Royally Innocent
By TeraWatt
Disclaimer: I do not own Sirius Black, Harry Potter, HRH Queen Elisabeth II, Peter Pettigrew, Azkaban Prison, the Crumple-Horned-Snorckack or the Blibbering Humdinger
To Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and of Her other Realms and Territories, Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith,
I Lord Sirius Orion Black, Baron of Blackmoor, ever your faithful servant, am writing this correspondence as the justice system of the Ministry of Magic has failed me to the point where this letter is my only recourse. On November 5th 1981, I was arrested by the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic due to my allegedly murdering twelve people and being an accomplice to the deaths of James Charlus Potter, Earl of Richmond, his wife Lily Potter (nee Evans) and accomplice to the attempted murder of my godson Harry James Potter.
Due to a backlog of Death Eater trials at the time, I knew that I would be waiting a while before I was questioned, charged with a crime and brought to trial. By law, a person may not be held without charge for more than four weeks in peacetime and no longer than one year at times of war (Though from my understanding, in non-magical law a person must be charged or released after a maximum of ninety six hours after an application has been granted). To this day, I have not been questioned, nor have I been charged with a crime, nor have I been brought to trial. I have never been given legal council and the multiple Writs of Habeas Corpus I have addressed to the Azkaban Prison's Warden for the past thirteen years have been ignored. I personally have always considered Azkaban Prison to be inhumane and a cruel punishment bordering on torture due to the Ministry's employment of Dementors in the prison, not to mention the inhumane conditions more resembling a medieval dungeon.
I was unlawfully detained and imprisoned without charge or conviction. I recently escaped Azkaban Prison with my life and soul intact. Even now, Your Majesty's Ministry has issued a "Kiss or Kill on sight" order for me.
I hereby swear, upon my allegiance to Your Majesty as a Lord of the Realm, that I am innocent of the crimes that the Ministry, to-this-day, have not charged me with. I hereby swear that one of the people I am accused of murdering IS guilty of being a Death Eater, betraying Lord Potter and his family to the Dark Lord Voldemort, framing me for the murders of eleven non-magical people and for his own death and for faking his own death. The Death Eater is alive to this day, hiding in his animagus form of a rat (now missing a toe on his front right paw from where he cut off his own finger to frame me). His name is Peter Pettigrew. He is currently hiding as a family pet of the Weasley family, presumably without their knowledge.
By law, the crimes to which I stand accused, I may not be charged with. If I am given assurance of my safety, after the "Kiss or Kill on sight" order has been rescinded, I am willing to be questioned under Veritaserum regarding my innocence and Peter Pettigrew.
Further to my pleas of innocence, in particular regarding my godson Harry James Potter and the accusation that I was complicit in the attempt on his life on 31st October 1981, I have this further proof of my innocence. As his godfather, I swore an oath of protection to my godson. An oath on my life and magic witnessed by Harry's late parents and Mr Remus Lupin who to my knowledge is still alive and living in the United Kingdom of Great Britain. If I had broken this oath, I would have literally dropped dead where I stood. Mr Lupin himself seems to have forgotten the implications of my oath but will not lie if asked about it. Remus is also aware of Peter's animagus form.
After this matter is settled, I will seek custody of my godson as I was specified as his primary guardian in his parents will. At the moment, he is living in an abusive environment in the 'care' of people who were never on the list of approved guardians in his parent's will. By law, a magical child may not be given into the guardianship of a non-magical person. In any case, the will further specified that Harry never be placed in the care of Lily Potter's sister, Petunia Dursley (nee Evans), due to Petunia's hate of anything magical and her estrangement from the Potter family.
It would seem that someone has ignored a legal will and several laws regarding Harry Potter's situation.
Your assistance and haste in these matters would be greatly appreciated.
Yours most sincerely
Lord Sirius Orion Black
Head of the Ancient and Noble House of Black
Baron of Blackmoor
AN: Minor yet important edit, admittedly WELL overdue. Thanks for reading and reviewing.