It was finally time. They had waited long enough and today Sirius would become a free man again after twelve years of injustice. Harry and Sirius had both donned their best official robes. They had permission from Minerva for Harry to be present at the hearing. That the Minister was intent on not angering the future Lord was an added bonus. Even Dumbledore had not dared to interfere in this. He already knew that he couldn't do anything against Sirius getting his trial and being cleared of all charges. As soon as Sirius took Veritaserum the case would be lost for Albus. So he could only go along with this, as much as he hated to do so.
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Discover moreScience Fiction & Fantasy FilmsGoth SubcultureScience Fiction & FantasyScience Fiction & Fantasy BooksChildren's BooksBut he didn't have any time to plot a good strategy to keep control over Harry while sorting out the whole mess at the Ministry. If he didn't know that it was impossible for the Weasley twins to have gotten out of the castle, he would have sworn they were the culprits. But neither twin knew how to apparate, they were too young and nobody could apparate inside of Hogwarts' grounds anyway. He was sure, that he had heard the two laugh hard when they read the Prophet. Somehow Rita Skeeter had gotten the story and had promptly written an article that didn't show the Ministry in favorable colors. Sadly none of the things she had written was a lie. There was no angle to attack her from.
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Discover moreAnimeBooksBaked GoodsFan fiction booksFiction writing toolsTerms like incompetence, shortsightedness and corruption were mentioned. Well, many of the high ranking Ministry officials only got their positions by using their connections within the pureblood society on which Fudge built his power base. The purebloods, knowing that Fudge favored their ideas, naturally took advantage of his stupidity and managed to gain many benefits from his leadership phase.
It hadn't done the Ministry any good. As jobs, which normally needed a certain level of competence, were given out as favors to Fudge's supporters, many things didn't work as they should. So whoever pranked the Ministry knew that if they eliminated the ones who were able to reverse spells and their effects first, they would gain utter chaos in the center of the government. And he had to admit they had been good at what they did.
Discover moreFan merchandiseStory writing softwareCartoonsMobile app marketingFiction genre guidesHe didn't know how they had gotten into the Ministry without anybody noticing them and he didn't know when it happened but he intended to find out. He couldn't have anybody being able to keep him away from Hogwarts to help the useless fool Fudge for long periods of time. He had to regain control of the boy after all.
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Harry and Sirius stood side by side at the Atrium of the Ministry. They had taken the floo from Amelia Bones' home. They had agreed that it would be the safest way to go to the Ministry. Madam Bones had also made sure to have two aurors that were solely loyal to her present to give the right signal to outsiders. The head of the DMLE was taking this case very serious. And she would make sure that nothing happened to Sirius under her watch. She knew everything about the so called accidents that sometimes happened when inconvenient facts for powerful players at the Wizengamot were likely to be revealed.
Discover moreAnime & MangaWriting workshopsMobile app developmentFan fiction communityFan community platformNot this time. Kingsley Shacklebolt and Alastor Moody would make sure of it. Many would call her insane for asking 'Mad-Eye' Moody to do this job, but the old auror was one of the best and a fierce fighter for justice. He would do what was right, not what the higher ups wanted.
"Are you ready, Sirius, Harry?" She asked.
"Of course, Madam Bones." Harry answered calmly.
By now he had mastered the pureblood etiquette and was acting his part perfectly. He knew how to show the proper respect to his elders but also knew to use his station to bar those who abused their authority (Snape), from using it against him. Amelia Bones was the Matriarch of the House of Bones and therefore high in the social ranking. As he was heir apparent to houses that were equally high or higher placed than her house, it was required from him to act with utmost politeness and respect but not to buckle down.
Discover moreFan fiction forumApp store optimizationBooks & LiteratureFan fiction writingMoviesWell, it was easy to respect Amelia Bones for her integrity and her success in the Ministry anyway. There weren't that many high positioned women in the Ministry. Harry had learned from Sirius that it was mostly due to the traditional way of working things. The man in the house was seen as the head of the family except in few houses that were traditionally matriarchal. Contrary to the muggle society of the middle ages, where women were seen inferior to the man, in the wizarding world they were equally respected.
The decisions about the standing and business of the family were the responsibility of the man, but the wife of the head of house ruled over the members. She decided how the children were brought up, what subjects they were learning, what punishments they got in case they had done something wrong and which of their friends were allowed to visit at their home.
Only witches that weren't the matriarch of their families, went out and worked. They were tasked to increase the wealth and gain new valuable connections for their families. The sons also had those tasks. But they normally went and worked in the family businesses if they existed. A prime example for that were the Malfoys. Lucius was the one doing business and held political connections, while Narcissa ruled the family and made sure the pureblood high society was aware of their wealth and power. Power and money in the wizarding world were closely connected and the best way to keep a high position was to show off that wealth. Narcissa organized the charity events that had played a big part in keeping Lucius out of Azkaban, and maintained a close network with other pureblood witches. While Draco looked up to his father, he had been raised by his mother to follow the pureblood ideals the Blacks had valued for centuries. Draco would take over the family business, except Lucius managed to lose it all before Draco could take over, and his wife would be educated by Narcissa until she was ready to take over as the new matriarch.
