I'm sorry I'm rushing through the story but I only have two hours a day to work on it so I do what I can. Since I set myself the schedule of one chapter a day for this story, I have to do it this way. In the future when my schedule becomes less hectic, I will sit down and flesh out the story properly
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Harry was gone. He had been since Sunday night. Ginny hadn't quit crying for the past two days. It was Wednesday morning and Hermione had finally persuaded her to come out of Harry's room.
"He'll be okay Ginny. He's getting a trial unlike Sirius. Dumbledore isn't going to let him be railroaded."
Ginny looked at Hermione. What the hell did she mean by railroaded? She looked back down at the floor as they walked to breakfast.
They walked into the hall. All the tables were quiet except Slytherin. Harry had become one of their favorite teachers. He was fair and inherently knew what to say to make a student feel at ease. Even if the student was a dismal failure.
Malfoy was still in the hospital wing and would be there for a while. The transformation he had been put through was thorough. So far, Madame Pomfrey and professor McGonagall had only been able to reverse his face and body shape. He was still covered in hair and had hooves for hands and feet.
Even this hadn't made Hermione or the others feel better. Ron and the twins were plotting a break out. Hermione wanted to tell them to knock it off or she'd take away points but she couldn't bring herself to it.
Sirius and Remus were reading a letter that Harry had sent to them. They both looked at each other. Dumbledore was missing? He received a letter from Harry? They were both extremely worried.
Ron and the twins were looking at plans of the ministry. Ron did not want to know how they had obtained them. The three had their heads together over ways to get in and out as fast as possible and how to disguise themselves. They knew it was impossible. However, this was Harry Potter. They knew he could do wandless magic (two still didn't know how much). In addition, they were sure none of the other ministry members would try to stop a break out of Harry.
Malfoy's followers were depressed. Without Malfoy, they really didn't have any idea what to do. Their minds were too feeble. So they sat at their table trying to glare at the Gryffindors.
The rest of the Slytherins weren't very happy. Sirius Black was their head of house? No wonder they had had so low of house points. So far they were at two hundred and thirteen points. Gryffindor and Ravenclaw were near five hundred each. Even those duffers in Hufflepuff had almost four hundred points. The school year was almost half over.
With the turmoil, the wizarding world was in and the absence of one student and three professors', professor McGonagall decided to cancel the Quidditch games for the rest of the season. Only one game had been played that year.
The students finished eating and filed out to go to their first class of the day. Sirius and Remus were writing a letter back to Harry telling him the headmaster had not returned. The finished it up and headed off to their classes. Fawkes was gone along with Hedwig. Both had been sent to find Albus.
Harry was sitting in his cell. His celebrityhood had served him well for once. He was allowed out to exercise and they allowed him to have two books. During the day he signed his card for various members of the ministry and took tea with the minister and the head of the Aurors. Aries Cole was a great person. He always brought Harry the paper when they talked and he had been telling Harry about his fights against Voldemort's legions.
"One night I was sitting in a tree under my cloak and caught sight of five Death Eaters in a clearing. They were torturing a muggle they had found camping. I slipped down and sent a herd of fairies into the clearing. The fairies were shocked at the wizards' behavior and started hitting them with all sorts of fairy magic. After a few minutes, I came out and they were all trussed up. I thanked the fairies and brought them in. ever since then, every time I go into that forest fairies come up to me and give me small presents. I have tons of shiny rocks and fairy gems. Also a fair amount of gold nuggets."
Harry was laughing at the story. The two were sitting in Aries' office. Aries looked down at his watch. "Sorry Harry. Gotta take you back."
Harry nodded and the two made their way back to Harry's cell.
"Oh, Harry. Almost forgot. This letter came for you this morning."
"Thanks. Can you send this one back for me?" Harry had written a long letter to Ginny.
Harry stepped back into his cell and looked at the letter he had received. Albus still hadn't shown up? Shit. Tomorrow was his first trial date. The minister had planned on presiding but was forced to stay away due to his duties. Harry thought about that for a moment. He could easily escape from even here. Te watch on him was abysmal and slithering out as a snake in the middle of the night would be easy.
He knew what Dumbledore would tell him to do. Hurry up and wait.
Harry settled back on his bunk while waiting for dinner and thought. When his meal arrived, Mrs. Weasley was carrying it.
"I knew the meals they would serve you would be substandard so I brought you dinner tonight." She told him.
Harry laughed and sat up as she hugged him. She told him about the letter she got from Ron about Ginny. He nodded and told her Hermione had written him about her. Then he told her he had just sent a letter to Ginny. He handed over the letter from Sirius. She looked it over and got worried.
"I may have to escape here if he doesn't show up by tonight." He told her.
"Harry? Did you do it?" she asked quietly.
Harry shook his head. "No, if I were going to kill someone it would have to be a Death Eater or someone who had harmed an innocent. Although Fudge falls in to the latter category I was in Diagon Alley when it happened."
She nodded. "Your hair is too long. You should let someone cut it, Harry."
Harry grinned and then his hair was at the length it was when she first saw him. Then it was back to the shoulder length Ginny liked. Harry picked up the piece of red leather he used to hold it back and retied it.
"Ginny likes it this length." He replied.
"How did you do that Harry?" she asked.
"It's part of the animagus training." He whispered.
Before she could ask, he said, "Yes. Four different animals actually."
