Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Summary: Harry confronts Dumbledore in his grief after Dumbledore tells him the prophecy. Dumbles sees his control slipping and thinks that Harry should have a little visit to Azkaban or asks him to help at his trial. No Azkaban Harry. Post OOTP. HPB and DH spoilers. Very Rich Harry but he will not inherit much.
A/N : The chapter has been revised. Many spelling mistakes has been corrected but I still don't have any beta so there may be some still left.
Trial
Harry was sitting in courtroom 10 waiting for the trial to begin. Harry was accused of being involved in Dark Activities. Attempting Cruciatus curse was also not helping his case. He received the summons in the first week after arriving at the Dursleys. The charges against him were many and false. The Weasleys and Hermione have also turned against him and all of the order was out for his blood. He should have anticipated this when he confronted Dumbledore and destroyed his office.
The charges against him were in this order.
1. Killing Cedric Doggory.
2. Practicing Dark Magic
3. Teaching Dark Magic.
4. Performing a Cruciatus curse on a Human Being.
Harry's former friends already have testified against him. He sat in the chair in Courtroom 10 and saw one by one how each of his friends sullied his reputation and destroyed his life, well according to their opinion.
Ron and Hermione stated that He practiced Dark Magic and taught the members of the DA dark magic too.
Ginny the vindictive little bitch too gave her testimony in great detail how he was such a jealous person that to get Cho Chang he killed Cedric Diggory and later claimed it was done by Voldemort.
Dumbledore himself produced evidence that he performed Cruciatus curse. He also told the court that he stopped Harry from teaching dangerous spells to students.
Next Umbridge in all her Toad glory told the court how he was an attention seeking and manipulative dark child.
When the question came of putting him under veritaserum Umbridge told the court that on order of the minister she gave him Veritserum but it has no effect on Harry, She said he was immune to Veritaserum. The testimony was also supported by Professor Snape who said that he brewed the potion himself.
Harry was calm and listened to all the babble about his darkness and evilness. He looked at the faces of the members of the courtroom 10 and saw they already had made up their minds. They were going to condemn him to Azkaban for a very long time. Harry was not worried though because he has two aces up his sleeve. He had almost a month to prepare himself. When he received the summons to the court he understood that veritaserum would not be administered because it will reveal the truth or in case it was administered he would somehow became immune to its effects. In light of that he planned and came to two conclusions.
First he would try to solve it by using alternative means, by using a Vow. If it failed he had a Goblin made portkey which will help him escape the courtroom before they cart him to Azkaban.
He mused that Dumbledore and the Order members would not know what hit them. They thought that he would go silently.
"Madam Bones do I get an opportunity to present my defense against all of these claims stating me a dark wizard?" asked Harry.
"Yes Mr. Potter. Of course you are a defendant so you have chance to defend yourself."
He could see that Dumbledore did not like this one bit. He was itching to say something but stopped himself. Harry was quite enjoying himself by putting such a show.
"Madam, one more question. As stated by Mr. Snape and Madam Umbridge I have become immune to veritaserum and all the evidence is circumstantial which does not prove beyond reasonable doubt that the charges against me are truly right. I like to propose an alternative means to this court which is just as good as veritaserum. This method will prove my point beyond reasonable doubt that I am innocent of all charges and nor can anyone say I am immune to it. Do I have the right to use it in my defense?" Harry said to Madam Bones
"I am intrigued with this solution and the court asks you what exactly are you referring to?"
Harry thought sardonically that witches and wizard did never think logically, even the supposed geniuses like Dumbledore and Voldemort. Harry replied in very serious and respectable voice. "An Unbreakable Vow"
There was a cacophony of voices to his answer and everyone was confused. Dumbledore looked desperate and Harry thought maybe he was plotting to make him immune to Unbreakable Vow too. Nevertheless he came to the wizards' rescue and said, "Mr. Potter! An Unbreakable Vow is never used at Wizengamot. It is not standard procedure and a man can be vague and give half- truths which could mislead the court."
'Nice save Dumbledore, but you will not be so smug about it' .Harry asked. "Chief Mugwump, If you asked me whether I killed Cedric or not and I say no and did I cast the Unforgivable or not and I say no. Do tell me how would it be vague and half-truth."
Harry could see Dumbledore was stumped and did not have any answer for that. He said "Mr. Potter it may be true what you imply but it is simply not done. You have to give your defense in normal ways of the court."
Harry was gleefully doing a victory dance inside his head. Albus Dumbledore was so predictable. He wanted him where he was. Good, he thought, now the fun part starts.
"Chief Mugwump, It is where you are wrong. The veritaserum was invented in the middle of 1300's and not used before start of 1400 and before that a person, if willing, can testify in court using an Unbreakable Vow. After veritaserum, which is unbeaten until now as I am the only one who is immune supposedly, it was inconvenient for people to take an Unbreakable Vow. Even then it took a century to completely adopt veritaserum Method and most high profile cases from 1400 to 1500 used Unbreakable Vow as absolute evidence. There is still no law made that has outlawed the use of Unbreakable Vow." He finished. The members of Wizengamot were now talking over this verbal ping pong.
