The Trial of Dumbledore

A/N: Heavy AU, divergence should become clear in the story.

"Order, order!" The gavel banged loudly through the Wizengamot chambers. The assembled crowd fell silent as one of the most well-known figures in their world was dragged forth... none other than Albus Dumbledore.

The bailiff read from the roll for the record: "Trial 347: Albus Percifal Wulfric Brian Dumbledore is this day, the 30th of June 1996, charged with several accounts of endangering wizards, consorting with spirits, enslaving said spirits, one count of kidnapping, and one count of the Imperius curse. Head Interrogator shall be Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; counsel for the defence is... is Mr. Dumbledore himself."

Asides from a muffled cough and the sound of rustling robes the room was deadly quiet. Albus Dumbledore had disappeared years prior, shortly before the fall of Voldemort, but now here he was, being brought before the Ministry as a common criminal?

Barty Crouch leaned forward, inspecting the wizened wizard closely. He had respected the man immensely, as everyone had, but now? He wasn't quite sure what to think. He cleared his throat and asked, "Mr. Dumbledore, how do you plead?"

Dumbledore looked at ease in the prisoner's chair, luckily for him without the chains clasped over his arms. "Not guilty, your honour. Everything I did was for the Greater Good, you see."

Crouch snorted. "We'll see about that. Let the record show that the accused has entered the plea of 'Not Guilty'. Call the first witness!"

The bailiff raised his voice, "The Wizengamot calls James Potter."

The crowd parted to let the head of the Potter family through, many wizards and witches watching in disbelief. The Potters had become famous after being involved in trapping Voldemort all those years ago but had mostly withdrawn from public life since then, only for the entire family to disappear on a boating holiday a year ago. But it was clear they were back... as one, the crowd looked up to the family boxes, but the obscuring charm over them withheld any other Potters from view, so they could not be sure if Mrs. Potter and the children were also present.

A grim expression on his face, James Potter took his seat at the witness stand.

Crouch began his questioning: "Mr. Potter, could you recall where you were on June the 20th, 1995?"

"Of course, your honour. I was on board the Spring Flower, a sailing boat I had rented for the summer, along with my family and some close friends. We were sailing up the Scottish coast, on our way to Norway for a family holiday when a storm struck."

"And what happened next?" Crouch prompted.

"The storm seemed to sink the ship. We were all cast overboard, and next thing I knew I washed up on the shore of an unknown island. I quickly found Lily, my wife, and our daughter Rose, as well as our good friends Sirius, Peter, and Remus, but Harry, my son, was nowhere to be found. We thought him dead."

"And was he, in fact, deceased?"

"Of course not," James scoffed. "It was all another foolish plan by him," he pointed at Dumbledore.

"Ahem. I am afraid I need to object to that, your honour. James is stating his opinion on my motives, not recounting the facts," Dumbledore spoke up for the first time, smiling.

Crouch sighed. "Keep it to the facts please, Mr. Potter. When did you first learn Harry was, in fact, alive still?"

Glaring at Dumbledore still, James continued, "Well, when that spirit, a nymph I suppose, led us to him of course. But you really should ask Harry about all that as he spoke with her more."

"Yes, yes, I was getting to that. Thank you, Mr. Potter. Mr. Dumbledore, any questions for the witness at this stage?"

Dumbledore looked to be very relaxed, somehow reclining in his chair, when he was called upon. He quickly stood up and walked over to stand near the judge's dais. "Ah, one thing. Mr. Potter, were you, or any of the others in your party, in fact hurt that day?"

Grudgingly James admitted, "No. Not even our clothes were wet, somehow."

"And did you not find a comfortable cottage nearby, with food, drink, and warmth?"

"Yes... yes, we did. But Harry was missing!"

"No more questions, your honour," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling as he sat back down.

"Thank you, Mr. Potter. You may stand down for now," Crouch instructed James. As soon as James had walked back up to the family seats the bailiff raised his voice and called out: "The Wizengamot calls upon its next witness, Harry Potter!"

Again, rumours started up in the crowd. Harry was famous, infamous almost, for being the first Potter to be sorted into Slytherin – and not only that, but becoming its star Seeker in his first year! He had of course missed the previous school year, being lost and all, but tongues had been wagging that the Montrose Magpies had already offered him a contract in their youth team.

"Hello, Harry. Good to see you are doing well," Dumbledore said as Harry walked past him. For a moment Harry paused in his step, clearly hesitating.

"The council for the defence will... ahem... instruct his client not to badger the witnesses," Crouch cut in.

"Of course," Dumbledore nodded. Harry walked quickly up to the dais and took his seat.

"Mr. Potter, would you –"

"Harry, please," Harry cut in. "Otherwise I keep looking for my dad, it's confusing enough."

Crouch smiled a little. "Harry, then. Well, Harry, we heard from your father about the shipwreck. Would you please recount what happened to you when the storm struck?"

"Well, I was swept overboard, right? Landed up on this beach, with no-one in sight. No-one at first, that is." A slight blush was noticeable on his cheeks.

"And?" Crouch prompted, gently.

