Enough is Enough

by alwaysanonymous123

Harry returns to Privet Drive after the Department of Mysteries fight. Fed up with being controlled by Dumbledore, Harry, with the help of his secret friend, Daphne Greengrass, run away. Together, they learn about the betrayal of Harry's so-called friends and prepare to take on the war. ArthurShade will be continuing this story.

7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, as it belongs to J.K. Rowling
A/N: Published

July 15, 1996

Albus Dumbledore woke up in the morning bright and early. After dressing in his purple Wizengamot robes, he left his personal quarters and made his way where he made his way to the great hall for breakfast.

"Good morning, Minerva," he greeted his colleague with a little too much energy for someone his age.

"Morning, Albus," she replied. "What has you in such a good mood?"

"The Wizengamot is meeting today."

"Are we finally going to get rid of that idiot of a minister?"

"Ahh... Now that is not up to me to decide is it? But I am confident that the Wizengamot will do what they think is best."

Finishing his breakfast quickly, Albus Dumbledore left for the Ministry of Magic. He always made sure to arrive early to courtroom ten, which doubled as the Wizengamot chambers. 'I love watching these fools fight amongst themselves,' he thought to himself, smiling. 'It's a good thing that I'm here to guide them.'

Scene Break

Many miles away, the residents at Potter Manor were getting up as well, knowing that today would change the lives of every wizard and witch in Britain.

"Harry," Daphne said, nudging Harry. "We have to get up."

"Don't wanna. Comfy," he mumbled back, trying to pull Daphne back under the covers.

Daphne huffed. "Well I tried asking nicely." She conjured a bucket of cold water above his head and began to tip it over.

"Huh?" he said blinking open his eyes just before he was hit with a face-full of water.

"What was that for?" he sputtered, shivering from the wetness.

"I told you to wake up," Daphne said, giving him a grin. "Now be a good boy and go take a shower and get dressed."

"Yes, mum," Harry replied cheekily.

Twenty minutes later, Harry walked into the kitchen and took a seat at the counter where Winky was serving breakfast.

"You guys ready?" asked Astoria

"Yup. Daphne, Aunt Amy and Gran have come up with a solid plan."

Lord Greengrass still hadn't realized that his daughters were missing, so Daphne and Astoria couldn't be seen. Harry hadn't wanted either of them to go to the Wizengamot meeting, but Daphne had put a lot of time and effort into preparing for the meeting and wanted to be there to see the result of her hard work and to support Harry. In the end, Daphne agreed to attend under disguise, but Harry would not let Astoria put herself in danger for nothing, so she reluctantly agreed to spend the day with Ellie.

After Remus and Tonks finally came downstairs, the group flooed to Longbottom Manor, where Susan, Neville, and Gran were waiting.

"Auntie already went to the Ministry to get things started," informed Susan.

Astoria greeted everyone and have Neville a kiss on his cheek, making the boy blush. Neville had gained a lot of confidence in the last year, but was still a little shy with his feelings.

Astoria threw some floor powder into the fireplace and called out, "91 Norman Road!"

Tonks stayed around to chat for a while before leaving to do her role to prepare for the meeting.

A little bit later, Remus and Daphne, who now had dark brown hair and pair of fake glasses, left to do their task as well.

Half an hour before the Wizengamot meeting, Harry, Neville, Susan and Augusta flooed to the Ministry of Magic atrium. Harry was disguised to avoid being recognized. Madam Longbottom led them to the security guard to have their wands checked.

"Madam Longbottom and company for the Wizengamot meeting."

"Wands please?" The guard asked in a bored voice.

Each person took turns giving the guard his or her wand for him to check, except for Harry.

"Don't have it with me," he grunted, making his voice much deeper than normal. Harry actually did have his wand on him, in an invisible holster on his forearm, but he wasn't about to let anyone know who he was.

"He's with me," said Augusta sternly, silencing the guard's inquiry about Harry's identity. With another glare, the guard quickly let them through. Being on the Wizengamot did have its perks.

The three teens followed Madam Longbottom to her office and spent the last few minutes going over Harry's role one last time.

Scene break

Lucius Malfoy made his way to Amelia Bones's office an hour before the Wizengamot meeting began. He had received a note this morning requesting for him to come in to finalize some paperwork for his "pardon".

"I am here to see Madam Bones," sneered Lucius.

The secretary checked Madam Bones's schedule to confirm that he had a meeting and led him into her office, closing the door behind him and returning to her desk.

"Madam Bones," Lord Malfoy said coldly.

"Lord Malfoy. Please take a seat," she replied diplomatically.

The blonde Death Eater took a seat delicately, maintaining the appearance of a properly groomed pureblood.

As soon as Malfoy was seated, a disillusioned auror silently casted a stunning spell and Malfoy immediately lost consciousness. Another spell later and he was bound to the chair he was in.

"Thank you Robards. Let's get some veritaserum down his throat."

The auror, Gawain Robards, pulled a vial of the potion of of his robes and put three drops into Malfoy's mouth, which Amelia was holding open. Robards was one of the few aurors that had Amelia's complete trust. She wasn't sure who was a spy for Voldemort, but, thanks to Harry, she at least knew who worked for Dumbledore.

"Ennervate."

Lucius Malfoy's eyes blinked open. "What just happened?"

"Lord Malfoy. You are under arrest for witnessing the resurrection of the Dark Lord and endangering the lives of over 500 students. You have been dosed with three drops of veritaserum," said Amelia.

"What? I was called in to make my pardon official."

"Well, as you can see, that is not what you were actually called in for. Now, I will begin the questioning."

"What is your full name?"

"Lucius Abraxas Malfoy."

"Are you a Death Eater?"

"Yes."

"Did you join the Dark Lord Voldemort willingly?"

"Yes."

"Did you witness the rebirth of the Dark Lord Voldemort?"

"Yes."

"Did you give Ginevra Weasley the Dark Lord Voldemort's diary?"

"Yes."

"What was the purpose of the book?"

"To open the Chamber of Secrets to kill mudbloods."

Now that she had Malfoy's confession to the two crimes that she could charge him with, Amelia was legally allowed to question him about other crimes and for information.

"How does a person receive the Dark Mark?"

"The Dark Lord brands everyone himself.

"Are there any requirements needed to receive the Dark Mark?"

"Every follower must use all three unforgivables on at least three different muggles."

Amelia was horrified. "Can an unwilling person take the Dark Mark?"

"No. The magic of the mark would conflict with the person's magic and kill him."

This was good to know. Now Amelia could legally prosecute anyone with the mark. "Do you bribe any ministry officials?"

"Yes. Cornelius Fudge."

"Nobody else?"

"No. I supply Fudge with enough money so that he can bribe others himself."

Amelia pulled out her wand and stunned Malfoy before the veritaserum wore off. "Auror Robards, please strip Lord Malfoy of everything that is not normal clothing, including all wands, dangerous items, and portkeys, and take him to a ministry holding cell. I want you to stay with him and make sure nobody else comes into contact with him, not even other aurors. I will summon you during the Wizengamot meeting, at which time you will bring him to courtroom ten."

Robards nodded his understanding and levitated Malfoy out of Amelia's office to do what she asked.

Scene Break

Tonks left Longbottom Manor and apparated to the edge of a forest just outside of the town of Wrexham. She walked to a nearby street of relatively upscale houses and made her way to number nine and rang the doorbell.

A man with short brown hair answered the door. "Hello. How can I help you?"

"Hi, is this the Granger household?"

"It is. My name is Tonks. I'm a friend of Hermione's. Is she here?"

"Hold on one sec." Mr. Granger turned around and shouted out, "Hermione! Someone to see you."

Tonks could hear footsteps coming down some stairs.

"Hey, Tonks!"

"Hello Hermione," she replied with a fake smile.

"What are you doing here?"

"There's something I need to talk to you and your family about. Can I come in?"

"Yes please."

Hermione led Tonks to the living room and her parents came in and sat down.

"So what's this about."

"I'm sorry about this," Tonks said before she quickly drew her wand and bound Hermione in ropes.

"What the hell?" yelled the bushy haired girl.

"What is the meaning of this?" demanded Mr. Granger.

"Hermione Jean Granger, you are hereby under arrest by the Ministry of Magic for the embezzlement of funds from the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter."

"Hermione. Is this true?" asked her mother.

"As Harry's friend, I am entitled to his money. Especially with how much I help him with everything," she declared arrogantly.

Hermione's father shook his head sadly. "We did not raise you to be this way." He turned to Tonks and said, "I'm sorry, I had no idea that this was going on."

"I understand. I will need to take Hermione to the ministry with me. Her trial will take place in an hour. Here is a portkey to the Ministry of Magic," she said, giving Mr. Granger a piece of rope. "At 10:50 it will take anyone touching it to the ministry."

Tonks stunned Hermione and bid goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Granger. She grabbed Hermione and apparated to the ministry's auror apparition point. Tonks took Hermione's wand and deposited her in a low level holding cell that was only protected by unbreakable bars.

Tonks revived Hermione and left. Leaving her alone with the other people in the ministry holding cells.

"Granger?" asked a voice.

"Professor Snape?"

Scene Break

Remus and a disguised Daphne apparated to just outside the Burrow. Daphne was dressed in a pair of second-hand robes to further add to her disguise.

Mrs. Weasley came out of the oddly shaped house to greet them. "Hello Remus! It's been a while since you've been around. Who's your friend?"

"I've been busy lately. And this is my friend..."

"Rachel," Daphne cut off.

"Yeah. Anyway, Dumbledore sent me here. He said that you, Arthur, Ron and Ginny should attend the Wizengamot meeting at eleven."

"Alright. I'll let everyone know."

"We're going as well, so we can all go together."

"That'd be great."

Scene Break

Ten minutes before the Wizengamot meeting began, Riptooth was having a meeting of his own.

"Today, we are here to fix an issue that began almost fifteen years ago. For the past fifteen years, people have been stealing from the the Potter account."

This caused many of the goblins to start yelling out and calling for blood. Riptooth specifically left out the fact that money was being stolen from Harry's trust vault, and not the Potter Family vault. The younger goblins would simply assume that the gold was taken from the larger vault and do their duties more passionately.

"You will each be assigned a vault and be told how much will be taken from the vault and where it will go. Much of the money recovered will return to the Potter account, but Gringotts will be receiving a good sum of golds for recovering the money and in fines for stealing from a Gringotts client."