He shifted into the snake then back. Then he turned into the owl and back.
"The other two are too big to do in this cell. Arthur is coming." He told her.
A moment later the cell door opened and Arthur stepped in.
"Harry, the headmaster has returned to the school. He said he'll be there for your trial."
Harry nodded and sat back down. "Did he say where he had been?" Harry hadn't been able to trace him due to wards.
Arthur shook his head. "He did mention he had found something but didn't say what."
"How did Fudge die, Arthur?" Molly asked.
"He was stabbed with a poisoned dagger." Arthur told her. Arthur went on for a bit and Harry asked to see the report.
Harry awoke half an hour later and was handed the report of Fudges death. This Auror was one of the ones who believed he was guilty and sneered, "Want to see what you did in writing, huh?"
Harry looked at him evenly and the Auror paled. Harry stood up and looked directly into the eyes of the man.
The Auror shrunk away and slammed the cell door.
Harry looked through the report. The poison was a derivative of snake venom. Well that would not help him. Being a known parselmouth was not exactly considered a good thing. What kind of snake venom though? He looked at the report again. Seraphim? He thought that was a three-winged angel. Oh… it must be a typo. Serafio… Wasn't that a breed of snake? Yes. The same breed as Nagini. Probably from Nagini, he thought.
He went over all he knew about the snake. Since Riddle had taken Nagini in after Harry destroyed his body his first year he didn't know much about the breed. The breed hadn't been discovered until he was about five.
He settled down into the bunk and fell asleep.
Ginny was reading the letter from Harry for the twelfth time. She was lying in his bed thinking about how handsome he was. She looked at the charm bracelet and noticed the snake flash. Then the owl flashed. She touched each charm one by one. When she touched the emerald, she felt a flash of enmity. She hesitated and then touched the diamond. Nothing happened so she tried the ruby. She felt unconditional love. She held onto it for over an hour. It felt like her time with Harry when they would just sit and hold each other.
She let go of the charm, picked up the letter, and reread it.
Harry awoke and picked up one of the books he had brought with him. It was his mothers' diary of her pregnancy. He opened it to the first page and read it skipping from entry to entry.
October 31-
I told James I was pregnant yesterday. I'm about three weeks late I think. It's been so stressful I haven't been all that regular. His expression was fantastic. He made me get off my feet and he spent an hour talking to my stomach. Then he went and got an old storybook he kept in his school trunk. He read to you and kept me laughing all day.
November 2-
To the little Potter inside me. Your father is becoming an extremely annoying person. He tried to stop me from doing anything around the house. He tried to make lunch and burnt it badly. I'm going to keep this diary for you. When you're old enough to go to school we'll give it to you. Your father is hoping for a little girl with my eyes and hair. I told him I wanted a little boy with his hair. Even though Potter's always have messy hair, I know you'll be just as handsome as your daddy.
November 5-
So far no morning sickness. My friend who just had a baby told me it'd start soon. Don't worry it's not your fault I will start throwing up in the morning. It's all your dad's fault. If you want you can send him a howler when you read this. Your father has proceeded to annoy me greatly. He brought three house elves from his parent's manor to come take care of me. Our house is so small compared to the manor that the elves have been polishing the same things repeatedly for hours at a time.
November 21-
I finally managed to convince him we didn't need three elves. He sent two back to the manor and the third looked relieved. She hadn't had enough to do. She thanked James for sending the other two back. I went into the kitchen a few hours after the others went back and she was humming happily. I don't really like having a creature serve me in fear of being tossed away but James told me the elves' family have served the Potters' since the very beginning of the line.
November 23-
Little baby Potter, you have a lot to answer for when you appear. I've been craving nothing but liver flavored Bertie Bott Every Flavored Beans and pistachio ice cream. I hate pistachio. Every time I drink a glass of water I start craving chocolate frogs. That isn't so bad.
He flipped ahead in the book.
March 12-
I'm going to kill your father. I haven't been allowed out of the house for the past two days. I know we have to worry but it's so nice out. The airs smells so fresh and… forget it. I'm going out. I'm gonna put the leglocker curse on your daddy and go do some shopping.
March 14-
Your daddy has come to an understanding with my wand. I can do whatever I want and he won't wake up without ears. Fair huh? I don't tell you this enough but I love you my precious baby.
March 15-
This is your dad. Your mum went to see the doctor today. She finds out what you'll be today a little boy or girl. We came to an agreement recently and I'm not allowed to interfere. I can fuss three times daily though. I went into the kitchen to get a snack and Trinky was laughing at me. She was my house elf when I was growing up. She knew all the secret passages in the manor and showed me them. When you are born, she'll be there just like she was there when I was born. I love you my child.
He flipped farther in the book. He knew he was near his birth when he saw the red ink. Then he saw the date at the top of the page.
July 1-
This is your father again, Harry. You are such a handsome little baby. I was so worried. Your mum yelled enough times what she thought of me for causing her all that pain. I was going to remind her of the fact she was a willing participant when she broke all the windows in the house. I wisely shut up. You're grandparents will be here next week to see you. The headmaster of the school is here to see you right now. You'll like him. By the time you read this, you'll have at least seen him. Probably met him once or twice already. We potter's get up to trouble occasionally. Ahhh, Albus is coming out. Lily wants to talk to me and I want to see you again. I love you Harry.
