The Daily Prophet

INQUIRY INTO SIRIUS BLACK CASE TO BE HELD

Wizengamot sources have informed us that newly-confirmed Wizengamot member Harry Potter is wasting no time taking advantage of the powers and perks his position grants him by launching an inquiry into the case of the recently-deceased fugitive Sirius Black.

Black, a former close friend of Potter's father, was imprisoned for 12 years in Azkaban after being caught killing Peter Pettigrew and 12 Muggles with a Dark curse in Manchester City Centre on 2 November 1981. At the time, it was believed Black had done so after becoming unhinged by the death of his Dark Master, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, at the hands of Potter two days previously, as Black had gone around advertising himself as the only one who knew where the Potters were hiding and expected that by giving the Dark Lord the location he would be rewarded once the Dark Wizard took total control of Britain.

Three years ago, Black escaped Azkaban using unknown means, prompting a nationwide manhunt that quietly diminished over the past two years to a small team of Aurors fielding tips on sightings of Black from various far-flung foreign locations.

The lead Auror of that team, Kingsley Shacklebolt, was unavailable for comment on the inquiry.

Potter, in a statement announcing the inquiry, gave as a primary reason for holding it that "there are numerous discrepancies in the case, which was never heard by the Wizengamot. I think it is important that the true facts of the case are established in the public record, so that the House of Black can have closure over their late Head of House."

Assisting Potter at the Inquiry will be Wizengamot members Martevious Withers and Annabel Harbottle. A partial witness list leaked to the Prophet reveals that Potter has summoned Albus Dumbledore and former Minister Millicent Bagnold to give evidence.

The inquiry begins today at 0830 in Courtroom Six at the Ministry of Magic.

LOOK A LINEBREAK

"Order," Harry instructed, whacking the gavel that came standard at the Presiding Judge's raised seat on the dais in Courtroom Six. Decked out in his not-quite-royal purple Wizengamot robes and mitre (because not even Wizards were egotistical enough to assume the color worn by royalty since the Roman Empire), and flanked by two aged associates in the same, there was no doubt this was a gathering to be taken seriously.

"Welcome one and all," and there were quite a few comprising the 'all', as the public gallery was full and people were eyeing the reserved witness seats greedily, "to the Public Inquiry into the matter of Sirius Black. For the record: Presiding Judge Harry James Potter, Associate Judges Martevious Withers and Annabel Harbottle. Scribe Reginald Fox," Harry said, nodding to each of the other staff in turn. He was pleased to see that Fox had brought plenty of parchment. He would definitely need it.

"The purpose of today's gathering is to investigate both the particulars of the accusations against the late Sirius Black as well as the Government's mismanagement of the case, both back in 1981 and again since 1993," Harry said. "Mr. Fox, has the Department of Law Enforcement produced the documents I subpoenaed?"

"Yes sir," Fox replied, holding up a file bound in red tape and stamped with the Ministry's seal.

"Excellent," Harry said, Summoning the file to himself before touching the capstone of his staff to the seal, breaking it and snapping the red tape binding the file. Inside was an arrest report, the Senior Auror's report on the Manchester explosion, and an Order of Incarceration, signed by Bartemius Crouch, Senior and Millicent Bagnold.

"Is Madame Millicent Bagnold here?" Harry asked. A thin woman with severe facial features and grey hair worn up in a bun rose from the witness gallery, two seats over from Dumbledore, who looked quite disgruntled at being there, which made Harry smile.

"Wonderful. Please come forward and take the Oath the Auror will present you," Harry said. The Auror acting as the bailiff for the inquiry met Bagnold at the Witness Chair and presented her with a sheet of parchment. After fishing a pair of spectacles from her handbag, Bagnold read the parchment with an ever-deepening frown before removing her wand from her robe and holding it in her right hand.

"I, Milicent Eileen Bagnold do hereby swear on my honor as a Witch to cooperate fully with the Inquiry by answering fully any questions asked of me and producing any documents requested by any of the Judges," she said, sitting down immediately afterwards without Harry offering the seat.

"Very well," Harry said. "Let's get straight to it. Madame, on 2 November 1981, what was your job?"

"I was the Minister for Magic of the United Kingdom," Bagnold replied.

"Who first made you aware of the Manchester Incident involving Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew?"