"And most importantly isn't it Madam Bones duty to accept or deny any testimony? Why are you sticking your nose in the business of testimony of the Defendant?" Harry smugly added.
"You are right Mr. Potter." Stated Madam Bones and then turned towards Percy Weasley and said, "Mr. Weasley you are the scribe please tell us whether Mr. Potter is saying is true or not?"
Percy replied, "As you wish Madam Bones." And with that he walked out of the courtroom.
Madam Bones turned to the court and said, "Now we wait for the verification of Mr. Potter's claim."
10 minute later Percy returned, his face was pale and he clutched some documents in his hands. He gave the documents to Amelia Bones and returned to his seat.
Madam Bones started reading the document. A minute or two later she sighed and said, "Well Mr. Potter you claim is true, one can use an Unbreakable Vow to testify in the court so in lieu of that I give you the permission to give your account under an Unbreakable Vow. Please state the wordings of the Vow." stated Madam Bones.
Harry could see Minister Scrimgour's mouth was opening and closing. He could not understand where everything has gone downhill and he was certain that elusive Mr. Potter would win this case now. Dumbledore's facial expression looked like he has taken a very very sour lemon drop. Ron looked lost and confused. He probably didn't understand what happened here or maybe he was hungry, Harry couldn't tell which. Hermione looked like she understood where this was going and working very hard not to raise her hand. It was quite funny and looked like Hermione in Snape's classroom.
"I will answer each and every question truthfully and won't lie with any of my answers but i reserve the right to not answer a question."
Madam Bones replied, "Very well, Mr. Potter."
And then the Vow was taken by Amelia Bones and Rufus Scrimgour and since Vow was given to her no one else could ask questions.
Madam Bones asked first.
"Is your full name Harry James Potter"
"No" Harry answered.
There were murmers of disbelief in crowd.
"Then what is it Mr. Potter?"
"It is Harry James Potter Evans Black Ravenclaw Gryffindor".
Now the whole wizengamot was in uproar. Members were shouting that he was liar. Dumbledore's face had a look of disbelief written on his face. After Madam Bones quieted the court room she asked, "Mr. Potter, even I am skeptical to believe your claim to founder's blodline. What do you have to say?"
"Madam Bones, if I was lying why am I still alive and not keeled over dead? Have you forgotten I have taken an Unbreakable Vow? Anyways let me elaborate. My mother was not a muggleborn but she was from Ravenclaw line through a long list of squibs and as all the esteemed members of Wizengamot know that a wizarding lineage can pass through squibs and it is what happened here. From my father's line I have received Gryffindor bloodline and there is no secret that potters were the descendants of Godric Gryffindor. I received the headship of Black Family through my godfather Sirius Black. I am a Potter so the headship of Potter obviously came to me. Evans is a minor pureblood family line which I also inherited from my mother." Harry stopped at that and looked in the faces of the Wizengamot members. It looked like it was hard for them to stomach such atrocious claim but the Unbreakable Vow was in place so they could not object to whatever harry was saying. Dumbledore's face was pale and it looked like he could not understand how to take the situation into his own hands. An heir to so many powerful bloodlines with a pureblood to boot may not get much time in Azkaban.
Madam Bones looked curiously at Harry and asked, "Mr. Potter all your claims here are verified since it is under Unbreakable Vow and the Ministry will further confirm it with Gringotts but for my own curiosity please tell us how you managed to get Black Family Headship. Any Headship will pass through either direct descendant or any lack of direct line one must be closest to the Family."
Harry smiled towards Madam Bones and replied, "Potters are distantly related to Blacks. Quite a few generations ago there was a marriage between a Potter and a Black. Cassandra Black was married to Charles Potter. My mother too was related to Sirius. A cousin to be exact but I don't know the exact relation since the tapestry in Black family does not contain any squibs. Sirius Black was my godfather and I was related too so upon his request I became his heir rather than other more closely related relatives."
Madam Boned was speechless but she collected herself very fast and asked the next question.
"Did you kill Cedric Diggory after the third task of the Tri Wizard Tournament?"
"No, I did not. It was Peter Pettegrew, my parent's Secret Keeper who killed Cedric Diggory. I did not kill Cedric Diggory either directly or indirectly."
"Peter Pettegrew status is dead as understood by the ministry."
"No, Madam Bones. He is very much alive right now. He is an unregistered Animagus rat who is missing a toe. Peter Pettegrew was the secret keeper of my parents when they were in hiding. After he betrayed them to Voldemort he tried to flee but Sirius tracked him down. He said in front of the crowd that Sirius betrayed the Potters and killed 13 muggles and cut his finger and turned into a rat and escaped through the sewers and my godfather was blamed for it. There was no trial given to my godfather hence no information was found out regarding any of this. Pettegrew lived as a rat with Weasley family from then on till my third year though without their knowledge."
Dumbledore's face was ashen as more and more secrets were revealed, Harry noticed. Harry thought, 'He must be cursing himself now for the trial.'