With the small birthrate in the wizarding community of Great Britain this meant that many houses were merged over the years. There just weren't many families that had more than one or perhaps two children, so finding a suitable husband or wife was a big topic for all the young witches and wizard that attended Hogwarts from third or fourth year on. Harry was aware to those facts thanks to Sirius. He would be one of the main targets for young witches in the coming years.
So Amelia Bones combining both a career in Law Enforcement and being Matriarch of her family was a rarity.
"I am looking forward for my parents finally getting justice and my godfather finally being freed of those accusations some people thought to be the truth without even trying to prove them." His voice was icy.
Many people in the atrium were shocked. And they only had themselves to blame for going along with the process. Nobody had thought that Sirius could be innocent. They had all just assumed the worst. After all, he was a Black, a member of a traditionally dark family.
"I really hope the Wizengamot is not built by stupid bigoted sheep that follow a leader just because it is convenient. I know I would hate to have to use my powers just to get things that have been let run in bigoted ways straightened out to what they should be. I am sure you understand that, Madam Bones."
"Of course I do. And I agree. Some things have to change."
Sirius just grinned. Harry had just remembered the whole audience, that he as heir of Ravenclaw and Gryffindor had vetoes at the Wizengamot. The heirs of the four founders could stop laws if they found them discriminating or unjust. And Harry knew it. He had had several long chats with the sorting hat about some things after Minerva had told them; for example that Harry could claim the Slytherin Lordship, which he had done. They had found some really interesting things down in the chamber of secrets. It turned out Salazar himself was glad to have a worthy heir if you could believe his portrait down there in a hidden compartment.
Voldemort had never been able to find this part of the chamber as he was no pureblood. Ironically Slytherin didn't really hate the muggleborns, he just came from a time, where witches and wizards were hunted and feared by the muggle population. When your whole life was filled with being on guard because the muggles were narrow minded fools, who always accused those they disliked to be witches and wizards and the Christian's wars were not really helping the issues, then you tended to be careful who you trusted with your secrets. Especially if the lives of your family were at stake.
It wouldn't do for those you held dear to be persecuted and killed just because some people, who were raised in a different culture couldn't keep magic a secret. So he had argued with the other founders to keep learning magic a privilege only for magically raised children. He was outvoted by the other three. With time a simple argument between Salazar and Godric over how to protect the school better, which ended with Slytherin leaving to cool down for some days, really, that had been normal between the two and Rowena and Helga were betting how long it would take Salazar and Godric to cool down this time, had been blown up into Slytherin leaving the castle forever because he wanted nothing to do with the ways things were done there.
Really, did historians really believe that one of the greatest wizards of his time would be that childish? He and Godric had gotten over their argument as usual and some time later Salazar had been asked to assist a magical village in Bulgaria with a werewolf problem, for which he left the castle with the blessings of the other three.
When Salazar heard what Tom Riddle had done, he had been furious. Even his preference of purebloods never included killing all the muggleborn children. What he intended was more like spotting them early in their lives and bring them to the wizarding world to be raised so that they would not be naïve to the ways muggles thought of magic as if it was the product of Satan. It would have been necessary to take them from their families but with how they were treated if they were found out it would be the better way. A simple obliviate would do the trick to make the parents forget about the magical child.
Hell, muggle children died all the time due to bad medical possibilities that time. Making the parents believe that their child had died because of an illness would be easily believed.
Muggleborn children raised in the wizarding world were treated indifferently by Slytherin when they came to school until they proved to him that they fully accepted the wizarding traditions. What really ticked Salazar off was that Riddle had dared to kill lots of pureblood families just because they were opposing him. Pure magical blood was valuable and under no circumstances was allowed to be shed for petty goals of power. After all, there were only so many wizarding families. Extinct blood was lost forever and with it overall magical power.
When Harry had approached Salazar with his claim for the title by right of conquest Salazar had tested Harry's claim and his abilities in parselmagic. He had been able to clear up some questions Harry had had about his active powers which had been blocked until last summer. After the tests Salazar Slytherin had acknowledged Harry as the new heir for the title of Lord of House Slytherin and told him where he had hidden the family ring.
Harry and Sirius were looking around seemingly uninterested. Harry looked at the fountain of a witch, a wizard and three magical creatures.
"I have rarely seen such a display of lies." He commented the fountain much to the dismay of some people around him.
"I agree, Harry, but this is how our society is, they are so ready to believe the most ridiculous things." Sirius replied.
"Really? They should take courses in common sense from what I have seen so far. I mean come on, goblins and centaurs worshipping wizards? I have met centaurs in the forbidden forest during my first year and I can tell they are proud, as are goblins. I thought history would have thought wizards something. I seem to have been mistaken."
"Sadly. But I think we should make our way towards the courtroom. It is time for you to learn something about our court system, Harry."
"As long as they follow their own laws I am all for learning about wizarding culture. I just have problems with the wizarding society behaving worse than the muggles."
Many wizards flinched at the jabs. Being compared to muggles, whom Harry had not the best impression of due to his childhood in Surrey, was a low blow. Harry was thoroughly enjoying himself. Making those pompous fools uncomfortable was just too funny.