"Barty Crouch Senior."

"When?"

"Late in the afternoon."

"And what did he tell you?"

"The base particulars of the case," Bagnold said. "That two wizards had decided to duel in the middle of the city, and that one of them had cast a curse that had killed the other, as well as blowing up a good chunk of the road, killing twelve Muggles in the process, but that the DMLE had apprehended the caster of the curse, while DOMAC had repaired the damage to the road and Obliviated all the Muggle witnesses."

"Did he say who the DMLE had apprehended?"

"Sirius Black."

"Did he present any evidence to you that Black had cast the curse?"

"He did not," she said.

"Then why, may I ask, did you agree to counter-sign this Order of Incarceration for Sirius Black?" Harry asked. "An Order, I may add, that is dated for the same day his alleged crime took place, and certainly much too fast for him to have been tried and convicted beforehand."

"Because he was the survivor of a magical duel that had ended with multiple deaths. He was obviously guilty of something," Bagnold stated.

"And this justifies violating his civil rights?" Harry asked. "Every subject of the Crown has the right to a trial, Madame."

"I was unaware his civil rights were being violated," Bagnold replied. "Barty's Council of Magical Law was quite capable of holding a complete trial and rendering a verdict within the amount of time that elapsed between the incident and his meeting with me. I signed the Order assuming that he'd gotten another of the quick convictions he was famed for."

It was going about as Draco had warned Harry it would: with Crouch dead and unable to testify himself, both Bagnold and Dumbledore would attempt to throw him under the bus as a scapegoat for their own failings in the case.

"Even though as the Heir to an Ancient and Noble House his case could not be heard by any lesser tribunal than the full Wizengamot?" Winters asked.

"The Law Enforcement Act 1978 granted the Council of Magical Law wide-ranging powers to try Death Eaters, regardless of their familial ties," Bagnold replied.

"Recalling the Act as I do," Harbottle countered, speaking up for the first time. Harry let him, because he knew more about the Wizengamot of the time. "Those powers still did not extend to the Heir him or herself of our Ancient and Noble Houses, and especially not to the Head of House, which Sirius was that day, despite not having officially taken up the duties of the office, since his father had died the year previously."

As that was not a question, Bagnold had no reply, merely refusing to meet the eyes of the panel.

"So we are to take it that you were merely incompetent or willfully ignorant instead of malicious in your actions in this matter?" Harry asked.

Bagnold, though she clearly did not want to answer the insulting question, finally replied "If you wish, my Lord, I cannot stop you."

"You're dismissed," Harry said. "Cornelius Oswald Fudge, please come forward."

Fudge, looking the least pleased of all the witnesses at being there, slowly made his way down to the Chair and sullenly swore the Oath before being seated.

"Minister, what was your occupation on 2 November 1981?"

"I was Junior Minister in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes."

"Our records show that you were a member of the response team to the Manchester Incident, is that correct?"

"Yes it is," Fudge said.

"Can you tell us what you saw when you arrived on the scene?"

"It was terrible," Fudge recalled. "There was a fifteen-meter wide crater in the middle of the street, and there were body parts and blood everywhere. Our examination determined a Confringo blasting curse had blown through the road and struck a gas line, which detonated in a large explosion. And just about three meters from the epicenter was Sirius Black, and he was laughing like someone had just told him the funniest joke in the world."

"Did your examination determine who cast the blasting curse?" Harry asked.

"No," Fudge said. "That would have required checking the wands of the two duelists, and the DMLE confiscated Black's when they arrested him. We never found Pettigrew's."

"I see," Harry said. "What happened after you determined the cause of the explosion?"

"We figured out how many people had been killed, piecing the bodies together as best we could. Evidently Pettigrew took the worst of the blast, because save for a finger, there wasn't anything left of him, not even any bloody or tattered robes."

"Did you find that unusual?" Harry asked. "In my experience, limited though it has been, spells such as the various blasting curses leave much more of their victims than that?"

"Well, what else remained might have been incinerated by the fire from the gas explosion," Fudge said. "At least, that's what I theorized in my report. It should be attached to the Incident Report from the Auror Office," he added. Harry took the document in question from the folder and turned a couple of pages, skimming over Fudge's mercifully brief report.

