Harry's Life – Prologue
At nine years old, Harry Potter understood more than he should have. He understood that some people just weren't loved – he understood that he wasn't loved. He didn't know if his parents had loved him before they had died, but he did know that the Dursley's, his only living relatives, didn't love him. He understood that life isn't fair. But most of all, he understood how life worked in the Dursley home. He understood what his and everyone else's roles were. Harry's role in the family was the slave, the punching bag, and the ignored – the freak. He knew this, and he knew what happened when he did things they didn't approve of. But he still wished that someone would come rescue him from his 'family.' He still had hope.
By nine-and-a-half years old, Harry Potter understood that if he did anything better than Dudley, he would be punished for it. He understood that anything he did would be overlooked in favor of Dudley. He understood that in his family's eyes, he would never be good enough, that Dudley would always be better. He was losing hope.
By ten years old, Harry Potter had come to understand that he would never be rescued. Harry understood that he was at his Uncle Vernon's mercy, which was pretty much non-existent. He understood the he had no family, that no one loved him, that he was a freak, and most of all; he understood that there was no hope.
At ten-and-a-half years old, Harry Potter had attempted suicide three times. He had no will to live. He knew that his life consisted of chores, beatings, and verbal abuse. The first time, at age eight, he had attempted it by drinking bleach. The Dursley's, who didn't want to have to explain his death, took him to the hospital. He spent a week in the cupboard. The second time, at age nine, he had tried to slit his wrists with knives from the kitchen; he hadn't cut deep enough to need anything other than a bandage. He spent a week-and-a-half in the cupboard. The most recent time, near his tenth birthday, he had swallowed a bunch of pills from his uncle's bathroom. They took him to the hospital again, and he spent from then until his birthday, which was about two weeks, in the cupboard with a scrap of a meal each day.
Harry was a very smart boy, but he had an extremely low self-esteem. Nearly nine-and-a-half years of being around the Dursley's, who constantly belittled him and abused him, had left their mark. He was unable to believe that he had hope to succeed in the world, because he believed he was a freak. He had no idea why he was a freak, or even how he was a freak, but he knew he was. If Harry hadn't stopped trying in school because of the beatings he got for out-doing Dudley, he would have easily gotten the highest marks of his class, and most likely gotten to skip a year or two. This was because he spent his entire little bit of free time reading and studying.
There were many things that Harry knew that no boy his age should know. He knew how to cook a meal, perfectly. He knew how to lock himself away in his mind so he didn't feel the pain, and how to come back out. He knew what to avoid saying around his uncle in order to avoid getting hit. He knew where to hide from Dudley's gang. He knew how to do math at a high school level. He knew how to read books that his Aunt Petunia would have problems understanding. He was extremely intellectual and had lost most of his more childish beliefs. He knew that magic didn't exist.
He knew this for two reasons. The first of which was that the Dursley's had drilled it into his head so much over the years that he couldn't forget it if he tried. The second was that it defied everything he knew, and his knowledge was what drove him. He believed this entirely until the worst beating of his life. Which came when he beat Dudley in every grade, without even trying. Actually, he was trying to not beat him. It just proved how lazy his cousin was. His uncle beat him repeatedly until he was absolutely sure that he was going to die. He passed out with one thought in his mind, 'I don't want to die, I want the pain to stop, I don't want to die, and I want the pain to stop.' He was repeating it in his mind until the second his eyes closed.
When he woke up in his cupboard and didn't ache at all, he decided it had been some sort of cruel joke. The second time he healed himself; he decided that magic existed and that he wanted to test his limits. He focused on wanting a pan to come to him, and to his immense surprise, it did. Then he focused on growing his hair, and it did. He tried to change his eye color, and his eyes turned blue almost instantly. He had no idea how rare this was. Over the next few months, Harry unknowingly passed his first year charms classes. He came to the conclusion that there was hope left in the world. He decided he was going to be somebody, and that he was going to help people. Harry Potter wasn't going to be stepped on anymore.
