Edited by Septimus49


"...Bring in the accused"

As Harry Potter was forcefully dragged into the chamber, Sonya had to stifle a gasp as she took in his ragged appearance. Grasping tightly at her mother's hand, she drew a haggard breath at his ravaged, starved frame. His face was marred and scarred, and his raven hair was wild and distorted.

As she gazed into his eyes, Sonya softly whimpered. His enchanting emerald eyes that she so dearly loved that once contained happiness and joy were replaced by cool lifeless broken green orbs which showed suffering and pain.

Why? she thought It was all perfect. Everyone was so happy. So why?

The Girl Who Lived was disrupted from her musing by the silent sobs from Lily, who woefully clung to Sonya's arm. As the mother and daughter silently comforted each other, James was struck by shock as he took in his son's appearance. His son, who was once the popular heartthrob, who was once the Quidditch superstar, who was once the pride and joy of the Potter household.

His son, who was now a filthy Death Eater.

~ Line Break ~

Meanwhile, across the courtroom, Madam Amelia Bones, Head of the DMLE gave a sad glance at the Potter family. To outsiders, they were the perfect family. The father was the head Auror, while the mother was a renown potion mistress. The eldest daughter needed no introduction. She was the Girl Who Lived, who was the beacon of light for every single wizard and witches during the war, while the younger daughter was still a remarkable witch in her own right.

However, as a close friend of the Potter family, Amelia knew that Harry's betrayal struck a deep wound inside them. It baffled her as to why Harry would turn his back on them and go to their mortal enemies. It was one of the reasons she had personally volunteered to oversee his trial - she wanted to personally unveil the truth behind the enigma that was Harry Potter.

Clearing her throat, Amelia cast a Sonorus charm and spoke in a clear and commanding voice

"Harry James Potter, you are trialled for War Crimes, 5 cases of wizarding murder, 8 cases of murders of muggles, high treason, the murder of the Chief Warlock, multiple uses of Dark Magic and multiple uses of the Imperious, Cruciatus and Avada Kedavra! HOW DO YOU PLEAD?"

She watched as Harry slowly raised his head and whispered raspily in a barely audible voice.

"Guilty"

"Very well," Amelia declared "For your crime, you shall be sentenced to-"

"I object" a loud and powerful voice boomed through the courtroom. Instantly all heads turned toward the source.

"Ol-Old man! What are you doing?" Harry stammered uncharacteristically.

"Why, I'm here to defend you, of course." the mysterious man said.

"Th-this wasn't part of the plan! Just leave"

"Harry, why would I do that? After all, you'd be sentenced to the dementor's kiss"

"What if I want it? After all of this, what if I just want to be released?"

"Who are you! How dare you interfere a ministry trial!" Amelia bellowed.

The man chuckled "My name is Nicholas Flammel. I do believe you know me? As to your second question, I am, for lack of a better word, Harry Potter's attorney" he frowned "He is allowed an attorney, correct?"

Amelia Bones stared star-struck at the person claiming to be the Nicholas Flamel. Dumbledore's colleague and creator of the Philosopher stone. Whispers and murmurs filled the chamber, each sounding more puzzled than the previous.

After all, it wasn't every day you get to meet the most prestigious alchemist of all time.

~ Line Break ~

Akin to the rest of the court, all three Potters were in shock at the sight of the legendary Nicholas Flammel appearing to defend their son. Neither of the Flamels had shown themselves in public for over a century, and many had speculated that they were finally dead.

It confused Lily as to why he would defend her son. After all, Harry was the one who ruthlessly murdered Albus Dumbledore, who was the Flammels' apprentice. She could not help but wonder if maybe there was something else she didn't know, if there was something else that might explain everything.

"Lily-flower. I thought the Flammels were, you know, dead" James whispered, oblivious to his wife's ruminating.

"Well, clearly not" Lily hissed back, miffed that she was disrupted "What I can't wrap my head around is why he would be here at Harry's trial.l"

"From what I've seen so far, Harry clearly knows Nicholas from somewhere. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I'd say Flammel was looking at Harry with a grandfatherly gaze, sort of like what Albus does."