"Well, then I saw her, right? Luna, that is," he quickly clarified, seeing the next question on Crouch's face.

"That would be Luna Lovegood?"

"Yes, sir. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven at first... she was standing under this waterfall, bathing, and I..." he trailed off, blushing deeper.

"Right, right. You met Miss Lovegood. Let the record show that this is, in fact, the same Luna Lovegood who disappeared around the same time Mr. Dumbledore did initially," Crouch added to the court in general. "You were saying, Harry? You may... skip the details, if you wish."

"Oh, thank Merlin," Harry mumbled, then, in a louder voice, "Well, I made a fool out of myself at first, staring at her with open mouth, but she was even more surprised than I was, if you believe that! She thought I was some spirit at first, apparently I was the first man, other than Whiskers that is –"

"Whiskers?" Crouch raised both eyebrows in question.

"The old geezer there," Harry pointed. "Dumbledore. Anyway. I was the first man Luna ever saw, and she and I... erm... connected, I guess you could say. I was happy to follow her to her home when she asked."

"Weren't you concerned about your family and friends?" Crouch asked.

"Well, later, sure! But I was confused, more, and of course there was Luna, and... well... I guess I am a teenager, sir!" Harry blushed again as some laughter started up in the crowd. Even Crouch looked amused as he prompted Harry to go on.
"Anyway. Things went sour as she lead me to Whis– to Dumbledore. He took one look at me, then whipped out his wand – I'd lost mine in the sea, I thought – and cast a spell on me."

"Do you remember which spell, Harry?"

"Yes, sir. It was Imperio. He cast the Imperius on me!" Harry glared at Dumbledore as sounds of shock went through the crowd.

"Order, order! I will have order, or I'll have everyone removed!" Crouch yelled as he banged his gavel.

Finally it died down again and Harry continued. "Well, suddenly I wanted to work for Dumbledore. He set me to work like a House Elf, and for the next few weeks I slept in the shed while I worked for him all day. If it hadn't been for Luna and Ariel, I'd have gone mad."

"Ariel?" Crouch asked.

"The nymph my dad talked about earlier. She, too, had been enslaved –"

"I must object to that nasty word," Dumbledore interrupted. "Young Harry does not know the details of why Ariel worked for me."

"Granted," Crouch said. "Harry, don't speculate on the... relationship between the accused and others unless you have firsthand knowledge, all right?"

"Got it, sir. Anyway, Ariel befriended me, she was... working for Whiskers as well and was a friend to Luna. I was Imperiused for so long I managed to break out of it a little and we could talk a bit. I asked her to find my family, and then they showed up and freed me. Us. Luna and Ariel, too."

"Thank you, Harry. I know it must be difficult to talk about all this; the Imperius has ensnared older and stronger wizards than you. You are a brave young man," Crouch said.

Harry blushed yet again. "Thanks, sir."

"Does the defence have any questions for this witness?"

Dumbledore stood up once more. "Yes, your honour. Harry, is –"

"Mr. Potter to you. Harry is for people I like," Harry cut in.

"I apologize, young Mr. Potter," Dumbledore's smile didn't leave his face and his eyes actually twinkled. "Tell me, Mr. Potter, was it really all bad? Did I make you work hard?"

"No, but –"

"And did I prevent Luna from spending time with you?"

"No, but that's –"

"Harry, if you could, would you honestly say you'd rather not have ended up as my temporary servant?"

"I... I..."

Crouch cut in, "You are badgering the witness, Dumbledore. Harry, you do not need to answer that."

Harry took a deep breath and stood up straight. "I want to, sir." To Dumbledore: "I hate what you did to me... but I'd gladly do it over again if it meant meeting my Luna."

"That will be all. This court session is now in recess," Crouch said.

As Harry made his way back up the family box, Aurors preventing the swarming crowd and reporters from badgering him, Dumbledore was led up to the dais by an Auror.

"The Wizengamot now calls Albus Dumbledore to the stand," Crouch said.

Dumbledore looked like a kindly old grandfather as he sat in the box, waiting for Crouch's first question.

"Mr. Dumbledore, how did you end up on the island?"

"An excellent question, Barty," Dumbledore started, ignoring the angry glare from Crouch. "As you'll recall I helped the Potter family prepare a trap for Voldemort, all those years ago. My double agent Peter, that'd be Peter Pettigrew," he added in an aside for the bailiff, "played his role perfectly. Voldemort was led to the empty cottage in Godric's Hollow, where he encountered the golems I had prepared in the likenesses of the Potters. As soon as he cast the Killing Curse on the baby doll," – a loud "Hey!" was heard from the family box – "the trap sprung, and he was trapped."

"Yes, yes, everyone knows that," Crouch said. "Go on."

"Well, it doesn't hurt to refresh our minds, does it? I, of course, volunteered to take the marble container Tom – Voldemort's real name, you see – was now trapped in to Azkaban. I dropped him off in the Dementor Pit, where I believe the marble still is to this day if the demons haven't sucked it dry, and made my way back to Scotland. Once on the shore I decided to take a long walk along the beach before I apparated my way back to Hogwarts. Of course, that's where I met poor old Xeno."

