Chapter one: Meet the Councillors
Harry's world had crashed down in flames. Having suffered the death of his godfather and the crushing weight of the prophecy the Headmaster so nonchalantly disclosed, Harry was whisked off to Privet Drive. His friends didn't write him at all.
The clumsy Order's attempt at intimidating the enraged Erumpent known as Vernon Dursley made the situation much worse. The walrus took every opportunity to whack Harry around. Seeing that the Order didn't care and did not arrive to rescue Harry, his uncle grew more vicious and daring.
Eventually, what was fated to happen occurred. Harry would recall only parts of the gruesome experience. His uncle and cousin beat him senseless, and then a translucent curtain of white light appeared all around him.
He tried to stand up; crouching above the linoleum floor, he saw his faux-family lying dead on the ground. Immediately afterwards, he heard the sound of apparition as Dumbledore burst through the door; he was joined by assorted members of the Order and Ministry Aurors. They took the scene of devastation with nary a sound or change of facial expression. The Aurors swished their wands as they performed several spells. The surreal scene appeared to Harry's dazed mind like a forensic investigation in the Muggle world.
Shacklebolt approached Dumbledore and conferred with the old man. Presently Albus stood in front of Harry and looked down at him with a perceptible twinkle in his eyes. "Harry Potter, by the authority vested in me by the Wizengamot I charge you with the murder of your uncle, aunt and cousin. You will be taken to a holding cell in the ministry for your trial." Dumbledore made tsking sounds as he fingered his long white beard. "My boy, I'm afraid if they find you guilty, you will be sent to Azkaban for life!"
Sitting alone in that holding cell, Harry endured the worst moments of his life. They hadn't even given him a medical check-up, saying it wasn't needed for a murderer. Only his innate magic allowed Harry to survive, healing him from the numerous lesions his dreadful relatives caused.
The visits Harry received were the worst. The Weasleys and Hermione came to his cell to sneer at him and taunt him. They all said hurtful things, especially Ron. The redhead yelled, "I wish I'd known what I was getting into when I decided to be your friend!"
Hermione crossed her arms, looking down her nose at the brunet prisoner. "Honestly, Harry, that's what you get when you break the rules. They exist for a reason you know."
With a sinking feeling in his stomach, Harry knew his friends thought he was a cold-blooded murderer. If they were of that opinion, the rest of the Wizarding World would follow suit. Notwithstanding the fact they'd been woefully wrong about him and believed the lurid articles of Skeeter, who spread rumours surrounding his ability as Parseltongue. Harry was lost, and it was only his stubbornness to accept his fate which kept him sane for what was to follow.
Ron stayed for a moment after the others left. Smirking at Harry, he thrust a parchment in his shackled hands and bade Harry sign it, adding it needed a drop of his blood. The brunet was exhausted; he was tired of it all and he didn't care that he might give Ron the key to sink him further.
Harry could imagine no deepest pit than his current situation. He complied wordlessly, pricking his thumb with the quill. Ron took the parchment and signed it himself, adding his own blood, then the redhead strutted out of Harry's forlorn cell.
After "visiting" with Harry, Ron and Hermione were on their way to meet Percy. Ron kept ranting about the perils Harry's friendship had meant for them all. She concurred, opining that time alone might curb Harry's anti-authority streak. Hermione grabbed Ron's neck, kissing him aggressively to shut him up.
Someone clapped and then wolf-whistled. A boy approached them, drawling mockingly, "Is this what you are reduced to, Weasel? To kiss a mudblood?"
Ron took out his wand, preparing to throw a hex, but then the blue eyes which had been curiously lifeless twinkled strangely. He stopped his motion and turned to his girlfriend. "Mione, I reckon you come up with the weirdest ideas."
The strange boy let his cowl down, and the white-blond hair showed it was Draco Malfoy. He asked imperiously, "Do you have anything important to report?"