The day school got out that year, Harry was sent to clean the attic while Dudley went to the park with his friends. Decidedly ignoring just how unfair it was, he set to work. He didn't expect things to be fair anymore, and was quite used to them not being so. As he was almost finished cleaning the attic, he found a trunk with the names Lily and James Potter inscribed on it. He had no idea what his parents' first names were, but he did know that his last name was Potter. Being extremely interested in anything about his family, he attempted to open the trunk. It didn't work. Focusing on his will to open the trunk, he waved his hand in the trunks general direction. It unlocked. One top of a pile of clothes and books was a letter. Addressed to him.
Dear Harry, I'm hoping and
praying that you aren't reading this, because if you are it means
that Dumbledore broke his promise and sent you to my dear sisters
house. Yell at him about that for me, will you? Oh, who am I kidding,
if you're there you know nothing about the magical world that you
were meant to be in. Okay, I'll start by explaining a few things.
Albus Dumbledore is the headmaster of the school your father and I
went to. He's the greatest wizard of our age, and he defeated an
evil wizard by the name of Grindelwald. Now, more recent history:
There is an evil wizard called Voldemort gathering followers and
killing anyone who stands against what he says. We are using a charm called Fidelius, which essentially
hides the address of where we are staying inside of one person, and
that one person is the only person who can tell anyone the address.
We are using your fathers friend, Peter Pettigrew, as our secret
keeper, though we're telling The main reason he is after us is a
prophecy that very likely concerns you. I don't know how old you'll
be when you read this, and I hope that you're old enough to deal
with this. The prophecy says that you (and only you, though there is
another boy who it could possibly be, I have my beliefs, and
reluctantly, I think it is you.) have the power to defeat Voldemort.
Most people don't say his name; they call him
he-who-must-not-be-named or you-know-who. I know that has to be a lot
to handle, and it completely erases any childhood you had left, but
you need to know. It's brutal, but you have every right to know,
and every need, too. Now, for this trunk. It has seven
compartments. The first one appears to be a normal compartment, but
if you push the button in the right-hand corner, it will change into
what the trunk really looks like. Only people of Potter blood can
push the button, so don't worry about things be stolen. The first
room is basically an apartment, fully furnished, with a kitchen,
bathroom, bedroom and living room. The second room is a dueling room,
where you can practice dueling against dummies that can go from first
year spells, to auror level, to death eater level spells. I recommend
that you start off very slowly and don't The fourth room is a room from your father and I; it
contains our portraits, (which can talk to you), a bunch of mementos,
our wands, (they're spelled to return to this trunk if we die.),
and a whole lot of pictures. The fifth room is a fully stocked
potions lab, with room for five people to work at once. The sixth
room is a study, or an office of sorts, where you can take the books
from the library and read them comfortably. The seventh, and last
room is a secret room, and even if you wanted to you couldn't take
anyone else in there. It is a safe place to hide anything you don't
want anyone else to be able to find as no one else but you could get
into it. Time passes differently in the trunk, and every months
outside of it is two months inside. It's difficult to
imagine you as a boy reading this letter when I can see you as a
toddler sleeping in front of me. But I know that you will do us
proud, that you can do what you put your mind to. Never forget how
much I love you, no matter what anyone says; you'll always be
loved. Your mum,
Lily Potter
Ten or Twenty Months – Chapter One
Over the next two months, Harry trained a lot. He spent every spare second in his trunk, practicing magic from the books in his library without a wand, and then with his parent's wands. He found a book that said wandless magic was supposed to be very rare and very difficult, but it seemed to come naturally for him. With all of the effort and time he put into his training, he was past a third year level in almost every subject. Knowledge had always been something he valued, and the trunk was full of thousands of books. He made sure to never let anyone see the trunk, and to always have an excuse ready for where he had been.
His history knowledge was more extensive than most Hogwarts graduates would be, because he read the books rather than listening to a boring, sleep-inducing lecture. He had learned from some of the self-updating history books that he had supposedly defeated the dark lord his mum had written him about as a baby. That was something he seriously doubted. He just had a gut feeling, deep down, and he knew that Voldemort would be back.