With the utmost aura of confidence Harry and Sirius strode down to the courtrooms in company of Madam Bones and the two aurors whose mouths, Harry could have sworn, had twitched during his show.
They reached the doors to the courtroom where two chairs were placed next to each other. Sirius nodded towards Harry who embraced him before leaving toward the seat reserved for the Gryffindor family. He figured it would be good to remember the Wizengamot just who he was. He might not be able to vote for his father, but he sure as hell could make sure nothing would happen that was against the laws. And he had studied them as much as he could. With the sorting hat being delighted to help him. He had told Harry it was much more interesting than just sitting in the headmaster's office all year.
Sirius took his seat and the chains at the chair sprung to life and bound his arms. Sirius just took it in stride. The next thing the assembled members of the Wizengamot saw was two dementors bringing in Peter Pettigrew, who was whimpering. Harry felt the cold but managed to stay awake by putting a chocolate ball into his mouth. Remus had gotten them for him in Hogsmeade.
Then something happened nobody had thought of. After putting Peter in the second chair, where he was immediately bound, one of the dementors charged at Sirius, attempting to kiss him. Harry just exploded. He instinctively knew what to do from his Wizengamot seat.
"Expecto patronum justicia maxima." He yelled, pointing his wand at the charging dementor.
Blinding light erupted from his wand and a bright shining stag shot forward to protect Sirius from the dementor. When the patronus threw the dementor across the room using his antlers, something strange happened. The dementor seemingly shrieked and then dissolved into dust in the light of the patronus. The other one followed soon after the light of the patronus filled the whole room. Harry was standing, shaking with fury.
"By the power of the houses of the founders of Hogwarts, by the power of the law binding the Wizengamot I, Harry James Potter, heir apparent to the houses of Potter, Boldon, Peverell, Black, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, demand that the ancient power of the Wizengamot, given to this entity by Merlin himself, punishes the one who gave the order for the dementor to strike." He ordered.
His tone was full of authority and all the members of the Wizengamot felt the powerful surge that leapt through their bodies. What kind of power did this boy have to control the ancient power of the Wizengamot itself?
The culprit was found soon enough. Delores Umbridge suddenly clutched her head and cried in pain.
"Delores Jane Umbridge. You have been found guilty of attempted murder of a man, brought before the Wizengamot to receive justice." Harry spoke.
"Your actions have been found despicable. The Wizengamot's power comes from the law, not what some people think would be best for their goals. Therefore the ancient power of Wizengamot has decided that you are not worthy of wielding magic. Let it be told through me that your punishment had been dealt by ancient magic. You will be stripped of your magic. Your magic will be added to the power in the Wizengamot given freely by Merlin at the end of his life. By law of the Wizengamot so mote it be." Harry intoned and Umbridge cried out as she felt her magic leaving her.
Many were now in uproar.
"How dare you do this, Potter?" Malfoy yelled.
"Lord Malfoy, it would be wise to keep your temper." Harry answered calmly, still projecting his immense power.
"This was not my decision. I only was the voice for the magic of Wizengamot itself because of my status as heir to some of the founders as there sadly are no descendants of Merlin left today. Otherwise it would be their job to rein in the members of Wizengamot to do their job properly. Wizengamot is disgusted how some of its members have abused their powers in the past and wants me to let you all know that it won't tolerate this anymore.
"Merlin left orders for this body to treat all magical beings as equals. In the past you have broken those orders. I have been told to give you the following message by Wizengamot: 'Beware my anger, you won't like my enmity. Follow the laws or you will be dealt with accordingly. I am Wizengamot, born by the old magic and I am above all ideals. I am bound to law and Merlin's orders. I am Wizengamot'." Harry finished his message.
Many people in the audience could be seen paling. This was serious. If the ancient magic of Wizengamot decided to speak, they had to obey or risk losing their magic like Umbridge.
Dumbledore decided to call the members to order. He was furious that Sirius was rescued, he didn't know that Harry was capable of such strong magic. He would have to look out more for the boy. Then he relaxed slightly as he saw the boy sit down at his seat exhausted. Perhaps it was just the ancient magic which decided to use the boy's heritage. If he was as powerful as it seemed some minutes ago, he wouldn't be this exhausted. But how had he managed to destroy the dementors?
"Members of the Wizengamot, we need to proceed. We are here for the trial of Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew." He called out.
"You are right, Chief Warlock Dumbledore. We have to proceed with the trials to finally speak justice after twelve years." Madam Bones agreed.
Harry stiffened suddenly.
"Members of my halls." He called out with a different voice.
"I have decided, that due to conflict of interests neither Chief Warlock Dumbledore nor Minister of Magic Fudge will be allowed to preside this session. I, Wizengamot, call for Lady Augusta Longbottom, as one of the longest standing members of this body, to preside in my name for this session."
Many were whispering intently. Never had they experienced for the spirit of Wizengamot to speak directly to them. And through such a young person as well.
"You may wonder why I chose Harry to be my voice." Wizengamot continued.
Sirius face was slightly worried. He just hoped, that Harry would not suffer from the possession by the spirit. He knew the spirit of Wizengamot was a good one, but he couldn't help but be concerned for his son.