Harry shut the book. He couldn't read anymore through the tears streaming down his face. He thought about how his family should have been and fell asleep.
The next morning Aries came for him. The chains were placed around his wrists and they walked to the trial room.
Harry asked, "I thought the trial was to be held four days from now?"
"Headmaster Dumbledore and Minister Weasley want to hold it now. The minister will appoint the officiator of the trial when we get there. I'm sorry Harry. I hope they go lenient on you. Or found evidence you're innocent." He replied.
Harry nodded and concentrated. He couldn't trace any runes in the air and he was stuck with using wandless magic to see who was in the room.
He was placed in a chair at the side of the seat for the judge. He looked around at the crowd. Three people from the press. Rita Skeeter was not there though he thanked Merlin. About thirty people from the ministry. Six or so were ones who thought he was guilty. The rest believed him innocent. Mrs. Weasley was sitting in the front row. He nodded at her and she fought back tears. Arthur stepped in and called the room to order.
"These proceedings are closed to the public. Three reporters are here and will be the only non-official witnesses to the proceedings. The witnesses for the defense are sequestered in one room and the witnesses for the prosecution are in another. Each has had their voice removed so they may not speak to one another and bolster their stories. Mister Harry Potter has been accused of the murder of former Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge."
When he said this, a woman Harry hadn't noticed before broke down crying. She was glaring at Harry.
Arthur looked at the woman and continued.
"Due to the possibility of Death Eater infiltration all wands have been removed except mine and three others. No jury will be used in this trial. The witnesses will make the final decision. Our officiator will be Aries Cole."
Aries stepped up to the chair and placed two wands in front of him on the table. One was his own and the other was Harry's.
Aries called the trial to order. The first witness for the prosecution was called and told what he had seen.
"Potter walked into the ministers' office and told him they needed to speak. I was told to leave and Potter came out a few minutes later smiling. I waited for him to call me back in and after twenty minutes, I went in to help him carry out his belongings. He was lying over his desk with a knife stuck in his throat. There was blood all over the walls." Aragar Flagg told them all.
Harry had been listening to his voice and barely payed attention to the words. He decided the man was telling the truth. Well, except for the part of it being him.
Harry didn't pay attention to the woman crying or the looks he received from some of the people. He kept his eyes hooded and continued tracing the magicks at work around the room. The wards in place were no problem since they weren't anything active. All were passive defenses.
His senses ran over the room and tasted the magic. Quite a few glamour charms. Very popular at school, especially with the vainer girls. One person with the dark mark? He would have to unmask him later. Two cheering charms. One was exceptionally strong. Someone was fighting depression. A warming spell on a cloak. The old man over in the corner had augmented his hearing Harry noticed.
The next three witnesses for the prosecution affirmed they had seen Harry near the office of the minister but had not seen him go in. the prosecution was done and the witnesses for Harry came through one by one. Tom said he had been in the pub and had a drink with him. Six others confirmed they had seen him on the street and had seen him go into Gringott's and then into a charm shop a half an hour later.
Harry smiled inwardly at the thought of what he had coming to Ginny from that shop.
Harry was then asked to speak. He replied with what he had done in Diagon Alley and when he had arrived and left. He told them of the letter saying it had been delivered to him while he was on Diagon Alley.
Professor McGonagall spoke and told them when he had arrived with the letter from Albus.
Harry was asked what his business had been on Diagon Alley.
"I received some unicorn blood-"
He was interrupted by the babbling and excited whispers from the crowd. They knew what could be done with unicorn blood to extend life. They thought he had killed a unicorn and had just admitted to a felony.
Harry yelled shut up, the crowd quieted down, and he continued.
"I was in the forest looking for a specimen I could use in my classes. I came across a unicorn who had been injured. Fawkes had accompanied me."
Aries interrupted him. "Harry, who is this Fawkes?"
Harry looked up at him and lied. "Fawkes is Albus Dumbledore's Phoenix. He was sent to watch over me while I was in the forest. When we came across the unicorn at first I thought I would have to charm it to sleep and allow it to bleed out while asleep and unaware until Fawkes trilled. I remembered him saving my life and asked if he could try to save the unicorn's."
Harry looked around and then continued. "Fawkes flew over to the unicorn and cried on her wound. The wound healed and the unicorn got to her feet. She came over to me and bowed her head. Then she presented her flank to me. I wasn't sure what she wanted at first. Then I realized and conjured a vial. I carefully collected the blood and placed a piece of wood as a stopper. I said to the unicorn that I wished she could speak and tell me what had happened. She bent down and traced an S on the ground with a vague skull shape around it. I realized she meant a death eater and asked her where. She pointed towards the edge of the forest that bordered the village.
"Albus had given me a portkey for my trips to the village since he was worried about Voldemort or one of his death eaters trying to attack me. I used the portkey to travel to the village and found a death eater about to attack a house. I had sent Fawkes to Albus when I learned of the Death Eater. I stunned the Death Eater and waited for the headmaster to arrive. After they arrived Albus sent me back to the castle."
Harry had sent a letter to Albus telling him exactly what he would say about that night during the trial.
He finished up with this. "When I was in Diagon Alley I was having some jewelry made. A glass pendant and ring set that had the unicorn's blood in them. The unicorn has taken up residence around the castle now."
He heard an older woman whisper to another. "My oldest niece told me they saw him riding the unicorn."
