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The Special Edition of the Daily Profit was delivered during lunch to the hands of every student and member of staff. The owls filled the hall and ate a majority of the meat on the tables before taking off almost at once in a flurry of feathers. Harry didn't even bother to look around before opening the paper to see the headline in bold flashing letters followed by a rather wild looking picture of a man that seemed vaguely familiar.

Sirius Black Declared Innocent of All Crimes! To Gain Custody of Boy Who Lived!

Rita Skeeter

During my wanderings in the Ministry I have stumbled upon many interesting stories for the public's intrigued ears but none as unbelievable as what I bring to you in this free Special Edition of the Daily Prophet.

When the young Hadrian James Potter went to Gringotts during his first official visit to Diagon Alley he unsealed the will of his departed parents, Lord James Charles Potter and Lady Lilian Rose Potter which brought forth information on the Fidelis Charm used on their home in Godric's Hollow. The Secret Keeper was not Sirius Black but Peter Pettigrew. The Minister, whom was not in office during the original incarceration of Lord Black, was appropriately taken aback by the information and immediately convened a trial for the Lord Black.

The trial took place without the presence of the Supreme Warlock, Albus Dumbledore, as the will also named him as the wizard that cast the original Fidelis Charm, which was not brought forth when Lord Black was originally incarcerated. The truth serum was administered by an Unspeakable Potions Master and the trial commenced. A Full accounting of the trial can be found on page 6. During the trial Lord Sirius Black was cleared of all charges from the deaths of Lord and Lady Potter as well as those related to the muggles and one Peter Pettigrew. It was also revealed that Peter Pettigrew was the Secret Keeper for the Potters and the one that blew up the street to escape capture. Peter Pettigrew's awards have been removed from record and there is now a thousand galleon reward for his capture.

Lord Sirius Orion Black was not only cleared of all charges, my dear readers, but also given a substantial amount of compensation for his years in Azkaban as well as full custody of the Boy Who Lived upon his completion of a Ministry funded health regimen to get him back to full health. I am sure that I speak for all of my wonderful readers when I wish him a full and speedy recovery.

The Chief Warlock is also to be brought in for questioning over his part in the incarceration of an innocent Lord of an Ancient and Noble House. As he is also currently serving as the Headmaster of Hogwarts the questioning is set to take place two Saturdays from today. I will endeavor to bring all of you a full accounting of that momentous occasion as well.

Lord Black was kind enough to stay at the Ministry long enough to give a rather passionate speech about his feelings on this most amazing turn of events.

"Good evening ladies and gentleman of the wizarding press. As I am sure you already know I have finally received a trial for the crimes that I was thrown in Azkaban for almost a decade for. Minister Fudge has done the Ancient and Noble House of Black a momentous favor this day as I have finally had the chance to prove my innocence." Lord Black took a moment to look over the crowd and you could certainly see his strength of will shining in his trademark Black family eyes. "I was a rash young man that put my faith blindly in the hands of a man that I believed would never let me down. I trusted that that man would take care of my godson and that he would never betray my trust in him. That man was Albus Dumbledore and he has failed on both counts."

My dear readers, you could have heard a pin drop in the atrium. "Albus was the one that cast the Fidelus charm where Peter Pettigrew became the Secret Keeper, he knew without a single doubt that I was not the one that betrayed the Potters. He sealed the will of the Potters and placed my godson with people that James and Lily would never have allowed their son to live with. It is only through sheer luck and the efforts of Minister Fudge that these injustices will be righted. You can take to heart that I will do everything within my power as the Lord Black to ensure that such a grave injustice does not happen again."

You could have heard a pin drop in the Great Hall before the entire student body erupted into furious whispers and the Head Table looked to the Headmaster almost as one.

Headmaster Dumbledore stood from the Head Table with a serene look on his face but Harry could see the rage hiding behind the twinkle in the old man's eyes. "Children, you must remember that Lord Black has suffered many years in Azkaban and will be quite unstable for some time. It is likely that he doesn't quite know what he is saying or what he can truly remember of such a painful time in his life. And we all know just how inventive Miss Skeeter can be with her rather nasty articles. I'm sure that once Lord Black has a little time to rest and recover he will be sure to withdraw such misleading comments." Dumbledore looked over the student body with a grandfatherly stare that caused many students to look away in shame, Harry was not among them. "Now that our morning has in such an eventful and exciting way, we should tuck in and be ready to fill our brains with useful knowledge rather than Miss Skeeter's version of truth."