This caused many of the goblins to cheer. Riptooth gave all the goblins except for Griphook their vault assignments.

"Sir, I did not receive an assignment," Griphook informed his superior.

"No. You will be with me. We will take care of the Dumbledore vault. We are finally able to deal with the slippery old man."

The goblins had no love for Albus too many names Dumbledore. The old man had always treated goblins as trash, ordering them around in their own bank. Now that he had been caught stealing from another client, he was banned from Gringotts and all of his gold would be confiscated. If he didn't have enough to pay back what he stole with interest or the bank's fine, then his properties would be confiscated until everything was paid off. And since the fine for breaking goblin law was up to the bank, the goblins were going to take everything in his vaults and confiscate all of his properties.

An hour later, the vaults of Albus Dumbledore, Molly Prewett, Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger no longer existed and all four were permanently banned from Gringotts worldwide.

Scene Break

Albus Dumbledore was sitting in his Chief Warlock seat in courtroom ten, unaware of anything unusual. He watched as the members of the Wizengamot arrived. The light and dark factions avoided each other as much as possible. The neutral lords were ignored by both the light and the dark. The dark thought that they were too close to the light side and the light viewed them as dark. And of course, the light faction believed that dark meant evil.

Dumbledore was surprised that Augusta Longbottom did not arrive until ten minutes before the meeting began. She usually arrived very early to chat with the other members of the Wizengamot. She was one of the few members of the light faction that was not under Dumbledore's thumb.

Augusta had been a part of the Wizengamot for many years. She held the Longbottom seat after the death of her husband and never turned it over to her son, and Neville's father, Frank, because he was too busy fighting the war against Voldemort.

Three teenagers followed Madam Longbottom into the room. Dumbledore recognized two of them as Neville Longbottom and Susan Bones. This was not very surprising, as both of them had future seats on the Wizengamot, so it would make sense for them to attend some meetings to get an idea what was expected. Dumbledore also knew that they occasionally studied together, so it would make sense that they would attend something like this.

However, it was the third teenager that intrigued him. Albus did not recognize him, so he figured that the teenager was foreign or home schooled. However looking closely, he detected the faint shimmer of a glamour charm. Which caught his interest.

Dumbledore could tell that it was a boy because he was clearly very well built, but was also too short to be an adult. The boy carried himself like a warrior. He took swift and efficient steps and his head would constantly turned to search side, observing for threats.

Before he could think too much about the mysterious person, Dumbledore's attention was distracted by a loud voice.

"Mum. Why are we at the Wizengamot meeting?" shouted Ron.

The other people in the room glared at the redhead. Mrs. Weasley shushed her son and whispered something in his ear. Ron glanced towards Dumbledore for a second, but didn't give anything away in his expression. Molly Weasley led her family to a row of seats in the visitors section. Ginny and Arthur followed along dutifully, the latter confused as to why they were here.

Remus and Daphne followed the family of rehearsal to their seats. Dumbledore was once again curious as to who the unknown person was. This was the second disguised person that had arrived. Dumbledore wondered what was going on, but he was unworried, after all, he was Albus Dumbledore.

From his chair, Dumbledore tried to catch the girl's eye to use passive legilimency, but it seemed that she would look everywhere except at him. She was talking with Remus, and it was clear that they had known each other for a while. He wondered if she had anything to do with Remus's recent disappearances.

Dumbledore was so focused on these two mysteries that he didn't even notice Mr. and Mrs. Granger enter the courtroom. If he had, he would have realized that something was wrong because muggles were only allowed inside the Ministry of Magic for legal matters regarding close family members..

He did notice that Lucius Malfoy was not present, which was not uncommon. Since Voldemort's return, Lucius had missed many Wizengamot meetings, so Dumbledore did not overthink the issue.

Minister Fudge rushed into the courtroom just before the doors were closed. Dumbledore looked around, taking notes of the visitors. He didn't pay close attention to the Wizengamot seats because he knew exactly who was sitting where. It was the same every single time.

He saw the Lovegoods in the visitor section as well. 'Curious,' he thought to himself. 'I wonder what they're doing here.'

Dumbledore looked to the court scribe, who happened to be Percy Weasley. Percy nodded to show that he was ready, so Dumbledore banged his gavel and shouted out, "I call this meeting to order!"

Once everyone was seated and quiet, he asked, "Does any member of Wizengamot have something important that they feel needs to be addressed before we proceed with the agenda?"

There was a lot of nervous glancing around. They were all waiting for someone to call for a vote of no confidence the minister. After a few moments, Amelia raised her wand and lit the tip, indicating that she had something to bring to the floor.

"Madam Bones, the floor is yours."

"Thank you, Chief Warlock." This was the cue for some of her most trusted aurors to get into action. In the blink of an eye, an auror appeared right next to Albus Dumbledore stunned him. The auror then quickly vanished everything Dumbledore had on him except for his underwear and then conjured a simple black cloak over the old man. He finished off by binding him in ropes.

The entire Wizengamot and visitors section was in an uproar. Even the dark faction was stunned by what had just happened. In the midst of the chaos, nobody noticed that Molly and Ronald Weasley were also stunned and had their possessions removed. The aurors that were loyal to Dumbledore didn't know what to do. If they did anything to try to help him, they would be going against the Amelia, who was represented the entire DMLE.

"What is the meaning of this?" yelled Amos Diggory.

"In a moment, Lord Diggory," Amelia replied. "We must wait for a few people."

Moments later, Molly and Ron were escorted onto the ground level in handcuffs.

"WHAT ARE YOU IDIOTS DOING?" shouted Ron. "IVE DONE NOTHING TO DESERVE THIS."

Hermione was led in as well, but at least she was smart brought out keep quiet. Unlike Ron, she knew why she was here, and knew that she was probably already defeated.

"HERMIONE? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"

Before Ron could say anything else, he was silenced by Tonks.

Amelia used her wand to create several large bangs to get everyone's attention. Once everyone settled down, she began, "Today, I am here to press charges against these four."

As expected, this caused another stir amongst the people. Again, Amelia had to restore order by creating loud bangs with her wand.

"Everything will become clear momentarily. Now, as the Chief Warlock is unable to perform his duties, procedure says that the longest member of the Wizengamot is to act as Chief of this assembly until the Chief Warlock is able to resume his duties. So, Madam Longbottom, if you will," said Amelia, indicating for Augusta to take Dumbledore's former chair.

The Dumbledore supporters seemed very happy about this, since the Longbottom family had consistently been voting with the light faction.

Cornelius Fudge wasn't stupid. He knew that if a vote of no confidence was called, then he would be out of office immediately. So he decided to simply wait and do nothing. Hopefully they would be too busy to get to kicking him out of office today so that he could remain in office for at least another month. Maybe he could even keep his job by claiming that he knew all along that Dumbledore was crazy.

"Thank you, Madam Bones. Please proceed with your case."

"Thank you. Aurors if you could please revive Lord Dumbledore..."

As soon as Dumbledore was revived, Amelia placed a silencing spell on him.

"Now, I will not keep you all waiting, so I will start off with the charges against Lord Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. Please wait until I have read all of his charges before making your comments, as this will be very shocking to all of you."

Albus Dumbledore, who was currently bound uncomfortably, was furious. 'Who dares to call me a criminal? Can't these folks see that they need me to guide them?'

"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, you are charged with endangering the lives of about 500 minors three times."

"THIS IS PREPOSTEROUS!" shouted Amos Diggory. After his son was murdered, he became Albus Dumbledore's most loyal and outspoken supporter.

Augusta banged her gavel. "Lord Diggory, please wait until it is appropriate to speak."

"As I was saying...endangering the lives of a about five hundred minors three times, in 1991, 1992, and 1994. Violating the will of the Lord and Lady of an Ancient and Most Noble House. Neglect of the heir of an Ancient and Noble House. Accessory to abuse of the heir of an Ancient and Most Noble House. Embezzlement from an Ancient and Most Noble House. Conspiracy of murder of the heir of an Ancient and Most Noble House. Forging the Last Will and Testament of the heir of an Ancient and Most Noble House. Attempted line theft of an Ancient and Most Noble House. Illegal imprisonment of the heir of an Ancient and Most Noble House. Illegally voting on behalf of an Ancient and Most Noble House. Prevention of justice, and accessory to mind rape."

The entire audience was shocked. The charges were very severe. There were very few Ancient and Most Noble Houses left and doing anything against them was considered a serious offense. Many of them were trying to figure out which family was pressing charges against Dumbledore.

Albus Dumbledore was seething. He was still unable to talk. 'How did they find out? The only way would be if Harry went to Gringotts, but that's not possible. The watchers have always reported that he's been moping around for his godfather. And Weasel and Bookworm have made sure that he doesn't have any friends.

"And which Ancient and Most Noble House would this be?" demanded Amos Diggory.

Everyone was silent to hear the answer. However the answer did not come from where they expected.

"That would be mine."

Everyone turned to the stranger that sat amongst the Wizengamot members.

"And who would you be?"

Harry smirked and removed his his glamour, causing the entire chamber to gasp.

"Potter!" many people sneered.

"Actually it's Lord Potter... Black."

"Impossible!" someone shouted. "The Malfoys have the Black vote and title!"

Harry looked down at Dumbledore, but spoke to the entire Wizengamot. "Oh it is definitely possible," he said, raising his hand to show his head of house rings. Everyone knew that only the rightful heir could claim lordship and wear the ring.

"Thank you Lord Potter-Black," said Amelia loudly, trying to bring the focus back to her.

"WAIT!" someone yelled. "He's just a kid. He's not allowed to be on the Wizengamot."

"Excuse me, Lord..."

"Greengrass." Harry was a little surprised, and almost laughed at the irony.

"Well, Lord Greengrass. As you can see, I have been emancipated, so I have claimed lordship of Houses Potter and Black. You will find that all the paperwork has all been filed legally and correctly.

'Why was I not made aware of this?' thought Dumbledore.

"Yes. I can confirm that Lord Potter-Black has indeed need emancipated and has legally claimed his lordships and is able to claim his seats in this institution," added Amelia. "Now if we could please return to the trial..."

When everyone settled down, she began again. "Now we will go through every charge one at a time to examine evidence and then question the defendant."

Amelia then removed the silencing charm from Dumbledore. "Amelia..."

