The New Minister

Once its doors slowly closed, the lift instantly started moving. “Which floor, sir?” the attendant asked him, a polite smile on his face. “The first, please.” Richard answered with equal kindness. As they were descending deeper into the ground, he went over the topics he wanted to treat during his meeting. Despite his experience, he was still somewhat nervous about this task, since it was the first major one he had been assigned since he started working at the Ministry several weeks earlier.

His anxiety reminded him of the first years of his career, when he was still a journalist for Wizard Weekly. After investigating numerous supposed accidents across the country, he had warned everyone about the possibility that dark wizards had not been utterly destroyed by the defeat of Voldemort so many years ago. They had plenty of time to regroup behind new leaders and were only waiting for the right moment to strike. He had done everything he could, fighting censorship and threats to show the public that the ministers who were succeeding one another at the head of the government were weak and only sought to put more galleons in their already fat pockets rather than help defend the wizarding world. And he watched helpless as dark wizards from who knows where debark and kill innocents by the thousands, culminating in the closure of Hogwarts, the legendary school of witchcraft and wizardry. However, the Wizengamot then finally came to its senses, appointing Jeremy Rufford as Minister for Magic. After a long struggle and many casualties, the ex-Auror managed to drive the enemy away, and the magical community could know peace once more. But could it really?

“Level 1 - Minister for Magic and Support Staff. ” a sweet female voice announced, interrupting his thoughts. “Here we are, sir.” the attendant unnecessarily remarked as the doors were opening with a mechanical sound. “Thank you” Richard replied, exiting the lift alongside two other Ministry workers and several pale violet-coloured paper airplanes. He followed the corridor, trying to remember the instructions he was given, since this was the first time he ventured in this part of the building. The floor was covered in thick purple carpets, and on each side of the hallway, there was a set of gleaming mahogany doors, each bearing a small plaque with the owner's name and occupation upon it. Finally reaching his destination, he knocked and waited for a response. After a few seconds, a tall dark-haired man appeared in the opening. "Good afternoon minister", Richard said confidently, "I'm here for the interview."

"Thank you." Richard replied, taking a seat in front of the minister's desk. The office consisted of a very spacious room, with elegant yet traditional decor and a large number of shelves along the walls, filled with an admirable collection of books on various subjects. It was well lit, mainly due to two large windows on each side, a detail that would certainly disturb those ignorant of the fact that, despite the entire ministry structure being under ground, the maintenance department could chose what kind of weather they wanted to show through these magical panes.

"First of all, I wish to thank you for receiving me here and for agreeing to this interview." Richard declared. "We are planning on publishing a special issue of the Daily Prophet about Hogwarts soon, as it has been recently reopened. And since you're the one responsible for reestablishing the legendary school, we thought it would be appropriate to include an interview with you."

As soon as the minister began to speak, Richard's long black quill immediately started frantically writing down everything he was saying. "Oh, don't worry mister Rufford." he said with a smile. "This one records exactly what you say." he reassured him, aware that some of his colleagues had slightly different ones, which would take someone's words and then create sensational and inaccurate tales that bore little resemblance to what the interviewee actually said. This self-writing quill was the professional item that Richard prized the most, as it made sure that he wouldn't miss a single word during an interview, and therefore allowed him to direct all of his attention on the person's changes of tone, pauses, gestures. That way, he could always tell when someone's was rendered uncomfortable by a question or when they attempted to lie to him.

"I believe you went to Hogwarts yourself. You were in Slytherin if I'm not mistaken. So how did you feel when the school was closed? Do you think it was a justified decision at the time?"

"I understand. And what would you respond to those who claim that you only appointed Owen Gray as headmaster of Hogwarts because of your friendship with him and since you wanted to make up for being chosen for minister over him?" Richard inquired. He didn't really believe in this theory himself, but part of his job as a journalist was to ask these somewhat sensible questions. "Those who believe that often point out that previous heads of the school were often ex Hogwarts professors or people with a more... academic profile, whereas as an ex Auror, Owen Gray could be considered as more of a man of action. What made you think he was best suited for the post?"

"And I completely agree with you, but I had to ask." Richard replied. "Have you visited Hogwarts after the reopening? Have there been any difficulties with the recruitment of professors? I have also heard that new students have been regularly joining the Castle, even after the beginning of the school year, since not all parents are convinced that it is entirely safe to send their children back there."

"I am reassured to hear that." Richard replied as his quill had finished writing a whole page of his notebook, which then instantly turned to a blank one. "Now enough about Hogwarts, let's talk about your appointment as Minister for Magic. We all know the war was raging for a couple of years when you were offered the post. Why did you accept it exactly? Was becoming Minister a long-time ambition of yours or did you believe that you were the right man for the job considering the difficult situation the country was going through?"

"Well, the facts certainly speak in your favour." Richard said with a smile. "In just a couple of months following your appointment, you managed to bring peace to the country, a task in which your predecessors failed miserably. I am aware that you can't share all the information with us, since some of it is certainly classified, but how did you manage to drive the dark wizards away? What was the key to our victory, and what did previous ministers overlook?"

"You said the dark wizards were still out here. There have been rumors spreading about them regrouping and developing a new plan, some of them even say they are after some sort of weapon, something they didn't have last time. What can you tell our readers about this new danger? And how serious is this threat really? Do we have to fear a new conflict in the close future?"

The Minister hadn't raised his voice, yet Richard felt the entire power of his position in his last sentence. However, he refused to be intimidated. "Does that mean that we can't write about the threat at all? Don't you think that the people deserve to know that there is something going on, after all they've been through? And even if we don't reveal the details, at least they can be prepared if something happens." he responded a bit abruptly. Recalling who he was talking too, he immediately stopped, realizing that he had somewhat lost his temper. Despite his profound admiration for the man sitting on the other side of the desk, as he had been the only one capable enough to put an end to the war, he was deeply against holding information from the public. As a journalist, he was a fervent defender of their right to know everything, even though he was aware that in this case that may lead to unwanted reactions such as waves of panic.

"Oh, all right. I'm sorry for my somewhat... temperamental reaction, sir." Richard sincerely apologized. It was his first major task, and he had lost his reserve in front of the Minister of Magic? Not a very positive point for his career. Hoping that mister Rufford won't mention this to his superiors, he pursued. "Apart from security, are there other fields that you are currently focused on? Did you reform the Ministry in any way since your appointment as its leader? For example passing new laws or creating new offices?"

"Great, that is all I needed to know. Thank you so much for answering my questions, sir. Is there anything else that you want to add for our readers?" Richard politely asked, preparing to end the interview.