Padma looked over at Harry with a sly look on her face. "I think that the Headmaster is trying just a little too hard to say that he's not guilty."

Harry couldn't help but laugh a little before looking away from the Head Table. "Yes, I do believe that the lady does protest too much." They both laughed a bit before starting on lunch so they would be able to walk to their classes, rather than run.

(W)

"My father made sure to buy me several extra books on charms as they will be very important for running a household in the future." Padma made very sure to secure two seats in the front row as far from the bushy haired girl that was staring at Harry as possible. "Our head of house teaches this class too even though I heard that he currently hold several titles for his dueling skills too."

Harry managed to keep up with the rapid talking while setting up his table with his book set to the right page and some parchment and writing utensils just in case they were going to take notes. "Yes, if what I read on him was accurate he has never lost a duel and the dueling circuits threw a fit when he decided to come to Hogwarts to teach. Why would your father be so interested in you learning household charms?"

Padma flushed a bit and moved her quill around before breathing out slowly and looking at where her sister was chatting with a blond girl. "Our family is a pureblooded house originating from India. We are not one of the oldest pureblood houses, nor are we one of the richest. The only way for us to elevate our house is to marry into a nobler house. My brother was schooled in India but as a male he is to hold the highest house in the marriage, so it is up to my sister and me to find more powerful husbands to elevate our family through marriage." Padma looked over at her sister and cringed just a little bit. "Pavarti is very shallow and it will be unlikely for her to be able to find a match on her own, so father is going to find one for her. I requested to be allowed to find one on my own so I want to learn everything I can and find a match that will help my family as well as one that won't be with a complete stranger like my sister's."

Harry was more than a bit surprised that arranged marriage was still going on in the wizarding world, though the general feel of it was more like the middle ages than the muggle world's level. "So arranged marriages are common?"

Padma nodded. "Very common. Draco Malfoy from Slytherin is currently betrothed to Astoria Greengrass, who will come to Hogwarts next year. Theodred Nott is betrothed to Camilla Artrusta, a witch from a noble family in France. Most pureblooded families set up betrothal contracts very early, though they are set up to where they only come into effect if the children don't find suitable partners before a certain age."

Their conversation was cut short as their diminutive professor popped up onto his stack of books and began roll call.

(W)

Floating a feather was much easier than Harry thought that it was going to be and he very nearly shot his feather to the ceiling when he tried putting his full strength behind the spell. "Very good, Mr. Potter. Your wand must be a very good match to channel that much of your magic this early in the year." Professor Flitwick bounced over from where the bushy haired girl was floating her feather with a great deal of concentration. "Try to make your movements softer and perhaps whisper the incantation to soften the effect."

Harry decided to take the advice just a little further and just thought the incantation without flourishing his wand at all and watched the feather float gently in front of his face. He was concentrating so much on watching the feather float along with the movements of his eyes that he missed the shocked look that Professor Flitwick shot him.

"How are you doing that without your wand and without even using the spell?" Padma leaned closer looked between Harry and his feather.

Harry looked away from his feather, which kept merrily floating as he put just a little concentration on keeping it up. "From the books that I read the major part of using incantations is to help the witch or wizard visualize the effect of the spell. It's why they are merely descriptions of what the spell is meant to do in a language that is somewhat familiar. I have been using my magic without a wand from a young age so I don't really feel the need for a wand. Accidental magic can't be the only time that a witch or wizard can use their magic without a wand after all. Instead of focusing on the wand movements or the words of the incantation, you should focus on what you want the magic to do until you can see it happen in your mind. Then it's just a matter of telling your magic that that is what you want it to do."

Padma looked back at her feather with a determined look on her face and started to think about how she wanted the feather to float. It took her a good five minutes before she could picture the feather floating in front of her just like Harry's and she tried to direct her magic to float it but she couldn't wasn't quite sure that she knew how. "How do you get your magic to react without a wand to pull it out?"

Harry actually had to think about that one, he had never had the problem of not being able to feel his magic, but he figured that witches and wizards normally didn't have the amount of usage that he did. "I can feel my magic, but if you can't yet just use your wand for now and try to pay attention to where the magic comes from when you cast with it."

By the end of class, Hermione Granger was the only Gryffindor that had managed to float her feather with both her wand and the incantation that she proceeded to bombard her fellow lions with. Padma managed to float her feather without the incantation, but still had to use her wand and Harry was the only one that floated it without using either. The other Ravenclaws all managed to cast with the incantation and the wand, though many were attempting it without one or the other by the end of class after watching, and eavesdropping on Harry and Padma.