Author's note: Hi! A slightly longer part of the chapter this week, really getting to the heart of this part of the story. Another familiar face appears too! I really like this part, I hope you do too! (The final part of the chapter will be up in 2-3 days).

iv)

The Wizengamot was sitting in full session. When Lissy entered from the back of the court, the fifty court members were already present, wearing the full formal regalia, including the plum coloured robes embroidered with a silver 'W'. They filled the upper gallery, looking down into the central well of the court. The Minister of Magic himself was to sit as judge, though as yet his chair remained empty.

In the well of the court there were rows of desks, neatly divided by a central aisle. The front two desks on were reserved for counsel, who represented each party. The applicant, the Auror Office, was on the right; and the respondent, the Office of Protection, was on the left. Behind the place reserved for counsel were further desks where members of the parties could sit to provide instructions to their representative.

Lissy went to the left side of the court, to the second row of desks from the front. John Bosman was already there, flicking through a sheaf of papers and glancing at his watch. 'Have you seen Mr Jermyn?' Bosman whispered to Lissy, as she sat down.

'No, why?' asked Lissy.

'Not turned up, yet,' muttered Bosman.

'Damn,' said Lissy. Mr Jermyn was supposed to be representing the Office of Protection.

Lissy looked at the parties sitting opposite. The counsel acting for the Aurors' Office was Mr Saville. He was already seated at the appellant bench. Ignatius Saville was the favourite lawyer of the Aurors' Office. He was immaculate in presentation, and he had both a quick wit and razor sharp tongue. His air of virtue and uprightness was a misleading facade for a department of ruthless, law breaking thugs. Yet in one way he was similar to those he represented: the zealous way with which he pursued his case was akin to the single-mindedness of the Aurors.

The court clerk was becoming tetchy. From his position just below the Minister's seat, he kept staring up at the large court clock and tutting loudly. Court was due to start, but he would not want to invite the Minister to court until counsel for the respondent had arrived. Where was Mr Jermyn?

Another minute went by, and the clerk starting tapping the base of his wand on his desk. He looked to Bosman and was about to open his mouth to speak when the court room door was flung open and a short, slim witched rushed inside. Her black robes billowed as she walked, and her bushy brown hair bobbed up and down in a ponytail. She dropped a thick bungle of papers down on the front desk and composed herself as she straightened her robes.

The cantankerous clerk grunted when he saw her arrive, and left the courtroom through the back door. When he returned he had the Minister of Magic in tow.

'What's she doing here?' hissed Lissy, looking at the witch who was apparently representing them. 'Where's Mr Jermyn?'

Bosman shook his head in a way that said 'I have no idea.'

'All rise!' said the clerk loudly.

Everyone in the room stood up as Kingsley Shacklebolt made his way to his chair, nodded to the court and took his seat. The court followed his example, save for the two counsel who remained standing.

The Minister looked around, glanced at his papers, then looked down into the well of the court at the woman who was standing where Mr Jermyn should have been. 'Mrs Weasley,' said Shacklebolt, in his deep, slow tone, 'to what do I owe the pleasure?'

'Apologies, Minister,' said Hermione Weasley, 'Mr Jermyn has been taken sick. I have been instructed to act in his place.'

Lissy turned to Bosman with a face like thunder. 'She's Weasley's wife!' she whispered. 'This is wrong! The Aurors are setting us up.'

Bosman did not look worried. 'Hermione is no stooge of the Aurors office,' he said. 'I am sure of that.'

'But-' protested Lissy, but Bosman put a finger to his lips to indicate silence.

'Your Excellence,' said Mrs Weasley to the Minister, 'may I have one moment to consult those instructing me?'

The Minister nodded with a relaxed smile, though his clerk blew out his moustache and resumed tapping his wand on the desk. Mrs Weasley turned around to talk to Bosman and Lissy.

'John,' said Mrs Weasley to Bosman, with an awkward smile. 'This is strange.'

Bosman leaned over to Lissy. 'I was Hermione's Protector when she was a child,' he explained. 'I've known her for twenty years.' Lissy nodded slowly – that was well, but it did not mean she was free from bias.

'Sorry about the late change,' said Mrs Weasley, as she tucked a loose curl of hair behind her ear. 'Mr Jermyn's ill. He started growing purple scales, so he's been taken into to St Mungo's.'