She cut him off. "That's Madam Bones to you. You are charged with endangering the lives of five hundred minors three times. The first is in the school year of 1991, where you allowed a man who was being possessed by the Dark Lord Voldemort teach at Hogwarts and hiding the Philosopher's Stone in Hogwarts. How do you plead?" Almost everyone shuddered at the Dark Lord's name.

"Not guilty. I did not know that he was being possessed by Voldemort at the time."

"Very well. We will now view the evidence."

An auror brought in a court pensieve that was able to project the memory so that everyone in the room could see. Amelia took a vial out of her robe and poured its contents into the pensive and played the memories. An unspeakable verified that the memories were all original and not tampered with.

The Wizengamot and visitors watched as a young Harry, Ron, and Hermione discovered the Cerberus, then the encounter with Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest. The memories finished with Harry encounter with Voldemort. Just before the memory faded, Dumbledore's face came into view.

As expected, there was a lot of talking. Many were frightened by the appearance of the Dark Lord. Even more surprising was that nobody knew that this had happened at all.

Amelia began her case. "As Headmaster, it is Albus Dumbledore's duty to ensure the safety of the staff and students. By hiding the Philosopher's Stone at Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore made the school a target for those who wish to possess the stone. Also, the protections on the stone were so simple that three FIRST YEARS were able to solve them. Lord Dumbledore, why did you hide the stone in a school full of children?"

"Now, Amelia...Let's be reasonable."

"Again, that's Madam Bones to you."

"Yes... Madam Bones. I believed that Hogwarts was the safest place to hide the stone."

"So you did not think that you would be putting your students in danger?"

"No. I did not think anyone would be foolish enough to break into Hogwarts."

"Did you know that the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was being possessed by the Dark Lord Voldemort?" Again, there was a knock audible reaction to the name.

"No. It was not until Harry had told me-"

"HEM HEM!" Many people cringed at the sound. Harry glanced at Daphne, who was clearly struggling not to laugh. "I believe you meant Lord Potter-Black."

"Harry, my boy..."

"You mean Lord Potter-Black. And I'm certainly not your boy. "

Dumbledore was getting redder by the second. His grandfather mask was slipping. "Of course... Lord Potter-Black. As I was saying, I was unaware that the Dark Lord was possessing one of my professors until Harry told me after he woke up from his ordeal."

"I find it suspicious that you showed up right when Lord Potter-Black was about to pass out."

"I was on my way to the ministry, after receiving a fake note that I was needed for an emergency."

"And you decided that you wanted to ride a broom from Hogwarts all the way to the ministry?"

"Yes. That would be correct."

"And you thought that riding a broom all the way to the ministry was a good idea?"

"Yes."

"If you had truly believed that it had been an emergency, you would not have taken a broom. Travelling by floo to the ministry is instant. Riding a broom would take over two hours. I think that you knew that the note was a fake and you didn't leave the castle at all."

Many of the Wizengamot looked shocked at this. The dark supporters looked pleased that they had a chance to take a shot at Dumbledore. After being right about the Dark Lord's return, the public was lauding Harry Potter as the Chose One and Dumbledore as his mentor. This was obviously going to change.

"I would also like to point out that an event such as a dark lord possessing a professor and attempting to steal the Philosopher's Stone. As Chief Warlock, you should be aware of that."

"I did not want to bother your department with such trivial matters."

"So... What you're saying is that having the Dark Lord in a school full of children for a full year is not a big deal? If this is your idea of safety, I do not believe that you are fit to run a school."

Amelia could see that many people were nodding along with her reasoning.

"The second instance of endangering the lives of about five hundred minors is the following school year of 1992. You are charged with knowingly allowing a basilisk to reside in Hogwarts during the academic year without talking any precautions. How do you plead?"

Many people paled at hearing that there was a basilisk in the school. Even the pureblood supremacists were unhappy about a basilisk running around the school. If they lost their heirs, then their family names would die out or go to another branch of the family.

"Not guilty. I had no idea that the animal petrifying the students was a basilisk."

"And I'm sure that you will stick by that story as well," said Amelia before bottling the previous memories in the court pensieve and depositing another vial full of memories in the pensieve.

This time everyone watched all the events from the 1992 school year. Since the memories were from Harry's point of view, the audience was able to understand the parseltongue. Many of the audience members were shaking from seeing the events in the Chamber of Secrets. The memory also revealed that Voldemort was actually a half-blood with a muggle father. The Dark Lord's followers were shocked. Many were unwilling to follow a half-blood, while others were too scared to betray their master. Harry, however, was looking at Ginny with sympathy. It was very difficult for her to relive that year and she had never seen what had actually happened in the chamber. Daphne had moved over next to Ginny and was quietly whispering calming words in her ear.

"As you can see, Ginny Weasley was possessed by the Dark Lord which led to the opening of the Chamber of Secrets. However, she is NOT to be blamed at all. She was clearly tricked by one of the darkest and most cunning wizards in the world. An eleven year old should not be expected to overcome such odds," said Amelia, giving Ginny a sad smile.

She continued, "As we can clearly see, Dobby the house elf performed magic in Lord Potter-Black's house, so the the charge for underage magic will be removed from his record. Now, I find it suspicious that a second year student was able to brew a polyjuice potion. Do we have any potions experts in this jury?"

"I have a mastery in the field," someone said.

"Ahh... Lord MacDougal. Please tell me, was the polyjuice potion brewed by Hermione Granger usable?"

"No. She was not even using the correct ingredients."

"Thank you Lord MacDougal. As you can see, the potion that Hermione Granger brewed was definitely not a safe polyjuice potion. However, when Lord Potter-Black and Mr. Weasley took the potion, it worked as expected. I believe that this potion was actually supplied by either the headmaster or Mr. Severus Snape, the potions professor. This begs me to question why the professors would be supplying a student with polyjuice potion."

Amelia gave the Wizengamot a few minutes to consider this before going to her next argument. "We have all heard of stories about Slytherin's monster in his Chamber of Secrets. Very few creatures are able to petrify things, and Slytherin is known for his association with snakes, so how is it that the headmaster, who was tasked with the students' safety not able to figure out that the monster was a basilisk, but a second year was able to find out? And if I may point out that this second year was also the same second year that received the polyjuice potion from the headmaster as well."

Hermione started crying. She had not meant for things to get so out of hand. People were not supposed to know about all the things that she had done.

"Last, but not least, it is very suspicious that the headmaster's phoenix arrived just in time to help Lord Potter-Black fight the basilisk and also that all that it brought was the sorting hat. Lord Dumbledore is seen in the last memory saying that Lord Potter-Black's loyalty to you is headmaster was able to call the headmaster's phoenix to him in a time of need. I have brought an unspeakable to verify these claims."

The doors to the courtroom opened and a man with a hooded cloak with many obvious obscuring charms walked in.

"Lords and Ladies of the Wizengamot, may I introduce Unspeakable Croaker. Croaker, would you please tell us about the loyalties of a phoenix?"

"I'd be happy to assist. A phoenix is only loyal to its master. That means that only the master of the phoenix can summon it. A phoenix only allies itself to someone that is good. It is commonly mistaken that phoenixes only bind with people who are purely light. First, a phoenix does not bond with anyone. It merely chose a human companion to stay faithful to. This companion will be someone who is inherently good. If this person begins making bad choices and straying from what is good, then the phoenix could eventually leave its companion. Also, it is commonly mistaken that phoenixes only associate themselves with people who are 'light'. Although they are light creatures, they associate themselves with someone who is good. And good does not mean light, just as dark does not mean evil."

Many of the dark faction smirked at this. For centuries, people had been associating dark with evil, which many knew was not true. The neutrals or greys we're pleased with the very open minded response. Some of the light supporters looked thoughtful, while others were angry because this went against everything that they believed, which was pretty much anything that came out of Dumbledore's mouth.

"Thank you, Unspeakable Croaker." The mysterious man from the Department of Mysteries exited the room.

"As you just heard, a phoenix can only be summoned by its master or companion. Therefore, Lord Dumbledore must have sent his phoenix to aid Lord Potter-Black. This brings into question how Dumbledore knew Lord Potter-Black was in danger and why he didn't go to help himself."

Dumbledore couldn't come up with anything to say. He knew he was caught in a lie, so he chose not to say anything at all.

"Again, I would like to point out that this event was again not reported to the DMLE. When asked about what happened to Slytherin's monster, Lord Dumbledore reported, 'I took care of it. There is nothing to worry about.' Again by allowing a basilisk to remain in Hogwarts endangered the lives of every student and staff."

Amelia paused to take a drink of water. "The third and last charge of endangering the lives of about five hundred minors is in the school year of 1994. You are charged with knowingly allowing a Death Eater disguised as a professor teach for an entire year. How do you plead?"

"Not guilty. I did not know that Alastor was being impersonated."

"By Alastor, you mean Alastor Moody?"

"Lord Dumbledore, is it not the headmaster's duty to ensure the safety of the students?"

"Yes, but I had no way of knowing."

"And so you say. Tell me, how long have you known Mr. Moody?"

"Forty-one years."

"And you are close friends?"

"Yes."

"So you are saying that you did not realize that someone was impersonating your friend of forty years?"

"Now...Amelia..."

"That's Madam Bones, and please answer the question."

Dumbledore was angry that she was making a fool out of him. 'I am Albus Dumbledore! I defeated Grindelwald. I don't deserve this!'

"Yes. I did not realize until after the third task."

"The third task of the Triwizard Tournament?"

"Yes."

"Correct me I am wrong, the headmaster controls Hogwarts's wards?"

"That would be correct."

"The quidditch pitch falls is within the wards?"

"Yes. I don't understand how this is relevant."

"It is relevant. Now tell me, how was the Triwizard Cup, which was charmed to be a portkey able to go through the wards?"

"I had to take the portkey wards down for the task."

"And why is that? By removing the portkey wards, anybody could have entered Hogwarts and attacked the students. Also, how was Barty Crouch Jr., who was disguised as Mr. Moody able to charm the Triwizard Cup into a portkey?"

"It was his task to put the cup in the center of the maze."

"And that was a violation of the Triwizard Tournament rules. The cup has always been placed by the headmasters of ALL THREE schools together to ensure fairness."

"It was more convenient-"

"Convenient for who? You? Might I also ask how a Death Eater was able to submit an underage student's name into the tournament at all? Surely a mere Death Eater has no chance at getting by a ward placed by the 'great' Albus Dumbledore."

"I do not have the answer to that. Even I am not all-knowing."

