nagini's bite standing out starkly in the candlelight.
"First things, first. Sobering potions for all of you." Severus handed a vial of shimmering liquid to each of the Golden Trio, figuring they were the ringleaders. Tapping his wand on the teacher's table, he activated the communication to the kitchens, "Strong coffee and tea for everyone present as well as something light to eat."
Minerva looked around at all the young adults, all showing the scars (physically and emotionally) of the war and the recent tragedy. "I must say, I am very disappointed in the lot of you for resorting to inebriation, especially in front of the younger students, as much as I do understand the urge."
Harry sighed and wrinkled his nose at the potion before downing it one go as quickly as possible, "Sorry, ma'am, but Poppy was running short of calming potions and dreamless sleep after the first day. Don't know about the other houses, but we were trying to keep them for the younger ones as long as possible. Had to do something to..." Harry waved a hand, looking around for help in explaining.
"The nargles were quite persistent and needed extra encouragement to leave." Luna's soft lilting voice carried over the others hushed voices.
Surprisingly, it was Draco that spoke up next, giving Luna a suspicious look. "I don't know if I'm too drunk or not drunk enough, because I actually understood that. But, yes, almost everyone in here is down to one parent if not completely orphaned now." He gave a harsh unhappy laugh as he looked at his fellow students. "Those of us who weren't already short a parent or two due to Voldemort and Azkaban sentences that is."
The students seated at the combined table, all nursing cups of strong tea or coffee, nodded and murmured their agreements, most with tear tracks still visible on their faces.
The four teachers looked at each other, for once at a complete loss as to how to help their charges. Taking seats at the large table with their students, they looked to the head table and the five, now sober, students sitting there. It was Flitwick that decided to ask what everyone was wondering. "Why did you call us here, Mr. Potter? Though I have to admit, I was quite surprised at seeing several Patroni running around."
"Oh, I learned how to do that in 3rd year, taught the others in 5th." Harry shrugged carelessly as the four teachers and the students who hadn't been in the DA stared in shock. Seeing the looks, he leaned back slightly. "What? It's not that hard. Well, it's not easy, but I can teach whoever wants to know. Though, it may be a while before anybody is able to learn it properly." He realized not many people in the room would be able to pull up a suitable happy thought any time soon.
"Anyway, the reason we called everyone here, well...um..." Ruffling his hair in embarrassment, he looked down at his ratty trainers as he tried to figure out how to explain the situation.
"Do speak up, Potter. Some of us would like to get some sleep tonight." Severus rolled his eyes, wondering what the three had managed to do now.
Knowing why Harry was left searching for words, Hermione took a drink of her coffee, and took a steadying breath as she looked out over the questioning faces. "Mrs. McGonagal knows, some of you may have heard from...from relatives. The public is calling for Harry to take charge...again."
Cries of outrage and alarm poured from the gathered group as they all began yelling questions and demanding answers.
Ron whistled shrilly, cutting through the racket. "Oi! Listen up! Wasn't like it was his decision. Everybody decided it was okay for a 17 year old boy to go kill a dark lord instead of manning up and doing it themselves, right after calling him crazy the years before, now you're surprised they want him to come to the rescue again?"
Harry sighed, looking out at everyone. "Look, it wasn't my idea. I don't know the first thing about wizarding politics or government, we don't even have classes for that. I was raised as a Muggle and I didn't even get the classes for their government either. But that's the point. That's what got us thinking, got me thinking. They want me to fix things, so why not fix things for the better. Change the laws that have gotten out of hand thanks to all the underhanded deals and people like Fudge and Umbridge. How many of you had a member in the Wizengamot?" He waited until a good majority of the students raised a hand. "Exactly, those seats are now empty. That means all of you are now going to be the ones with the power to make laws. We are going to have the power to change things. All of us. I can't do this alone and I don't want to do this alone. Our world fell apart because we were all divided, so we need to come together to put it back together again. No offense to the teachers and pure bloods in the room, but the adults of wizarding UK have dragged us so far behind it's ridiculous. Ask any halfblood or muggle born, the things you know about the outside world are so far behind it's deadly dangerous while at the same time, nobody is teaching incoming halfblood or muggle born students what they need to know about this world."