Lissy was not happy. The Protectors' representative was married to the chief witness for the Auror Office. It was not fair. Lissy folded her arms and said to Mrs Weasley: 'When you took this brief, did you know your husband was on the other side?'

Mrs Weasley glanced across the room to where her husband was speaking in hushed tones with Ignatius Saville. Weasley looked up, gave Lissy a stupid smile and a silly wave of his fingers. He looked amused at the situation. Mrs Weasley huffed and looked back at Lissy and Bosman. 'I guessed he would be here,' she said, with a shrug. 'It's just like the Chief Auror to send his right-hand man.'

'So you're not just his pretty little puppet?' asked Lissy, raising an eyebrow.

'Lissy,' said Bosman, silencing her with a sharp look. Mrs Weasley was affronted by Lissy's words, but Bosman mollified her. 'Forgive my cynical understudy, Hermione. We have no reservations with your acting.'

Mrs Weasley smiled at Bosman. 'Thank you, John,' she said. She gave Lissy a narrow, untrusting glance then turned to face the assembled Wizengamot.

'Understudy indeed,' muttered Lissy, just loud enough for Bosman to hear.

The Minister called on Ignatius Saville to open proceedings for the applicant. He stood up tall, folded his arms behind his back, and spoke with a crisp clear tone. He introduced the case for the Auror's office. 'Minister, it is the case of the Aurors' office that the Ministry should take the wizard Richard Miller away from his Muggle mother, and into the custody of the Ministry. He is a danger to Muggle society. If the Ministry does not intervene now, the boy will soon become a danger to the wizarding world too.'

The chief witness for the Auror's office was to be Ronald Weasley. When Saville had finished opening the case he was called to the witness stand to give his testimony for the Auror's office. He strode up to the witness box with a strut in his step, and regarded Lissy and Bosman before turning his eyes to Saville.

'Mr Weasley, you are the Auror who brought the child into custody?' asked Saville.

'Yes,' said Weasley.

'How old is the boy?' asked Saville.

'Three years old,' said Weasley.

'Why did you apprehend him?' asked Saville.

'For use of underage magic,' said Weasley. At one he changed his expression and became quite sober. 'He caused a Muggle vehicle to explode. Three people were killed.'

The Wizengamot already knew this of course. It was common knowledge in the Ministry. Nevertheless there were some sharp intakes of breath when Weasley gave this evidence.

'Tell the court about the apprehension of the child, please,' said Saville, crisply.

'Certainly,' said Weasley. 'When I went to take him into care, he got upset, and he started to use magic unconsciously. The building we were in began to shake. I've never known any young wizard to be so strong.'

Ignatius Savilled nodded. 'Why does the Auror Office feel so strongly about this application?'

'It is the will of the Chief Auror,' said Weasley, rather importantly. He looked up and made eye contact with the Minister, and then spoke aloud to the members of the Wizengamot. 'You all know and trust the Chief Auror as an expert in powerful magic. He believes that the child is a danger. We must take measures to ensure he is brought up safely within the magical community, where he can understand his powers, and learn to control them.'

Ignatius Saville thanked Weasley for his testimony, and then took his seat. Hermione Weasley stood up. She brushed her hair back and smoothed her robes, then turned to the witness box to address her husband.

'Mr Weasley,' said Mrs Weasley.

'Yes dear,' he said, with an insipid smile.

Lissy gritted her teeth. What an insufferable ignoramus! This was important and he was going to use his wife to make a mockery of their case. Bosman saw Lissy become agitated and gave her a warning shake of his head.

Fortunately, Mrs Weasley paid no mind to her husband's conduct. 'How long has the Auror's office been monitoring the boy Richard Miller?'

Weasley shrugged his shoulders. 'Since the explosion.'

'Did you know of the boy's existence before that event?' asked she.

'No,' said Weasley, disinterestedly, 'children aren't our main concern at the Auror's office.'

'Has the office ever previously made an application for the Ministry to take custody of a child?' asked Mrs Weasley, raising her tone.

'Not that I'm aware of,' said Weasley. 'But no three year old wizard has ever killed three Muggles before.'

'Tell me,' said Mrs Weasley, 'if this matter is so crucial to the Chief Auror, why is he not giving evidence today himself?'

