A/N: Well, are you exited? This is it, The MOGF's testimony. Enjoy :)

Disclaimer: We don't own Harry Potter...Queen Rowling does.

Chapter Ten: Albus Takes The Stand

For the three members of the committee the difference between the earlier sessions and the newly revised committee was as clear as the difference between night and day.

The first thing they and their fellow members of the Wizengamot noted were the numbers of people in the galleries. The earlier sessions had attracted a fair number of people, but now the committee room was full to overflowing. There were easily twice as many magicals in the room as there had been before the explosive newspaper articles.

The second thing the members noted were the divisions between the witnesses in the room. Where as before, Hermione Granger had sat near the other people Amelia had associate with Dumbledore, now Miss Granger sat with Bill Weasely and his girlfriend Fleur Delacour away from the other members of Dumbledore's 'crowd.' There was no love lost between several of the latter group's members and Miss Granger.

Thinking of the young witch, Amelia made a mental note to get the Grangers and Miss Granger into some place of relative security and protection. She would not put it past Dumbledore to claim charge of his student and lock her away somewhere, all 'for the greater good' of course. She scribbled down some notes and called for Auror Robards to come over.

Discussing her orders quietly, she made it clear that neither Tonks nor Shacklebolt were to be involved in the Grangers' protection. He signaled his compliance and she turned her attention back to the developing situation at hand.

As committee chair, she had announced their first choice of witness this morning and it was clear to her and others that Chief Warlock Dumbledore was not approaching the situation happily. He had even attempted to send her a tersely written note suggesting that the committee was wasting its time in calling him and that they needed to get focused on the task at hand of locating and stopping Harry Potter.

I regret that this committee is so devoid of a sense of leadership and responsibility that rather than seeking to fulfill its earlier mandate of understanding who was doing what to whom this summer and then seeking to end the bloodshed and chaos that this committee now feels it necessary to waste its time in digging up old decisions and actions touching people long past.

The facts are clear: Harry Potter is without protection and exposed to the possible attacks of the Dark Lord. Fact: the Dark Lord would consider twenty or thirty of his Death Eaters a good price to pay if his enemy Harry Potter could be killed. Fact: Harry is moving down a dark road of vengeance, blood and pain – one that could end up with one Dark Lord replacing another Dark Lord. Fact: Harry Potter needs to be found, needs to be healed and needs to be restored to a road that leads him to the light.

Fact: as Harry Potter's magical guardian I alone have the requisite knowledge of Mr. Potter and how he thinks and I alone can ensure that he will be safe and prepared for the eventual conflict with Voldemort.

Oh yes, Amelia thought to herself. Albus was pissed and he was determined to end this charade of a committee, despite the wishes of the wizarding public.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sudden popping of a house elf beside her.

"Is you Mdme Bones of the Wzengamut?" The house elf asked. Amelia's eyes widened at the sight of a house elf wearing two hats and several pairs of colored socks.

"Yes, I am," she replied. "And who are you?"

"I is Dobby, Master Harry Potter's house elf," the elf replied. "I's carrying a message for yous from Master Harry Potter." With that he handed her an envelope and subsequently disappeared.

Dumbledore had been walking towards the witness stand to comply with the committee's request for his testimony when he had caught sight of Dobby. Rushing up to the committee seats, he reached out his hand for the letter Amelia now held in her hand.

"May I read that please, Amelia?"

She pulled the letter back from Dumbledore's reach. "It was addressed to me, not you Albus."

His eyes took on a pleading look. "But if it gives Harry's current location, it is critical that I….we find him. He must be safe."

"I will read this and if there is information for you, then we will see what you might or might not be able to do." With that, she slit the envelope open and quickly perused its contents.

This day had just gotten off to an even better start, she decided. For her and the committee, not for Albus Dumbledore.

"Wizards and witches, fellow members of the Wizengamot, I declare this session of the official Wizengamot committee examining the background and story of Harry Potter open for today's session. However, before we move to the testimony of the Chief Warlock and Headmaster of Hogwarts, we have received a letter from Harry Potter which he has invited should be shared with the entire assembly in this room.

"He writes and I read….

To the Honorable members of the Wizengamot Committee and to Madame Bones, Chair, Greetings.