Harry's transfiguration knowledge was getting to be around a fourth year level, and he was making the potion for the animagus transformation. In his fathers' journals, he had discovered that his father and his friends had all become animagus for their other friend who was a werewolf, in their fifth year. Harry was, quite frankly, fascinated by the idea of turning into an animal. He studied the subject extensively, and never gave up.
His potions were unbelievably well for an eleven year old, and would have surprised anyone. He had studied the potions ingredients lists and how things reacted to other things. He had no idea how he managed to read so fast, but by the end of the two months, Harry had read potions books from the first through seventh years. It was his favorite subject.
His charms were extremely good. He had perfected almost every charm from the first through fifth year books. He was amazed to realize the first spell he'd ever done was a fourth year level spell, a summoning charm. This made him start wondering about his power levels, as he shouldn't have been able to do most of the spells he was doing. He found a spell in a ritual book that would show any power blocks, your power level without the blocks, your power level with the books, and any special talents that you had. It took a week, and he messed up about ten different times, but he finally completed the potion needed.
Prepared for anything, Harry cut his arm with a knife and dropped a few drops of blood into the potion, before using a simple healing spell on the small cut. He then dipped a quill in the potion and set it on the paper. Slowly but surely it began to move. He gaped like a fish out of water for ten minutes after the quill was finished.
The list read; Power level: Highest, Arch-Mage. Special Talents: Fire elemental, air elemental, parseltongue, phoenix tongue, multi-animagus, metamorphagus, aura sensor, empath, telepath. Power Blocks: One power block, blocking approximately one third of your power level.
Knowing that most powerful wizarding children had blocks on their powers, he didn't freak out over the block. However, he had read a lot about the wizarding world, and wisely decided to keep the parseltongue talent to himself. The more he thought about it, the more sense the metamorphagus part made. The second and third bits of magic he had done involved changing his hair length and eye color. Harry grinned, thinking of all the things he could do with this particular talent. As soon as he was done musing over his power level and special talents, he picked up a book on power blocks and how to remove them.
The ritual to remove the power block also used a potion with his blood as an ingredient. Harry spent quite a bit of time wondering just how barbaric the wizarding world was. He drank the potion and immediately he felt as if a part of him that had long been missing was finally given back to him. He felt powerful but out of control. All the spells he thought he had down were now a great deal more powerful than they had been to begin with. He spent even more time than before practicing spells, jinxes, hexes, and curses on the training dummies. He was up to a seventh year level with the dummies, and it was getting easier. The Dursley's, however, were starting to notice his absence, and as soon as Vernon realized how long it had been since he'd beaten Harry, he jumped at the chance.
Harry spent a few hours in the cupboard pouring his effort and magic into healing himself before doing an Alohamora on the cupboard door and running up to the attic. He made a decision then and there that he was done with the Dursley's. He would run away, but come back as soon as the Dursley's were asleep, go to the attic and stay in his trunk. It was because of this decision that he had no idea that his Hogwarts letter came, and that someone had been there to pick him up. He knew about Hogwarts, and that he was supposed to go there that year, but he was so involved in his training that he didn't really notice how the time passed. So when Hagrid showed up to take him shopping for his school supplies, the half-giant was rather upset that Harry had run away and they had no idea where he was.
Of course, being oblivious to these things, because he was so absorbed in his training didn't seem to be a bad thing. With the way he was reading, so fast it wasn't really believable, and the way he caught on to things, he had damn near completed his seven years at Hogwarts in about seven months. He was doing quite well with auror level spells, too. With his powers totally unlocked, Harry was becoming a great wizard without any help. Harry became quite used to the solitude, and realized he enjoyed it. One day, when he was sitting in the room from his parents, attempting to read Hogwarts, A History, for the tenth time, a letter appeared. It was in a messy handwriting that he by now recognized as his fathers.