'He's on urgent business in Spain,' said Weasley, nonchalantly. 'Auror business. You wouldn't understand. There's a lot of dark wizards doing a lot of nasty things which you don't want to know about. He's making sure our children safe at night, dear.'

He was being utterly patronising! Lissy wanted to hex him right there and then. She gripped her wand tightly under her robe, and distracted herself by imagining how satisfying it would be to turn him into a toad or a stoat or something else foul.

Mrs Weasley waited for a few moments, then looked up to the Minister. 'I have no further questions,' she said.

Kingsely Shacklebolt nodded and told Weasley that he could step down from the witness stand. Weasley swaggered back to his desk. Lissy was baffled by the man. He was so relaxed, as though he had no interest in the proceedings whatsoever. It was as though he did not care about winning the case. Either that... or he did not think he would lose.

It was now the turn of the respondent party to make its case. Hermione spoke calmly as she said: 'The respondent calls Lisete Quixley.'

'Keep your head, kid,' murmured Bosman as Lissy stood up. 'Remember she's on our side.' Lissy cast him a doubtful look, then took up her place in the witness stand.

'You are Lisete Quixley?' asked Mrs Weasley.

'Yes,' said Lissy.

'You are a Protector of the Office of Protection?' asked Mrs Weasley.

'Yes,' said Lissy.

'And you are an Auror, as well,' asked Mrs Weasley.

'Yes,' said Lissy. Her eyes strayed to Ronald Weasley on the other side of the room as she gave that answer. He met her glance and leaned forward to speak forward to Ignatius Saville.

Mr Saville suddenly stood up. 'Your Excellence, I must interject,' he said, 'Miss Quixley is not an Auror.'

Lissy looked at Saville and Weasley and anger boiled within her. Memories of her years of training rushed through her mind, and she said adamantly: 'I am an Auror.'

...

Lissy had graduated from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, at the top of her class, with Outstanding grades in five N.E.W.T.s. When she left school, she was flooded with job offers. The Daily Prophet, Gringotts Bank, every department of the Ministry of Magic: everybody wanted to make the most of her talents. In the end she had taken a job which she had never planned for, as a trainee in the Auror Office.

Lissy had never harboured an aspiration to become an Auror, so when she was first offered the traineeship she turned it down. But then she was personally approached by a well-known and influential young Auror, who wanted to take her as his personal trainee. He had insisted that she come work with him, and of course... he was a man to whom nobody said 'no'.

She soon came to regret the decision. Her mentor was a hard and uncompromising man, whose methods were severe. He flouted Auror rules, arrested people on the barest suspicion of dark wizardry, and inflicted great pain on them to withdraw confessions and information. She despised his methods, but he did not care for her dissent. Then things got worse.

Her mentor was appointed as the Chief Auror. So it was that the Auror office entered a new age of draconian abuse of power. The new Chief went after anyone suspected of dabbling in the dark arts with a ferocious zeal. In Lissy's final year of training, the new Chief sent more witches and wizards to Azkaban than in the previous five. At the root of the Chief's attitude was a desire to protect and serve the magical community, and she knew that he had a good heart, but he was stubborn and stuck in his ways, and refused to soften his approach.

Once her training was complete and she was qualified as an Auror, Lissy resigned from the office. After three years of working for that harsh regime, she had had enough. The Chief Auror was angry. He said she was far too useful to the office to squander her talents elsewhere.

She had joined the Office of Protection so that she could use her talents to help guide the future generation, rather than throw the current generation behind bars.

...

In the Wizengamot, the court waited for an answer. 'I am a trained Auror,' said Lissy, levelly. 'But now I work for the Office of Protection.'

Mr Saville looked ready to interject again, but Kingsley Shacklebolt waved him down and nodded for Mrs Weasley to continue. 'How long have you been observing Richard Miller?' she asked.

'A little over a year,' said Lissy.

'Please describe the type of acts you have witnessed him perform,' said Mrs Weasley.

'He's not normally so violent,' said Lissy. 'There have been disturbances. Muggle electrics often break around him, and there are tremors in the ground, but no-one gets hurt. The incident in London was a one-off.'

'Why do you believe he should not be taken into custody?' asked Mrs Weasley.