"Don't fear for Harry, Lord Black. He won't experience any damage by being my voice. He just is the only person I can use to speak through due to his heritage. It has been too long since I was able to make my opinion known. For some time now all the founder's heirs that took their places were either corrupted by power or too weak of mind to be capable to speak in my name. I think the last one died seventy years ago. He is a very interesting boy. He will be great if he is allowed to grow up undisturbed."
Sirius relaxed slightly. Many others were discussing the words of the spirit.
"Now onto business. Lady Longbottom, do you agree to preside this session?" Wizengamot asked.
"Yes, it will be my honor, Wizengamot." Augusta Longbottom answered.
"Then so it will be. Continue with the trial."
Dumbledore grumbling left his place and Augusta took his seat. Dumbledore took place in his family seat.
"Alright. This is the trial of Lord Sirius Orion Black, head of the noble and most ancient house of Black and Peter Patrick Pettigrew. Presiding Lady Augusta Longbottom as substitute Chief Witch; Chief of Interrogation, Lady Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Court Scribe Ryan Marcus Fennybal." Lady Longbottom announced.
"Madam Bones, you have the floor." She added.
"Thank you, Chief Witch Longbottom. We are here to finally close the case of the betrayal of Lord James Potter and Lady Lily Potter as well as their infant son Harry to the Dark Lord Voldemort in 1981."
Many in attendance flinched at the name. Amelia had practiced hard over the last months to not do so.
"These two men were both accused of the crime. Furthermore they were accused of killing twelve muggles with a single curse. The old accusations against Sirius Black also included murder of Peter Pettigrew which obviously was wrong, as the supposed victim is alive and sitting before this body.
"The investigation report states, that a questioning of Peter Pettigrew under Veritaserum in the Great Hall of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, done by Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, brought up his confession of being a Death Eater. He admitted under veritaserum that he was the secret keeper of the Potters and told their hiding place to Voldemort.
"He also admitted to have killed the muggles in question and blamed Sirius Black for his crimes. To escape he transformed into his animagus form, a rat, after cutting of his finger to give the impression of having been killed. The memory of the questioning has been provided to the Wizengamot by Minerva McGonagall as evidence to clear Sirius Black of all charges against him."
Amelia paused to let the information she gave the members of the Wizengamot sink in before she proceeded.
"Additionally we have the oath of potions master Severus Snape, that the veritaserum was brewed correctly and worked as it was supposed to do. Statements of the witnessing students at Hogwarts as well as the teachers in attendance were taken. We also have the statement of Remus Lupin who confirmed that in fact all Peter Pettigrew, James Potter and Sirius Black became animagi during their time at Hogwarts. They never registered their forms with the Ministry due to it being an advantage in the fight against Voldemort."
More whispers were heard at this. Fudge decided to be stupid and argue.
"Be this as it may, being an unregistered animagus is against the law. And both of these men have done so. They have to be punished for it."
"Silence, Minister Fudge, or you will be asked to leave the chambers of Wizengamot." Augusta Longbottom reprimanded him.
"I personally think keeping an advantage like that a secret in a time where you couldn't know who your enemies were, very thoughtful." Amelia Bones said.
"Remember, we couldn't tell, who was working for Voldemort and who was not. And curiously, the Ministry declined all tries for legalizing the questioning of all prisoners under veritaserum. It would have spared us a lot of headaches to be honest."
"I as Wizengamot agree with Madam Bones and due to my given authority legalize the questioning under veritaserum for every accused who is tried before this entity. If the members try to abuse this privilege I will interfere though." Harry said with Wizengamot's voice.
"Wizengamot, I would like to know, why you are speaking through Harry, if it was Merlin who gave you your powers." Dumbledore suddenly asked.
"You said it was due to his heritage, but I still don't understand."
"That is easily answered. I am sure you all are aware that Merlin took young Arthur Pendragon under his wing and taught him to become the best possible king for England. Well, Merlin, after his student was taken to Avalon to sleep until he was needed again, decided that he didn't want all his knowledge to be lost when his time to die came. So he took four other bright students and taught them his abilities. They were known as the greatest witches and wizards of their time after this.
"Perhaps some of you have guessed, whom I am referring to, they were from different parts of the country. They were Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. And with Harry being descended from Godric on his father's side and Rowena on his mother's he was the best choice for me to speak to you all. After all, in some way the four founders of Hogwarts were the heirs of Merlin. They ensured that his knowledge wasn't lost to our world."
This brought excited chatter from the members. To find out that the founders were taught by Merlin himself were sensational news.
"Thank you for this explanation, Wizengamot. I would like to continue with the trial now." Augusta said.
Amelia Bones continued with her speech.
"Members of Wizengamot. I will now proceed to administer the veritaserum to Sirius Black." she said.
Sirius opened his mouth and put his head back to ease her job. His eyes glazed over.
"What is your name?" Amelia asked.
"Sirius Orion Black."
"Were you ever a supporter of Voldemort?"
"No, never."
"Were you the Potter's secret keeper?"
"No that was Peter Pettigrew."
"Why did you choose him?"