"You're right! How did I miss that?"

"Will both of you quieten down?" her daughter, who was still staring at the fallen Potter hissed "Amelia's saying something"

Deep down, Sonya was bewildered. Why did her brother plead guilty? Why did he object to Flammel wanting to defend him? Was he so broken that he embraced death? She couldn't remember the Harry she knew ever giving up that easily. The Harry she knew was the textbook definition of resilient and hard-working. Not this. Sighing in confusion, she turned away from her brother and instead focused on Madam Bones.

"Y-yes. State the defence for your client" the Head of DMLE stammered.

"Wait. Do I have no say in whether or not I want to be defended?" Harry shouted angrily.

"Harry, please. Let me do this." Flammel pleaded the convict "Consider this my payment toward you"

Glaring at the alchemist, Harry Potter reluctantly nodded his head.

Who does he think he is, going around messing with other people's business he brooded.

"Very well. It all started during the summer of 1990..." Flammel recalled, projecting the memory onto the empty space of the court, drawing attention at the obvious show of magic.

16th June 1990

"Sir? Why do you wish to see me? The train is leaving in an hour" a young voice called out.

The voice belonged to a younger, cleaner and more refined version of the Death Eater currently on trial. The young Harry Potter had his long raven hair in a stylish ponytail and was wearing a cobalt polo shirt along with sleek obsidian trouser.

"Harry, my boy. It's good to see you so healthy. Would you care for a lemon drop?" an alive and well Albus Dumbledore said.

"Don't call me 'your boy' headmaster. And I've bloody told you! I'd sooner eat Hagrid's rock cake whole than consume your blasted candies" Harry snarked at the elderly wizard "and you haven't answered my question. I have to meet some certain ladies before the train departs"

Chuckling at the 3rd year's remark, Dumbledore laughed.

"My my, what language. And it's quite interesting to watch you follow your father's rather... scandalous legacy. You know, sometimes I missed being young. It's quite heartening to see all the fun you youngsters have together."

Blushing with such ferocity that would make the Weasleys proud, Harry simply growled at the professor.

"And there is that trademark growl. As to why you are here, I have something to tell you. You know how your sister survived the killing curse-"

"Just HURRY up! I don't have all day!"

"Very well. Contrary to what most people think, Voldemort did not die that day. Simply put, he was reduced to a wandering spirit." Dumbledore patiently explained.

"And you're telling me this because...?"

"I have reasons to believe that Voldemort will go after Sonya Potter in the upcoming year."

"I'm assuming you're telling me this for a reason, other than the fact that I am her brother?" Harry wondered out loud.

"Your assumption is correct. I will be blunt. I need a double agent working under Voldemort. Although Severus is one, I fear he will not have enough motivation to put his life in danger. That is why I turned to you. I know how deeply you love your sister and how willing you are to sacrifice yourself for her."

"But why me? I know that I'm her brother. But aren't there more qualified hit-wizards and Aurors than me?" he asked.

"Don't sell yourself short Harry. Given time, you will develop into an extremely powerful wizard, perhaps warlock level. And you being Sonya's brother will mean a lot to Voldemort. After all, you will represent his way into the Potters. So, what do you say?"

Harry stood up and turned away, heading for the exit. Before touching the knob, he turned around;

"You will have to protect them at all cost. I don't care how much it cost you. I will not allow for any of them to fall to the Dark Lord."

"Of course my boy. I assume that your answer is yes?"

Taking one last hard stare at the headmaster, Harry opened the door and curtly replied.

"Of course"

Present Time

Murmurs rippled across the court as the memory slowly rippled away. Many were confused by the memory they were shown, not realising the significance of it. But there were a special few, who understood just how much that one single memory could change everything.

"The next one occurred on November 1994." Flammel declared with an authoritative tone that forcefully attracted attention.

Once again, with a wave of his hand, the memory flew up, causing silence to rain down upon the room.

1st November 1994

The door leading toward the Headmaster's chamber was burst open by an enraged Ravenclaw. Scanning the room with a hateful gaze, his emerald green eyes locked on its target with such ferocity that seemed to burn everything in its path.

