A Force of Magic [HP Jamione fanfic]

Chapter 12: Wizengamot

5th February 1999
10am
Ministry of Magic - London
Level 2 - DMLE, Wizengamot Administrative Headquarters

James had spent the last week since Lily's birthday wallowing in his misery. He'd been snapped out of it when he'd found out that Sirius still wasn't able to leave his house due to being a fugitive, despite having died (officially). Harry told James that Kingsley was working on it, but it wasn't fast enough in James' opinion, so he decided he was going to claim the Potter Wizengamot seat and sort this shit out himself.

He burst into the office for the Wizengamot Administrative Headquarters dramatically, startling the poor secretary who'd been frantically scribbling when he entered. "Oh, I'm sorry!" He winced, embarrassed.

The woman smiled, and waved a dismissive hand, "Oh please don't worry about it, Mister..."

James smiled too, taking the seat in front of her desk, "Potter. James Potter." He said clearly, watching her eyes widen massively.

"Mr- Mr Potter." She swallowed nervously, and blinked a couple of times. She shuffled some papers on her desk, "Are the- Are the Goblins aware of your return, Mr Potter?"

"Indeed, and as I have been reinstated as Head of House Potter, I am here to claim my Wizengamot seat."

"Err. Right. I- I see." She stood abruptly. "You'll have to fill in some paperwork, Mr Potter. Just to prove you are who you say you are. And then you will need to go down to the in session Wizengamot and request your seat formally. That is just a formality of course." She smiled a tremulous smile, and placed a stack of paperwork down in front of James on the desk. She'd been flitting around the office gathering it as she talked. "Do you have a quill?"

"Uh. No, sorry." She waved off his apology, and passed him a spare quill and ink pot.

"There's a desk over there you may use to complete the paperwork." She pointed to the far corner of the office. James followed her instructions. It took him a painstaking half an hour to fill out all the paperwork, a lot of which were documents to prove he was who he said he was.

When he'd handed them all back to her to verify, she directed him to go to level 10 where the Wizengamot were currently meeting. He sighed, hating the bureaucracy of the Ministry. He made his way quickly down to the large courtroom, wanting to get this debacle over as soon as possible.

There were two guards standing outside the large double doors into the room, who held up their hands as he approached. "State your business." The older looking one said gruffly.

"My name is James Potter, and I am here to claim the Potter family seat."

Both the guards gaped for a moment, before the younger one stuttered slightly and said, "Paperwork please?"

James handed over the paperwork he'd painstakingly filled in, and watched as they scanned it quickly with their wands, checking for forgery or fraud. They let him into the room then with a quick spell and he walked in front of the Wizengamot, head held high, a slightly arrogant smirk tilting his lips. He watched in amusement as Kingsley's eyes widened - the minister was currently covering the position of Chief Warlock until it could be filled.

Kingsley cleared his throat and watched James with a raised eyebrow for a silent moment, then he finally spoke up, his deep voice rumbling, "Please state your name and business."

"I'm James Charlus Potter, Head of the Noble House of Potter. I lay claim to the Potter family Wizengamot seat." His voice rang in the stunned silence of the chambers. The only sound was the frantic scratching of quills from the reporters' section. He blinked away the lights dancing in his eyes from the flash of cameras going off. He held up the sheaf of parchment in his hands, "Here I have my completed paperwork proving who I am from both Gringotts and the DMLE."