"I would have been the obvious choice, being James' best friend. So we decided it would be a good plan that I distracted Voldemort and his Death Eaters by being the decoy, so that James, Lily and Harry were protected. We chose Peter to be the secret keeper, because we thought he would have been the least likely choice. He wasn't that strong magically, but we thought he was loyal to us."
"How did you escape Azkaban?"
"I transformed into my animagus form, a black dog that resembles a Grim. I was very thin and was able to slip through the bars in my cell and swim back to the land in that form."
"What made you decide to escape the prison after twelve years?"
"The article in the prophet Fudge left for me that showed the Weasley family in Egypt. I recognized Peter in his animagus form and knew he would be able to harm Harry if Voldemort returned. I had to protect Harry. I had promised it to James."
"Do you know of any Death Eaters of Voldemort who escaped Azkaban?"
"Yes."
"Who?"
"Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, McNair, Everon, Long."
Outrage was heard from those who had been accused. A strong silencing charm went through the chamber, originating from Harry's seat. Seemingly Wizengamot wanted to see justice done for once. Amelia continued her questioning.
"How do you know they were Death Eaters and not under the imperius curse as they have pledged to have been?"
"I was held in a cell near my cousin Bellatrix. She was cursing them often for not being loyal enough to the Dark Lord. I think she knows more."
Now the faces of the silenced Death Eaters were pale. If Bellatrix was really questioned under veritaserum, they were screwed. Meanwhile Sirius was given the antidote for the truth potion.
"From what we have heard, I think we have an easy decision to make for this case. Everyone in favor for finding Sirius Black not guilty of the charges against him?" Augusta asked.
All the hands in the Wizengamot went up, the accused dearth eaters seemed to be unable to move and didn't raise their hands.
"All in favor of guilty?" she asked again.
No hands went up.
"Sirius Black, the Wizengamot has found you innocent of all the charges against you. Please take the utmost apologies from us in name of the Ministry of Magic. You will be provided with a compensation of 50.000 galleons for each year you have been imprisoned. You are also demanded to register your animagus form with the Ministry, regarding the times of the war, you won't be punished for not doing so before and due to being unable to do so when the war stopped."
Sirius smiled and the chains that bound him fell from his arms. He was looking up to Harry and saw his son smiling brightly. Now they could finally be the family they were meant to be openly. Sirius went to the stairs and went up to follow the rest of Peter's trial from his family seat. Before he could sit down, he had to prevent falling down due to being tackled happily by Harry.
"You are free, you are finally free." He said, hugging him.
"Yes, I am and now you can finally live with me as your parents wanted it to be." Sirius answered.
"I don't think so." Dumbledore said, thinking he had found a way that prevented Sirius to interfere.
"During your inability to be there for Harry, another man has gained custody of Harry. The Ministry of Magic granted custody for Harry to Comte Orion de Jarjais just yesterday."
"Where is the problem?" Sirius asked completely catching Dumbledore of guard.
Harry was laughing now. This was the best prank ever. Oh the old fool deserved this.
"I thought you would understand. If Harry lives with Comte de Jarjais, he can't live with you." Dumbledore said.
"Well, sadly you are not fully informed, Dumbledore. While I was trying to prove my innocence and to protect Harry, I needed a possibility to do so. I could hardly use my own name and appearance, so I went to the only ones, I thought who could possibly help me if I proved to be innocent of the accusations. I went to the goblins. As I am seen as a friend of the goblins and never was convicted, they didn't have any problems with helping me.
"Lily's and James' will clearly stated that Peter was their secret keeper and not me. So I took an inheritance test to see if I had some title that I could use to protect Harry. As I knew from Hagrid, that you intended to have Harry live with his muggle aunt and uncle when I tried to get my godson after James and Lily died, I knew I had to get him out of there. Everybody who had ever bothered to talk to Lily about her family knew that Petunia hated magic.
"To be able to help Harry, I had to be able to lead him through the requirements of our society. He is after all the heir of six important pureblood houses. Well, I knew of five of them, Ravenclaw was a real surprise to me. But I am drifting off. The inheritance test showed me two other Lordships next to the Black one. I used the one nobody would connect to me. I used the title of Comte de Jarjais to make connections in the magical world that I knew would help Harry in the long run.
"Honorable people who didn't want that, when Voldemort returned, he would destroy our world again. Like he did all those years ago when he was powerful."
"You lied to gain guardianship of Harry Potter." Fudge accused him.
"No I didn't. My title is Comte de Jarjais and my second first name is Orion. I never lied. And to complete your information, as I am a nice guy after all…"
Some of the people who had allied themselves with Orion de Jarjais chuckled at this. He was right and being honest with themselves, to have the power of the Black family supporting their goals was even better than a newcomer from France.
"Can I tell them?" Harry asked eagerly.
"Sure, Harry." Sirius answered.
"My name is no longer Harry Potter. My name is Harry Potter-Black. I have been adopted by Sirius Black as his son through the ritual of blood adoption under the full moon and I couldn't be happier about it." Harry said.
Dumbledore had to fight to keep his calm. That damned boy had ruined everything. Now it would be impossible to control him and lead him on the path that had to be followed to get rid of Voldemort for good. The path that would enable himself to be the savior again. Worse he had to endure looking at Sirius embracing Harry and the happy face of the boy. Why couldn't things work in his favor?
