"That's dragon crap!" he said. "If it was true, then Harry Potter should have been awarded one back soon after the thirty-first of October, 1981. He wasn't, was he? There was no award."
She looked back in surprise. A moment later, she said, "However, he didn't kill Vol- Riddle, did he?"
"But you did not know that, at the time, did you?" he shot back. "Until Heir Potter announced straight after the Tri-Wizard Tournament... for which he then suffered a year of ongoing abuse and taunting by both the Ministry and the media and on top of the year he suffered as a recipient of scorn and derision for being dragged into the Tri-Wizard Tournament against his will and where everyone... every person, except Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood... went so far as to call him delusional and a liar... abuse you, as Director of Magical Law Enforcement, never put a stop to as you bloody well should have!... you all believed Riddle was dead; and that Potter killed him in 1981. As such, your argument is specious and flawed.
"Do you wish to try again? Or, do you accept I'm correct? Besides, you just said the award is awarded for defeating a dark lord, not for killing them. And you at least admit to him doing that."
He sat there, staring back at her with some level of anger; daring her to contradict him.
She didn't. Instead, she sat at her desk, forward and with her hands cupping her forehead, blocking her face from view.
Finally, she sat back up a little straighter, but still forward. Her expression showed her frustration at what she heard. "Albus Dumbledore, as Mister Potter's magical guardian, blocked Mister Potter from receiving it."
Harry gave a snort of irritation. "Firstly, you said the Order of Merlin cannot be refused. As such, it was against the law for Albus Dumbledore to refuse it on Heir Potter's behalf. If he didrefuse it, why was he not arrested and charged for refusing it, then the Order awarded to Heir Potter anyway? Or, is Albus Dumbledore's middle name 'Above-the-law' as I'm more inclined to believe?
"Secondly, Albus Dumbledore was never Mister Potter's magical guardian. That position was always held by Lord Black here." And gestured to Sirius. "As Lord Black was never convicted before he was dumped in Azkaban, his magical guardianship of Heir Potter was never legally stripped from him. That is why he was automatically accepted by Gringotts as Regent for the House of Potter, yes?"
Before Bones could respond and turning to his godfather, he asked, "Did you illegally attempt to refuse Heir Potter's mandatory Order of Merlin, First Class, Lord Black?" "No, I did not," smirked Sirius.
Turning back to Bones, Harry said, "There you have it, Minister. Heir Potter was denied the Order of Merlin by a man who had no right... both as not being the true magical guardian and, as you posit, by it being illegal to deny the awarding of said Order as per law.
"As you... and I mean the government of wizarding Britain here... have already created the precedent not to award the Order of Merlin when the law stated it must be awarded, I feel quite comfortable in refusing it. If you try to prosecute me for not accepting it I will merely point out that Heir Potter awaits the awarding of his Order of Merlin, First Class, before you can even consider awarding me one. So, want to try yet again?"
"Damn it," she mutter-sighed.
"Laws exist for a reason, Minister," he more calmly, but just as firmly, stated. "And to set aside a law because it is... inconvenient... at that time you feel justifies setting it aside, brings with it the understanding that if you set aside a law, you open yourself to it becoming a precedent to set it and othersaside at a later time. Once it's a precedent, it now renders that law you temporarily set aside as next to useless. And without law, without it applied in even the cases you find it inconvenient to apply it, the term for such a society as is left as a result is called 'anarchy'.
"For much too long you... and again I'm referring to the government and, more especially, the Wizengamot... have allowed Albus 'Above-the-Law' Dumbledore to merely state something is for the Greater Good to set aside law. Therefore, I'm left to ask, how is setting aside law 'For the Greater Good', as Albus Dumbledore demands, if doing so brings with it the eventual recognition you have anarchy?" Without waiting for a respoinse, he continued, "The DMLE is not the only Ministerial body responsible for maintaining law; so is the Wizengamot, whether in judicial or legislative format... and so is the Minister. When you set aside the law supposedly 'For the Greater Good', you are in effect stating the law is evil. Do you believe that?"
With a sigh she eventually and simply replied, "No."
"Then why set it aside because Albus Dumbledore claimed it to be for the Greater Good to do so?"
"I was not Minister at the time―"
"Ah!" he said, cutting her off and flicking an index finger upright. "But you were the Regent for the Noble and Most Ancient House of Bones. Such a position automatically granted you a Seat upon the Wizengamot until such time as your niece, Susan, took up the Headship of your House. Why did you not refuse Dumbledore's claims and actively work against him for the betterment of your society, as you were obligated by your position as Regent to do?"
"I'd have lost my job as Chief Auror of the DMLE," she grumbled.
"Then you should have lost it!" he irritably snapped back. "What point was there for you to keep it if you did not use it to do your lawful duty? You took the easy route, not the right route.
"By doing so, you demeaned both yourself and your position. You know that, don't you? When an incumbent plays politics with their job, when their job is not supposed to be one of politics, they demean it and themselves."
Her thunderous, but silent, expression back had him roll his eyes. "Glare at me all you want. If you want Lord Hardwin Peverell to accept the Order of Merlin, First Class, you need to clear up a couple of things for me first."
"And what would that be?" she demanded.
"What would those be," he countered. "First; the Order of Merlin, First Class. You said you automatically earned it defeating a Dark Lord. However, that's not entirely true, is it?"
With a sudden look of puzzlement she said, "Pardon? What do you mean?"
"If you earned the Order of Merlin, First Class, for defeating a Dark Lord; then that means anyone who defeated Riddle in battle would have automatically earned one.
"Heir Potter's parents, for a start, defeated him to the point where they handily drove him off on no less than three occasions. Dumbledore's also done it on a great many occasions, as well. Supposedly, so did Neville Longbottom. So, why weren't they awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class, for each of those defeats?" Still slightly confused she replied, "No. Defeat is just a... polite way of saying 'killed'."
"But they don't mean the same thing, do they?" he countered. "For example, if you and I were to play a game of chess and you beat me, then you would have defeated me in a form of battle. However, I would not also be dead, would I?"
"Well, no," she replied. "But what does that―"
"One moment," he interrupted. "Was Albus Dumbledore awarded his Order of Merlin, First Class, for defeating Gellert Grindelwald... or for killing him?"
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