Ron crossed his arms whilst he answered nonchalantly, "Tested the doors of the trial chamber. There are loyalty spells, notice-me-not charms and some kind of Legilimency thing. You might be interested to note that there will be medit-sieves in Grimmauld Place and the Burrow. Headmaster Dumbledore kindly informed us these sieves would register our daydreams and would instantly erase that recording if there was nothing plotted against the Order. Hermione and I believe Dumbledore will use the medit-sieves to select his true followers. The old man told us the sieves will be put into place immediately after Harry's trial."
He squeezed gently Hermione's hand and frowned at Malfoy. "Won't you see to Hermione's safety if the worst comes to pass?"
Draco looked sharply at the two Gryffindors. After a few seconds, he nodded solemnly.
Ron took out a piece of parchment and handed it to Draco. "Here's the document you wanted to have; Harry and I signed it and authenticated it with our blood. Such a pity that the bureaucratic procedure to make it valid lasts seven days and Dumbledore changed the trial for tomorrow!"
Draco pouted whilst bowing mockingly. "O ye weasels of little faith! Ron, if you must know, I have an unlicensed time-turner belonging to the Malfoy family."
The blond wrapped his fingers around a silver chain that wound around his neck. "This is it. Now that I have Potter's parchment I will put it with ours. I'll go back in time to the office in the Ministry where they sort documents to send them flying to their destination. As the brat of a Ministry worker, I have certain perks." The blond tapped Ron's shoulder. "Like you."
Hermione gazed at the stone ceiling, grimacing. "I'm worried about those medit-sieves."
Draco smiled reassuringly. "You can't return to your house after the trial. Those medit-sieves you speak of? I'm afraid you would be brainwashed, even killed in an attempt to lure Potter. I offer you sanctuary in the Manor. You'd have a safe haven, no matter what happens in the Wizarding World."
Malfoy lowered his chin and mumbled, "I warn you, though, that you will deal with my mother." He visibly shuddered, "She'll be fine as long as you don't mention a shopping spree. If you ever do, then you'll have to fend for yourselves."
He took out a ceremonial dagger from his black robes and held it aloft. "This Portkey will take you to the parlour. I've already keyed you into the wards so they'll admit you. The password is Matthäus."
Draco offered the weapon to Hermione who put it into her pocket. Then he took out his wand and gave it to Ron. "Tomorrow they won't let me enter the chamber with my wand. We'll need to create a diversion so you can slip it to me. I'll give Potter his own; the one we covered with demiguise hair."
Hermione stepped towards Draco and hugged him. At first he had been weary of the hugs and the fact that Hermione was a Muggleborn; though he soon recognised she was an incredibly talented witch. Sharing a hug with her was something Draco needed, perhaps more desperately than he chose to acknowledge.
Bowing theatrically, Draco drawled, "Until we meet again, red-head and lady!"
Then he snarled, "Mudblood!"
Ron's blue eyes lost the twinkle, diminishing in brightness as he took out his wand, ready to hex Malfoy. But Draco had made good his escape; he knew very well the Ministry from countless trips he'd taken to see his father. He knew the way to the Office of Distribution of Documents.
Employing the Time-Turner, he travelled back in time seven days. He put the documents in the box with a recommendation that they be voted en bloc with Wizengamot Law 4UR-GOAT, a favourite project of the Headmaster. That would ensure that the measures contained therein would be law as soon as Albus' pet project was approved.
That night took place the reading of Sirius Black's Will. The Headmaster saw the opportunity to wrest control of the Black fortune from the main heir, who was awaiting his trial for multiple murders. Presumably, Harry would be unable to command the enormous assets of the Blacks but luckily for them all his Magical Guardian, Albus Dumbledore, would ensure to serve the Greater Good. If it happened to enrich him, no one needed to know.
Having been told of the reading only a few hours before, the other interested parties congregated at Gringott's. They were led to a conference room by a goblin called Ashbolt. The group sat around a large, circular table.