Hermione leaned forward, arms braced on her knees. "During the tri-wizard tournament, I talked to the students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons and the courses they have available to study are at least double what we have here not counting the electives and such. I've heard some of the other students over the years talking about how their parents mentioned courses they took no longer being available, so who got rid of them? The continent also has much more lax laws for creatures than we do in general and in terms of schooling."
Ron looked around at everybody, most of them having thoughtful looks and nobody looking outright negative about anything they were saying. "So our idea is that all of you talk to your houses, start compiling lists of things we would like to see changed. We are the future of wizarding UK, and let's be honest, nobody notices or listens to any of us because we're kids. What have you heard from others? From your family or friends? What kind of things are needed that aren't being provided? That kind of thing."
Harry looked at each of the teachers, smiling slightly at the surprised looks they each wore. "Also, considering how many people in this room will probably need to be stepping up to take positions in the Wizengamot, I think everyone in here should get an inheritance test done." He sighed, hating to bring down the excitement that had started to build as the students discussing their ideas. "We're going to need to see who has the controlling power over which family's seats. So many of us in here are related to each other, however distantly, that it'll be hard to figure out otherwise."
Severus stared at Harry for a long moment, surprised by everything the trio had said...and yet also not surprised at all after everything he'd come to learn in the last year. "Tomorrow afternoon, after lunch since classes are still cancelled, everyone here will come to the potions classroom. Those of you with proper brewing skills," he gave Longbottom and Ron a distrusting look, "will brew batches of the inheritance potion while the rest of you can prep the other materials needed. We can perform the tests and have the results before dinner."
So yeah, tests are done with a few surprises, the students present and past come together to help figure out what their world needs and Harry becomes the mouth piece for them all. The school and their towns are improved, creatures gain rights, and everybody lives happily ever after
At the start of Harry's 8th year, a massive incident at the Ministry leaves wizarding UK in a tail spin as the minister and most of the wizengamot are killed. With his recent victory over Voldemort, the public decides that Harry should come to the rescue once again.
Notes:
Vaguely inspired by what little premise of the show Designated Survivor I understand from the tv trailer. Had the idea of drunk Harry whining about why they picked him to be in charge, but then I needed a reason for him to be in charge and thought of the tv show.
Harry and the other Gryffindors are in the common room, pretty much everyone still in some form of shock or tears, and quite a few just like him and verging into the realm of overly drunk. The incident had happened the 2nd day of school, Minerva and the other teachers barely hanging on as they gave the information in the Great Hall that there had been "an incident" at the Ministry killing hundreds. The kids were all being asked to stay at Hogwarts as apparently rescue crews were trying to get through the wreckage and find all the missing people as well as the cause. Owls were sent out immediately, trying to reach parents and relatives, trying to get any news at all.
Three days later and the body count had been finalized (barring any who were in the hospital still hanging on by a thread). The Minister was dead as was the majority of the Wizengamot as they had been in session at the time, not to mention support staff and members of the various departments surrounding the blast site of whatever had happened. Almost every half blood and pure blood student were missing at least one parent or other close relative. Following so closely after Voldemort's last reign of terror and all the deaths from that, quite a few students were now orphans.
And if all that wasn't horrible enough, suddenly Harry was being called on again to come to the rescue, he was the Boy-Who-Lived, the defeater of Voldemort, surely he can save them all again. Nevermind that he hadn't actually finished his schooling, on the run as he was the previous year, or that he knew nothing at all about government, or that just recently the same public was calling him insane.
"This is bloody ridiculous!" Harry waved an arm out, his words slurring slightly, and started to tip over on the couch where he was sitting as he overbalanced. "What the bloody hell do I...do I know about running things?" He patted Hermione's hand in thanks as she shoved him back upright, though she wound up overbalancing herself and leaning against him afterwards instead. "If it was up to me...if it was up to me, I'd get rid of those stupid rules about creatures. And make someone check...check on Muggle born and half...half blood students to make sure they're...they're safe."
"Oh! And...and make Muggle born students get intro...introduct'ry classes so they...they know what to do when they get to...to school." Hermione chimed in helpfully.
"Get rid of bloody Binns..." Ron's sleepily suggested from his place on the floor between Harry and Hermione's legs, his head resting back on the seat cushions.
"Update Muggle studies."
"Bring the clothes into this century."
"Better transportation."