"You may not be all-knowing, but I think that you intended for Barty Crouch Jr. to enter Lord Potter-Black's name into the Goblet of Fire. Regardless of what you say, your actions endangered the lives of all the students and led to the death of Cedric Diggory."

"That's not fair! Potter lived! He could have saved my son! It's Potter's fault that he died!"

Harry, along with many people were shocked that Amos Diggory blamed Harry for his son's death. Harry had felt guilty about not being able to save Cedric, but, with Daphne's help, he had realized that there was nothing he could have done to save him. Now he was feeling a small tinge of guilt again.

Many of the Wizengamot members were shocked at Lord Diggory's outburst. Everyone knew that he had changed a lot after the death of his son, but nobody knew that he had felt this way.

"Lord Diggory, you're saying that you expected a fourteen year old to save your of-age son from experienced Death eaters?"

"He was able to duel You-Know-Who wasn't he?"

"And you're a bloody coward," said Harry in a cold voice. He wasn't loud, but his voice was confident and strong. On the inside he was furious at the man. "I risk my life to bring your son's body back and you blame me for his death. You can't even say his name."

"Voldemort." People shuddered.

"Voldemort," he said louder.

"Voldemort," he said again.

"POTTER! STOP THIS THIS INSTANT!" roared Lord Nott.

"What's wrong? Scared of your master's name? VOLDEMORT!"

Not stood up to draw his wand, but Harry was faster. Before Nott's wand was even out, Harry had already placed a full body bind on him, causing him to freeze up and fall backwards into his chair, but frozen in a standing position.

Madam Longbottom banged her gavel and cast a sonorus on herself. "Everyone sit down this instant! There will be no more interrupting or unauthorized casting of spells in this room. From now on, anyone who violates this rule will be fined a minimum of 100 galleons."

Someone castes a finite Lord Nott while Madam Longbottom was speaking. He tried to straighten his clothes out and preserve as much dignity as he could, after being bested by a teenager. He resorted to glaring at Harry for the rest of the session.

"Thank you Madam Longbottom. The next charge is for violating the will of the Lord and Lady of an Ancient and Most Noble House. The will is the last will and testament of the late Lord James Charlus Potter and Lady Lily Marie Potter née Evans. How do you plead?"

"Not guilty. Their will was sealed, so there was no will to follow."

Harry knew that there was no way that Dumbledore could be found guilty for violating the will, since it was within his right to seal a will. However, the purpose of this charge was to expose that Dumbledore knew what the will said and sealed it so that he could do what he wanted.

"Did you know the contents of the will?"

"I don't see how this is relevant. It was within my rights to seal the will."

"Yes. Well I will read the will of the late Lord and Lady Potter for us all to hear."

"I, James Charlus Potter, being of sound mind and body, do hereby declare this document to be my Last Will and Testament, and declare all previous wills made by myself to be void.

"I, Lily Marie Potter, being of sound mind and body, do hereby declare this document to be my Last Will and Testament, and declare all previous wills made by myself to be void.

"In the event of one of our deaths, the other shall receive everything."

"In the event of both of our deaths, our son, Harry James Potter will receive everything. Custody for Harry will go in the order as follows: Sirius Orion Black, Frank and Alice Longbottom, Remus John Lupin, Amelia Susan Bones. Harry's guardian(s) will receive 400 galleons per month for taking care of our son."

"The part that I would like to draw attention to is the list of guardians. Why were none of these people given guardianship of Lord Potter-Black?"

"I did not know the contents of the will, so I took over guardianship."

"Were you aware of who his godparents were?"

"Yes."

"Who were they?"

"Sirius Black and Alice Longbottom."

"And why did you not give either of them guardianship?"

"Sirius was in Azkaban and Alice was tortured to insanity."

"That would make sense, except that you took over guardianship of Heir Potter on November 1st, 1981, but the Longbottoms were attacked on November 4th. So, I again ask, why was Alice Longbottom not given guardianship of Lord Potter-Black?"

"I didn't want to bother them with another child."

"Are you saying that you didn't think that Frank and Alice Longbottom were capable of raising two children?"

"Of course not. They were a very capable couple."

"Then I again ask, why did you take over guardianship of Lord Potter-Black?"

"I knew that he would be famous and felt that he needed my guidance."

"So you wanted to manipulate him?"

"No, I merely wanted what was best for Harry."

"Must I remind you to remain formal? Please address him as Lord Potter-Black."

"This brings me to the next two charges. Neglect of the heir of an Ancient and Most Noble House and accessory to advise of the heir is an Ancient and Most Noble House. How do you plead?"

"Not guilty."

"Very well. I believe that we have some more memories to watch."

Amelia replaced the memories in the court pensieve with another set of memories, this time of Harry's time at the Dursley's.

The Wizengamot watched as Harry was forced to cook, clean, wash, garden, and do all the chores. They watched him get beat up by his cousin. They watched him get locked up in his cupboard with nothing to eat or drink. They watched him get hit by his relatives for small things like burning the bacon.

Needless to say, many of the Wizengamot members who were parents themselves were furious. It was unthinkable that a child was abused so much but still came out so strong. The Death Eaters were appalled that the heir of an Ancient and Most Noble House was raised and abused by muggles, and just saw this as another reason to hate muggles.

"Lord Dumbledore, did you or did you not take over guardianship of Lord Potter-Black?"

"I did."

"And the duty of a magical guardian is to ensure the safety and happiness of his or her charge. Tell me, was Lord Potter-Black happy and safe?"

"He may not have been very happy, but he was safe?"

Many of the Wizengamot looked at him like he was crazy. "SAFE? YOU CALL THAT SAFE?"

"He was safe from Death Eaters who still wanted to harm him," Dumbledore said confidently.

"But who kept him safe from his relatives? Were you aware of this abuse?"

"No, I was not."

"Really? Last year, at Lord Potter-Black's trial for underage magic, you provided a witness, a certain Ms. Arabella Figg, who you claimed was placed near Lord Potter-Black's family to watch him. Also, as his magical guardian, you did not even check up on him."

Amelia raised a piece of parchment. "This is Lord Potter-Black's first Hogwarts letter. It is addressed to the cupboard under the stairs."

"Lords and Ladies of the Wizengamot, if this is how Albus Dumbledore treats his magical charge, how can we trust him to run an entire school for children? We have already shown that he does not care about the safety of his students. Clearly, he was aware of the abuse of Lord Potter-Black. This makes me wonder what else happens at Hogwarts that we don't know about."

"The next charge is embezzlement from an Ancient and Most Noble House. As most of you have guessed, this is again from the House of Potter. Lord Dumbledore, how do you plead?"

"Not guilty."

"Did you take money from Lord Potter-Black's vault?"

"Yes, but it was written in his parents' will that his Guardian was to receive a stipend."

Amelia immediately caught him on his admission. "So you do admit to knowing the contents of the will. Clearly you have lied to us. What else have you lied about? Rest assured that I will get to the bottom of this. Perjury will also be added to your list of charges."

"The will of the late Lord and Lady Potter stated the Lord Potter-Black's guardian would receive 400 galleons per month from the Potter Vault. However, the records from Lord Potter-Black provided from Gringotts, which have been verified by his account manager, have shown monthly withdrawals of at least ten thousand galleons per month by Albus Dumbledore from the TRUST vault of Harry James Potter. The withdrawals began in November of 1981."

To even the the wealthy purebloods, this was a lot of money.

"James and Lily would have allowed me to use their money to help fight the dark."

"Oh really? Too bad they can't confirm it cause they're dead!" roared Harry.

"Yes. There is no proof that they allowed you access to any of the vaults belonging to the Potter family."

"Madam Longbottom, are you not going to fine Potter for his outburst?" asked Amos Diggory nastily.

"No. Since this is case was brought to the DMLE by Lord Potter-Black, he is the prosecution and the department is acting as his prosecutor."

"I think that this charge has been very simple. The next two charges are connected as well. Forging the last will and testament of the heir of an Ancient and Most Noble House. This is the will of Lord Harry James Potter-Black. The second charge is Conspiracy of murder of the heir of Ancient and Most Noble House. How do you plead?"

"Not guilty."

"Very well. I have here with me a copy of the a forged will for Lord Potter-Black that Gringotts verified was filed with the Potter account. The will states that upon the death of Lord Potter-Black, his assets would be split evenly between Molly Weasley née Prewett and Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore."

Harry was looking between Arthur and Molly. Arthur looked confused as to why the forged will specifically named Molly, and Molly was angry that her plan to steal the Potter fortune was exposed.

Amelia cast a spell on the copy of the fake will that she had. The original was kept in Harry's vault in case someone tried to remove the evidence. 'Harry's' signature appeared in the air in glowing letters. The handwriting was very loopy and elegant. Anyone that had seen Harry write would know that that was definitely not his writing.

"Here is the signature on the forged will," said Amelia, indicating the glowing writing. She then took out another piece of parchment and performed the same spell, making another set of letters appear next to the previous. "Here is a copy of Lord Potter-Black's actual signature that he provided beforehand."

Anyone could tell that they were vastly different. While one was loopy and elegant, the other looked timid and messy. Amelia took out another piece of parchment and cast the spell for the third time. "Here is the beginning of a letter to Lord Potter-Black from Albus Dumbledore with his name on it."

The audience saw the words 'Dear Harry' appear in the same elegant script as the original. "As we can clearly see, Albus Dumbledore forged the forged this will and tried to pass it off for the will of Lord Potter-Black. The charge for conspiracy of murder deals with why the will was forged. Why, Lord Dumbledore, did you forget a will for Lord Potter-Black?"

"We live in a dangerous time. I did not want the gold to fall into the wrong hands."

"So why specifically you and Molly Weasley? Why not Arthur Weasley? Or the Longbottoms, who are as close to family as Lord Potter-Black has?"

"I'm was sure that Lord Potter-Black wanted his friends to have his possessions in the event that he did not survive."

"And you didn't think to talk to me about this?" injected Harry.

"Harry, my boy..."

"Again, that's Lord Potter-Black, and again, I am most certainly not your boy."

"Lord Dumbledore. I urge you to please follow decorum. I would fine you for your improper behavior, but I suspect that there is no gold left in any of your vaults."

Many of the pureblood supremacists got a noticeable glint in their eyes. If Dumbledore was broke, that meant that the light side had less funding and would be able to do less.

'How dare they take all of my money!' thought Dumbledore. 'Now how am I supposed to make people work for me? I don't even have access to Potter's money anymore.'