Amelia smiled at the happy males before continuing with the trial of Peter Pettigrew. After all, this was the second main point of this session.
"Well, let me express my congratulations to the House of Black for its new member and heir. Can we proceed with the trial of Peter Pettigrew now?" She asked.
Augusta nodded and called the audience to order.
"Peter Pettigrew, do you deny any of the accusations against you?" Amelia asked.
"I had no choice. He was gaining power in all places. If I hadn't done what he wanted, he would have killed me." Peter wailed.
Many looked disgusted at the man in front of them. They could understand fear of Voldemort, but to betray their friends because of it and join an evil wizard was just sick. If he had fled it would have been different.
"Well, I think we will play the copy of Minerva McGonagall's memories now." Amelia said and poured the content of a vial she had on her person in the pensieve in front of the chairs for the accused.
She waved her wand over the basin and the whole assembled members saw the interrogation of Peter Pettigrew at Hogwarts. Cries of outrage were heard in the chamber.
"Quiet!" Augusta called the members to order.
Sirius just hatefully glared at Peter. If he wasn't sure that Peter's fate would be sealed within some minutes, he would kill the man personally. Nobody threatened his son and got away. And he had to pay for what he did to Lily and James.
"We have heard enough. I just want to interrogate the accused about information regarding the Dark Lord Voldemort's reign of terror. We have a perfect opportunity to find out more. Administer the veritaserum Amelia."
Amelia followed the order and forced three drops down Peter's throat.
"What is your name?" she asked to check the effect of the potion.
"Peter Patrick Pettigrew."
"When did you join Voldemort as a Death Eater?"
"July 1978."
"Have you supported him before?"
"Yes."
"How long?"
"Half a year."
"Who did recruit you?"
"Barty Crouch junior."
"How did he think of you?"
"He coincidentally found out that I was unhappy with my life. I wanted recognition and power and helping Dumbledore and his Order of the Phoenix didn't give me that. It was always about James or Sirius who got the recognition."
"What kind of missions did you do for Voldemort?"
"I slipped into guarded buildings, copied important documents, falsified auror reports so that they didn't have the important information at the right time. I poisoned several of the Dark Lord's enemies without anybody ever figuring out just how the Dark Lord managed to make his opponents die without a trace of intrusion in their homes. It helped him to keep the population in fear. I also told him the locations of several supporters so he could give an example what happened if you opposed him."
"What did you do to become a Death Eater?"
"I caught a mudblood witch, raped her while several other Death Eaters watched and in the end I killed her."
"Who?" Amelia dreaded the answer.
"Stephanie Cooler."
"WHAT?" Sirius shouted.
All eyes fell upon him.
"You, you, how could you?" Sirius yelled obviously enraged.
Due to the veritaserum Peter answered this question.
"Easy. I chose her to be my initiation victim just to hurt you, Sirius."
Harry grabbed his father's hand, seeing his distress.
"Who was that woman, Pa?" He asked timidly.
"My girlfriend and she would have become my wife, if she hadn't suddenly disappeared one day, only to be found three days later dead in the middle of Diagon Alley." Sirius answered shakily.
Tears flowed down Sirius face and Harry did what Sirius had done for him so often. He hugged his father and hoped it would be enough to help him through this.
"Lord Black, do you want to leave and return for the final vote?" Augusta asked sympathetically.
She could fully understand Sirius. She had lost her only son and her daughter in law to the cruelty of the Death Eaters. She knew how it felt to loose loved ones. And to find out that a man, who you had trusted with your life had done something this horrible just to hurt you, she was absolutely disgusted with Pettigrew.
"No thank you, Chief Witch Longbottom. I want to know, I have to know so I can close that episode." Sirius answered with a strained voice.
"As you wish. Madam Bones, please continue."
The whole time the interrogation continued, Harry held his father's hand. Sometimes Sirius grabbed a bit harder when a particular gruesome crime was revealed but he kept his composure. Sadly Peter didn't know more unknown Death Eaters. He hadn't been up high enough in their ranks.
"We will now make our verdict." Augusta said.
"All those who find the accused not guilty?"
Perhaps five hands went up. Harry made a point to remember these faces. Even the supposed Death Eaters were not stupid enough to vote for innocent. With the confessions of Pettigrew it was clear as day that he was guilty.
"All in favor for guilty?" Augusta asked.
Nearly all the hands were up now.
"The accused was found guilty of the crimes he has been brought before this entity for. I declare his punishment to be given the dementor's kiss."
"Now, Chief Witch." Dumbledore interrupted.
"While I completely agree with you, that he is guilty, don't you think, it would be enough to put him into Azkaban for life? We mustn't take a live if we can prevent it."
Harry stiffened and again Wizengamot used his body to speak.
"No, it wouldn't be enough." He said.
"That man has betrayed and terrorized the people of this country. It is foolish to believe that keeping him in Azkaban wouldn't bring more problems upon the wizarding society. Additionally, Azkaban won't be safe for much longer. As soon as Voldemort returns, he will gain the support of the dementors again. I, Wizengamot, advise you to find different possibilities to keep your prisoners away from their old master. If you don't do this, you will weaken your own position in the next conflict."
