Jamie stared at Harry for a moment, trying to figure out if he was serious or not. "Shit, you're serious. You actually believe that." No wonder life had driven his father to drink if he really couldn't see things that were plain as day to everyone else. "That teenager saved the world. Like it or not, he and his friends and the entire D.A. became the heroes of our society. They were the ones rebuilding our society. They became Minister, Head Auror. They worked in Mysteries and Law Enforcement and for the Wizengamot. They run our society. When they speak, people listen, their decisions, your decisions now, determine the direction our society goes. And that's not even considering that you were the heir to both the Black and Potter fortunes and businesses. Or that you made milestones like being the first to be named to the House Team at as a first year. If you're going to be Minister and lead this country into a new post-apocalypse era, you're going to leave an even bigger legacy. And with that comes a whole set of social responsibilities, including dealing reasonably with the press. If you don't believe me, ask Mr. Malfoy, either one. Or Regulus Black. Or, even Kirley Duke. I get that you don't like being in the public eye, but you are and you will be. As will everyone in your orbit and everyone named to this new Ministry."
Sighing, he shifted on his feet, hands moving to his back pockets. "This is also why I wanted to talk to you about adding a Communications Director to your staff. I know you have a Ministry Spokesperson and Glenda's good, or she was in my time. But, you need more than one person to handle the press. You need someone to handle crafting the messaging strategy, to keep all your other departments in line with that strategy, to work with the spokesperson on responses to the media while the spokesperson fields them. You're only thinking the Prophet and the Quibbler, but there's a whole world of traditional media and new media, the outlets that have cropped up with the journals and citizen journalism. You're going to get bombarded as soon as you open up to the world, everyone here is."
Telling Harry that his father never joked was probably not going to end well, so Jamie just shook his head. "You don't get it, do you? Look, my dad is my dad and, yes, it's weird to call a guy younger than me 'Dad' as though things could be just the same as always. That doesn't me I don't want to get to know you. And it doesn't mean I don't love him. I don't like what he does to himself, to our family. But, he's still my dad and I love him." He raised an eyebrow. "It also doesn't mean I'm going to sugarcoat things if you ask me about him. You're not him, not yet. With any luck you won't ever be...for your sake."