When he had finished the people looked at each other. A boy had befriended a full-grown unicorn and it didn't shy away from him? Unicorns were excellent judges of character. They wouldn't befriend a murderer, would they?
Aries called for order and spoke. "Mr. Potter will be taken back to his cell and the council will make their decision."
Ginny Weasley was sitting in her boyfriends' office fast asleep in his chair. It was the first time she had been able to sleep for more than a few hours in the past week and half since he had been arrested.
Ron and Hermione were watching her. They were both loathe to wake her but they had a package for her from Harry.
"Should we just leave it for her?" Ron asked.
Hermione started to nod then shook her head. "I know she hasn't been sleeping well but she'd be mad if we didn't wake her."
Hermione set the package on the desk and walked over to her friend. She shook her shoulder gently.
"Go 'way" she muttered.
Ron grinned and watched.
Hermione nudged her again. Ginny sat up grabbing for her wand.
"Why'd you wake me? I was dreaming about Harry," She complained.
"Well we thought you might want to know there's a package here for you. It's from Harry," Hermione told her.
Ginny picked up the small silver wrapped box. She carefully undid the wrapping. There was a small black box inside. 'Nemo saltat sobrius' etched into it. She set the box down on the desk carefully.
"What does that mean?" she asked.
Hermione moved so she could see it better. Then she laughed. "'Nobody dances sober'. It's cut short from 'Nemo enim fere saltat sobrius, nisi forte insanit'. That means 'no one dances sober, unless he is completely insane'. You should know some of those words. The majority of the words we use are Latin."
Ginny giggled at the inscription then replied, "Just because we use Latin words for spells doesn't mean I need to know the language." Then she stuck her tongue out at Hermione.
She opened the box and gasped. Two shining pieces of jewelry. At first, she thought they were silver. Then she touched them and realized they were glass. She picked up the note inside and read it.
My dearest Ginny,
When we saved the unicorns life, he gave me some of his blood as you know. I did some research on the properties of their blood. When willingly given to a person that person can use it for a strong protection charm for them self. Alternatively, an even stronger one can be done for someone else. I took the blood to a shop in Diagon Alley and had them fashion the diamond pieces needed to hold the blood. I put a drop of my blood in with the unicorn blood so I can always be near you. If you look closely, you can see it floating in the ring. The ring and necklace can never be broken. Know that no matter what happens I will always love you. I would willingly give my life for you. I will always love you. –Harry Potter 'the boy who found love.'
Ginny was crying as she picked up the necklace. She dropped it and it hovered in air, the chain on it swaying gently. She reached for it and placed it around her neck. As soon as it touched her skin, it warmed until it matched her temperature. She looked down at it and noticed the blood inside was swirling around rapidly. She placed the ring on her left ring finger and it sized itself perfectly. The blood inside of it also swirled but Harry's drop of blood stayed near the top no matter how she moved her hand. She closer her eyes and concentrated on Harry for a moment. She could feel a whisper of music at the back of her mind. It felt like phoenix song. As she thought of him, the blood glowed golden.
At the same instant that Harry was entering his cell and Ginny was placing the ring on her finger, Sirius was stalking into the Slytherin common room. Someone from Slytherin had put graffiti all over his potions room. One of the seventh year prefects from Slytherin was standing in the middle of the common room. Sirius smiled wickedly.
"You, guess what one of your housemates did." He said to the girl.
She looked up and replied with a quiver in her voice, "I don't know sir."
"They've lost your house every point they had. Congratulations." With that, he stalked out of the room.
Amelia Brigg was a seventh year Slytherin. She didn't like Harry Potter but she wasn't like Malfoy. She just didn't like him because he was staff at fifteen and was dating that Weasley girl. She had always thought he was cute and had been planning to ask him out to Hogsmeade this year. She was incensed that someone had lost them all their points.
Later that night when all the students were in the common room she stood up.
"Who did that awesome prank on Professor Black?" she laughed.
Malfoy and his cronies stood up. The rest of the common room laughed. They stopped when she walked over to them and she slapped all three of them. The other prefects from fifth through seventh stood up behind her.
"Thanks to your stupidity we've lost every point we have. There's no way we can come in anything but dead last. For your actions guess what you get to do? You'll be reporting to Black tonight for punishment. If you don't your life will be hell for the rest of the year."
She turned her back on them and walked off.
The next morning Harry was brought into the courtroom for sentence.
As he stood there waiting he felt someone slip something into his pocket. He realized it was his wand. He looked over his shoulder and saw it was Aries. He winked at Harry.
The people filed in and sat down. As the spokesperson stood to address the court, the doors burst open as two black cloaked people stepped through.
Harry looked at the first one and stared into his own face.
coolone007 : I tried :D
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The author: this guy here. He's a bit of a jerk. Nevertheless, I love him in a narcissistic kinda way. ;)
MrAnon 2003-03-30 2 Anonymous
How the hell do you know what the character is. He has only been in one book as the bad guy and a second as a missing relative. If you do not like, do not read.
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Lourdes (LBDomingo@aol.com) see A/n at top. So solly you've been added to list also.
bookworm thank you. I'm trying to do one chapter a day.
coolone007: thank you. Here's the bag of money I promised you $$
sew2100 : which one?
shdurrani: thank you. I've added you to my list in aim if you wanna chat sometime. Blowntohell383
Lady Russell Holmes: I'm shooting for a chapter a day if it doesn't interrupt class, work and love life. Oh wait. Ok, if it doesn't interrupt the first two. :(
Arcee: thank you.