"Very well Mr. Potter, on to next matter. Have you ever used Dark Arts, apart from the use of Unforgivable which will be put before the court later on?"
Harry thought that he has to answer this question very carefully if he wants to sway Madam Bones.
"I do not know Madam."
Madam Bones gave him a penetrating look and asked. "Please elaborate what you mean by that statement Mr. Potter."
"I don't understand what Dark Arts is and what constitutes Dark Arts. When Mr. Dumbledore was fighting Voldemort he used a flame whip curse which is considered by Ministry of Magic as Dark Arts and is illegal while at the same time when I was figuring some hexes and curses for the Defense Association, a group in which we did practical aspects of magic, I stumbled upon some powerful cutting hexes used by Aurors. Miss Granger said that it was Dark Arts and I should not read such books. Later Mr. Dumbledore stopped me from teaching those kinds of spells to the Defense Association stating that it was Dark Arts. I looked in the matter and found out that those curses where not considered Dark by the ministry. The curses were present on the list provided by the ministry as acceptable magic."
Harry stopped here to let the crowd digest his words and then once again started, "If you are asking me whether I used Magic considered by ministry Dark Magic or Used any spell outside the list provided by the ministry as acceptable magic, then my answer is no except the Unforgivable which I will explain later. But if those cutting hexes are considered dark, then, yes I have used Dark Magic but not knowingly."
"I don't know why Mr. Dumbledore said that cutting hexes are Dark Arts when he uses Flame Whip curse but they are not illegal to learn." Madam Bones said she then continued and asked Harry, "The next question is moot here but still I am asking you. Did you teach any Dark Magic to any student?"
Harry replied with a simple no at that.
Madam Bones then said, "Now the last question remains. Did you cast a Cruciatus curse on Bellatrix Lestrange?"
Dumbledore looked gleeful because he thought that Harry couldn't wiggle out of this charge.
"No, Madam Bones. I did not cast the Cruciatus curse but I attempted to cast it and failed. And as the head of DMLE you know the penalty for attempting to cast the Unforgivable. "
"Yes, 1000 galleon fine."
Harry noted all the faces. Some looked angry, some desperate like Dumbledore's and some relieved. Harry filed all of those for later use.
Harry could see that now Dumbledore understood that he has successfully outwitted him and wiggle out of all the charges put against him.
"Do you need anything to add Mr. Potter?" Madam Bones asked
"No mam."
"Since the testimony is under an Unbreakable Vow I hereby free Mr. Potter of all charges except attempted Unforgivable. You have to pay the fine Mr. Potter. I also would like to say I do not want any other such farce of a trial again Mr. Dumbledore as well as Mr. Scrimgour. Next time I will press charges against you."
Minister Scrimgour was not looking very happy but he had a calculative look on his face. He understood that after today Harry will receive a massive public support and he may have a great political clout in future, but then his anger won out for this insult of Harry defending himself and giving him such public humiliation. In his opinion he should have just accepted his fate.
"Since Mr. Potter attempted a Cruciatus curse and Ministry is entitled to expel anyone who even attempts to perform Unforgivable. He, hereby, is expelled from Hogwarts on the charge that he is a danger to other students." Then he looked to Madam Bones and said, "Any underage student who is expelled from Hogwarts has no right to carry a wand hence Madam Bones, please give me Mr. Potter's wand so that it can be broken."
"Mr. Potter did you receive your owl result and passed."
"Yes mam, on both counts." Harry replied.
Madam Bones rounded on Scrimgour and said, "He has passed the owls and since he has taken headship of the family he is emancipated. Hence, according to law, he can use wands outside of school and his wand cannot be snapped without due reason."
Harry watched all of this serenely but inside he was doing a victory dance because it was already his plan to quit Hogwarts. He has many things to do including taking care of Voldemort and Dumbledore. He has to prepare for the war. Moreover this way he would not be labeled a coward who quit Hogwarts and left Britain when he went off the grid since he was expelled by the minister himself. It was like a dream come true.
Harry saw ashen faces of Granger and Weasley turning into gleeful on his expulsion. They thought that he actually cared about going to Hogwarts now. In their opinion some good did come out. Dumbledore's reaction was most amusing because all his plans had gone to waste. Dumbledore understood the ramification of this. He has full right to run wild wherever he wanted and no one can stop him. He can do many things now which Dumbledore has forbidden him to do since he entered Wizarding World. He must have thought that if Harry did not go to Azkaban at least Dumbledore could keep an eye on him and impede his progress.
Harry came to present by the voice of Madam Bones, "Mr. Potter, do you wish to take the rightful seats you have in wizengamot. Now you are head of the Family. All your four seats on wizengamot are currently inactive, though there is no seat for Evans family in Wizengamot."
"I would like that very much." Harry replied to Madam Bones.
Madam Bones smiled in Harry's direction and said, "Well Mr. Potter since you are adult once you come to the next Wizengamot session your seats will become active. You can also send a proxy on your behalf, even proxy for each of your seats."
Harry replied, "Thank you very much Madam Bones. I will do that."