Their Past (Part One)

"Your—er—some of your people, I mean, were involved in—these events, weren't they?"

Fudge glared severely at the Prime Minister.

"Of course they were," he said. "Surely you understand what's going on?"

"I..." The Prime Minister hesitated.

It was precisely situations like this that made him dislike Fudge's visits.

After all, he was the Prime Minister. He did not like being made to feel like a schoolboy who knew nothing.

Yet ever since his first meeting with Fudge on the first night he became Prime Minister, things had been this way.

He still remembered that scene clearly, as though it had happened only yesterday. He knew he would never forget it for as long as he lived.

He had been standing alone in this office, savoring the joy of finally succeeding after years of dreams and careful planning, when he suddenly heard a cough behind him. Just as tonight, he turned and saw that the ugly little portrait was speaking to him, announcing that the Minister for Magic had come to visit.

Naturally, he had assumed that the strain of the long campaign and election had made him slightly unhinged.

He had been terrified enough to discover that a portrait was talking to him. Then, as if that were not enough, a man claiming to be a wizard had leaped out of the fireplace and shaken his hand, leaving him utterly at a loss.

Without saying a word, Fudge had kindly explained that wizards still lived secretly all over the world. He had also reassured him that it was nothing he needed to worry about, because the Ministry of Magic was responsible for managing the entire Wizarding World and ensuring that non-wizards never learned of their existence.

Fudge had said that it was an immensely difficult job, covering everything from regulations