Dear
Harry, If you're reading this, I'm dead, and you're
eleven but not at Hogwarts like you should be. I don't know why or
how you're not at Hogwarts, but there are a few things that I need
to explain to you. First, you are the heir of Godric Gryffindor and
Helga Hufflepuff; this comes from my side of the family. Though not
many people know this, they were married. Second, everyone believes
your mother to be a muggle-born, and though I would have nothing
against that, she is not. She is Rowena Ravenclaw's heir. If you
have noticed that you can read at super speeds, and still take in
everything you're reading, that's why, it's a gift passed down
through the Ravenclaw family. Your mother was never an Evans, she was
adopted, and therefore no one knew her heritage until she did a
heritage test. She kept the results a secret, as she knew that
Voldemort would want her if she was a pureblood, and she was firmly
for the light. Now that we have that out of the way, the
third thing you need to know is that you are probably the richest
wizard in Britain. The Potter-Black estate, which was made when
Sirius and I combined our vaults and family names because we were
both the last living members of our families, is worth approximately
two-hundred-sixty-seven billion galleons. It is the combined wealth
of the Ravenclaws, the Hufflepuffs, the Gryffindors, the Potters and
the Blacks. There are countless more things that I will get no chance
to explain to you, and as you aren't with Sirius, he can't
either, so I suggest you owl Remus. But in order to do that,
you need to buy an owl. So here are some instructions: The Leaky
Cauldron is a pub near charring cross road, and it holds the entrance
to the wizarding worlds shopping area. You'll need a disguise,
though, because if you're not at Hogwarts yet, people are most
definitely looking for you. Your mum probably wrote in her letter
about our secret keeper being Peter, and I know she doesn't trust
him, but I can't help it. I am not capable of believing that one of
my brothers would betray me. I don't want to believe that it is
Remus or Peter, and I know it's not Sirius. If, on the off chance
that he does betray us, and Sirius gets blamed for it, I hope you can
do something to convince people the truth. Sirius Black was not, nor
will he ever be, our secret keeper, because we decided it would be
too much of an obvious choice. Now, most people will know you
as Harry James Potter, but that is not your name. Well, not your full
name. I do hope you'll forgive your parents for your admittedly
long and extravagant name. Your full name is: Harrison James Orion
Potter-Black-Ravenclaw-Gryffindor-Hufflepuff. When you do go
to Hogwarts, (I'm sure you will eventually, since you aren't
there yet), there will most likely be a Professor by the name of
Severus Snape. He will most likely hate you for the things I did to
him while we were in school. I will not sugar coat it or lie to you
about it, I was an arrogant bullying toe rag, as your mother put it.
I bullied him in a way that was horrid. Sometimes I feel that my
decisions and the way I treated him turned him into the man he
became, because he wasn't always that way. I will say no more,
because it is his past and not mine to divulge. But I ask you not to
hold it against him too much, because he is bitter and I was a jerk.
I hope you don't hate me because of what I did. I changed;
your mum would never have looked at me if I hadn't. Snape changed,
too, though, and not for the better. He was a jerk like I had been.
It seems that the tables turned for us. I love you, son, and
don't you ever forget it! Your dad,
James Harrison
Potter-Black- Gryffindor-Hufflepuff
In an instant Harry changed his eyes to a deep blue, his hair a light brown that came down to his shoulders, and his scar was hidden by darker skin. No one would have recognized him. He sat in the attic waiting for the Dursley's to be asleep, grabbed his dad's wand and shrunk his trunk down to wallet size. Extremely eager to be in the magical world that he had read so much about, Harry stuck out his dad's wand to call the knight bus. Under the name of Lionel Evans, Harry rented a room at the Leaky Cauldron. He lay down and was asleep before his head hit the pillow, dreaming of a peaceful forest full of phoenixes and a white castle.
When he asked the goblin that he first saw to speak with the Potter account manager, the goblin snarled and said, "If you are here on Dumbledore's orders, you should kindly go inform him that we've told him multiple times that he will not get control over Harry Potters estate." Harry looked at the goblin confused for a second before saying under his breath, "that bastard!" and morphing back into Harry Potter. The goblin looked at him as if appraising him and said, "Follow me, please, I'll take you to Yulfax, your account manager."