Harry waved his arm again, an all-encompassing type of gesture that threatened to topple him off the couch if Hermione wasn't pinning his other arm to the couch as other students voiced their suggestions. "Exactly! I mean...I mean...if it was up to me, I'd totally do all of that. If it was up to me...if it was...up...to...me... Bloody fuck!" Harry jerked upright, tumbling to his feet, and causing Hermione to squeak in surprise as she toppled over with a "language, Harry!".
Harry stared wild eyed at his fellow students. "It is up to me! They...They want me to fix things!" He started laughing, half hysterically as he looked around at the startled faces of his fellow students. "Guys, they want me to fix things! It is all up to me! We can fix everything!"
Hermione and Ron, ever faithful, and more than a little drunk, simply started nodding as their minds started working out how to enable Harry to do what he wanted to do. Hermione looked up at him upside down from the couch. "We're going to need help."
Ron pointed toward the rest of the students. "We need all the ideas."
Harry, nodding along, waved his wand and summoned Prongs, startling most of the students with the sudden appearance of the spectral buck. Patting the patronus' nose, he tried to speak clearly. "Find Draco, tell him to bring all the...all the 7th and 8th year Slyth...Slyth...Slyth'rins. And Snape. To, um, the Great Hall."
"Malfoy?!" Ron scowled. "Why do we need the ferret?"
Harry turned to look at Ron, stumbling slightly before he gave up and plopped down onto the floor. "Need everyone. Ron, Nev, 'Mione, Gin...send patronus...patronuses?...patroni? to...to the others. Need all 7th and 8th years. And the teachers. I have a plan. Or need a plan? Working on a plan"
Watching Ron and Harry trying to get to their feet, Neville giggled drunkenly and decided to ask for somebody to find some sobering potions and maybe some coffee too.
~~
An hour later, the group of students from all four houses entered the Great Hall to see Harry sitting on top of the teachers' table front and center, Ron and Hermione flanking him with Ginny and Neville on either side of them. All five were giggling and pretty much leaning against each other, trying to keep each other upright. The rest of the older Gryffindors were sitting at their regular table in various states of inebriation. The four heads of house followed the stumbling students of the other three houses as they entered the Great Hall, apparently the other houses had decided to drink or medicate the pain away as well.
As the three other houses started to move to the their tables, Harry waved his hands, causing Ron and Hermione to start laughing as they grabbed his arms to keep him from falling off the table. "Nonono. Everybody up, up! We are colla....collaba...We're sharing ideas! Tables together!" Harry gestured towards the tables and brought his hands together as if shoving them together.
Everybody fell back in shock as all four of the humongous tables slid across the floor to form one massive table in the middle of the room as his hands connected. Harry simply fell into a giggling fit as Ron turned to look at him wide-eyed with a "blimey mate!" Even the teachers were staring at him in shock before Snape finally strode forward, the wicked scars down the side of his neck from Nagini's bite standing out starkly in the candlelight.
"First things, first. Sobering potions for all of you." Severus handed a vial of shimmering liquid to each of the Golden Trio, figuring they were the ringleaders. Tapping his wand on the teacher's table, he activated the communication to the kitchens, "Strong coffee and tea for everyone present as well as something light to eat."
Minerva looked around at all the young adults, all showing the scars (physically and emotionally) of the war and the recent tragedy. "I must say, I am very disappointed in the lot of you for resorting to inebriation, especially in front of the younger students, as much as I do understand the urge."
Harry sighed and wrinkled his nose at the potion before downing it one go as quickly as possible, "Sorry, ma'am, but Poppy was running short of calming potions and dreamless sleep after the first day. Don't know about the other houses, but we were trying to keep them for the younger ones as long as possible. Had to do something to..." Harry waved a hand, looking around for help in explaining.
"The nargles were quite persistent and needed extra encouragement to leave." Luna's soft lilting voice carried over the others hushed voices.
Surprisingly, it was Draco that spoke up next, giving Luna a suspicious look. "I don't know if I'm too drunk or not drunk enough, because I actually understood that. But, yes, almost everyone in here is down to one parent if not completely orphaned now." He gave a harsh unhappy laugh as he looked at his fellow students. "Those of us who weren't already short a parent or two due to Voldemort and Azkaban sentences that is."
The students seated at the combined table, all nursing cups of strong tea or coffee, nodded and murmured their agreements, most with tear tracks still visible on their faces.