Remus Lupin was there, sitting across from Dumbledore and Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt. Narcissa Malfoy, Andromeda and Nymphadora Tonks represented other Black heirs.
Ashbolt tugged his greasy beard, holding up the parchment with his long fingers. "This is the last will and testament of Lord Sirius Black."
The paper rose up in the air and unfolded whilst Sirius' sneering voice boomed across the room.
"Hello all, if I'm dead then I've no doubt who killed me. It wasn't a Death Eater, but a Life Eater masquerading as the Lord of Light. Anyway, here's my last will:
To Remus I bequeath 5,000 Galleons and the suggestion to let his wolf out and follow its advice.
To Andromeda and Nymphadora Tonks I leave 5,000 Galleons each.
To Harry Potter I bequeath 1,000 Galleons.
The rest of the Black holdings, investments and real estate, plus the title of Lady Black I leave to Narcissa Black Malfoy, my cousin and favourite relative. Cissa, I've no doubt that you will do what needs to be done, no matter how disagreeable. You will become a great Lady Black.
Toujours pur
Lord Sirius Black."
Everyone was astonished because they expected Sirius would favour his godson and leave everything to Harry. But Sirius was loath to leave everything to Albus, knowing that Dumbledore manipulated his godson. Thus, the wily Marauder cunningly devised a way to circumvent Dumbledore. The manipulative headmaster would not have a frail Narcissa under his thumb. Sirius had been confident that Cissa would give as good as she got.
Dumbledore was so angry that he snapped, he flourished the Elder wand and prepared to hex Narcissa out of creation. Unbeknownst to the old man, Narcissa was protected by the old and crazy elf, Kreacher. From the shadows, Kreacher growled at the uppity wizards, nodding approvingly at the fact that Narcissa now was Lady Black, just like his beloved Mistress Walburga.
The elf noticed the shaggy wizard taking out his wand; Kreacher's magic allowed him to gauge the very malign intentions of the spell so he joggled the old wizard's elbow. The curse missed Narcissa, gouging the wall behind her head.
She brandished her wand, shouting, "Expelliarmus!"
When Dumbledore's wand crashed against the stone wall, Narcissa pointed at it. "Accio Dumbledore's wands."
Two sticks of wood flew toward her. Narcissa wrapped her fingers around the knobby stem of the legendary Elder wand and decided to keep it for herself. She knew the other had belonged to Albus' family, and she broke it in parts.
Narcissa turned to face the Aurors and pointed to the prone figure of the Headmaster. "I believe that Nymphadora and Kingsley Amis are Aurors, are they not?"
Andromeda muttered, "Yes, they are, but it's Kingsley Shacklebolt."
Narcissa drawled, "Whatever. I demand that they arrest Dumbledore for attempted murder!"
Shacklebolt and Tonks refused to obey her, though. It seemed they were Dumbledore's puppets.
Her cheeks blooming red with anger, Narcissa turned to face Kreacher. "It behoves me to correct how 12 Grimmauld Place is used because Sirius suffered a lot there. Since I've become the owner, I want to raze it. It's nothing but a nest of Dark animals, from Boggarts to doxies - no place to take impressionable young men." She paused to smirk at the Headmaster who had shakily stood up. "Don't you agree, Dumbles? Oh, I forgot… it might be part of one of your secret plans only you know about."
Shacklebolt tried Silencio on her but with a lazy swish of her wand, Narcissa cast a shield. The spell bounced back to the Auror who was forced to silently watch the exchange.
Narcissa said firmly, "Kreacher, you will deliver an ultimatum to the members of the so-called Order that are there. If they don't leave they will be trapped; destroy that abode half an hour after you warn them."
Dumbledore shouted angrily until Narcissa put him under another Silencio cast by the Elder wand. Though the aged wizard was reputed to possess an incredible amount of magic, it was the wand which prevailed.