Harry had a pleasant conversation with Yulfax before saying he'd see him again soon and changing back into Lionel Evans. He went to the magical pet shop to get an owl, and while he did get an owl, he got something else, too. He felt the pull towards a snake that was described in the books he had read as what you feel when you're near your Familiar. That snake was blue, green and black, and was talking about stupid humans who thought he was some sort of prize to goggle at. Harry, knowing he was a parseltongue was only a little bit surprised and answered back, "I don't think you're a prize to goggle at, but I do think you're my familiar, I'm feeling a pull towards you." The snake looked more than a little surprised that he had been heard and was all too happy to get out of the pet shop.
//////////////////////////////////////////////Moony//////////////////////////////////////////////
As Harry was walking back towards the Leaky Cauldron, Harry saw a face he had seen only in pictures. Grinning widely, he snuck up behind the man, which involved multiple silencing spells, and stunned him before pulling him into an alley. He whispered, "Ennervate!" at the man.
"Hey Moony! You just got stunned and captured by an eleven year old boy who has only trained by himself, but is admittedly rather good for his age, how do you feel about that?"
Remus Lupin goggled at him for a few moments before finally saying, "Who are you?"
"Who do I smell like?"
"That's impossible. Harry Potter has been missing for ten months!"
It was Harry's turn to goggle at Remus. "It's been that long?! Holy shit! I wasn't…And that's twenty…oh god…I should have known when I read the letter…but that's just…shit!"
Remus looked amusedly at the eleven-year-old boy and said, "Where have you been? And also, do you realize that you're swearing like a sailor at the age of eleven?"
Harry grinned. "A marauder giving lectures about things like swearing and running away? My, my, things have changed! I will tell you where I've been if you will tell me everything you know about Sirius Black."
Remus paled and then gathering his courage said, "You're really not in a position to negotiate here, Harry."
"Look, for the past month I've been training against auror level training dummies, and I've won a good deal of the duels, so in my opinion, it's you who's not in the position to negotiate. I could always just stun you and take you back to my room at the Leaky Cauldron, I'm sure we'd be able to talk there. Unless you'll walk with me?"
That said, and rather unsure as to whether or not Harry was bluffing, Remus followed Harry back to the Leaky Cauldron. Once they were in Harry's room Harry grinned at Remus. "I want to know anything you know about Sirius Black."
Remus took a deep breath and said, "He's a murdering traitor who is in prison where he deserves to be," in a rather bitter tone.
To say Remus was surprised when Harry jumped up and began flinging random things at the walls, swearing, and cursing other things with curses Remus hadn't see before, was an extreme understatement.
Taking a few deep breaths, Harry calmed down and prepared himself to explain. "Sirius Black was not my parents' secret keeper, and if he killed Peter then good, the little rat got what he deserved!"
"And if he killed twelve muggles along with Peter?"
Harry swallowed and looked at Remus with a very serious look on his face. "Sirius would not have done that. I may not have met Sirius in person to my memory, but I do know him inside and out. In my trunk there is a room from my parents. It has photo albums, letters, journals, from my mum, dad, and Sirius. In the same way that you have fought the darkness of being a werewolf, Sirius has fought the darkness of being a Black. The Sirius that was in those journals and pictures would never have killed an innocent. He would have killed Peter for what he did in a heartbeat, but blinded by rage and grief or not, Sirius wouldn't have done that, and quite frankly, you're not a very good friend if you could think that he would."
Remus seemed to swell with rage for a moment before saying, "He thought the same of me."
Harry looked at Remus incredulously, "That's your grand excuse? He was a bad friend so that means you get to be, too? How old are you, for Merlin's sake, two? I will give you the fact that Sirius probably thought you were the traitor. And that was a horrible thing for him to think of his brother. My dad couldn't think that of any of you, so from what I've seen, he's the better friend of the four of you. You and Sirius would tie, but Peter would be a dead last. I'm not trying to guilt trip you, but I have letters from my parents that will prove that Sirius was never their secret keeper, and with that they can question him under veritaserum for the rest of it. I'm going to the ministry now, and when you've decided that you aren't two years old anymore, you can come see me here."
