When We Stand Together
Chapter 2
Sirius's Charges Dropped
As soon as the blue light disappeared Harry looked up to see that the quidditch stadium had already been evacuated. When Harry noticed this, he looked up at Cedric for an explanation.
"After I told Dumbledore what happened, he told everyone to leave and go up to the castle. He even told Fudge to wait in his office. Sirius appeared in his dog form when most of the students had gone back to the school" Cedric explained.
Dumbledore turned to Cedric and said, "Mr. Diggory if you will please go and fetch Professor Snape and ask him to bring to vials of Veritaserum and have him come up to my office please"
Dumbledore says.
Cedric nodded and gave Harry's shoulder a little squeeze before he went off to do what was he was told to do.
Next, Dumbledore turned to Hermione and Ron and told them to go to Professor Moody's office where McGonagall would be waiting with the imposter who was posing as Alastor all year long. "Please have Minerva bring up him to my office as well" Dumbledore says.
As Hermione and Ron left, it just left Harry, Sirius, Dumbledore, and the stunned and tied up Pettigrew.
"First off Harry, I want to apologize for putting you through this tournament" Dumbledore says as the group made their way back up to the castle (A/N: Sirius is dragging Pettigrew)
"It's alright sir, none of us could know that this tournament would end with Voldemort's revival" Harry said.
Soon enough the group found themselves back in the Headmaster's office. The scene that greeted them was not pleasant. As soon as Barty Crouch Jr. was brought into the headmaster's office, Fudge summoned a Dementor who automatically delivered its kiss to Crouch. The situation did not improve when Fudge caught sight of Sirius.
"Sirius Black!" Fudge exclaimed "You there, Dementor kiss him now!"
Dumbledore however shot out his patronus at the Dementor. The silvery white phoenix flew straight at the dementor making it disappear from his office.
"Cornelius I will explain everything, just give me an hour" Dumbledore says.
Cornelius bit his bottom lip as he considered this, before he nodded "Very well Albus" Fudge says.
Before Albus sat down at his desk, he gave his wand a wave and eight cozy armchairs appeared in front of his desk. "If everyone will please sit, we can get this moving" Dumbledore says.
Once everyone was seated, Dumbledore began his explanation.
"Everyone in this room at first believed that Sirius Black had been Lily and James's Secret-Keeper and that it had been him who had betrayed them and turned them in to Voldemort. I myself thought the same thing and had even given evidence to you Cornelius that this was true. However at the end of the 93-94 school year, I was produced with the evidence that it wasn't Sirius but instead Peter Pettigrew" Dumbledore says.
"Now wait just a minute Dumbledore, Mr. Pettigrew is dead and Black killed him and a bunch of muggles" Fudge says.
"Cornelius please look at that bound person and see who it is" Albus says putting the tips of his fingers together as the Minister bent over and turned over Pettigrew.
"My god it's Pettigrew" Fudge exclaimed, what color was left in his face after he saw Sirius had quickly drained out as he stared down at the supposed dead wizard.
"Now that we've got that out of the way, Severus if you would please open Peter's mouth and pour some Veritaserum into his mouth" Dumbledore says.
Severus simply nodded his head as he and Sirius heaved the stunned Peter into a chair and Sirius held open Peter's mouth so Snape could pour the truth potion down Peter's throat.
Once the potion vial was empty, Severus pointed his wand at Peter's chest and muttered "Enervate".
At once, Peter's eyes snapped open and he looked up at everyone in confusion, his eyes clouded and glazed over.
"Do you know who I am?" Dumbledore asked as he leaned forward, his twinkling blue eyes locking with Pettigrew's.
"Albus Dumbledore" Pettigrew says in a monotone voice.
"Is it true that you were Lily and James's secret-keeper and not Sirius Black?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes" Pettigrew replies.
"Is it also true that you were the one who betrayed James and Lily and not Sirius?" Dumbledore said.
"Yes" Peter says.
"Well there you go Cornelius, now you have proof that it was indeed Peter who had betrayed Harry's parents" Dumbledore says.
"This certainly has changed some things" Fudge mumbled as he fumbled with the clasp on his cloak.
"I take it that the ministry will now stop the manhunt for Sirius and that you will give a public statement apologizing for having sentenced an innocent man to Azkaban?" Dumbledore asked as he looked up at the flustering Minister for Magic.
"Of course, of course" Fudge muttered as he continued to fumble with his cloak clasp.
"Good now with this matter out of the way, we need to talk about what we need to do in order to combat against Voldemort" Dumbledore says.
"Combating against You-Know-Who?" What are you talking about Dumbledore?" Fudge asks.
"Cornelius, Voldemort returned to power less than an hour ago, Barty Crouch Jr. while impersonating Alastor Moody, changed the tri-wizard cup into a portkey where it transported Harry Potter and Mr. Diggory to a graveyard outside a small muggle village, where Voldemort was "reborn" with the help of a regeneration potion" Dumbledore explains.
"That's impossible Dumbledore, You-Know-Who has been dead for thirteen years and yet you are taking the word of a fourteen year old boy. Have you even been reading the prophet these past few months? Forget to mention that the boy can speak Parsletounge? Did you even take the time to think that this is perhaps a cry for more attention?" Fudge says.
Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. How could Fudge who he always thought of an Uncle-type of figure think that he was making this up?
"Cornelius please don't let your ego ruin this one chance for us to combine our forces for the coming battles that lay ahead" Dumbledore says.
It seemed that whatever Dumbledore said wouldn't shake Fudge to see reason. Fudge just wouldn't accept it. He knew in his heart that You-Know-Who was dead and would continue to remain dead and if Dumbledore and Potter wanted to spread attention-seeking lies then he would do his best to slander their name.
Cornelius fixed his cloak before he strode towards the exit of Dumbledore's office. Before leaving, he turned and said "Sirius as Minister for Magic, I hereby pardon you of your crimes, you are no longer a wanted man".
A/N: End of Chapter 2 Please Read and Review!