"Lord Potter-Black, I did not want someone so young to have to worry about writing a will."

"You keep on saying that. I'm sure the truth will come out soon enough. Based on the evidence, I am led to believe that you expected Lord Potter-Black to die before he got the chance to make his own will so that you would have access to the rest of his money."

Amelia continued, "The next charge is for attempted line theft. This is based on the illegal marriage contract that was found in the Potter portfolio at Gringotts. Lord Dumbledore, how do you plead?"

In the visitors section, Arthur was shocked to hear this. He had never signed a marriage contract for his daughter. He wanted his children to marry for love, not money. Many people were giving him suspicious looks.

"Not guilty."

"Well... I just happen to have a copy of the fake contract right here. It is signed by Molly Weasley and Albus Dumbledore. Luckily the Potter family magic bylaws state that only the head of house is able to sign a marriage contract for a Potter, so the contract was not valid or magically binding."

This made Molly very angry. She did not know about the bylaw. She thought that Harry would be forced to marry Ginny unless one of them died. This was definitely not part of the plan.

Arthur was already feeling hurt that Molly had apparently made a deal with Dumbledore to steal half the Potter fortune. Despite Dumbledore's denial, the proof was there. Taking a look at Ron and Molly's angry faces, he knew that they were both guilty. He didn't know the full extent yet, but it was obvious that they had betrayed Harry. Arthur looked at Ginny to see how she was reacting. To him, Ginny looked sad. He didn't know if it was sadness about her family or sadness that she wouldn't be marrying Harry. He did notice that she wasn't surprised that Ron and Molly were arrested, so she must know something. Arthur knew he would be having a long talk with his daughter later.

"The interesting thing about this marriage contract is that it states that half the Potter fortune will be paid to Molly Weasley as a dowry. I think this is another chance for Lord Dumbledore and his allies to get their hands on the Potter fortune. Can you please explain yourself, Lord Dumbledore?"

"I merely wanted save Lord Potter-Black the stress and the time from having to deal with countless other marriage contracts."

"I have never received a marriage contact before," Harry stated.

This shocked almost all of the Wizengamot because most of the lords had actually sent him marriage offers. They thought there were just being ignored.

"That's because I didn't want you to be stressed over them."

Harry caught Dumbledore's admission. "So you admit to screening my mail?"

"It was for your own good," pleaded Dumbledore.

"Lord Dumbledore, screening another person's mail is illegal without the person clearly expressing a wish for his or her mail to be screened. That will be added to your charges as well."

"The next charge is for accessory to mind rape. This is based on the fact that you instructed Severus Snape to teach Lord Potter-Black occlumency, but he instead tore apart his natural shields and went through his most private memories. How do you plead?"

"Not guilty. I instructed Severus to teach Harry occlumency. I am not aware of the specifics of these lessons."

"Lord Dumbledore, the charge is for accessory to mind rape. This means that you were in some way involved in causing the mind rape. I would like to show a few memories of the 'occlumency lessons' that Lord Potter-Black received from Professor Snape."

Amelia showed the court memories of Snape yelling at Harry to clear his mind and insulting him and his parents and immediately casting the legilimency spell without further instruction. The memories didn't go into what Snape made Harry relive because many of those were very private memories.

"Lords and Ladies, may I introduce Mrs. Clark. She is a mind healer from Saint Mungo's. Mrs. Clark, what is the proper way to teach occlumency?"

"Occlumency is very difficult to learn for anyone who is not born a natural at it. The student should be taught meditation first in order to be able to enter his or her mindscape. The mindscape is basically where all memories are stored. The student then should be taught how to build up outer defenses, then inner defenses."

"Just to confirm, a person should not be taught occlumency by being constantly attacked by the legilimency spell?"

The mind healer gasped. "Oh lords no! That would tear down a person's natural barriers, making them very vulnerable to a mental attack."

"Thank you Mrs. Clark," said Amelia, dismissing the mind healer. "As you all heard, being repetitively attacked by the legilimency spell not only doesn't teach the art of occlumency, but it also weakens natural mind barriers. I remind you all that the charge is ACCESSORY to mind rape. Lord Dumbledore has already admitted that he had instructed Severus Snape to teach Lord Potter-Black occlumency. It is no secret that the two do not like each other. Lord Dumbledore definitely is aware of that,but he still instructed Professor Snape to proceed with the lessons. Therefore, Lord Dumbledore is accountable for what occurred during these 'lessons'"

A neutral Wizengamot member raised and lit his wand, indicating that he wished to speak.

"Yes, Lord Beaufort?" asked Madam Longbottom.

"Will charged be made against Severus Snape as well?"

Amelia gave a small, uncharacteristic smirk. "Yes. Mr. Snape will receive his trial very soon."

"I must insist against that," injected Dumbledore.

"You can insist all you want, but I will follow legal procedure."

'Dammit!' thought Dumbledore. 'Now the truth about Severus will come out'.

"The last charge against the House of Potter is illegal voting in the Wizengamot on behalf of an Ancient and Most Noble House. How do you plead?"

"Not guilty. James and Lily would not have wanted their vote to sit idly."

"Who gave you the right to vote on behalf of the House Potter?"

"As I've said, James and Lily would have-"

"WOULD HAVE," Amelie cut off. "That means that they didn't you had no right to vote on behalf of House Potter. You used your power as the Chief Warlock to usurp their vote. I do not think that this charge needs further evidence as it is obvious that Lord Dumbledore should not have been allowed to vote on behalf of House Potter."

She took a drink of water before beginning the next, and much shorter, part of Dumbledore's trial. "That concludes the charges against the House of Potter. The following charges of illegal imprisonment of the heir of an Ancient and Most Noble House and prevention of justice is against the House of Black. These are on the basis that Sirius Orion Black was innocent and never received a trial. Lord Dumbledore, how do you plead?"

"Not guilty."

"I have here the ministry file on Sirius Black." Amelia stated. "There is no record of a trial, but the file notes that Sirius Black was sentenced to life in Azkaban by Bartemius Crouch Sr. And Albus Dumbledore.

She walked over to the pensieve and emptied another vial of memories into the basin before tapping a rune with her wand to activate the court pensieve. Before the first memory began, she quickly said, "These are memories supplied by Lord Potter-Black of Sirius Black to show that he was innocent and Lord Dumbledore was aware."

For the last time, the Wizengamot watched Harry's memories. They saw his encounter with Sirius in the Shrieking Shack and how Dumbledore promised to work on proving Sirius's innocence. The memories proved that Sirius was in fact innocent and that Dumbledore knew.

"Clearly, Sirius Black was innocent and Albus Dumbledore knew. As Chief Warlock, Albus Dumbledore should be aware of legal procedures. For example, nobody can be given an Azkaban sentence without a trial. People may be temporarily placed in Azkaban when they are awaiting a trial and all of the ministry holding cells are full, but nobody may be given a sentence without a fair trial in front of at least five impartial members of the Wizengamot. Albus Dumbledore took it upon himself to break this law and sentence Sirius Black to a life of hell. Also as Chief Warlock, Lord Dumbledore has the right to request a trial in front of the Wizengamot. From the memories, we saw Lord Dumbledore tell Lord Potter-Black that he was working on getting Sirius Black a trial. Yet, for two whole years, Sirius Black still did not receive a proper trial. It is clear to me that for some reason Lord Dumbledore did not want people to know that Sirius Black was in fact innocent."

At this point, Amelia had covered every charge against Dumbledore and the evidence for them. Dumbledore obviously recognized the overwhelming evidence against him because he chose to say very little in his defense for each charge. The only reason that some of the Wizengamot still supported him was because of his reputation.

"Lord Dumbledore, are you willing to take veritaserum to defend your actions?"

"No. I am not."

As of yet, the only counter to the truth serum was its antidote. Dumbledore never thought that he would ever be questioned under the serum, so he did not carry the potion around with him.

Harry knew that it was time for his main role in the trial. He was going to enact an old law that had not been used for over three hundred years. "As the head of two Ancient and Most Noble Houses, I demand the use of veritaserum in this trial."

This was met by many vocal protests led by Amos Diggory.

"Who the hell do you think you are?"

"I am Lord Potter-Black, head of the Ancient and Most Noble Houses of Potter and Black. And I am enacting the Use of Truth Serum in Court Act, which states that a truth serum can be used in a trial on an unwilling defendant only if it is requested by at least two houses of at least Ancient and Most Noble status."

Harry looked at Percy, the court scribe to confirm the legality of the law he had mentioned. Percy glared at him and said in his usual pompous voice, "Yes. The law that Lord Potter-Black has mentioned is in fact legal. It was last used in 1553, when Lord Fishman and Lord Shoemaker used the law to incriminate a man who had kidnapped their daughters for ransom."

Dumbledore started to protest. However, an auror had already forced open his mouth and placed three drops of veritaserum into it. With the potion was in his system, his eyes became glazed and he fell silent. Amelia had told Harry that the veritaserum had to be administered at the end because it would be dangerous to give Dumbledore the truth serum after every charge was presented because too much of the potion could be deadly.

"What is your name?"

"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore."

"When is your birthday?"

"August 9th, 1881."

"Were you aware that the Dark Lord Voldemort was possessing the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor during the school year of 1991?"

"Yes."

"When did you realize that he was being possessed?"

"The staff meeting before the start of the academic year?"

"Why did you allow Professor Quirrell to teach if you knew he was being possessed by a dark lord?"

"I needed him to try to steal the Philosopher's Stone in order to test Harry Potter's abilities?"

"What about the safety of the students?"

"I did not believe that he would go as far as to cause any trouble with the other students."

"What would you have done if another student was hurt?"

"It would be covered up for the greater good."

Many of the Wizengamot were shocked. They couldn't believe that Dumbledore would so carelessly toy with the lives of others. Harry did not realize exactly how cruel his former role model could be. Yet, there were still those who were loyal to the old wizard who believed in his sacrifices for the greater good and this only raised their respect for him. They saw him as a man who did what needed to be done in order to secure a better future.

Amelia continued the interrogation. "Were you aware that Salazar Slytherin's monster was a basilisk?"

"Yes, I was."

"When did you realize that the monster was a basilisk?"

"When the Chamber of Secrets was open for the first time in 1943."

"Why did you not report this?"

"I believed that Tom Riddle could be turned towards the light."

"So you knew that he had murdered a girl, but let him go because you HOPED that he could change?"

"That is correct."

"Why did you not do anything to stop the attacks on the students in the school year of 1992?"