"I'm…Harry, I'm sorry, it's just…I've spent over ten years believing that Sirius was the secret keeper and I pinned all of my problems on him. It wasn't right, and I should have known him better than that. However, before you leave, I believe you said that you had information for me."
"Right. I've been in my aunt's house in my trunk, living a hell of a lot more comfortably than I was before I got the trunk. I had no idea of how time was passing outside the trunk, but it definitely didn't feel like as long as you said. Though, that was probably because I did nothing other than eat, sleep and train. I read the journals, quite a lot – nearly all – of the library in the trunk, which consists of every book the Potters own, practiced magic up to auror level spells, removed a block on my power, and discovered a few hidden talents. It's been grand seeing you, Moony, but I have to do something about my godfather rotting in a prison cell that he should never have been in."
"I'm coming with you. Are you going to share any of your hidden talents with me?"
Harry grinned. "Well, you saw that I'm a metamorphagus, right," at Remus' nod, Harry continued, "I'm also an animagus with five forms. Lion, Phoenix, Snake, Panther and Wolf. I'm a fire and air elemental, can speak phoenix tongue, and sense auras and my power levels are amazingly high. I have another talent that I'm sure you wouldn't discriminate against, but most people would."
Remus looked at Harry, confused. "What talent would that be?"
Harry lifted his arm and pulled up his sleeve, revealing the snake that he had named Harmony. "I'm a parselmouth."
Remus gaped at Harry, utterly surprised. Harry grinned. "It's not like I'm the heir of Slytherin or something! No, I'm just the heir of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. So I have no idea where the gift came from, I just know that it did."
Nodding mutely, mostly because he was in some sort of shock, Remus motioned to the door and they walked down to the main part of the pub to use the floo to the ministry. After two shouts of "Ministry of Magic!" Harry and Remus were at the ministry of magic, and after brushing the soot off of their clothes they went to the department of magical law enforcement.
Getting Sirius Freed – Chapter Two
On the way there, Harry was extremely annoyed at all the glances he was getting, and he vowed to never go out in public as Harry Potter ever, ever again. Finally they reached the DMLE and a short witch with brown hair greeted them.
"Hello, I need to speak with someone about Sirius Black," Harry said, grinning at the witches pale and shocked face. She went to a door on the other side of the room, knocked, and said something to someone else.
The witch came back out, with her plastic smile back on and the shocked look gone, and said, "Right this way, please, …Mr. Potter, Amelia Bones will speak with you."
Grinning like a Cheshire cat about the idea of getting to meet the godfather he'd read so much about, Harry followed the witch and motioned for Remus to come, too. When the witch that was leading them back to Amelia Bones started to say that Remus couldn't come with him, he said, "Don't even think about saying that. He's coming with me." The witch nodded mutely and left them at the door.
Harry pulled a letter out of his pocket as they walked in and said, "Hello Ms. Bones, I'm here to talk to someone about Sirius Black. Did you know that he never got a trial? And that he was innocent of at least one of the crimes he was accused of?" All of this was said in the most polite voice he could muster.
To say that Amelia was surprised was an understatement. She was shocked. She managed to get that in control after a moment though, and said, "Do you have any proof of that?"
"I have a letter from my father stating that Sirius Black was never their secret keeper. Peter Pettigrew was. I have many of Sirius Black's journals, and based on them and the fact that he's been in prison without a trial for so long, that he should get a chance to prove his innocence. Don't you?"
Looking somewhat flustered, she said, "I do. I didn't know that he never got a trial. I'll do my best to see that he gets one."
"That's not good enough. I want him out of Azkaban and in a ministry holding cell before today ends, waiting for his trial which should be sometime in the next week."
Both Remus and Amelia Bones were gaping at Harry and he said, somewhat defensively, "If you lived with the Dursley's, you'd want him cleared as soon as possible, too. Not to mention…dementors? For ten years? No one, criminal or not, deserves to live in their worst memories for any amount of time. It's sickening. So, what are you going to do about getting my godfather here in the ministry and ready for his trial? And I'd like to visit him, too."