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Harry was gone. He had been since Sunday night. Ginny hadn't quit crying for the past two days. It was Wednesday morning and Hermione had finally persuaded her to come out of Harry's room.
"He'll be okay Ginny. He's getting a trial unlike Sirius. Dumbledore isn't going to let him be railroaded."
Ginny looked at Hermione. What the hell did she mean by railroaded? She looked back down at the floor as they walked to breakfast.
They walked into the hall. All the tables were quiet except Slytherin. Harry had become one of their favorite teachers. He was fair and inherently knew what to say to make a student feel at ease. Even if the student was a dismal failure.
Malfoy was still in the hospital wing and would be there for a while. The transformation he had been put through was thorough. So far, Madame Pomfrey and professor McGonagall had only been able to reverse his face and body shape. He was still covered in hair and had hooves for hands and feet.
Even this hadn't made Hermione or the others feel better. Ron and the twins were plotting a break out. Hermione wanted to tell them to knock it off or she'd take away points but she couldn't bring herself to it.
Sirius and Remus were reading a letter that Harry had sent to them. They both looked at each other. Dumbledore was missing? He received a letter from Harry? They were both extremely worried.
Ron and the twins were looking at plans of the ministry. Ron did not want to know how they had obtained them. The three had their heads together over ways to get in and out as fast as possible and how to disguise themselves. They knew it was impossible. However, this was Harry Potter. They knew he could do wandless magic (two still didn't know how much). In addition, they were sure none of the other ministry members would try to stop a break out of Harry.
Malfoy's followers were depressed. Without Malfoy, they really didn't have any idea what to do. Their minds were too feeble. So they sat at their table trying to glare at the Gryffindors.
The rest of the Slytherins weren't very happy. Sirius Black was their head of house? No wonder they had had so low of house points. So far they were at two hundred and thirteen points. Gryffindor and Ravenclaw were near five hundred each. Even those duffers in Hufflepuff had almost four hundred points. The school year was almost half over.
With the turmoil, the wizarding world was in and the absence of one student and three professors', professor McGonagall decided to cancel the Quidditch games for the rest of the season. Only one game had been played that year.
The students finished eating and filed out to go to their first class of the day. Sirius and Remus were writing a letter back to Harry telling him the headmaster had not returned. The finished it up and headed off to their classes. Fawkes was gone along with Hedwig. Both had been sent to find Albus.
Harry was sitting in his cell. His celebrityhood had served him well for once. He was allowed out to exercise and they allowed him to have two books. During the day he signed his card for various members of the ministry and took tea with the minister and the head of the Aurors. Aries Cole was a great person. He always brought Harry the paper when they talked and he had been telling Harry about his fights against Voldemort's legions.
"One night I was sitting in a tree under my cloak and caught sight of five Death Eaters in a clearing. They were torturing a muggle they had found camping. I slipped down and sent a herd of fairies into the clearing. The fairies were shocked at the wizards' behavior and started hitting them with all sorts of fairy magic. After a few minutes, I came out and they were all trussed up. I thanked the fairies and brought them in. ever since then, every time I go into that forest fairies come up to me and give me small presents. I have tons of shiny rocks and fairy gems. Also a fair amount of gold nuggets."
Harry was laughing at the story. The two were sitting in Aries' office. Aries looked down at his watch. "Sorry Harry. Gotta take you back."
Harry nodded and the two made their way back to Harry's cell.
"Oh, Harry. Almost forgot. This letter came for you this morning."
"Thanks. Can you send this one back for me?" Harry had written a long letter to Ginny.
Harry stepped back into his cell and looked at the letter he had received. Albus still hadn't shown up? Shit. Tomorrow was his first trial date. The minister had planned on presiding but was forced to stay away due to his duties. Harry thought about that for a moment. He could easily escape from even here. Te watch on him was abysmal and slithering out as a snake in the middle of the night would be easy.
He knew what Dumbledore would tell him to do. Hurry up and wait.
Harry settled back on his bunk while waiting for dinner and thought. When his meal arrived, Mrs. Weasley was carrying it.
"I knew the meals they would serve you would be substandard so I brought you dinner tonight." She told him.
Harry laughed and sat up as she hugged him. She told him about the letter she got from Ron about Ginny. He nodded and told her Hermione had written him about her. Then he told her he had just sent a letter to Ginny. He handed over the letter from Sirius. She looked it over and got worried.
"I may have to escape here if he doesn't show up by tonight." He told her.
"Harry? Did you do it?" she asked quietly.
Harry shook his head. "No, if I were going to kill someone it would have to be a Death Eater or someone who had harmed an innocent. Although Fudge falls in to the latter category I was in Diagon Alley when it happened."
She nodded. "Your hair is too long. You should let someone cut it, Harry."
Harry grinned and then his hair was at the length it was when she first saw him. Then it was back to the shoulder length Ginny liked. Harry picked up the piece of red leather he used to hold it back and retied it.
"Ginny likes it this length." He replied.
"How did you do that Harry?" she asked.
"It's part of the animagus training." He whispered.
Before she could ask, he said, "Yes. Four different animals actually."
He shifted into the snake then back. Then he turned into the owl and back.
"The other two are too big to do in this cell. Arthur is coming." He told her.