"I was waiting to see what Harry Potter would do about it."

"So you used it as another test to see if Lord Potter-Black was competent?"

"Yes."

"Were you aware that Miss Weasley was being possessed by the Dark Lord?"

"Yes."

"When did you become aware of this fact?"

"When I recognized Tom Riddle's diary in her book bag."

"When was this?"

"The beginning of November."

Ginny and Arthur were outraged. Dumbledore could have done something to stop all of her suffering in her first year.

"Why did you not do anything to help her?"

"I needed her to continue opening the Chamber until Harry did something about it."

"I'm assuming anyone else that got hurt was for the greater good?"

"Yes."

"Did you send your phoenix to help Lord Potter-Black?"

"Yes. I couldn't couldn't allow him to die yet."

"Yet?"

"Harry needs to face Voldemort."

"Why?"

"The prophecy says that neither can live while the other survives. One must kill the other."

"Is this the prophecy that caused the fight in the Department of Mysteries?"

"Yes."

"What happens if the Dark Lord Voldemort kills Lord Potter-Black?"

"Then I will come in and kill Voldemort and become the wizarding world's savior again."

Harry just shook his head sadly at Dumbledore's arrogance. At the beginning of the summer, he just needed to get away from everything. After visiting Gringotts, he was angry and confused with Dumbledore. Now, Dumbledore was just as bad as Voldemort. Both were manipulative and wanted power.

"In the school year of 1994, did you know that Alastor Moody was being impersonated by Barty Crouch Jr.?"

"Yes."

"When did you know?"

"I knew that Barty Crouch Sr. had helped break his son out of Azkaban and also that he had gotten away firming the World Cup. Alastor's home was attacked at the end of the summer and people thought that it was a false alarm. When he got to Hogwarts, I noticed something was off about him, and figured it out rather quickly."

"What about the safety of the students? A disguised Death Eater taught for a full year and even performed the unforgivables in front of them."

"It would was a necessary sacrifice."

"Did you know that he had planned on entering Lord Potter-Black into the Triwizard Tournament?"

"Yes. It was what he was most likely to do."

"Did you allow a disguised Barty Crouch Jr. to turn the Triwizard Cup into a portkey?"

"Yes. I did."

"Why?"

"Harry was needed to resurrect Voldemort."

"Are you saying that you support the Dark Lord?"

"No. Voldemort needed to be resurrected so that he could be killed later."

Amelia shook her head. Dumbledore obviously knew about and helped facilitate the Dark Lord's return.

"Why did you not take the evidence to the Wizengamot?"

"I knew that the ministry would deny it and try to slander myself and Harry. This would make Harry turn to me for guidance, and when Voldemort revealed himself, we would be seen as heroes, and me as Harry's mentor."

"Were you aware of the contents of the will of the late Lord and Lady Potter?"

"Yes."

"Why did you seal it?"

"I needed Harry to be put with his muggle relatives so that when I brought him to Hogwarts, he would see me as his savior for letting him get away from his relatives. I also needed to take over guardianship of Harry to have access to his vaults and be able to become proxy to the Potter seat in the Wizengamot."

"So you intentionally sealed their will because you intended to do something that they would not agree with?"

"Yes."

"Were you aware that Lord Potter-Black was being abused by his relatives?"

"Yes. I was counting on it."

"Did you steal money from the trust vault of Harry James Potter?"

"Yes."

"Where did this money go?"

"To Molly and Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, the Order of the Phoenix, and my personal vault."

"Why did you write a will for Lord Potter-Black?"

"So that when he died, Molly Weasley and I would get his money."

"Do you expect him to die?"

"Yes."

"What if Lord Potter-Black kills the Dark Lord?"

"Then I will kill him."

This brought a loud gasp from everyone in the courtroom.

"Why?"

"He will be too powerful for his own good."

"What about you?"

"The wizarding world is full of fools who need a leader. I will be that leader."

"How will you be a leader if you kill Lord Potter-Black?"

"I will just tell people that he was turning dark. People will believe me simply because I am Albus Dumbledore."

"How is Molly Weasley involved in your plan?"

"She is loyal to me, and was needed for my backup plan."

"You mean the forged marriage contract?"

"Yes. In case Harry was able to survive everything, I needed his money to be controlled. A marriage contract to Molly's daughter was the easiest way. However, Molly demanded to be included in the will as well. I saw no issue with it, since the Potters were many times richer than the Malfoys."

"Was Ginevra Weasley involved?"

"No. She did not agree with our plan, so she was obliviated."

Ginny glared at Dumbledore and her mother.

"Why did you ask Severus Snape to tutor Lord Potter-Black in occlumency?"

"I needed him to break down Harry's mental shields so that it would be easier for Voldemort to enter his mind."

"So you knew that Severus Snape was raping his mind?"

"Yes."

"Were you aware that Sirius Black was innocent of his crimes?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"I casted the Fidelius Charm on the Potters' cottage in Godric's Hollow, so I knew that Peter was the secret keeper. I followed Sirius that night to watch his confrontation with Peter."

"Why did you have Sirius Black thrown in Azkaban?"

"He would have had too much of an influence on Harry."

This concluded the questioning about all the charges. It was obvious that Albus Dumbledore was guilty for every charge. An auror then administered an antidote to the truth serum.

To say that Dumbledore was furious would be an understatement. His whole face was red. Instead of the usual grandfatherly twinkle in his eyes, they now burned with fury. His magic was rolling off of him in waves. There was a visible aura coming from him.

In response, Harry stood up and pushed his magic out of his body, creating an aura as well. Harry had begun practicing some basic wandless magic. He had only been able to do a simple lumos, but practicing wandless magic had helped him with his magic better. Harry was not good enough to focus his magic into specific spells yet, but he found that he could simply release it to create an aura.

Due to his such large magic reserves, Harry was able to maintain his aura until Dumbledore's disappeared. Dumbledore was still very strong, but with his old age, his magic was not as powerful as it was in his prime.

When Harry finally stopped releasing magic, he sat back down, panting. The entire Wizengamot was silent at what had just happened. They were in awe at the amount of magic The two wizards wielded. Even Harry's friends were surprised at what he could do. The only people who knew were those who had been living at Potter Manor, since they had felt Harry releasing his magic and asked him about it.

The Death Eaters were looking around nervously. Even though Potter was not as strong as the Dark Lord, they knew that he was much more powerful than any one of them.

After a few minutes of silence, Augusta Longbottom spoke up. "Lord Dumbledore, do you have anything to say before the Wizengamot makes its decision?" she asked.

Everyone knew that this would be Dumbledore's last stand. Just as predicted, he resorted to blackmailing. Harry was a little put out about it, since he knew that Dumbledore was gonna get off, but at least he could use the Prophet to make sure that everyone knew the truth about Dumbledore.

An exhausted Albus Dumbledore looked to the members of the Wizengamot, trying to make eye contact with as many people as possible. "My fellow Lords and Ladies, I plead you to consider the results of your actions. Before you make your decision, remember that I have eyes and ears everywhere. It would be a shame if the people found out about some of your... secret transgressions," Dumbledore said shamelessly.

Of course, this was exactly what Daphne and Amelia had predicted. The members of the Wizengamot, mainly the dark members, had many secrets that they couldn't afford to be made public. They knew that if the public turned against them, they would have to watch their backs everywhere they went. Albus Dumbledore was obviously a very powerful wizard and there was no doubt in their minds that he had plenty of dirt on them.

Madam Longbottom repeated each charge and the Wizengamot voted on them one by one. Harry was not allowed to vote because of a conflict of interest. For each charge, the Wizengamot members lit the tips of their wands either red for guilty or green for not guilty.

Harry watched carefully, trying to remember what each lord or proxy voted. At first he was surprised that most of the death eaters and sympathizers voted innocent, but seeing their pale and reluctant faces, he figured that they were most likely scared of how their lord would punish them. Still, some of them were stubborn, disregarding Dumbledore's vague threat and voted guilty.

The neutrals and light members were divided. Many of the light members were loyal to Dumbledore, but some saw reason and voted fairly. The neutrals that voted innocent, Harry saw were the ones who seemed to take Dumbledore's threat seriously, and he made sure to remember who voted what

Many of the votes were very close, but it was obvious that Dumbledore was going to get away with almost everything.

"The Wizengamot has finished voting on the charges against Lord Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore," announced Madam Longbottom. "Lord Dumbledore was found innocent of all charges except embezzlement from an Ancient and Most Noble House. Since the Goblins have already returned the funds, the ministry will offer no further punishment."

Harry was disappointed and saw similar looks on Daphne and Amelia's faces. They had expected this to happen, but that didn't prevent the three disappointment.

"My Lords and Ladies," addressed Dumbledore. "I thank you for seeing reason and not believing these unjust accusations."

More than a few people scoffed at his statement. It was clear that nobody believed him, especially when he glared at anyone who clearly voted against him.

Now that Dumbledore was cleared of his charges, Madam Longbottom was forced to return the Chief Warlock seat to Dumbledore.

"Now that that fiasco has been dealt with, shall we proceed with the original agenda for this meeting?"

"Chief Warlock. I believe that I still have the floor," announced Amelia.

"Surely there are more important matters to attend to."

"As stated by the original Wizengamot charter, any matter pertaining to an Ancient and Noble House or a house of higher ranking may be considered an important matter that can be brought to the Wizengamot. As these matters pertain to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter, the Wizengamot must hear these matters."

"Amelia..."

"Must I remind you to follow proper decorum and address me as Madam Bones? And, Chief Warlock, are you attempting to undermine the rights of an Ancient and Most Noble House? This makes me wonder what you would do to a lesser ranking house."

The reaction was exactly what Amelia Bones wanted. Many of the families with votes on the Wizengamot were actually only noble houses, including the Malfoys. House ranking was based on wealth and age. Usually the higher ranking houses had more wealth because they had more time to acquire it, but that wasn't always the case. Because of all the magical wars that had happened over the years, many of the older houses had died off. Now, were less than ten Ancient and Most Noble Houses and only nineteen Ancient and Noble Houses.

"Madam Bones. I'm sorry that you feel this way," conceded Dumbledore in his grandfatherly tone. "Please proceed with your...trial."

"Thank you, Chief Warlock. Since the charges are similar for Ronald Bilius Weasley, Hermione Jean Granger, and Molly Rose Weasley neé Prewett, they will be tried together to save time. All three are charged with embezzlement from an Ancient and Most Noble House. Additionally, Mrs. Weasley is charged with attempted line theft and conspiracy of murder of the heir of an Ancient and Most Noble House. How do you plead?"