"So it is. Very well, let us move forward to June 1993, by which time you had become Minister for Magic. How did you first learn of Sirius Black's escape from Azkaban?"

"The Warden alerted me," Fudge answered. "He told me that the prison's wards had determined that there was one fewer prisoner than there should be, so he did some rounds to try and see who had died when he found Black's cell empty."

"And what was your reaction?"

"I panicked, naturally," Fudge said. "And then ordered a search for him. At Director Bones' suggestion, I contacted the Muggle Prime Minister to enlist the Muggles help in searching for Black, being extra careful to leave out any reference to our world."

"When did you give the order for Dementors to Kiss Black on sight?" Harry asked.

"That would be in late November of that same year, after multiple reports of Black lurking about the Hogsmeade area and even breaking into some houses," Fudge replied.

"And where in your job description does it say, Minister, that you are allowed to order summary executions?"

Fudge turned an impressive shade of red. "Er, well, you see, it's not so much in the job description, per se," he stammered.

"I should think not," Harry said. "Though you in particular haven't ever been very fussy about following proper procedures when it comes to imposing arbitrary sentences on people, have you Fudge?"

"I haven't the faintest idea of what you're talking about, my Lord," Fudge said, trying to look indignant and failing rather spectacularly.

"Oh?" Harry asked. "Well, roughly nine months prior to your extra-judicial execution order, you ordered a man incarcerated in Azkaban without trial, or even formal charges based on suspicions, and held him there for over four months. Do you recall that?"

"Yes, but I had to do it!" Fudge protested. "I was receiving dozens of owls demanding that I take action, and that was even before reading the Letters to the Editor in the Prophet."

Both of Harry's assistant judges looked scandalized, as did a good portion of the gallery.

"Oh," Harry said. "I suppose this is the politician's version of the crup ate my transfiguration essay defense: the public made me do it. So what you're saying, Cornelius, is that if I were to be bombarded with owls demanding your execution, I could go up to your office and blast you to bits with impunity because the public wanted me to act?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying, blast it!" Fudge said. "I'm supposed to be doing what is best for every witch and wizard in the country, and if that means some half-breed has to spend a few months in Azkaban or a couple criminals get their souls sucked out, those are acceptable losses."

"Even when doing so erodes the fundamental principles our Government is based on?" Harry asked. "I suppose the Ministry turning into a radical dictatorship would constitute an acceptable loss to you, so long as you were still in charge of it. You, too, are dismissed from the witness stand. But don't be surprised if you're dismissed from something else in the very near future."

"Are you threatening me, Potter?" Fudge asked in a cold voice as he stepped down from the witness chair.

"Fudge, on your best day you pose about as much threat to me as the peacock Mr. Fox's quill came from does right now," Harry replied in an equally frosty tone. "Get out of my inquiry, you blunderbuss. Fox, that last exchange is off the record."

"Yes sir," the scribe replied, scratching through a few lines on his parchment.

"Next we have Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore," Harry said. "Professor, if you would please come down and swear in?"

Dumbledore did so, looking as if he'd sucked on a particularly sour lemon drop.

"Professor, what were your jobs on 2 November 1981?"

"Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, Head of the Order of the Phoenix and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot."

"On 2 November 1981, were you, in your capacity as Chief Warlock, summoned to preside over a trial for Sirius Black?"

"I was not."

"When were you even made aware of Black's arrest and incarceration?" Harry asked.

"Late that evening," Dumbledore replied.

"By whom?"

"Bartemius Crouch, Senior," Dumbledore replied. "He firecalled me and informed me that Black had been arrested for the murder of a wizard and twelve Muggles and had been sentenced to life in Azkaban."

"Were you familiar with Sirius Black?"

"Yes," Dumbledore said.

Harry let a brief flicker of frustration appear on his face. The Headmaster was deliberately offering zero information. Harry had expected he would delay and drag his questioning out as long as he possibly could, but he hadn't anticipated that the Headmaster would be so adamant in obfuscating the proceedings.

"How?"

"He had been a particularly active student at Hogwarts, from which he had graduated three years previously holding the school record for number of accumulated detentions," Dumbledore said.

"Did you know him after his school days?"

"He was a member of the Order," Dumbledore admitted after a couple moments' pause.

"Was he a valuable member?"