'Because he needs to be with this mother,' said Lissy, looking up at the wizards and witches above. 'You can't take a child from their mother. It will ruin his life, and surely that is more likely to make him unstable. And...' Lissy paused, shaking slightly.

'And, Miss Quixley?' prompted the Minister.

'He needs to be loved, your Excellence,' said Lissy. 'I know what it's like to have that love taken away from you at an early age. It will tear him apart.' Dreadful memories flashed in her mind, and she fought to keep a grip on her emotions. Her hands trembled.

Mrs Weasley looked up at the Wizengamot, and contentment spread across her face. She was pleased with the evidence Lissy had given. 'I have no further questions,' she said, sitting down.

Now Ignatius Saville stood up, locking Lissy in his sights. He took a few moments, feigning sympathy whilst she collected herself, and trying to show air of mild patronising embarrassment at her emotional words.

'Miss Quixley,' he said, 'we have heard persuasive testimony from you. Nobody here questions the importance of the loving bond between mother and child. But there is a greater reality here. How many people did Miller kill?'

'Three,' said Lissy, flatly, 'accidentally.'

'Adults?' asked Saville.

'Yes,' said Lissy.

'With children of their own, no doubt,' said Saville. 'How many more mothers and father must die so that Miller can live as a Muggle?'

'No more will die,' said Lissy, raising her voice. 'The Protectors will keep him safe. Even in the Muggle world.'

'Yet you have already failed in that task, have you not?' asked Saville.

'We didn't know what we were dealing with!' said Lissy, gripping the edge of the witness box. 'And he'll be safer with us than with that lot controlling him!' She pointed a finger at Weasley.

'Miss Quixley,' said Kingsley Shacklebolt from the Minister's seat, in his deep, calming tone. 'How can you make such a guarantee?'

'I'll protect him,' she said, 'day and night. I'll make sure he doesn't hurt anyone else.'

'I should tell you,' Kingsley said slowly, 'I am strongly persuaded to follow the advice of the Chief Auror. The boy should come to the Ministry.'

'Then let his mother live in the magical community too!' said Lissy. 'Don't keep them apart!'

There were some shocked gasps from the assembly above, and mutterings of 'outrageous,' and 'foolish'. The Minister shook his head slowly.

'Don'y you see what you're doing?' said Lissy. She looked around at the Wizengamot and pleaded with them. 'Is this not too familiar? A powerful wizard, raised without a mother, unloved? You're risking setting up another Voldemort!'

There began a deep rumbling and murmuring in the assembly. The Minister bowed his head and shifted uncomfortably. In the well of the court, Bosman was tense, and Mrs Weasley was apprehensive. Across the room, Ronald Weasley kept a straight expression. How could he be so calm? He had been part of Dumbledore's Army, the famous few who had defeated the Dark Lord. Did he not fear what Miller could become?

After a while the Minister looked up and addressed Mr Saville. 'Do you have any further questions?' he asked.

'None, your Excellence,' said Saville to the Minister.

Lissy returned to her place and folded her arms tightly. Bosman tried to put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged him away. Mr Saville and Mrs Weasley made closing speeches, summarising the evidence that had been given and putting forward their most persuasive case. During this time Lissy sat with her eyes lowered, not wanting to look up at the wizards gathered above.

Eventually the Minister addressed the Wizengamot. 'You have heard the application and the response. Those supporting the Auror Office, please raise your hand.'

The vast majority of hands went straight up, and Lissy's heart sank. They had lost. The Minister did not bother to count the opposing votes.

'As Minister of Magic I order the following,' said Shacklebolt. 'The boy known as Richard Miller shall be taken into the care of the Ministry of Magic. He is to be under constant supervision, so that his extraordinary power will not be a danger. His connections to the Muggle world will be severed, and his contact with his mother will be limited to designated occasions.'

'It's just a sham', said Lissy, standing up and accusing the minister. 'There's no justice. You're all under the thumb of the Aurors!'

The Minister said nothing. He looked uncomfortable, but his face showed quiet resolution. As Lissy stood trembling, Bosman stood up and hastened her back into her seat. Lissy slumped down beside him and gripped her wand tightly.

She turned to Bosman and whispered. 'As soon as the Chief is back from Spain, I'm going to go and sort him out,' said Lissy, gripping her wand. 'There's still one witch in this Ministry that isn't under the spell of Harry Potter.'