Narcissa sauntered up to Tonks and slapped her forcefully, muttering "Traitor!"
She disregarded Andromeda's startled cry and stepped towards the goblin to grab some parchments from the unresisting hands of the cowardly Ashbolt. Narcissa left the room to sign them and Floo Ministry officials.
Even though she spoke with Minister Fudge and Amelia Bones, they told her they were powerless to charge Dumbledore with any wrongdoings since they doubted they could find independent witnesses who could verify her assertions.
Two hours later, Narcissa met an exhausted-looking Kreacher who delivered his report. Briefly put, 12 Grimmauld Place was destroyed. There were interesting things in some of the rooms which the elf had kept. Narcissa ordered him to bring them to the other Black residences.
Kreacher told her about a strange device which functioned like a Pensieve. The elf's magic betrayed its purpose; the thing would store imagery, daydreams and reveries to be studied later. Narcissa found interesting that Kreacher told her this 'Pensieve' was attuned to find true loyalties of people, whether to Harry Potter or to the Headmaster. In case the results were worrisome to Albus, the strange Pensieve would alarm Dumbledore.
The next day lasted forever, in Harry's opinion. The morning was utterly cheerless, imprisoned on that cell. Before midday, Harry felt smothered by the negative energy and sad memories of his parents dying. Cold and foreboding were the feelings enveloping him; Harry reckoned someone had brought Dementors to play with him.
However, the negative sensations soon disappeared after Harry heard a thudding sound coming from the corridor, as if someone had hit the guard. He heard a voice drawling menacingly, "How dare you bring a Dementor here when it's not allowed? Shacklebolt, I will have you in Azkaban for this. Your vaunted Dumbles won't keep you from prison nor will he save you from this: Crucio!"
Harry supposed he should be angry on behalf of Shacklebolt, who was enduring Malfoy's curse, but he wasn't. The damned Auror had brought a Dementor just to see Harry cowering. He'd always been standoffish, exuding supposed professionalism; the man always took Dumbledore's side. Kingsley didn't even raise an eyebrow at Harry's sudden fall from grace. The Gryffindor just wished he could see Shacklebolt writhing under the curse.
Strangely enough, the incident which was supposed to sink him into despair served to make him more confident. Obviously there was more to Malfoy than what he always believed. Harry realised that ever since he had come to the Wizarding World he had always looked at things through the Dumbledore perspective. From Hagrid's comment that all dark wizards came from Slytherin, which turned out to be laughably false, to his sudden friendship with Ron, Harry blithely absorbed Dumbledore's anti-Slytherin bias.
If Harry had possessed more gumption and street smarts, he would have realised that he was in an excellent position to become a bridge between the Hogwarts houses. No one would dare dispute the role of the Boy who lived. Instead, Harry allowed the headmaster to take every important decision in his life and speedily did his bidding, no questions asked.
After the guards brought him thin gruel which he ate ravenously, Harry was taken to the trial chamber. His chains rattling behind him, Harry crossed the threshold to find a plenary session of the Wizengamot. The wizards and witches sneered and murmured things about him; they appeared to be the picture of perfection with their silly hats which made them look like Ron's chess pieces.
Harry had to sit in the Chair of the Accused whilst a cumbersome chain was wrapped around his legs. He glared at the two long tables in front of him, filled with his false friends. Ron and Hermione were grinning smugly, Harry noted with chagrin.
Dumbledore started the proceedings as head of the Wizengamot. Harry mumbled to himself when the damnable old cheater started reading the charges.
Dumbledore couldn't continue though; he was interrupted by Draco Malfoy's loud cough. The haughty blond sneered at Ron and Hermione. "Weasel and Mudblood, how romantic!"
Harry was watching Ron when this happened; he noticed how the redhead's eyes twinkled suddenly. Ron surreptitiously looked at Harry and took out his wand, and then advanced menacingly on Malfoy.