I am overwhelmed by the interest and expressions of sympathy given by the wizarding public in regards to my story as shared with The Daily Prophet and The Quibbler in yesterday's editions. Miss Hermione Granger has told an accurate version of the events of my life even though I am ashamed to admit all of the details are true.

I would ask all members of the magical community not to assume that all Muggles are like the people I do not call family, but only relatives. They have a special hatred of magic, but they do not represent the vast majority of people in the non magical world.

I would ask this body to ask the questions as to why I was left with these relatives when I have recently discovered that I had family members who could have taken me in: Andromeda Tonks, and Madame Longbottom among others.

I would ask why I had to learn who I was and the place of my family from the goblins rather than my purported 'magical guardian.'

I would ask why I had to endure the life of a house elf while stories of my happy life and adventures circulated all over the wizarding world.

I would ask why I never learned about the role of my family and its reputation, resources, properties until I sat down with the goblins very recently. Who was supposed to tell me about these things?

I would ask why I appear to be the only one who is fighting Lord Voldemort. You as the wizarding public vastly outnumber those few Death Eaters who have lifted wands up against you. Even the most feared Dark Lord can fall to others in a battle of numbers.

It is too late for you and the other members of this world to stop me on my quest to seek vengeance for the losses I have suffered from people in this world and more specifically a Dark Lord who assures me that he will not rest until I am dead.

I demand justice for those who sought to keep me from knowledge that my friends were well and safe. I demand justice for those who gave me to think that I was alone in the world.

It is upon you that the blood you claim I am shedding will fall. It is upon your desire to keep me in the dark that the final reckoning will come.

Soon the Dark Lord and I will meet and when we do, I do not expect to survive. I wish it known here and now that I leave my estate and the riches of the Potter family to Hermione Granger. It is she who has been the most faithful friend to me; she who has always stood by my side.

To Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, a person I once considered a grandfather and a friend, I now accuse you of theft, of lying, of denying me knowledge of my heritage and position. You broke the wishes of my parents' will so that I could have 'a normal childhood'. If you call my childhood normal or my early years a childhood at all, you have no idea what childhood is.

To the wizarding world, do not mourn Harry Potter. I am finally striking out to ensure that the Dark Lord will terrorize you no longer.

And in my mind, the sooner I die, the sooner I see the only people who cared for me without reserve: my parents and Sirius Black.

Signed

Lord Harry James Potter

The silence which descended upon the committee chamber was overwhelming. The words of Potter's letter echoed throughout the room and no one could look one another in the eyes for a few moments as their import sunk in. Yes, Amelia thought to herself, Harry, you have struck a great blow for justice and truth today and I think one Chief Warlock is not a happy person at the moment.

She banged the gavel startling everyone and declared the committee was ready to hear from Chief Warlock Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. The aged man moved slowly to the witness stand, his body language giving every indication that he did not desire to be here in this chair at this time.

After responding to his name and giving an oath that whatever he would say would be the truth, the questions began.

"Albus, why did the Dark Lord take an interest in the Potter family and in Harry Potter?"

"I cannot go into specifics, Madame Chair," he replied, the twinkle absent from his eyes. "For the greater good, I am in possession of certain information which must remain secret lest it fall into the hands of Lord Voldemort."

"During the recent sighting of He Who Must Not Be Named in this very building, an investigation by my aurors indicated that the running fight between Mr. Potter, his friends and those servants of the Dark Lord began in the Hall of Prophecies. Is there some significance in this?"

"Madame Chair, I can say nothing. I do not claim to understand how Lord Voldemort thinks or what his motivations were in sending his servants to the Hall of Prophecies."

"So all the speculation in the Daily Prophet about Mr. Potter being the chosen one has no relationship to the events of this past June?"

"The greater good requires that I give no comment to that question." Which to Amelia and the other members of the committee was as good as admitting that it did. It was now time to shift gears.

"Albus, we wish to go back in time to the events of the year 1981. Specifically, why did the Potters leave the security of Potter Manor to take up residence in your family's old cottage at Godric's Hollow?"