Fudge couldn't keep his quiet anymore.
"This is ridiculous. You-Know-Who is dead. He died when Harry Potter survived the killing curse." He stubbornly declared.
"Foolish man!" Harry-Wizengamot thundered.
Fudge shrank in his seat.
"Don't believe I wouldn't know of what I am speaking. Your incompetence here in Britain made it even possible that one man with a small group of fanatics was able to gain that much power. If you had stopped him early on, you could have prevented the war. But you secretly agreed with his foul goals. Yes, it was so easy to follow the words that promised to make wizarding Britain a pureblood society.
"It would have granted you the power you so desired. But everybody who can count, can easily figure out the flaw in that system. You don't have enough pureblood witches and wizards to keep a stable population without weakening magical power. You need fresh blood or all the children born to wizarding parents would end up as squibs. Merlin knew this and three of his apprentices understood it perfectly. Salazar was a bit stubborn about it, but he knew that killing muggleborns was the wrong way to solve problems."
"Wait, Salazar Slytherin was the one who wanted to kill all the muggleborn students at Hogwarts. That's the reason he built his Chamber of Secrets under the school." Dumbledore interrupted only to be hit by a red flash from his seat.
His face shortly twitched at the brief pain he felt. Obviously Wizengamot hated being interrupted. And Dumbledore had done it twice now.
"You know nothing about Salazar. He was a brilliant man and all those fairy tales how he left the other founders because of their different opinions are the result of stories being transformed with each new telling. Godric and Salazar were both hotheads. None of the two would give an inch in an argument. But they were the best of friends. Salazar's real position, which has been lost in time was to take away magical children from their muggle parents as soon as they were discovered to keep the magical world a secret.
"For many children that would even have been best in those times. They were discriminated and hated until they were taken to Hogwarts. Most of the times even after. Many decided to build their own lives in the wizarding world early on, because their parents were threatening them with death. Today it is easier because the muggles have found many things to explain magic and natural occurrences like storms and plaques with science. They are also mostly more open minded than in the past. So while Slytherin indeed preferred magically raised children, he didn't mind muggleborns as long as they were fully integrated in the wizarding society. After all his master was a muggleborn wizard, he would have been a hypocrite to deny Merlin's power. But Camelot and its ideals were uncommon in the world. It took time for tolerance to spread." Wizengamot explained.
"And the story of him leaving Hogwarts over an argument with Gryffindor and them dueling?" Asked Augusta Longbottom interested.
"Was an almost weekly occurrence. It was that normal that Rowena and Helga had a betting pool for how long it would take the looser of the previous duel to come back. They also corrupted their houses to participate in the bets much to the chagrin of Godric and Salazar when they found it out. Especially as their own students thought it would be great to earn a bit of money with the bets and also took part in them."
Now many members of the Wizengamot were laughing. That was history they could enjoy. A lot of them had been victims of the sleeping torture of Cuthbert Binns at some point in time and welcomed a chance to learn something nobody really knew.
"Wait and what is the meaning of the Chamber of Secrets then?" Fudge demanded to know.
"Well, all four founders had their special place in the castle. Salazar just was a bit more ambitious than the others so he built a giant chamber underneath the school. When the chamber was finished and he showed it to the other three, Godric joked the chamber was big enough to raise dragons or basilisks in it. Well, Salazar wanted to protect the school from outside attacks and thought it was a good idea. Ambitious as he was, he looked for the creature that could live longest, it was more showing Godric up than anything else, and finally settled on a basilisk. He was sure he and his heirs would always want to protect Hogwarts and would use the power of the basilisk for it. Sadly this good intention was abused by Tom Riddle, who is also known as Voldemort."
This got a lot of shaking heads. That sounded so much like two immature boys trying to show each other up. They had a hard time believing that the founders were so competitive that one would carry it that much too far.
"Well back to the punishment of this scumbag here." Harry-Wizengamot said.
"He has committed crimes against humanity. But putting him in Azkaban will not suffice justice. He has abused his gift of magic so he will be stripped of it. But before that he will endure the judgment of soul ritual. In this ritual all his good and bad acts will be seen. He will relive all of them from the point of view of the recipient. This will replace the suffering from the dementors. After the loss of his magic he is to be obliviated and placed into muggle prison for five years. You can forge the papers for it easily."
With this Harry sat down again and slumped against Sirius shoulder, clearly being very tired.
"Harry, are you alright?" Sirius asked concerned.
"Just so tired, Pa. Wizengamot had a lot to say and it put a toll on my magic. I just want to sleep." He murmured.
"Did you hear everything Wizengamot had to say?"
"Yes. He is a nice guy. But he really dislikes what has become of our country."
Harry's eyes dropped and soon he was breathing evenly, obviously asleep.
"Can you please give the verdict, Chief Witch Longbottom? I would like to take my son home so he can sleep for some hours before I send him back to Hogwarts. Being the voice of Wizengamot was strenuous for him." Sirius asked politely.
"Of course, Lord Black. Are there any opposing the punishment given by Wizengamot?" She asked.