"Diffindo! Expulso! Bombardo!" Harry Potter snarled "Incendio! Confringo!"

"Harry! Calm down!" a shocked Dumbledore demanded as he hastily conjured a shield "It would do none of us no good if you keep on firing curses in my office!"

"Fuck you, old coot" Harry bellowed "Ulcere(1)! Secare(2)!"

Sighing in defeat, Dumbledore raised his hand, instantly releasing a large shockwave which consumed Harry to Morpheus's realm. Pointing the elder wand at Harry, the elder wizard shouted:

"Rennervate."

Slowly, Harry opened his eyes groggily, his mind no doubt still suffering from the effect of being exposed to a large amount of sudden pure magic. When his eyes made its way to Dumbledore, he simply spat at the headmaster's robe and gave him the one finger salute.

"You promised." Harry growled graspingly "You promised she would be safe. Yet now she is in that blasted tournament."

"I'd like to apologise. It seems I have made a miscalculation on my part. On the bright side, I know without a doubt that Voldemort is planning his resurrection to happen by next summer. And that Alastor Moody, your DADA teacher, is, in fact, Barty Crouch Jr. under Polyjuice."

"Go do yourself" Harry mumbled "Crouch Jr. Crouch Jr. Where have I heard that name before?"

"He's related to Barty Crouch Senior, who you know is the head of DMLE. He was one of the Death Eater sold out by Karkaroff. I am however curious as to why he is alive. After all, Crouch Junior is supposedly buried outside Azkaban, presumably dead."

"Well, clearly he's not, then" Harry sarcastically sneered "And does that mean the next phase of our operation is about to start?"

"Yes. After this Christmas, you shall leave Hogwarts and train with the Flammels." Ignoring his young pupil's shock, Dumbledore continued "Meanwhile, you shall keep on giving hints to the Dark Lord sympathising students about how you hated your family, and wish for all blood traitors and Muggle-borns to be eliminated."

After a few seconds filled with silence, Harry nodded his head with determination all over his face.

"Very well"

Present Time

Staring at the space where the memory once was, Amelia Bones opened her mouth, before shutting it again, resembling a fish. Gathering up her courage, the head of DMLE spoke out.

"Wh-what happened next?"

"Well, after Christmas, instead of joining my sisters on the Express, I instead left the country and travelled abroad to the Flammel's mansion in France, where I trained every day until Voldemort's resurrection," Harry spoke, disrupting the thin veil of silence.

"And may I ask what happened at You Know Who's resurrection?" she enquired.

"Well, you all probably know what happened, so I'm not going to waste time and recount the entire event. However, unknown to anyone there, I was heavily concealed in the graveyard, where I watched the entire resurrection took place."

Looking at the crowd, specifically toward the Potters, Harry continued in a monotone voice.

"When Sonya Potter-" his voice suddenly broke before Harry grimaced and resumed "-duelled the Dark Lord, I secretly fired a Conjunctivitis and Dolor curse at him."

"You forgot how you messed with his ritual by placing the Draught of Living Death into his cauldron, which made him significantly more exposed and woundable." Flammel cheerfully chirped.

Amelia was shocked! If what Flammel claimed was correct, then what Harry Potter did had tremendously swung the tide of the war to the light side's favour from the start. If this was true... Then perhaps Harry really didn't betray them after all. Perhaps, Harry was sided with the light side from the start, perhaps that he simply was manipulated by Dumbledore to sacrifice his life for everyone else. It wouldn't be the first time the meddlesome Headmaster had done that.

"Is that all the defence for Mister Potter?" she asked.

"There are more, but I would like to discuss with my client before I show the rest of the memories." Flammel declared.

Amelia raised herself upward and organised all the paperwork concerning Harry Potter.

"Very well. This trial is concluded for today and shall be resumed tomorrow."


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(1) Very dark curse that devours the target's body inside out.

(2) Creates a deep wound inside the target. Similar to Sectemsempra but not as dark or dangerous.