Saviour of Magic

The Curse of Magic

Camelot

"Enjoyed lunch, Jamie?" asked Amelia, smiling fondly at her grandson. The youngest Potter had decided to spend the day with his paternal grandmother while his siblings spent the day with their maternal grandparents at Greengrass Manor, where Astoria was resting. Sirius had been unexpectedly whisked away to Australia for a meeting with their Minister and with Rigel at Hogwarts, Amelia didn't mind looking after James. She could certainly use the company.

"Uh-huh," nodded James excitedly. "They had all my favourites! I loved it!"

Amelia chuckled. "Well, I have a lot of paperwork to finish, so what are you going to do until then? Maybe play with someone –"

"No, no, no, I'll read my book," said James. "Mummy and Daddy recently gave me another book on Ancient Runes. It's fascinating and I want to learn more about it."

She blinked in surprise. The book he was holding was the Ancient Runes textbook a third-year Hogwarts student would have. And ever since McGonagall became headmistress, Runes was a subject that was taught since first year, so an eight-year-old child reading an advanced textbook startled her.

"You can understand that?" Amelia asked incredulously.

"Sure," shrugged James. "It's kind of simple."

"Wow," muttered Amelia under her breath. "Wish I had brains like yours."

Kissing his head affectionately, she sat behind her desk and was soon lost in the mountain of paperwork that lay before her. One hour later, her secretary announced that Algernon Croaker wanted to speak to her. In less than a minute, he was ushered inside.

"I'm afraid I'm not here for a social call, Amy," Croaker said hurriedly. "Sirius received a message from the Muggle Prime Minister. Strangely enough, Harry received a letter too. My intelligence wing thought something was fishy and decided to investigate. Apparently, the Prime Minister wants to discuss something very important about the magical world. He's demanding that they meet him this evening."

"Why?" asked Amelia, sounding surprised. "Algernon, ever since the amendment to the Statute of Secrecy, there is no need for us to interact with anyone in the Muggle government. Who cares if he sends a letter?"

"Normally, I'd agree with you. But my spies have told me that there are people who are not happy with the amendment. They seem to be working with the Prime Minister. I'm not sure who is involved, for my agent couldn't gather names, but the Muggle's role in this is confirmed. I really don't want another Obscurial incident, Amelia. With everything going on right now, that's just not something we are equipped to handle."

"You want to get to the bottom of this," sighed Amelia. "I'll come with you if you agree to do half my paperwork. Some idiot decided it was a good idea to interbreed a Crup and a Kneazle. The said dog-cat hybrid is now in high demand, but not registered or cleared by the Ministry. Since it violates the Ban on Experimental Breeding, Amos Diggory is on my head, demanding that I take action against this person."

Croaker smirked. "Hagrid?"

"Well, at least this dog-cat hybrid is not dangerous! Apparently, they're very cute and cuddly. Rigel mirror-called me last night and demanded I buy him one!"

"I want one too, Grandma!" chirped James from behind a thick book.

"See what I mean?"

Croaker laughed. "Well, if this meeting with the Prime Minister works out well, I'll help you deal with Amos Diggory. There is a certain knack to distracting him."

"Oh, there's no knack to it at all. All you have to do is mention his son and he'll forget what he's talking about and start boasting about Cedric Diggory's achievements. How his son ended up so humble and down-to-earth is beyond me!"