40. Counterattack (2)

After a tiring day, it was time to relax, but who said I could? Harry, the anxious boy was pacing the room, lost in thought, nagging me about it.

"Too much worry causes hair loss, stress and fatigue. So stop for a minute man, or I'll kick your ass to your room." I say in the most grumpy way possible, but it came out just tired.

"What if she twists things? What if she changes history, it could hurt a lot of other people, I don't trust that woman." he continues his walk, back and forth.

"Bro, I'll say it again, she's not going to change or do anything. And I say that not because I trust the woman, but because she already knows that if she changes a word, dot or drop, she'll wish for a death that will never come." I remember the boy.

He stops his walk, looking at me strangely. "You can't..." but I cut him off.

"I can and I will. Your hands are clean, that's the only thing that matters. I'll be your shield Bro, as much as I can, I'll always be by your side, but I'll do things my way, the way I see fit.

Does that make me a bad guy? I don't know, and I don't care either. The only thing that matters to me is that you can get as much of a happy life back as possible. So please stop being such a bitch and relax." I look at him in mock disgust.

In response, he jumps on top of me, trying to pin me down. "You'll learn to respect me, bro." he grumbles, through the effort.

"Force me." I start fighting back. Amidst the jostling and twisting, a voice reaches our ears, making us stop and shiver.

"Either stop, or I'll teach you manners." it was a sweet, calm, serene voice, but one that we were terrified to hear.

As if by magic, Harry and I, in less than 1 second, were seated, with the correct posture, and we looked like two young polite boys.

"Much better now." she says, giving us a smile. That made only Harry and I gulp.

"Cousin, shouldn't you be at work?" I ask, gathering courage.

"Am I not welcome?" Andromeda makes a fake sad face.

I get up and hug her tightly. "No balls for Harry cousin, I love you and you will always be welcome in this house." I say in the biggest dick face.

"But you were the one who asked, man." Harry stands up, pointing at me.

"You see cousin, he can't help himself, I don't know what else to do with this kid." I make that face of a tired old man, making Andromeda laugh.

"Now that you've had your fun, can you explain to me what you're up to?" she asks raising her eyebrows, not just curiosity, but as if it's our obligation to answer.

"I think the surprise will have to wait until tomorrow, cousin." I answer and run to my room.

"Hey, don't leave me here." Harry yells, running close behind.

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The next day, early in the morning.

The wizarding world was taken aback, and in a bad way in many ways. A big headline on the front page of the newspaper, with pictures of countless well-known and powerful faces.

"Ministry Under Investigation." it was a somewhat flashy title, and signed by our great and sincere reporter, Rita Skeeter.

"Sources report disturbing things about our Minister and his many officials. With few rare exceptions, our top ministerial echelon is involved in conspiracies and bribery.

We were informed, with evidence, see more on page 12, that many Ministry officials, including our current Minister, used political power to force some irregular sales of family assets.

To make matters worse, the family stolen by our Minister is none other than the Potters, whose only survivor is our savior against You-Know-Who. With the loss of his beloved relatives, he was robbed.

Below is a list of objects, places, and items forcibly diverted to other families' vaults. On page 12 there are more details.

As if that were not enough, it has come to our attention that the old Potter mansion is now used as a visitation area, which is charged by the Ministry, but which, by law, should still be the Potter mansion.

That is, those who should be protecting us are the first to steal our assets and rights, to benefit certain families. But that's not enough, my dear readers. Have more.

If you stop to calmly and coldly analyze each name on the list of accused, almost 80% of the names can be related to former followers of You-Know-Who. But let's move on to the worst of situations.

And yes, my readers, it is possible.

We were told, in the words of our current Minister and the former Head of Aurors, Bartholomew Crouch, that Sirius Black was the keeper of the Potters' secret, which a few days ago was discovered to be a lie.

The secret-keeper was Peter Pettigrew, one of the old friends of the Potter family, the true traitor. But it doesn't end there. Strong sources indicate that the real killer of the 12 muggles, which fall on Sirius Black, was actually an escape from that Peter Pettigrew.

We are still investigating more details, and this newspaper, committed to the truth of the facts, will be there, to bring you all the information possible, making it clear who are the guilty ones, and who are the innocent ones." It was a good ending to the text.

But it wasn't over yet, because on page two, came the part I most wanted to read.

And the title was really good, I really liked the audacity of that woman.

"Lying Empire".