Harry knew very well Ron and Malfoy's wands, and the one the redhead brandished had a smooth finish like Malfoy's; Harry would bet good money on it. He also noted there was a scripted quality to their insults, as if they were playing to an audience.
Ron jostled and pushed Draco so that the blond fell to his knees in front of Harry. The brunet was speechless when Draco pushed something into his palm, a furry thing which his magic recognised as his own wand. Malfoy muttered, "Take care, wand's invisible now."
Harry briefly considered the idea he was suffering under hallucinations due to the Dementor's presence earlier whilst he caressed his wand, its rough texture so different from the smooth polish it used to have. Whatever occurred, he was in a better position armed with it.
Malfoy stood up and walked away. The Ron-Draco confrontation had been so brilliantly played that no one noticed that Malfoy had a wand now. The people watching had been carried away by the intensity of the words, the abruptness of the tone and the rude behaviour of the boys; gestures agreeing completely with their mental image of the duo.
Draco sauntered towards Dumbledore whilst he drawled, "If it pleases the Head of the Wizengamot, the Privy Councillors demand to be recognised."
Dumbledore thundered, "The Wizengamot will never recognise you as such, young Malfoy. I don't know what tale you are selling, but we are not buying."
Draco took out an official-looking newspaper from the pocket of his robes. As he unfolded it, he said, "Here is today's edition of the Ministry News. It's the official paper of the government and everything it prints is approved and becomes law by the mere fact that it is here. Curiously, this issue has the appointment of the following individuals to the Wizengamot as Privy Councillors:
Lord Draco Malfoy
Lord Blaise Zabini
Lady Parky Parkinson
Lord Neville Longbottom
Lady Luna Lovegood, Heiress of Ravenclaw
Lord Harry Potter
Amidst the gasps of the audience, Draco folded the newspaper and put it back in his pocket.
"The paper published the results of a Wizengamot session to recognise us. The motion was approved by 345 votes which coincidentally is the same number that approved your bill 4UR-GOAT."
Dumbledore growled, wanting to cast a hex on young Malfoy¸ but he refrained since he was in public.
Draco brushed the lapels of his robes. "Since we inherited our positions in the Wizengamot, we do not need votes to confirm what our birthright is, and we will decide the fate of one of our own!"
Draco pointed at the Chair of the Accused, where an astounded Harry sat. "Now please remove the chains from Lord Potter and allow him to sit with us."
Dumbledore shouted, "No, I won't allow this!"
Draco scowled at the old man. "If you don't, I will invoke Lex majoris, which will make piecemeal of whatever defences you have. You cannot mishandle a Privy councillor like you have treated Lord Potter!"
Dumbledore visibly reined in his temper. He knew the spell Malfoy mentioned would turn the tables and wreak havoc on the Wizengamot, reacting to their injustice in their treatment of Harry. Better to roll with it now and watch like a hawk Harry's trial. After all, Potter was guilty and it would inevitably come out in the Veritaserum session. The Headmaster frowned and ordered that Harry's chains be removed.
Thereupon, flanked by Luna and Neville, Harry made his way to a regal table conjured by Draco near the left edge of the chamber.
The Privy Councillors sat down and prepared to treat business.
Draco took out his wand and flicked it with verve. Presently a silver bubble surrounded the students; they could still see the outlines of the people outside but neither their voices nor anything else intruded in the calm atmosphere.
Draco explained to the rest. "I've cast a spell and used a Time-Turner to keep us nearly suspended in time. For us an hour will pass while to the people outside, it will seem like half a minute. We can speak freely because our enemies can't hear us; Dumbledore was completely surprised by developments. At any rate, I urge you to cast wards to ensure the sanctity of our communications."
Harry took out his invisible wand and swished it with great panache, diminished a bit by the fact that the wand was invisible. He cast the strong privacy wards Sirius had taught him.
AN: Edited December 2012
