Muggle Hunt

Chapter 12

A/N: Well, here it is! Last chapter! I wanted to get it up before the weekend and just before the year anniversary. Hope you all enjoyed this wild and thanks for sticking with it!

My only beta is Grammarly; all other mistakes are mine. If you liked this chapter (or hated it) let me know about it in a review! You can find me on Tumblr at crochetawayhpff or Facebook at Shan Crochetaway.

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January 2004

Ministry of Magic

London, UK

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It took almost three months to evict all of the Muggles from Diagon Alley, St Mungo's, and the Ministry and begin protecting them with Granger's improved Muggle-Repelling Charm. It seemed like every time they were ready to put up the charms, another Muggle popped up and by the end of it, Antonin was thoroughly exhausted. But it was necessary to complete before they took a tour of the old villages and began rooting people out of them and back into a fully wizarding world.

The biggest change from a year and a half of being exposed to Muggles was that there was now a much more definitive 'veil' between the two worlds. It was something that Antonin was surprised to learn that Granger was quite insistent on.

"It's safer for us all," Granger argued. Antonin didn't disagree with her, but Potter was a bit of a thorn in their sides over it. They were in the newly restored Ministry, trying to sort through residency records in an attempt to track down every witch and wizard still alive in Britain. The Ministry Archives were housed in a huge room, but it was dusty from being uninhabited for at least a year. There were some wards that even the Muggles were unable to break through.

"It's only going to increase tensions over the long run," Potter responded. His lips thinned and he slammed down the parchment he was holding.

"What do you know about it, Harry?" Granger hissed through gritted teeth. Antonin was enjoying watching how Granger argued with Potter. He hadn't ever given their friendship much thought before, but if pressed, he would have said that Potter was the ringleader, although, seeing him and Granger interact, it seemed like Granger more than held her own. "You weren't out here living it. Let me tell you, the Horcrux hunt and taking down Voldemort was a fucking breeze compared to the Muggle military. And honestly, it's worse for those of us who grew up in the Muggle world. They tracked me right down to my parent's house!"

"Alright, alright." Potter raised his hands placatingly.

"What we need from you is help in the old villages," Granger told Potter. As good as she was at riling Potter up, she was equally skilled in placating him. "The people still in hiding are scared and the face of The-Boy-Who-Lived would go a long way in soothing those fears."

"That's right," Antonin agreed. "We can send you out with Connor or Talen. Your face will ease a lot of the fear we're seeing now."

"Fine," Potter agreed. "But I hate being used this way."

"I know, Harry," Hermione said with a sad smile. "But this is a different world and as terrible as the last year and a half has been, we have a really great opportunity to shape the world into something we can be proud of."

Potter nodded his agreement and Antonin breathed a sigh of relief as he offloaded Potter onto Talen. Connor would probably come back with Potter's head on a stick. Better to have Talen put up with him.

One of the most shocking discoveries upon the recovery of Diagon Alley had been that the goblins were all alive and well, living within Gringotts. Apparently, the goblins had their own fail-safe's in place to survive any manner of world-ending crisis. Not only were all the vaults hidden from the Muggles, the goblins decided to only confiscate half of the accounts of the deceased as payment. The other half was given to the Ministry, which sorely needed the money.