Three Powers

Over the next few days, the news was almost entirely dominated by the Harris Family. Besides the heated discussion of You-Know-Who's return and subsequent defeat at Allen Harris's hands, nearly every media outlet simultaneously reported another event: Owen Harris had succeeded Cornelius Fudge as the thirty-third Minister of Magic since the British Ministry of Magic was established in 1707.

"Former Deputy Minister Owen Harris has succeeded Cornelius Fudge as Minister of Magic. This appointment..." On Wizarding Television, the French-style Veela-blooded host Pheobe Delacour appeared delighted.

Mr. Owen Harris sat behind his desk and waved at the camera, genial yet authoritative, looking mature and composed. He also delivered an extremely forceful inaugural address live, though wizards believed the pressure on him could not have been much lighter than that faced by Ulick Gamp, the first Minister of Magic.

The first Minister, Ulick Gamp, had faced the arduous task of helping an agitated and terrified society adapt to the implementation of the International Statute of Secrecy. His greatest achievements were establishing the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and permitting the Leaky Cauldron to remain open as a safe harbor and refuge for members of magical society. Out of gratitude, the proprietor of the Leaky Cauldron created a new beer brand—Gamp's Old Gregarious Brew. It tasted so awful that no one could finish a pint, even for a reward of one hundred Galleons.

The thirty-third Minister of Magic, Owen Harris, meanwhile, had to face the resurgent Dark Lord whose name could not be spoken, his Death Eaters, and a possible second wizarding war.

Wizards were not particularly surprised by the outcome. The Harris Family's strength and prestige had visibly risen rapidly in the United Kingdom, which had once seemed rather stagnant, over the past few years. It was hardly surprising that Cornelius Fudge,