Very few raised their hands. Fudge being one of them. He was known to rely on the dementors for punishing criminals.
"Those in favor?" She asked again.
Most hands went up, including Sirius'.
"Peter Pettigrew hear your verdict. You will undergo the ritual of soul judgment in one hour. After this your magic will be sealed forever and your memory modified. After completing a five year sentence in muggle prison, you will be released into the muggle world to never again return into the magical one. So mote it be."
Pettigrew was taken away sobbing uncontrollably. The ritual of soul judgment was known to leave the one it was used upon insane if they were at all able to function afterwards. Well, at least in case if the person had committed serious crimes. And it was painful.
"This concludes this meeting of the Wizengamot. The accused persons to be Death Eaters are to be escorted to the Ministry holding cells. Their trials under veritaserum will be scheduled soon. Lord Black, I think it would be best if you took your son home now, he has had a strenuous day." Augusta said.
"Yes I will do so, thank you, Chief Witch."
Sirius lifted Harry in his arms and carried him out of the chamber ignoring all attempts of other members, especially Dumbledore and Fudge to speak to him, and simply went through the mass of reporters.
"I will give a statement to the happenings today tomorrow at one o'clock p.m. If you would now excuse me, my son has to go to bed to regenerate from an exhausting task. If you want more details ask Deputy Chief Witch Longbottom or Lady Bones. They will answer truthfully."
With that Sirius accompanied by Moody left the reporters. Many were shouting about him calling Harry his son.
"You know you have poked into a hornets nest, Sirius?" Moody asked.
"Yes, Alastor. But don't you think it is high time to remind those vultures of reporters, that they should report the truth? Our society is getting more and more stupid with time because they just believe what the newspapers print. And if they print lies, it is much easier for those who have evil intentions to succeed."
"Wow, I would have never thought you would get wise one day Sirius." Moody said impressed.
"Well, I had no choice. Azkaban does this to a man and I also have a son to care for now. And I will not fail him again. I let my emotions get the better of me in 1981. I would never have thought that I would spend twelve years of my life innocent in that hellhole. I just wish I never had let Hagrid take Harry away from me that night. He was the only thing that could have prevented me from giving into my rage against Peter. But without him I acted stupid and those who want to control everything used my mistake."
"You mean Albus right?" Moody said.
Sirius was surprised.
"Don't look so surprised. I am more than I seem to be. Why do you think Amelia chose me and not one of the active aurors to protect you? Nearly everyone thinks I am only an insane retired auror, but I am not. I work for those who are outside the control our dear Minister wants to have over everyone. And retiring from my auror position kind of freed more of my time for this much more important job. Those who really know how to catch Death Eaters are not those who are solely trained as aurors Sirius. Perhaps something you should think about in your quest to prepare your son for what is unavoidable. Voldemort's return." Moody mysteriously explained.
Sirius was more than surprised about this. He would never have thought Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody to be part of that department. Few knew about their purpose and he had only heard rumors. What the MI6 was for the muggle government, was the SMF-3 for the magicals. The rumors were that Special Magical Force 3 worked independently as a sub-department of the Department of Mysteries. Only those belonging to this unit really knew that they existed and what they did. In the last war there were rumors that such a unit existed but nothing was sure.
"SMF-3." Sirius mumbled.
"Actually we are called different terms depending on our specialties, but those rumors sum roughly up what we do. Interested to join? You would be great with us, Sirius, and the kid too. We have had our eyes on you and him for some time now. Great work getting the goblins involved by the way."
"You knew?" Sirius asked.
"Of course we did. When you went to Azkaban without a trial we investigated the case. We found it more than fishy that you of all people would go dark. We never found the ultimate proof as even we did not know about Pettigrew being an animagus. Would have been the missing link we needed. I mean, seriously, a man being blown up and only leaving a finger? No big bloody splash? No shatters of bones? Even a gas explosion leaves more remains. Burned corpses of the muggles who were closer to the explosion were more complete than the remains of Pettigrew. But no, we have the culprit, don't let us think about anything else. Fools all together.
"With all the witnesses being obliviated and Albus telling you were secret keeper, Crouch decided to send you to Azkaban without regard to your rights. And Albus let him. Only thing, he didn't leave any evidence for us to use. The only ones who could have told us what happened were you, the bystanders, who were fooled, and Pettigrew himself. That left you and they probably thought every kind of evidence would die with you in prison. I'm glad you survived with your brains intact."
"Believe me, me too. I don't want to imagine what kind of evil plans Harry would have to struggle against on his own and with his abilities blocked like they were. I want him to be happy. He deserves it. While I know he has to be prepared, I also want for him to enjoy life as much as he can. Most of his childhood was stolen from him. And I intend to at least make up for some of it. And those who try to interfere will learn what it means to anger a Black. The kid gloves are off. Nobody threatens my son and gets away with it, least of all too many names Dumbledore."
They reached the fireplaces in the atrium.
"Think about my offer, Sirius." Moody said.
"I will. Thank you for your help. I will call you to tell you my decision." Sirius answered.
Sirius threw the floo powder into the fire, called the address and vanished with Harry.