A moment later the cell door opened and Arthur stepped in.
"Harry, the headmaster has returned to the school. He said he'll be there for your trial."
Harry nodded and sat back down. "Did he say where he had been?" Harry hadn't been able to trace him due to wards.
Arthur shook his head. "He did mention he had found something but didn't say what."
"How did Fudge die, Arthur?" Molly asked.
"He was stabbed with a poisoned dagger." Arthur told her. Arthur went on for a bit and Harry asked to see the report.
Harry awoke half an hour later and was handed the report of Fudges death. This Auror was one of the ones who believed he was guilty and sneered, "Want to see what you did in writing, huh?"
Harry looked at him evenly and the Auror paled. Harry stood up and looked directly into the eyes of the man.
The Auror shrunk away and slammed the cell door.
Harry looked through the report. The poison was a derivative of snake venom. Well that would not help him. Being a known parselmouth was not exactly considered a good thing. What kind of snake venom though? He looked at the report again. Seraphim? He thought that was a three-winged angel. Oh… it must be a typo. Serafio… Wasn't that a breed of snake? Yes. The same breed as Nagini. Probably from Nagini, he thought.
He went over all he knew about the snake. Since Riddle had taken Nagini in after Harry destroyed his body his first year he didn't know much about the breed. The breed hadn't been discovered until he was about five.
He settled down into the bunk and fell asleep.
Ginny was reading the letter from Harry for the twelfth time. She was lying in his bed thinking about how handsome he was. She looked at the charm bracelet and noticed the snake flash. Then the owl flashed. She touched each charm one by one. When she touched the emerald, she felt a flash of enmity. She hesitated and then touched the diamond. Nothing happened so she tried the ruby. She felt unconditional love. She held onto it for over an hour. It felt like her time with Harry when they would just sit and hold each other.
She let go of the charm, picked up the letter, and reread it.
Harry awoke and picked up one of the books he had brought with him. It was his mothers' diary of her pregnancy. He opened it to the first page and read it skipping from entry to entry.
October 31-
I told James I was pregnant yesterday. I'm about three weeks late I think. It's been so stressful I haven't been all that regular. His expression was fantastic. He made me get off my feet and he spent an hour talking to my stomach. Then he went and got an old storybook he kept in his school trunk. He read to you and kept me laughing all day.
November 2-
To the little Potter inside me. Your father is becoming an extremely annoying person. He tried to stop me from doing anything around the house. He tried to make lunch and burnt it badly. I'm going to keep this diary for you. When you're old enough to go to school we'll give it to you. Your father is hoping for a little girl with my eyes and hair. I told him I wanted a little boy with his hair. Even though Potter's always have messy hair, I know you'll be just as handsome as your daddy.
November 5-
So far no morning sickness. My friend who just had a baby told me it'd start soon. Don't worry it's not your fault I will start throwing up in the morning. It's all your dad's fault. If you want you can send him a howler when you read this. Your father has proceeded to annoy me greatly. He brought three house elves from his parent's manor to come take care of me. Our house is so small compared to the manor that the elves have been polishing the same things repeatedly for hours at a time.
November 21-
I finally managed to convince him we didn't need three elves. He sent two back to the manor and the third looked relieved. She hadn't had enough to do. She thanked James for sending the other two back. I went into the kitchen a few hours after the others went back and she was humming happily. I don't really like having a creature serve me in fear of being tossed away but James told me the elves' family have served the Potters' since the very beginning of the line.
November 23-
Little baby Potter, you have a lot to answer for when you appear. I've been craving nothing but liver flavored Bertie Bott Every Flavored Beans and pistachio ice cream. I hate pistachio. Every time I drink a glass of water I start craving chocolate frogs. That isn't so bad.
He flipped ahead in the book.
March 12-
I'm going to kill your father. I haven't been allowed out of the house for the past two days. I know we have to worry but it's so nice out. The airs smells so fresh and… forget it. I'm going out. I'm gonna put the leglocker curse on your daddy and go do some shopping.
March 14-
Your daddy has come to an understanding with my wand. I can do whatever I want and he won't wake up without ears. Fair huh? I don't tell you this enough but I love you my precious baby.
March 15-
This is your dad. Your mum went to see the doctor today. She finds out what you'll be today a little boy or girl. We came to an agreement recently and I'm not allowed to interfere. I can fuss three times daily though. I went into the kitchen to get a snack and Trinky was laughing at me. She was my house elf when I was growing up. She knew all the secret passages in the manor and showed me them. When you are born, she'll be there just like she was there when I was born. I love you my child.
He flipped farther in the book. He knew he was near his birth when he saw the red ink. Then he saw the date at the top of the page.
July 1-
This is your father again, Harry. You are such a handsome little baby. I was so worried. Your mum yelled enough times what she thought of me for causing her all that pain. I was going to remind her of the fact she was a willing participant when she broke all the windows in the house. I wisely shut up. You're grandparents will be here next week to see you. The headmaster of the school is here to see you right now. You'll like him. By the time you read this, you'll have at least seen him. Probably met him once or twice already. We potter's get up to trouble occasionally. Ahhh, Albus is coming out. Lily wants to talk to me and I want to see you again. I love you Harry.
Harry shut the book. He couldn't read anymore through the tears streaming down his face. He thought about how his family should have been and fell asleep.
The next morning Aries came for him. The chains were placed around his wrists and they walked to the trial room.