"I DON'T-" Whatever Ron was going to say was cut off my a silencing charm. He tried telling for a few more seconds, but then stopped struggling in defeat.

"Now, respond with either guilty or not guilty," instructed Angelia, before removing the silencing charm.

"Not guilty."

"Guilty," pleaded Hermione. She knew what she had done was wrong and figured that her punishment would be less severe. But that didn't mean she felt remorse for her actions.

Amelia turned to Mrs. Weasley, whose face was red with anger. "Mrs. Weasley, for the charges of embezzlement from an Ancient and Most Noble House, how do you plead?"

As soon as the silencing spell was lifted, she began yelling, only to be cut off again.

"LISTEN HERE, WOMAN!"

Mr. Weasley bowed his head in shame. Despite being poor, the Weasley family was still respected for being honest and hard working. Seeing his wife and youngest son's behavior, he already knew the outcome of the trial and that it would bring shame to the Weasley name.

Arthur Weasley stood up from his spot in the visitors section, prepared to make the biggest decision of his life.

Dumbledore saw this as a chance to interrupt Madam Bones's trial and indicated for Mr. Weasley to speak, cutting off Amelia's next statement.

"Lords and Ladies of the Wizengamot, I am sorry that my family has wasted your time today. It is clear to me how this trial will turn out."

Molly sent him a grateful smile, thinking that her husband was standing up for her. Many of the Wizengamot were giving him curious looks. He had not yet given any indication as to what his views were on the trial, which the politicians picked up on immediately.

"I, Arthur Septimus Weasley, head of the House of Weasley, acknowledge the debt that House Weasley owes to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter." He continued, "I, Arthur Septimus Weasley, swear on my life and magic that prior to today, I was unaware of the crimes by House Weasley against the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter. I, Arthur Septimus Weasley, head of the House of Weasley, hereby banish Ronald Bilius and Molly Rose from the House of Weasley. So mote it be."

This shocked many people, especially his wife. Thankfully, she was still under a silencing spell. Quickly, her shock turned to anger, and she started struggling to get out of the chair that she was tied to.

This move gave Arthur Weasley a lot of respect amongst the other families and people in attendance. He had acknowledged that his house had wronged another, and had punished those who had committed the act. If he had disowned them without acknowledging the crimes against House Potter, he would have been seen as trying to escape blame.

Harry stood up to reply, glancing at Daphne, who was giving him an encouraging smile.

"Mr. Weasley, I do not hold you responsible for the actions of those former members of House Weasley who have wronged my house. You have always been fair to me, and it would be unfair for me to judge you for it. I, Harry James Potter, Lord of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter hereby clear the House of Weasley of any debt owed to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter. So mote it be."

By following proper procedures, Harry had shown the purebloods that he was willing to cooperate with them. This would prove essential in gaining the support of the grey or neutral purebloods.

Dumbledore, again was furious. Arthur was supposed to stick up for his wife, not speak against her. Today was just not going well at all for Harry was not supposed to know any pureblood customs.

"Before we continue the trial, please note the name changes to Ronald Bilius NoName and Molly Rose Prewett," announced Amelia.

Molly was now a Prewett again, and since none of her children had taken her last name, she was the last of the family. This meant that her family name would forever be remembered by her actions. She could name an heir, but that would not do anything to regain her honor.

"Returning to the first charge of embezzlement from an Ancient and Most Noble House, Molly Rose Prewett, how do you plead?"

"Not guilty on all charges!" she quickly growled.

"Very well. For proof of embezzlement, I have here, again, a statement from Gringotts showing money being transferred from the trust vault of Harry James Potter to the personal accounts of Molly Rose Prewett, Ronald Bilius Weasley, and Hermione Jean Granger. The gold transfers for Mr. NoName and Ms. Prewett started in November of 1981, immediately after the death of the late Lord and Lady Potter. The transfers to Ms. Granger began in January of 1992. For the charges of attempted line theft and conspiracy of murder of the heir of an Ancient and Most Noble House, I present the marriage contract that Ms. Prewett and Lord Dumbledore drew up between Harry James Potter and Ginevra Molly Weasley and a forged will for Harry James Potter that bequeaths half the Potter fortune to Molly Rose Weasley,"

"This evidence cannot be allowed!" protested Dumbledore. "It has already been used in a trial and evidence cannot be repeated."

"That would be true, but this is a different trial, and the law states that evidence cannot be repeated in the SAME trial," Amelia countered. "We will begin the questioning with Mr. NoName. Mr. NoName, have you been taking money from the trust vault of Harry James Potter?"

"NO! That money is rightfully mine!" Ron clearly believed that he had done nothing wrong.

"Please tell us how you received this money."

Dumbledore tried to stop Ron from answering, but it was too late. "Dumbledore made sure I was getting it," he said confidently, thinking that he would save himself by dropping Dumbledore's name.

"And why is Albus Dumbledore giving you Lord Potter-Black's money?"

"He wanted me to be friends with Potter to make sure he became friends with the right people and stayed in line."

"So you were paid to be friends with and spy on Lord Potter-Black?"

"Yeah."

"Were you aware that you were being paid with Lord Potter-Black's money?"

"Of course!"

"And why would that be okay?"

"Dumbledore promised that he wouldn't live long enough to find out. And I had to pretend to be his friend, so I deserved that money for putting up with Potter."

"That is all. Thank you Mr. NoName."

"Since Ms. Granger has pleaded guilty, she will not be questioned. Ms. Prewett will be next. Ms. Prewett, have you been stealing money from Lord Potter-Black?"

"No. That money is rightfully mine!" Like mother, like son. Molly was the same as Ron in believing that her actions were justified by her selfish tendencies.

At this time, Arthur just got up and left. He did not want to hear any more from his former son and wife. Their actions had greatly shocked him and he needed time to think. Ginny quickly followed her father. She already knew what was going to happen and she could find out the details later. Right now her father needed her to be there for him.

"Please explain how it is rightfully yours," continued Amelia.

"Dumbledore said that we deserved the money for taking in Potter during the summer and pretending to care about him."

"So how do you justify taking his money before you even met him?"

"Well obviously I expected some down payment."

"Why was the money paid out to the vault of Molly Prewett, rather than Molly Weasley or even the Weasley family?"

"Objection!" shouted Dumbledore. "This question is irrelevant."

Amelia dropped the question without arguing. "Why did you write up a marriage contract between Ginevra Weasley and Harry James Potter?"

"Dumbledore said that we had to make sure that the Potter line stayed in line."

"So you wanted control over the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter?"

"Of course!"

"And why were you specifically stated in the forged will of Harry James Potter?"

"I got Dumbledore too promise me money in case Potter died before he married Ginevra."

The many of the Wizengamot had smiles on their faces. They did not appreciate being blackmailed, and would get their revenge with the former Weasleys and Granger. The light members looked on with disappointment at a once respected woman, her son, and a smart muggle-born girl. Because of Hermione Granger, it would now be much harder to push rights for muggle-borns and half-bloods.

"Do any of the accused have any last words?"

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS, POTTER!" yelled Ron.

Molly chose to say anything, believing that Dumbledore would be able to get them out of trouble. Harry saw that there was no need to insist upon the usage of veritaserum, since they had all basically admitted that they were guilty.

The Wizengamot quickly voted on the charges and everyone save a few Dumbledore supporters voted guilty.

"Mr. NoName. Since you are a minor, you will be sentenced to a ministry holding cell a month. You will be responsible for returning the stolen money with interest," announced Dumbledore in a sad voice.

Ron started to protest, but was silenced by aurors and dragged away.

"Ms. Granger. Since you pleaded guilty, you will not need to spend any time in a cell, but you will be responsible for returning the stolen money with interest."

Hermione was released and was allowed to walk away on her own. Her parents met her at the door and all the exited the courtroom. The entire way home, nobody said a word.

Back in the courtroom, Molly Prewett was getting what she deserved. "Ms. Prewett. For embezzlement, you are sentenced to two months in Azkaban and will be held reasonable for returning the stolen money with interest. For attempted line theft, you are sentenced to two years in Azkaban. For conspiracy of murdered, you are charged with one year in Azkaban."

Before she could begin yelling, Molly was silenced and dragged out of the courtroom.

Dumbledore stood up and addressed the Wizengamot and visitors. "I propose a one hour recess before we reconvene."

Everyone agreed and the Wizengamot slowly left the courtroom. Dumbledore tried finding Harry, but Harry had already left.

Other than Amelia and Tonks, who had to stay at the ministry to oversee transferring Molly Prewett to Azkaban and putting Ron into a ministry cell, Harry and his group quickly left to meet up at the Leaky Cauldron. Once the group of Harry, Daphne, Neville, Susan, Remus, and Augusta, and Luna arrived, they all donned glamour charms and made their way down Diagon Alley to the offices of the Daily Prophet.

Stepping inside, they were greeted by a very snobbish secretary.

"What is your business here?" she sneered.

Augusta Longbottom stepped up to the counter. "We are here to see the editor."

"And what makes you think that he'll see you?"

Harry stepped in and said, "Tell him that the new owner wants to see him."

The secretary visibly paled. She instantly regretted being so rude to the people in front of her. "I-I-I'll go get him," she stuttered.

She got up and walked to a door labeled 'Editor' with the name Gabriel Withers underneath. A few minutes later, she motioned for them to enter the editor's office.

Inside the office, a very large man,who reminded Harry of his Uncle Vernon.

"What do you want?" He sneered. Clearly the secretary did not tell him who they were.

"You're fired," said Susan.

"W-what?" The man sputtered. Then he got angry. "Who the hell do you think you are, coming into my office and telling me I'm fired?"

Harry took out a piece of parchment and showed it to Mr. Withers. "I am the new owner. And what she said stands. You're fired."

"You can't do this!"

"Yes I can. You have not been doing your job properly. The news is for telling people what's happening, not selling lies. You have half an hour to pack up your things."

With that, Harry and his entourage left the office. Outside, the secretary was eying them warily. Since the Daily Prophet offices rarely got visitors, the reporters that were in the office were also looking at them curiously.

"Listen up, everyone!" shouted Harry. "I am the new owner of the Daily Prophet."

This brought a gasp from those who did not already know.

Harry pointed to Susan. "This is..."