"Xeno?" Crouch asked.

"Xenophilius Lovegood, the late editor of the Quibbler and amateur naturalist," Dumbledore clarified. "His wife Pandora and he were tracking the each-guise, for some mad reason taking their newborn along. I came across them a little too late I must admit, for you see, poor Pandora had just mounted the beast and was being dragged off to her death. As I ran towards the beach, I saw Xeno had held on to his doomed wife and followed her to her watery grave... by the time I had made it there, both were gone and only the babe was left, crying."

"Shocking... but Dumbledore, why didn't you report this to anyone?" Crouch asked. The crowd was murmuring again... the disappearing of the Lovegoods had been one of the unsolved mysteries of the war.

"I had the child to take care of, didn't I? And, perhaps, I made a little error in judgment." Dumbledore smiled as he let those words sink in. "The Outer Hebrides are little inhabited, probably why the Lovegoods made the most desolate isle their hunting grounds. It was getting late and I had a child to take care of, and since apparition can hurt young children, I didn't want to risk it. So, of course, I decided going back to Azkaban was the best option. At least the guardhouse there had a floo I could take and deposit the babe in Saint Mungo's."

"Are... are you mad? Why did you not send a message by owl, or by Patronus?" Crouch stammered.

"Come now, Barty. It was late, who could I have reached in time? No, my plan was sound. I transfigured a self-propelling boat and boarded it and then I just... made a little error in direction. Instead of Azkaban, I ended up on what would become my prison for the next fourteen years. Fortunately I soon found a native dryad, Ariel, who I convinced to work for me, and with her help and my magic I soon had a home. Luna grew up happily under my guidance."

"And how did you 'convince' this Ariel?"

"Magic, of course. Nymphs are very susceptible to Compulsion Charms," Dumbledore's smile seemed to widen.

"Mad," Crouch muttered. "Very well... why then, did you never try to return home afterwards?"

"Ah... the island has a strange property in that it is not just unplottable... it also blocks apparition. And the winds always seemed to blow inwards, so I never could manage to escape by boat. Of course, after a while I stopped trying."

"We'll take your word for it," Crouch said dryly. "Conveniently the island hasn't been found since you all returned... moving on. Tell us about June of last year."

"One of my pastimes was learning to control the weather," Dumbledore continued. "It took years, but eventually I learned to control the storms... so when I next saw a ship pass nearby, I encouraged the winds to guide it to my prison. Of course I had heavily overlaid it with my charms so no-one was harmed. Imagine my surprise when I found the Potters on board!
I knew then this was my chance to return, as well as make Luna happy. She was ever so lonely, you see. I manipulated the winds to separate young Harry from the group and guide him to where Luna was frolicking about. A little compulsion and mind charming from afar and what I hoped for happened, they fell for each other. Of course, nothing easily earned is worthwhile, so I had young Harry work for me a bit while he and Luna got to know each other.
Then, after Harry had grown a little stronger and asked to be freed, I granted his wish. I happily reunited him with his family, as long as he promised to take Luna along – not that he needed convincing there..." Dumbledore chuckled.
"Alas, James didn't quite see things my way, even when I showed them their ship, intact! Went on and on about how I had done evil things to Harry and them all... I tried to explain myself, but he stunned and bound me.
We sailed back to British Shores, he called in the Aurors, and that brings us all here. So, you see, I did it all for the Greater Good. No one was harmed." Dumbledore rested on his arms, looking content.

"The... the Wizengamot will deliberate now. Court dismissed," Crouch said in a shaken voice. As one, the jurors went into a side room.

–-

"Court is back in session! The defendant will stand."

Dumbledore smiled as he stood up.

"Mr. Dumbledore, this court recognises you meant no harm in your actions," Crouch started. As a murmur began to build in the crowd he quickly added, "However! This court finds it sufficiently proven that you broke wizarding law. On the count of endangering wizards, this court finds you guilty. On the count of consorting with spirits and enslaving said spirits, this court rules not proven. On the count of kidnapping Miss Lovegood, this court rules not guilty. On the count of the Imperius curse... this court finds you guilty."

Again, the room fell dead silent. Dumbledore still looked calm.

"Some of us want to send you to Azkaban; however we find your actions are not those of a sane man. Mr. Dumbledore, you are hereby ordered to submit yourself to mental treatment in Saint Mungo's. Your wand will be confiscated until the Healers deem you no longer a danger to yourself and others. Court adjourned!" Crouch banged his gavel, more and more, trying to drown out the rising noise as the public went to its feet.

Up in the Potter family box, Harry looked to his girlfriend of almost a year. "Well, Luna? Happy?"

"Of course I am, silly. I have you, don't I?" Luna said, then leant in to kiss him.

Rose pretended to gag at the sight of her big brother and girlfriend making out as both parents looked on, smiling.

A/N 2: Written for the QLFC Round 9: Shakespeare. My play was, of course, 'The Tempest'. This was certainly a difficult round, it took me a long time before I found some w way to write a HP fic for it. Hope you like the result.

Thanks to firefly for betaing!

2968 words not counting title and A/Ns.