It has been brought to our attention by several unnamed sources that Mr. Kingsley Shacklebolt, the best Minister of Magic since Agrippa Acromantula Cornwall (who came before Madame Bagnold), may be looking into retirement sooner rather than later!
Sources say that Minister Shacklebolt has been seen reading up on get-away cottages out in Finland and speaking about possible successors. Of course, everyone knows that Kingsley Shacklebolt was to have a fair election once he is out of office, but that doesn't mean he hasn't acknowledged good candidates! A person from Minster Shacklebolt's own office told us that Kingsley is growing weary of putting so many long hours at the Ministry while his son is off at Hogwarts, growing up before his eyes and his wife, Hestia, is doing her own things.
"He hates the job," a close friend of Shacklebolt's who wishes to remain unnamed has said to us. "He just wants to go home and retire with his wife. He wants to see his son grow up and be apart of Thor's life. He wants to get away from the pressure of having to make decisions and be at work all day long! Is it so wrong to want a little peace and quiet in your life?"
"It's obvious who's going to be his successor," Abner Pinkle-Crafting, who works at St. Mungos, said during his interview with us. "Harry Potter, of course! Who else? Kingsley was merely paving the way for the Boy-Who-Lived-and-Killed-You-Know-Who!"
Kingsley Shacklebolt is a man in his sixties. He has a younger wife, Hestia Shacklebolt nee Jones, and a son, Thor, who is a seventh year Gryffindor at Hogwarts. Kingsley played a good part in the Order of the Phoenix and the downfall of Lord Voldemort in 1998. He has always been a man everyone could relate to and look up to. We, here at the Quibbler, have always supported Minster Shacklebolt. He has given us the respect we deserve. As of so far, we have not been able to get Minister Shacklebolt to accept or deny these accusations, but the signs are all pointing toward retirement. We hope for the best and we sincerely hope that we will not end up with another Cornelius Fudge (he was infested with Nargles and Wrackspurts, making it very difficult for him to run our Wizarding society with his head all foggy!) or Rufus Scrimgeour (who was, obviously, a Vampire).