"Sarah," she supplied.

"Yes. Sarah will be in charge of the Daily Prophet. The current editor has been fired. Susan will not be taking over as editor, but she will be working closely with whoever we hire."

Harry looked around at the reporters in their cubicles who were paying rapt attention. He was surprised to see that Alicia Spinnet was among them.

Susan spoke up. "Today is the day of the July Wizengamot session. This morning, many important things were uncovered." She pointed to Luna. "She will be writing a front page article about what happened. During lunch, we will be interviewing all of you. I'm going to be blunt here. Some of you will lose your jobs. Some of you will be promoted. Then I will chose one person to go write about what happens during the rest of the Wizengamot session. I promise you, this story will be huge. I would like you all to, one-by-one come into the conference room to be interviewed, starting with Ms. Skeeter."

With that, Susan turned around and walked into the conference room. She was followed in by Daphne and Luna.

"C'mon," Harry said to Remus and Neville. "Let's go get some food to bring back for everyone."

Madam Longbottom saw that they did not need her help, so she went back to the ministry talk to the other politicians. She knew that many people would be discussing what happened during the Wizengamot meeting, and now would be the perfect time to gouge their opinions.

Meanwhile, in the Daily Prophet conference room, the three girls were about to start their first interview with Rita Skeeter.

"I'll go check to make sure Mr. Withers has left."

Daphne walked over to the editor's office and tried to open the door. With a flick of her wand, the door unlocked and she cautiously pushed it open.

"Stupefy!"

Daphne instinctively responded by ducking and returning fire.

"Expelliarmus! Incarcerous!"

Clearly Mr. Withers was not a skilled duelist. The ropes bound his arms to his sides and his legs together, causing him to fall backwards, no doubt leaving a large bruise on his head.

"That was not a smart move," she said. Daphne then accioed all of Mr. Withers's belongings, shrunk them, and placed them in into a conjured bag.

She noticed a safe behind the desk that was stuck to the ground with a permanent sticking charm. Daphne castes a few spells on it, determining that it was keyed to Mr. Withers's magical signature. She levitated him next to the safe, noticing the panicked look on the older man. Daphne grabbed his meaty hand and placed it on the handle on the front of the safe and turned the handle with her hand over his.

The inside of the safe was clearly enlarged. There was a large pile of gold that Daphne estimated to be at least forty thousand galleons. Daphne decided to talk to Harry about what to do with the money.

Daphne turned back to Mr. Withers. "I think we both know how you got this money. It's too bad you'll never see it again. Don't try to get it back. You'll regret it."

She fixed him with a glare that made him realize that she wasn't kidding. Daphne lifted his left sleeve and was relieved to see that there was no Dark Mark.

Daphne then levitated Mr. Withers and his box of belongings out of his office. Many of the employees in the cubicles were staring. Some were appalled by Daphne's behavior, while others were outright grinning, thinking that the obese editor got what he deserved. She left him outside, in the middle of Diagon Alley.

"Ms. Skeeter," called Daphne, as she walked back into the Daily Prophet offices. "We are ready for you."

Rita followed Daphne into the conference room where Susan and Luna were sitting on one side of the long table. They indicated for Rita to sit on the other side and Daphne took a seat next to Susan.

"Ms. Skeeter. I'm going to be blunt with you," Susan began. "We will not print any more lies in the Daily Prophet, nor will we let anyone influence what we write. Are you willing to continue writing for the Daily Prophet."

Rita's face turned bright red at the accusation that she was writing lies. "I'm just giving the readers what they want to read."

"And that's exactly why it's wrong. Now I will give you three options. One, you give a magically binding oath to always write truthfully, to never take any bribes, and to gather your information legally. Two, you give an oath to never write publicly again. Three, I tell the DMLE that you're an animagus."

"W-w-what?" stuttered Rita.

"We know about your animagus."

Rita did not want to lose her job, so she took the first option and gave her oaths.

After Rita left, Harry, Neville, and Remus returned with food for everyone to eat. Since the Wizengamot was going to reconvene soon, they are while continuing to interview reporters. Most of them gave the same oaths as Rita Skeeter without hassle, but some quit instead.

The last person to be interviewed was Alicia Spinnet.

"Tell me, Ms. Spinnet, what would you like to write about?"

"Uh...well I used to want to be a Quidditch reporter, but, with the war, I think I want to write something more meaningful, but I'm rather new, so I doubt I'll have much choice about what I write."

"Well you come highly recommended, so you just might get what you want."

Alicia was surprised and curious. "Who recommended me?"

Harry raised his hand. "That would be me."

"Sorry, but I don't think I've met you before."

"Aww 'Leesh. You don't recognize your favorite seeker?" Harry asked cheekily.

Alicia's jaw dropped. "Harry?"

Harry grinned. He pulled out his wand and removed his glamour.

Alicia got up, walked over to Harry, and punched him in the shoulder. "Prat!"

The others laughed and removed their glamours for Alicia's sake.

"No Weasley or Granger? And a Slytherin? Harry, I'm surprised."

Harry sighed. "Well. It turns out that they were being paid to be my friends. And I've been friends with Daphne for a while now."

Alicia nodded, knowing that she would be getting more information later.

"So do you want to write about the rest of the Wizengamot session?"

"Uh...I don't want to sound rude or anything, Wizengamot meetings are usually really boring and nothing really happens, so reporters don't even bother to go."

"Hmm...that's interesting," said Harry thoughtfully. "How about this? We run the newspaper twice tomorrow. Luna gets the front page of the first, and you get the front page of the second?"

"Alright. This better be with it."

Harry grinned. "It will."

Ten minutes later, the Wizengamot resumed its meeting, in hopes of actually discussing the agenda for the meeting. But it was not to be.

"Welcome back to the July meeting of the Wizengamot," announced Dumbledore. "Since we still have not looked at today's agenda, procedure requires me to ask if there are any other issues that must be brought to our attention immediately."

Harry stood up.

"Lord Potter-Black?" asked the Chief Warlock icily.

Harry looked at Alicia and winked. "I would like to bring charges against Mr. Severus Snape for mind rape of a minor who was also the heir of an Ancient and Most Noble House."

Just as expected this caused an uproar. The dark faction was angry because Snape was "one of them", and Dumbledore's supporters didn't want their spy exposed.

Dumbledore just smirked, "Seeing as how Professor Snape is not present, a trial can be set for a later date."

"That will not be necessary, Chief Warlock," said Amelia. "I have arranged for Mr. Snape to be present."

As she said this, Tonks led Snape into the courtroom through a side door. He glared at everyone, especially when he saw Harry.

"Mr. Snape. You are charged with mind rape of the heir of an Ancient and Most Noble House. How do you plead?"

"Not guilty."

"Have you ever used Legilimency on Lord Potter-Black?"

"Yes." Snape was shocked that Harry had taken his titles and hated him even more for it.

"Why?"

"Albus Dumbledore told me to," he replied, earning a glare from Dumbledore.

"Why were you told to use Legilimency on Lord Potter-Black?"

"The headmaster thought that Potter needed to learn occlumency."

"And how did you teach him occlumency?"

"I told him to clear his mind."

"Is that all you did?"

"Yes."

Amelia had no further questions, so Harry stood up. He nodded to Tonks, who silently summoned a capsule of veritaserum antidote from the inside of Snape's mouth. "Once again, I call upon the Use of Truth Serum in Court Act to question Mr. Snape under veritaserum."

"Harry, my boy..."

"No. Chief Warlock. It is within my right to demand this."

Amelia quickly administered the truth serum before any more complaints were heard.

"Please state your name."

"Severus Tobias Snape."

"Did you perform legilimency on Lord Potter-Black?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Albus Dumbledore instructed me to."

"Why?"

Dumbledore tried to interrupt, but Snape had already begun answering. "The headmaster wanted me to break down his mental shields so that it would be easier for the Dark Lord to break into Potter's mind."

"Why would the headmaster want the Dark Lord to break into Lord Potter-Black's mind?"

"MADAM BONES!" Dumbledore interrupted.

Amelia turned to glare at Dumbledore. "Chief Warlock?"

"This question does not pertain to if the defendant is guilty or not."

Amelia reluctantly nodded, but figured that she would be able to interrogate Snape more when he was sent to Azkaban.

"Mr. Snape, did you willingly violate Lord Potter-Black's mind?"

"Yes."

"We're you aware that what you were doing was illegal?"

"Yes."

Amelia had run out of questions to ask without breaking any laws. Right now, she knew that most of the Wizengamot wanted Snape exonerated for one reason or another. Inwardly smiling, she applied a sonorus to Snape and quickly asked, "Are you loyal to Lord Voldemort or Albus Dumbledore."

All at once, everyone started protesting and yelling loudly. However, the veritaserum responded to the question and everyone heard clearly, "Neither. Only myself."

For once, there was complete silence. Nobody knew what to make of this revelation. Everyone, including Dumbledore, was so distracted that nobody argued that the question should not have been allowed. While everyone was still yelling, an auror gave Snape the veritaserum antidote.

As soon as Dumbledore got the room quiet, Amelia asked, "Mr. Snape, do you have anything to say before the Wizengamot makes its decision?"

Snape just glared at her.

The Wizengamot quickly voted to send Snape to Azkaban for three years.

Albus Dumbledore stood again. "Are there any more issues that must be addressed?"

Harry stood up again, getting many bored looks from the other Lords. "I would like to name Madam Bones as proxy for the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, and Madam Longbottom as the proxy for the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter."

With that, Harry stood up and left the courtroom. Daphne, Neville and Remus followed him out. There was nothing else that he had to be there for, and he trusted Amelia and Augusta to make the right decisions. He would read about everything tomorrow.

After leaving the Ministry of Magic, The group went back to the Daily Prophet offices to check up on Susan and Luna. Harry was pleased to see that they had already begun printing tomorrow's newspaper with Luna's article.

Shortly later, they returned to Potter Manor. By then, it was already late afternoon, so the teens decided to organize their memories from the day and continue building their occlumency shields. Remus went off to take a nap.

Astoria flooed back right before dinner, and talked animatedly about what she and Ellie did all day. She went on to describe all sorts of muggle appliances that Ellie owned.

After dinner, Amelia floo called the manor to tell them that everything has gone according to plan, and Harry made plans for the Bones and Longbottoms to come over tomorrow before breakfast.

Everyone went to bed that night glad that they were finally doing something. The war still needed to be fought, but at least they were doing something.