"Yes, I suppose so," Dumbledore said. "He was certainly an excellent duelist, and his knowledge of the families serving the Enemy provided valuable insights."

"So he was an asset to you during the War?"

"Yes."

"What was your reaction to learning of the accusations against him?"

"I was floored," Dumbledore said. "But I can't say I was entirely surprised."

"Explain," Harry ordered. He had a suspicion what Dumbledore was about to bring up. He would not be disappointed.

"During his sixth year, Black attempted to sic a werewolf on a fellow student."

"And that led you to believe him capable of mass murder?" Dumbledore turned red.

"It made me slightly less skeptical of the accusation," he conceded.

"Very well. Did you ask Mr. Crouch who had presided over Mr. Black's trial, since you clearly had not?"

"I did not," Dumbledore admitted.

"Did you ask him to see the transcript of the trial?"

"I did. He said there had been no trial, but that Black had confessed to the murder of Pettigrew and to being complicit in Lord Voldemort's murder of James and Lily Potter."

"Did he offer to show you the confession?"

"He did not," Dumbledore said.

"Why, then, Professor, did you not uphold both the law and your Oath as Chief Warlock and convene a trial for Black?"

Dumbledore was silent for a very long moment. In fact, Harry was about to force him to answer with his Oath before he finally opened his mouth once again. Harry leaned forward, interested in hearing this excuse.

"Because Barty and Minister Bagnold would never have agreed to remove him from Azkaban even for the brief amount of time a trial would have taken," he said. "I deemed it wasn't worth the political capital I would have had to expend to overrule them."

Harry, his co-panelists, and the entirety of both Galleries were shocked into silence.

"Despicable. Utterly despicable," Harbottle murmured.

"I quite agree," Harry said, and Withers nodded his own agreement. "Though I do see his point; since Crouch and Bagnold already had an Order of Incarceration in effect, it would require more effort than it would have been expedient to exert on a presumed Death Eater in 1981, particularly after he had already fought so hard to prevent Severus Snape's incarceration."

Dumbledore sagged in relief.

"I'm not excusing your behavior, Professor, don't get any ideas," Harry said. "Your behavior was despicable and utterly reprehensible. I understand your reluctance to agitate for a trial for Black at the time, but why not in 1993, upon his recapture at Hogwarts?"

"I was again in a situation similar to the one I just laid out," Dumbledore said.

"Perhaps, Dumbledore, you are far too much a politician to have ever been Chief Warlock, if you're so willing to let political concerns get between you and seeing justice done," Harry chided. "Even so, overturning an illegal Execution Order signed by one high-ranking buffoon is far easier than overturning an illegal Incarceration Order signed by two."

Dumbledore noticed the lack of question in Harry's statement and remained silent. Harry exchanged quiet looks with his panel before dismissing Dumbledore and summoning Snape to the Chair.

Snape ground out the Oath and planted himself in the Chair with a sneer on his face, clearly anticipating the questions he would be asked.

"Professor Severus Snape, can you tell us what happened on the night of 6 June 1994?" Harry asked. Snape's sneer became a scowl, while the rest of the room (save Remus, Hermione and the still-lurking Dumbledore) wondered where this line of questioning was going.

"I captured Sirius Black in Hogsmeade, only to have him escape from confinement in Hogwarts while awaiting the Dementor's Kiss," Snape answered. Harry smiled a predator's smile as Snape followed Dumbledore's example of giving the bare minimum answer the Oath required.

"How did you capture Black?"

"While delivering a potion to Professor Lupin, I observed Black on the grounds by means of a magical artifact in Lupin's possession. I saw him disappear into a secret passage, and, knowing where that passage leads, pursued. I found Black in the Shrieking Shack and attempted to apprehend him before being attacked by two Confunded students, allowing Black to escape. I pursued again and followed a swarm of Dementors into the Forbidden Forest where Black and one of the students he had as a hostage were attempting to fight them off. I produced my own Patronus and drove off the Dementors, rescued the student and bound Black."

Harry figured it spoke to Snape's skill in Occlumency that he was able to lie so convincingly. He did appreciate, though, that Snape was taking care not to name any of the students involved.

"At any point during that night was the issue of Black's guilt mentioned?"