"We had received reports from a spy in Voldemort's ranks that the Dark Lord was taking an active role in searching for the Potters with a special interest in young Harry. As we also suspected we had a spy in our midst, I with the Potters suggested that we could put the family under the Fidelius Charm with Sirius Black as the secret keeper."

"So you were not aware that the Potters had changed secret keepers?"

A buzz of conversation rose in the room at that statement. Dumbledore nodded his head in agreement. "I found out later that Sirius Black had changed his role with Peter Pettigrew…much much later."

"Were you aware of the relationship between Sirius and Harry Potter? That Sirius Black was Mr. Potter's godfather?"

"I confess that I did not know this at the time. I was not that close to the group called the Marauders at the time other then we were allies on the side of the light fighting against the Dark Lord."

"But Chief Warlock – would you not have discovered this relationship when you read the Potters wills? It is clearly indicated in both documents that Sirius Black was Harry's godfather and Alice Longbottom was Harry's godmother."

Dumbledore was now clearly uncomfortable. He did not want to admit that he had read the wills prior to sealing them. How could he answer the question without violating his oath to tell the truth?

"I had given the Potter wills a cursory review," he began slowly. "I did not however review them in detail to discover the relationships between the various personages mentioned in the will."

"So you admit to having read the wills before sealing them to the Wizengamot?"

The struggle upon Dumbledore's face was clear, but he finally nodded his head.

"Then why did you not act upon them when the Potters were murdered? Why did you not hand young Harry to Sirius Black when he arrived at Godric's Hollow after the murders?"

Dumbledore was shocked. How did Bones know those small details about that Halloween night he wondered? Who had told him?

"Hagrid was a very talkative individual about the events of that night as we were reviewing it in preparation for our questions today," Amelia said, answering Dumbledore's own question. "He told us that on your orders he refused to hand over young Harry over to Sirius and instead told Black that he had to carry Harry up to Hogwarts for a medical checkup. There did not appear to be any mention of a suspicion on your part that he had betrayed the Potters at that point.

"Still it was only the next day that you sealed the wills in closed session in the Wizengamot and then later that day that Sirius Black was arrested for the murder of Peter Pettigrew and twelve Muggles. The Longbottoms were not attacked by Death Eaters until three days later.

"So you could have turned Harry over to his godmother even if you suspected Sirius of being a traitor. Why did you not do this? Why seal the will and take over as Mr. Potter's magical guardian?"

Here Dumbledore's twinkle returned. "I was aware that Lily had invoked some ancient magic to protect her son and by shedding her blood for young Harry she had given him strong protection. It was imperative that young Harry have the best protection possible and that could only be with a member of Lily's own family and the blood from that individual. Hence I left Harry with his Aunt Petunia.

"You must recall the chaos of the days following the disappearance of Lord Voldemort. Death Eaters were still at large and most likely would be searching for young Harry. While I regret having to disregard the wills of James and Lily, I did what I did for the greater good both for Mr. Potter and the wizarding world."

The smug look on his face infuriated Amelia and Augusta. He honestly thought that his reasoning justified ignoring the express wishes of the Potters. Did he realize just how far he had erred? It was time to pull the rug out from under the sanctimonious old fool.

"Albus," Augusta began. "We received yesterday a copy of the Potters' wills as well as supporting documentation from the goblins on the instructions of Lord Harry Potter. Would it surprise you to know that both Lily and James made it very clear that under no circumstances was Harry to be left with Petunia or Vernon Dursley? Or that Lily made it very clear that Petunia was not a blood relation? That she. Lily, had been adopted?"

Dumbledore's face went whiter than his beard. He had assumed that Petunia was the blood sister of Lily and that as Lily was a loving person that her sister would share her same character and attributes. "Are you sure of this?"

"Goblins do not lie, Chief Warlock."

He hung his head. "I regret that I did not know this."

Amelia looked him over, but felt that they had to continue the investigation quickly so as to not allow the canny old politician to recover. "Why did you not investigate young Mr. Potter's care during the ten years from placing him with these 'relatives' of Lily's? Why did he come to Hogwarts abused and neglected, ignorant of our world and his place in it?"

She could see Dumbledore catch his breath and visibly calm himself. This was much surer ground for him. "I was concerned that young Harry would not know how to appreciate and deal with the fame that would come from being hailed as The-Boy-Who-Lived. I did not want him to become arrogant or full of pride. Fame such as that could turn stronger heads than his and he was only a child.