Harry asked, "I thought the trial was to be held four days from now?"
"Headmaster Dumbledore and Minister Weasley want to hold it now. The minister will appoint the officiator of the trial when we get there. I'm sorry Harry. I hope they go lenient on you. Or found evidence you're innocent." He replied.
Harry nodded and concentrated. He couldn't trace any runes in the air and he was stuck with using wandless magic to see who was in the room.
He was placed in a chair at the side of the seat for the judge. He looked around at the crowd. Three people from the press. Rita Skeeter was not there though he thanked Merlin. About thirty people from the ministry. Six or so were ones who thought he was guilty. The rest believed him innocent. Mrs. Weasley was sitting in the front row. He nodded at her and she fought back tears. Arthur stepped in and called the room to order.
"These proceedings are closed to the public. Three reporters are here and will be the only non-official witnesses to the proceedings. The witnesses for the defense are sequestered in one room and the witnesses for the prosecution are in another. Each has had their voice removed so they may not speak to one another and bolster their stories. Mister Harry Potter has been accused of the murder of former Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge."
When he said this, a woman Harry hadn't noticed before broke down crying. She was glaring at Harry.
Arthur looked at the woman and continued.
"Due to the possibility of Death Eater infiltration all wands have been removed except mine and three others. No jury will be used in this trial. The witnesses will make the final decision. Our officiator will be Aries Cole."
Aries stepped up to the chair and placed two wands in front of him on the table. One was his own and the other was Harry's.
Aries called the trial to order. The first witness for the prosecution was called and told what he had seen.
"Potter walked into the ministers' office and told him they needed to speak. I was told to leave and Potter came out a few minutes later smiling. I waited for him to call me back in and after twenty minutes, I went in to help him carry out his belongings. He was lying over his desk with a knife stuck in his throat. There was blood all over the walls." Aragar Flagg told them all.
Harry had been listening to his voice and barely payed attention to the words. He decided the man was telling the truth. Well, except for the part of it being him.
Harry didn't pay attention to the woman crying or the looks he received from some of the people. He kept his eyes hooded and continued tracing the magicks at work around the room. The wards in place were no problem since they weren't anything active. All were passive defenses.
His senses ran over the room and tasted the magic. Quite a few glamour charms. Very popular at school, especially with the vainer girls. One person with the dark mark? He would have to unmask him later. Two cheering charms. One was exceptionally strong. Someone was fighting depression. A warming spell on a cloak. The old man over in the corner had augmented his hearing Harry noticed.
The next three witnesses for the prosecution affirmed they had seen Harry near the office of the minister but had not seen him go in. the prosecution was done and the witnesses for Harry came through one by one. Tom said he had been in the pub and had a drink with him. Six others confirmed they had seen him on the street and had seen him go into Gringott's and then into a charm shop a half an hour later.
Harry smiled inwardly at the thought of what he had coming to Ginny from that shop.
Harry was then asked to speak. He replied with what he had done in Diagon Alley and when he had arrived and left. He told them of the letter saying it had been delivered to him while he was on Diagon Alley.
Professor McGonagall spoke and told them when he had arrived with the letter from Albus.
Harry was asked what his business had been on Diagon Alley.
"I received some unicorn blood-"
He was interrupted by the babbling and excited whispers from the crowd. They knew what could be done with unicorn blood to extend life. They thought he had killed a unicorn and had just admitted to a felony.
Harry yelled shut up, the crowd quieted down, and he continued.
"I was in the forest looking for a specimen I could use in my classes. I came across a unicorn who had been injured. Fawkes had accompanied me."
Aries interrupted him. "Harry, who is this Fawkes?"
Harry looked up at him and lied. "Fawkes is Albus Dumbledore's Phoenix. He was sent to watch over me while I was in the forest. When we came across the unicorn at first I thought I would have to charm it to sleep and allow it to bleed out while asleep and unaware until Fawkes trilled. I remembered him saving my life and asked if he could try to save the unicorn's."
Harry looked around and then continued. "Fawkes flew over to the unicorn and cried on her wound. The wound healed and the unicorn got to her feet. She came over to me and bowed her head. Then she presented her flank to me. I wasn't sure what she wanted at first. Then I realized and conjured a vial. I carefully collected the blood and placed a piece of wood as a stopper. I said to the unicorn that I wished she could speak and tell me what had happened. She bent down and traced an S on the ground with a vague skull shape around it. I realized she meant a death eater and asked her where. She pointed towards the edge of the forest that bordered the village.
"Albus had given me a portkey for my trips to the village since he was worried about Voldemort or one of his death eaters trying to attack me. I used the portkey to travel to the village and found a death eater about to attack a house. I had sent Fawkes to Albus when I learned of the Death Eater. I stunned the Death Eater and waited for the headmaster to arrive. After they arrived Albus sent me back to the castle."
Harry had sent a letter to Albus telling him exactly what he would say about that night during the trial.
He finished up with this. "When I was in Diagon Alley I was having some jewelry made. A glass pendant and ring set that had the unicorn's blood in them. The unicorn has taken up residence around the castle now."
He heard an older woman whisper to another. "My oldest niece told me they saw him riding the unicorn."
When he had finished the people looked at each other. A boy had befriended a full-grown unicorn and it didn't shy away from him? Unicorns were excellent judges of character. They wouldn't befriend a murderer, would they?