"The students seemed quite convinced that Black was innocent, but since they had been Confunded, I disregarded it," Snape said.

"How could you tell the students had been Confunded?" Harry asked, quite keen on hearing this answer because he had been one of the students supposedly Confunded by Sirius.

"They believed Black innocent, something nobody would believe without being under some spell. Since they were not glassy-eyed like an Imperius Curse victim, I deduced they had been Confunded," Snape stated.

"Did Black have a wand to perform any mind-altering spellwork?" Harry asked.

"He did not," Snape said, not even grudgingly admitting to having fabricated his 'deduction' out of whole cloth.

"Then how did he perform three Confundus charms?" Harry asked.

"I cannot say," Snape said. "But Black was always an ingenious miscreant, if anyone besides Professor Dumbledore could pull off such a feat I would quickly wager money on Black."

"One final question, Professor," Harry said. "As convinced as you are of Black's guilt, did it ever enter your mind to question the possibility of his innocence that night?"

"No. Sirius Black deserved Azkaban, and he received all the punishments put off from his Hogwarts days in the Department of Mysteries," Snape said. Harry frowned.

"You are dismissed."

Hermione and Remus gave their testimony next, presenting the true versions of what had happened that night. Ripples of shock and astonished whispers had permeated the crowd at Hermione's testimony about Peter Pettigrew's reappearance and confession to the crimes Sirius had been accused of and imprisoned for. She had shared a wry grin with Harry as she referred to him in the third person in the telling of their time-travel adventure.

After their testimony finished, Harry announced a five-minute recess to confer with his co-judges as to whether he really could do what he planned to do next. When they assured him he could, he gaveled the inquiry back to order.

"We have heard today some testimony from our country's highest and most esteemed leaders," he began. "Testimony that disturbed us on the deepest levels. Testimony of willful ignorance of a thousand years' worth of tradition and precedent. Testimony of personal and moral failings of people trusted to govern this country and educate its children. Testimony that shows a great injustice was fostered on Sirius Black fifteen years ago, perpetuated by inaction on the part of several people over that time, and deepened after his self-release from prison three years ago.

"Based on the testimony given at this Inquiry, I declare Sirius Black innocent of all charges levied against him in November 1981 and July 1993 and order his record expunged. An arrest warrant is to be issued for Peter Pettigrew on charges of treason, murder, and attempted murder. Any witch or wizard with knowledge of Peter Pettigrew's whereabouts who does not immediately notify the DMLE should expect charges of accessory to his crimes to follow should their silence be discovered. A full report with the findings and recommendations of this panel will be prepared for the next session of the Wizengamot. We stand adjourned," he said, whacking his gavel one last time before proceeding from the Courtroom.

IS THIS A LINEBREAK? WHY YES, YES IT IS

Albus Dumbledore downed his fifth tumbler of firewhiskey and pulled a Headache Relief Potion from a stash in one of his lower desk drawers, knocking it back with the practiced ease of all of his 115 years. His appearance before Potter's kangaroo court of an Inquiry had been most trying, and he had good reason to fear that the worst was yet to come.

Someone, Malfoy no doubt, had given Harry a crash course in interpreting the weasel-words of politicians, which had allowed the impertinent brat to parse through his stalling tactics and attempts to slide the blame on the departed Barty Crouch Senior with pointed questions that forced him to give answers that painted him in a particularly bad light.

Then the brat had found the gall to chide him and lecture him on his job and duties, when he had abandoned his own duties to the Light to roll in the hay with Draco sodding Malfoy. He had no doubt he would fare worse in the final report. Harry would no doubt scheme and get the Wizengamot to find him in violation of his oaths. He probably faced censure, which while of no real legal consequence, would be another serious blow to his reputation.

Perhaps he would give Severus a little additional leeway with Potter this term. He almost missed Umbridge: constant detentions/torture sessions might be just what the Healer ordered for Potter right now.


A/N: So, here is Ch. 8, despite no reviews for Ch. 7 I will keep my promise and upload this before Halloween. 62 followers and no reviews makes me a sad writer :(

I have started work on Ch. 9, in which the Trio finally get to go to Hogwarts, and there will be interesting (hopefully) chats with Neville, Ron and Ginny. Reviews might get me to write faster, but I wouldn't expect it before Thanksgiving.

-Phoenix II