"I wanted Harry to have a normal childhood away from all this – and I wanted to make sure that he was safe from those who would do him harm. What better place than away from our world among the Muggles?

"And I succeeded better than I knew. When I met young Harry on September 1, 1991, I saw no child full of arrogance and expecting our world to bow down to him. I met a young boy eager to please and filled with wonder at the miracles of the wizarding world and Hogwarts."

Merlin, the man was actually full of himself and was now patting himself on the back for a job well done, Augusta thought to herself. She too had seen the young Harry Potter and recalled the oversized clothes, the nervous glances he had given one and all: and that was after he had spent one year at Hogwarts. What would he have been like prior to going to Hogwarts in the first place?

"So you did not look after him, check on him from time to time?"

"I had taken the liberty of securing the services of a squib in the same neighborhood as Mr. Potter who paid periodic visits to the Dursley home. As well, I had set up several monitoring charms to ensure that Mr. Potter was in good health and was safe."

It was Amelia's turn again. "Ah, yes, I recall your introducing that squib to us.a Mrs Arabella Figg…during the underage magic hearing last summer for Mr. Potter. Did she report that everything was well?"

That uncomfortable look was back, only for a moment, on Dumbledore's face. "She did mention that Harry appeared to have been punished a few times, but surely that would come from a normally active young boy interested in exploring his world and growing up. I assured her that the wards would protect young Harry from any danger."

"Yes, those wards. Blood wards you called them: wards that would protect Mr. Potter from external threat?"

"Exactly!"

"But not from internal abuse? From internal neglect? Mrs. Figg shared some of her concerns with us yesterday when we were preparing for today. She advised us that she recommended more than once that Harry was being abused there and that you did not appear concerned."

"I had acted in the spirit of the greater good. A little corporal punishment does not hurt a child: my own father punished me for some interesting actions in my youth. He told me I was a rather strong willed child and not always one given to listening to his directives."

Now the old grandfather routine, Amelia thought to herself. He can really pull that off. She wondered if he cultivated his long hair and beard to further stoke up that image. Still, they had questions to go.

"So no one from either the Muggle Social Services nor the Wizarding Child Protection Office ever made any visits to young Mr. Potter over the ten years he was there prior to his arrival at Hogwarts?"

"There was no need: I had sufficient safeguards in place."

"Then why did you not inform Mr. Potter of his place in our world at the same time as the reception of his Hogwarts' letter. Why send Hagrid to inform him that he was a wizard rather than a Hogwarts' professor or yourself? You were his self proclaimed magical guardian after all."

Dumbledore's face grew more grandfatherly if that were possible. "I was concerned that Harry have as normal a childhood as possible. Just being introduced to the wizarding world at the age of eleven would have been enough of a shock to him without bearing the additional burden of learning that he had an inheritance, a title and much responsibility to assume.

"I have always been of the opinion that we require our children to grow up too fast. Allowing them to take their place in our society at 17 means that they do not have the opportunity to explore being young and traveling around the world."

"So when were you going to share this information with Lord Potter?"

Here Dumbledore's face took on a pensive look. "I had hoped and still hope to convince young Harry to begin an apprenticeship with me once he has completed his years at Hogwarts. There, in the relationship of master and apprentice would be the beginning of training young Harry what it is to be the head of an ancient and noble family."

"And if Mr. Potter did not share your desire for an apprenticeship, but instead wanted to explore careers and marriage? What then?"

The face of the Hogwarts' professor now shone forth and it was clear that Dumbledore truly believed in what he was saying. "We ask our students to marry too young. I would have strongly encouraged Harry to consider what I was offering him: a chance to learn many of my secrets in a close relationship of student and master…"

The pureblood member of the committee interrupted Dumbledore. "So you would violate law and custom, and deprive the scion of an Ancient and Noble House the knowledge he would need to take his place as Head of his Family? When do you think Mr. Potter would have been able to assume his place - 25, 35, 45?

"Madame Chair, this whiskered old fool disgusts me. Not only did he abrogate the wishes of Mr. Potter's parents, but he also neglected him in his home environment, depriving him of knowledge that any magical guardian is required to give their magical charges."