Aries called for order and spoke. "Mr. Potter will be taken back to his cell and the council will make their decision."
Ginny Weasley was sitting in her boyfriends' office fast asleep in his chair. It was the first time she had been able to sleep for more than a few hours in the past week and half since he had been arrested.
Ron and Hermione were watching her. They were both loathe to wake her but they had a package for her from Harry.
"Should we just leave it for her?" Ron asked.
Hermione started to nod then shook her head. "I know she hasn't been sleeping well but she'd be mad if we didn't wake her."
Hermione set the package on the desk and walked over to her friend. She shook her shoulder gently.
"Go 'way" she muttered.
Ron grinned and watched.
Hermione nudged her again. Ginny sat up grabbing for her wand.
"Why'd you wake me? I was dreaming about Harry," She complained.
"Well we thought you might want to know there's a package here for you. It's from Harry," Hermione told her.
Ginny picked up the small silver wrapped box. She carefully undid the wrapping. There was a small black box inside. 'Nemo saltat sobrius' etched into it. She set the box down on the desk carefully.
"What does that mean?" she asked.
Hermione moved so she could see it better. Then she laughed. "'Nobody dances sober'. It's cut short from 'Nemo enim fere saltat sobrius, nisi forte insanit'. That means 'no one dances sober, unless he is completely insane'. You should know some of those words. The majority of the words we use are Latin."
Ginny giggled at the inscription then replied, "Just because we use Latin words for spells doesn't mean I need to know the language." Then she stuck her tongue out at Hermione.
She opened the box and gasped. Two shining pieces of jewelry. At first, she thought they were silver. Then she touched them and realized they were glass. She picked up the note inside and read it.
My dearest Ginny,
When we saved the unicorns life, he gave me some of his blood as you know. I did some research on the properties of their blood. When willingly given to a person that person can use it for a strong protection charm for them self. Alternatively, an even stronger one can be done for someone else. I took the blood to a shop in Diagon Alley and had them fashion the diamond pieces needed to hold the blood. I put a drop of my blood in with the unicorn blood so I can always be near you. If you look closely, you can see it floating in the ring. The ring and necklace can never be broken. Know that no matter what happens I will always love you. I would willingly give my life for you. I will always love you. –Harry Potter 'the boy who found love.'
Ginny was crying as she picked up the necklace. She dropped it and it hovered in air, the chain on it swaying gently. She reached for it and placed it around her neck. As soon as it touched her skin, it warmed until it matched her temperature. She looked down at it and noticed the blood inside was swirling around rapidly. She placed the ring on her left ring finger and it sized itself perfectly. The blood inside of it also swirled but Harry's drop of blood stayed near the top no matter how she moved her hand. She closer her eyes and concentrated on Harry for a moment. She could feel a whisper of music at the back of her mind. It felt like phoenix song. As she thought of him, the blood glowed golden.
At the same instant that Harry was entering his cell and Ginny was placing the ring on her finger, Sirius was stalking into the Slytherin common room. Someone from Slytherin had put graffiti all over his potions room. One of the seventh year prefects from Slytherin was standing in the middle of the common room. Sirius smiled wickedly.
"You, guess what one of your housemates did." He said to the girl.
She looked up and replied with a quiver in her voice, "I don't know sir."
"They've lost your house every point they had. Congratulations." With that, he stalked out of the room.
Amelia Brigg was a seventh year Slytherin. She didn't like Harry Potter but she wasn't like Malfoy. She just didn't like him because he was staff at fifteen and was dating that Weasley girl. She had always thought he was cute and had been planning to ask him out to Hogsmeade this year. She was incensed that someone had lost them all their points.
Later that night when all the students were in the common room she stood up.
"Who did that awesome prank on Professor Black?" she laughed.
Malfoy and his cronies stood up. The rest of the common room laughed. They stopped when she walked over to them and she slapped all three of them. The other prefects from fifth through seventh stood up behind her.
"Thanks to your stupidity we've lost every point we have. There's no way we can come in anything but dead last. For your actions guess what you get to do? You'll be reporting to Black tonight for punishment. If you don't your life will be hell for the rest of the year."
She turned her back on them and walked off.
The next morning Harry was brought into the courtroom for sentence.
As he stood there waiting he felt someone slip something into his pocket. He realized it was his wand. He looked over his shoulder and saw it was Aries. He winked at Harry.
The people filed in and sat down. As the spokesperson stood to address the court, the doors burst open as two black cloaked people stepped through.
Harry looked at the first one and stared into his own face.
coolone007 : I tried :D
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The author: this guy here. He's a bit of a jerk. Nevertheless, I love him in a narcissistic kinda way. ;)
MrAnon 2003-03-30 2 Anonymous
How the hell do you know what the character is. He has only been in one book as the bad guy and a second as a missing relative. If you do not like, do not read.
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Lourdes (LBDomingo@aol.com) see A/n at top. So solly you've been added to list also.
bookworm thank you. I'm trying to do one chapter a day.
coolone007: thank you. Here's the bag of money I promised you $$
sew2100 : which one?
shdurrani: thank you. I've added you to my list in aim if you wanna chat sometime. Blowntohell383
Lady Russell Holmes: I'm shooting for a chapter a day if it doesn't interrupt class, work and love life. Oh wait. Ok, if it doesn't interrupt the first two. :(
Arcee: thank you.