//////////////////////////////////////////////Sirius//////////////////////////////////////////////
Quite a few hours later, Sirius Orion Black was escorted to a ministry holding cell, looking completely bewildered. A half an hour after that, he was told he had a visitor.
//////////////////////////////////////////////Visiting Sirius//////////////////////////////////////////////
Harry had gone back to Diagon Alley, gotten Sirius robes, a hairbrush and some other random things so he could prepare himself for his trial. Remus was following him around with his head in his hands muttering about what an idiot he'd been. When they arrived back at the ministry building and Remus was still doing that, Harry finally snapped, "Good lord, Moony, will you shut the hell up?! Sirius does not need you muttering about how sorry you are, though he might appreciate it a little, he needs you to quit being hysterical and help him get ready for his trial. I'm talking to him first, okay?"
Nodding mutely, Remus followed Harry back to the DMLE. When they got there, Harry waited patiently for a few minutes, before drumming his fingers on the desk. When that was ignored, Harry closed his eyes, took a calming breath and said, "I need to see Amelia Bones!"
The lady at the desk finally looked up and jumped a bit, "Oh! Mr. Potter! Just go back the same way as before, she's in there."
Harry just nodded and thanked her, before motioning for Remus to follow him. Remus, still silent, followed him. Harry knocked on the door to Amelia's office and was asked to come in. He looked around for a second and said, "When can I see him?"
"He's been here for about fifteen minutes, you can see him in fifteen minutes. If those things are for him, we'll need to go through them first."
Handing over the things, Harry sat down in front of her desk as she went through them. Finally after ten minutes she nodded and said, "Please follow me, Mr. Potter. Mr. Lupin, please wait out front."
They went down a maze of corridors that must have been made simply to keep prisoners from finding their way out, finally arriving in front of a simple door. Then a voice said, "State your full name and who you're here to visit."
Amelia just looked at Harry as if waiting for something. Finally, Harry caught on. "I am Harry James Potter here to visit Sirius Orion Black."
The voice spoke once again, "access granted." And the door opened. Harry was led down yet another maze of corridors before stopping in front of a cell that held who he assumed was Sirius, but wasn't very recognizable as the young man he'd been ten years before.
"Sirius," Harry whispered. Sirius looked up at Harry and his jaw dropped, before he whispered, "Harry…"
Harry looked at Sirius with a very serious expression on his voice and said, "From your journals and my dads letters, I know that you weren't the secret keeper, and that it isn't at all in your personality to kill an innocent. I need you to tell me, look me in the eye and tell me that you didn't kill those muggles. Honestly, if you killed Peter, congratulations, but tell me about the muggles."
Sirius managed to croak out, "Never. I wouldn't have killed them for all the money in the world. They were innocent…I only wanted to kill Peter, but he got the better of me, for the first time."
Grinning, Harry reached his arms through the bars and grabbed Sirius in as much of a hug as he could manage. "I got you a trial. You're gonna be free."
Sirius returned the grin and said, "How?"
"Dads letter. I was in the trunk, eleven years old, but not at Hogwarts, so that letter was delivered. I showed it to Amelia Bones, told her you'd never had a trial, and she said she'd see what she could do. I told her that wasn't good enough, and got you moved here today. Your trial should be sometime in the next week."
They chatted for a few minutes before Harry told Sirius that Remus was there to see him, too. Sirius smiled sadly at the thought of seeing his old friend again. Harry added before he left, "And he's been going on for hours about what an idiot he was to ever believe that you could do that. It's rather annoying, really."
/////////////////////////////////The Trial Of Sirius Orion Black/////////////////////////////////
The room was crowded, filled with reporters, supporters and protestors. People who didn't think Sirius deserved a trial, and people who had been waiting for this moment for years. Sirius was nervous as hell, and trying to remember the occlumency training he'd done during his auror training to calm himself down. Harry was jittery, also using his occlumency training to keep a cold front, not get angry or overreact to people who were idiots. Remus was trying to keep his mutterings about how sorry he was to himself, as both Harry and Sirius had told him repeatedly that they knew, they accepted it, and that he really should shut up if he didn't want Harry to test out his training on him.