The four teachers looked at each other, for once at a complete loss as to how to help their charges. Taking seats at the large table with their students, they looked to the head table and the five, now sober, students sitting there. It was Flitwick that decided to ask what everyone was wondering. "Why did you call us here, Mr. Potter? Though I have to admit, I was quite surprised at seeing several Patroni running around."
"Oh, I learned how to do that in 3rd year, taught the others in 5th." Harry shrugged carelessly as the four teachers and the students who hadn't been in the DA stared in shock. Seeing the looks, he leaned back slightly. "What? It's not that hard. Well, it's not easy, but I can teach whoever wants to know. Though, it may be a while before anybody is able to learn it properly." He realized not many people in the room would be able to pull up a suitable happy thought any time soon.
"Anyway, the reason we called everyone here, well...um..." Ruffling his hair in embarrassment, he looked down at his ratty trainers as he tried to figure out how to explain the situation.
"Do speak up, Potter. Some of us would like to get some sleep tonight." Severus rolled his eyes, wondering what the three had managed to do now.
Knowing why Harry was left searching for words, Hermione took a drink of her coffee, and took a steadying breath as she looked out over the questioning faces. "Mrs. McGonagal knows, some of you may have heard from...from relatives. The public is calling for Harry to take charge...again."
Cries of outrage and alarm poured from the gathered group as they all began yelling questions and demanding answers.
Ron whistled shrilly, cutting through the racket. "Oi! Listen up! Wasn't like it was his decision. Everybody decided it was okay for a 17 year old boy to go kill a dark lord instead of manning up and doing it themselves, right after calling him crazy the years before, now you're surprised they want him to come to the rescue again?"
Harry sighed, looking out at everyone. "Look, it wasn't my idea. I don't know the first thing about wizarding politics or government, we don't even have classes for that. I was raised as a Muggle and I didn't even get the classes for their government either. But that's the point. That's what got us thinking, got me thinking. They want me to fix things, so why not fix things for the better. Change the laws that have gotten out of hand thanks to all the underhanded deals and people like Fudge and Umbridge. How many of you had a member in the Wizengamot?" He waited until a good majority of the students raised a hand. "Exactly, those seats are now empty. That means all of you are now going to be the ones with the power to make laws. We are going to have the power to change things. All of us. I can't do this alone and I don't want to do this alone. Our world fell apart because we were all divided, so we need to come together to put it back together again. No offense to the teachers and pure bloods in the room, but the adults of wizarding UK have dragged us so far behind it's ridiculous. Ask any halfblood or muggle born, the things you know about the outside world are so far behind it's deadly dangerous while at the same time, nobody is teaching incoming halfblood or muggle born students what they need to know about this world."
Hermione leaned forward, arms braced on her knees. "During the tri-wizard tournament, I talked to the students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons and the courses they have available to study are at least double what we have here not counting the electives and such. I've heard some of the other students over the years talking about how their parents mentioned courses they took no longer being available, so who got rid of them? The continent also has much more lax laws for creatures than we do in general and in terms of schooling."
Ron looked around at everybody, most of them having thoughtful looks and nobody looking outright negative about anything they were saying. "So our idea is that all of you talk to your houses, start compiling lists of things we would like to see changed. We are the future of wizarding UK, and let's be honest, nobody notices or listens to any of us because we're kids. What have you heard from others? From your family or friends? What kind of things are needed that aren't being provided? That kind of thing."
Harry looked at each of the teachers, smiling slightly at the surprised looks they each wore. "Also, considering how many people in this room will probably need to be stepping up to take positions in the Wizengamot, I think everyone in here should get an inheritance test done." He sighed, hating to bring down the excitement that had started to build as the students discussing their ideas. "We're going to need to see who has the controlling power over which family's seats. So many of us in here are related to each other, however distantly, that it'll be hard to figure out otherwise."
Severus stared at Harry for a long moment, surprised by everything the trio had said...and yet also not surprised at all after everything he'd come to learn in the last year. "Tomorrow afternoon, after lunch since classes are still cancelled, everyone here will come to the potions classroom. Those of you with proper brewing skills," he gave Longbottom and Ron a distrusting look, "will brew batches of the inheritance potion while the rest of you can prep the other materials needed. We can perform the tests and have the results before dinner."
So yeah, tests are done with a few surprises, the students present and past come together to help figure out what their world needs and Harry becomes the mouth piece for them all. The school and their towns are improved, creatures gain rights, and everybody lives happily ever after