Amelia looked sharply at this third member of their committee. While she was quietly agreeing with his opinion, they had a number of other points to raise before they would shift gears to the Hogwarts' years with their next witness.

"Thank you member Witherspoon for your point of view, but I would like to remind him that we have a few more questions for our esteemed witness today." At his nod, she continued.

"We have only a few more questions for you, Chief Warlock, although we reserve the right to call you back should we require more information.

"How did our world develop ideas on how Mr. Potter would look: details as to his appearance, his scar and his glasses when he came into contact with us for the first time in the summer of 1991? If he was being raised by Muggles, would he not have remained unknown to us until his appearance at Hogwarts?"

Dumbledore's face remained impassive as he replied. "I am not sure how the exact details of Mr. Potter's appearance became known among different elements of the wizarding world."

"One of your tasks every year was to release an annual statement on or around the anniversary of Mr. Potter's birthday assuring us in the magical community that Mr. Potter was alive, well and happy, was it not?"

"Yes, I felt it important to assure our world that The-Boy-Who-Lived was growing safe and well in a secure location."

"So you didn't let slip to a reporter here or there about Mr. Potter's muggle location where pictures could be taken and details of his appearance communicated to others. And you took no action against those who traded on Mr. Potter's name and fame to write up stories about him, fantasy stories that have sold many copies? Is this the action of a magical guardian?"

Dumbledore bristled at the implied accusation. "I may have told one or two people of young Harry's location. But I cannot act against those who are given to flights of fancy about their young hero. We live in a society where there is freedom of expression and if writers are given to wish to tell stories about a young boy, then who am I to stop them."

"So you do not admit to creating the sobriquet 'The-Boy-Who-Lived'?"

"Certainly not! I was as surprised as others when that name started being used."

"One final question, Albus. What is your view of the role Mr. Potter plays in the current struggle with He Who Must Not Be Named and in the future of our society? Why are you trying so hard to find him and bring him back?"

This was now vintage Dumbledore – a platform and an audience. "Harry has a significant role to play in the upcoming struggle with Lord Voldemort. To this day, no one knows how he survived the killing curse on Halloween so long ago but survive he has and today he is a potent symbol to our world that this Dark Lord can be defeated.

"But the way to end this struggle is not through bloodshed or violence. The Harry Potter I know from my time at Hogwarts is a gentle person who in my opinion is becoming scarred and hardened by these attacks. He does so from a misunderstanding, an unfortunate misunderstanding, but I hear his pain and I would ask that this committee join with all of us in the wizarding world to invite Harry to come out of the cold and the dark.

"Come back to Hogwarts, Harry. Come back and allow your friends to greet you again, allow us to help you heal.

"As for the future, I have already mentioned that it is my hope that young Harry would take the time to learn from me so that he can take his place as an important leader in our future world."

Amelia's cold tone cut the impassioned speech off. "So, to summarize Chief Warlock, you read the Potter wills, but ignored them; you failed to hand young Mr. Potter to his godfather or godmother, but instead, disregarding the wishes of his parents, you placed him with magic hating 'relatives' and only checked on him with a squib whose words of warning you ignored and with monitors that measured wards which protected Mr. Potter from external threat, not internal.

"You denied him knowledge and education about his family, his inheritance and his world: all in an attempt to solicit him as an apprentice for yourself.

"You may or may not have released details about Mr. Potter to the wizarding public enough that he would be immediately be recognizable in our world, but ensuring that he had no knowledge about our world in return.

"And in previous testimony from your 'associates', you have forcibly returned him to this same cold, neglectful, and abusive environment; depriving him of contact with friends and resources to help him grieve: all in an effort to ensure that Mr. Potter has a 'normal childhood?

"And all this of course was for the 'greater good. Chief Warlock, I pray that you can sleep with your actions because in my opinion, I do not believe that any of us can."

As Dumbledore's eyes grew wide at her verbal attack and summary of his statements, she banged her gavel. "This hearing is adjourned until after lunch."

A/N: So? Is your blood boiling? D'you hate The old goat as much as we do? Let us know in a review :)

Also, if you see any mistakes, please let us know :)