Finally the trial was started. The defense called their first witness – Harry. Harry sighed as they gave him veritaserum, praying they didn't ask anything that wasn't related to the trial.
"What is your full name?"
Had Harry not been under the influence of veritaserum that kept him impassive, he'd have freaked out. As it was, he just calmly stated, "Harrison James Orion Potter-Black-Ravenclaw-Gryffindor-Hufflepuff."
There was an uproar of noise before the judge said in a much more polite way than Harry would have used for everyone to shut the hell up. The next question was, "Who was your parents secret keeper?"
"Peter Pettigrew."
The people who were against Sirius were losing their momentum as the questioning continued. "How do you know this?"
"My dad sent me a letter that was charmed only to arrive if I wasn't at Hogwarts when I was supposed to be. I read it, and it said that Sirius wasn't the secret keeper, that Peter was. I also have Sirius' journals, and unless he felt the need to lie to the paper, he wasn't the secret keeper."
At that statement Sirius winced, realizing that the fact that Harry had his journals meant he knew more about him than any other living person. Not long after the questioning was over and the veritaserum wore off. Sirius was next to be questioned under veritaserum.
"What is your full name?"
"Sirius Orion Potter-Black."
Out of pure curiosity the questioner asked, "When did Potter get added to that?"
"When James and I combined our vaults, we both changed our names so we'd have both last names."
This statement was met by an uproar of noise until Harry stood up and said, "This is a trial, people, can we get on with it!" Most people looked rather sheepish at getting told how to act by an eleven year old. (Was he twelve yet? I need to reread this story and figure out just how long he was in the trunk…)
"Were you the Potter's secret keeper?"
"No."
"Do you know who was?"
"Yes. Peter Pettigrew."
"What happened on the night of October 31st 1981?"
"I had told Peter I was going to check on him, and when I got there he was gone. No sign of a struggle, all packed up. I realized then what must have happened, though I didn't want to believe it. I went to check on Lily, James, and Harry but when I got there the house was a ruin. Harry was screaming and he had the lightning bolt scar. I asked Hagrid to let me take him, but he said Dumbledore had given him orders on where to take Harry. Realizing that it was an argument I wasn't going to win, I decided to hunt Peter down.
When I confronted him, he screamed out for the whole street to hear, "Lily and James, Sirius, how could you!?" before blasting the street apart, turning into a rat and disappearing."
"What did you do next?"
"I laughed."
This caused Harry to laugh, though he hid it rather well. The questioner continued. "Why did you laugh?"
"I laughed because it was the first time Peter had gotten the better of me. I laughed because I realized that he had framed me and that no one would listen to me. I laughed because my whole life had been stolen from me in less than twenty four hours and I knew I'd never get it back. I laughed because if I hadn't laughed, I would have cried."
Silence. A very deafening silence. Not a single person move, and the only noise was breathing. The veritaserum wore off as the silence continued and Sirius said, "Uh… Was there anymore questions, 'cause the veritaserum wore off."
The questioner motioned for him to be given more veritaserum, and the questions began again. "What do you mean by 'turned into a rat?'"
"He's an animagus."
"He's not registered."
"Me, James and Peter all became unregistered animagi in our fifth year at Hogwarts."
That pretty much concluded the questioning, and Sirius sat still waiting for the verdict. He was nervous, though you could only really tell if you knew what to look for. Harry smiled sadly, wondering why the world was so cruel. Finally, after what seemed like forever, they asked for the verdict. "Those in favor of clearing Sirius Black of thirteen counts of murder, two counts of assisted murder, and the charge of being in league with You-Know-Who?"
Every single hand raised. Harry grinned, but the judge wasn't done yet. "Those in favor of charging Sirius Black with being an unregistered animagi?" Their was grins on the Wizengamot's faces as they all raised their hands, thinking that situation was rather ironic.
The charge was a fine that would be taken out of the 120,000 galleons that Sirius would get in repayment for the years spent in Azkaban. He was also granted custody of Harry, which made Harry grin even wider.
Settling In – Chapter Three