Hi, here is the next chapter for Champion, sorry for the fairly long wait, I was quite busy with my job. Hope you like it.
Surprises in Court
People wore unpleasant and angry looks on their faces. They didn't want to be here today, they thought this was a waste of time. But because one boy, even if it was Harry Potter, had asked uncomfortable questions and the Minister feared for the reputation it would get him if Harry Potter gave more interviews like the last one that had appeared in the Daily Prophet as an exclusive of Rita Skeeter two days ago, there was now a trial for the right hand man of You-Know-Who taking place in five minutes. Why didn't they let the bastard just rot in Azkaban?
The dementors glided into the room, projecting gloom all around them. They just had to look at the man to see that he was no good. He had that evil glint in his eyes. Black was placed into the chair and chains sprang up around him. Then the dementors left the room, which confused some. Normally they stayed. To the utter surprise of all assembled members of the Wizengamot, not a barrister at law, but Harry Potter himself entered the room, clad in a formal black robe, taking the position of witness for the defence. What could an eleven year old boy do?
Well, Harry had tried for weeks to get a good barrister for Sirius, ever since his plan to force the Ministry to finally grant the trial had been set up, but the only one willing to do the job was Professor Dumbledore and he had to preside the trial as Chief Warlock. Still, Harry wasn't somebody to simply let something like that stand and had therefore buried himself in law books for the last three weeks and looked up everything concerning this case. His performance in class had suffered a bit and he had got less sleep and cut back on his work-outs, but he was prepared now. His classmates had quickly learned to not disturb him while he was reading the books and dotting down important parts.
"Order in court!" Dumbledore shouted, silencing the members. "Trial of 8th December 1991 for Sirius Orion Black on the charges of murder of one wizard Peter Lufanus Pettigrew and thirteen muggles after the fall of the Dark Lord Voldemort. Further charges are betraying the Potter family to Lord Voldemort as the secret keeper for the Potters. Presiding Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister of Magic. Representing the accusation: Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, representing the Defence: Harry James Potter, heir to the Ancient and Noble House of Potter. How does the accused plead?" Dumbledore called out ignoring shrieks of fear and flinching of the Wizengamot members for him using the name.
"Not guilty." Sirius said hoarsely, getting enraged shouts from the Wizengamot members.
"Noted." Dumbledore shouted over the chaos. "Madam Bones, your turn." Dumbledore said, hoping Harry knew what he did.
He had been against the boy doing this, but Harry had stubbornly demanded that if no qualified barrister would do the job he would. He had got a three hour meeting with Sirius and had come out, saying Sirius was innocent.
"Thank you Chief Warlock. The accused was made secret keeper of the hiding place of James and Lily Potter in October of 1981. Being secret keeper means that the secret, in this case the place where the Potters lived, is hidden in the very soul of a person by enacting the Fidelius charm, an ancient and very complicated charm. We have the statement of Albus Dumbledore from November 1981 to back this up. After the Dark Lord was defeated by Harry Potter on Halloween 1981, Sirius Black knew he had to flee with people being after him, now that he had shown his loyalty to the Dark Lord. Sadly he didn't count on Peter Pettigrew finding him in the afternoon of the 6th November 1981. Pettigrew cornered Black and shouted at him how he could have betrayed Lily and James Potter to the Dark Lord. This can be confirmed by the statements of the by-standing muggles, which were obliviated later on.
"Black, being the more powerful wizard than Pettigrew, shot a blasting hex at Pettigrew, hit him and killed him. The hex also hit a muggle gas line in the ground, which led to an explosion that killed thirteen muggles, ripped open the ground and left nothing more than a finger of Pettigrew's body. For these crimes the accusation demands that the accused is send back to Azkaban for the rest of his natural life." Madam Bones ended her statement.
"Mr Potter, your turn." Dumbledore said.
Harry stood up from his seat with a natural looking grace and gave Dumbledore a nod from his head.
"Thank you, Chief Warlock. First I want to turn your attention to the reports of the members of the squad the Department of Magical Catastrophes who were sent to the site. I cite from the report that was handed in by our current Minister Cornelius Fudge:
The ground was ripped open down to the sewers; all over the place were charred corpses of the muggles that were caught in the explosion lying around. People were screaming in fear. When we reached the site, Black stood there laughing. In front of him a blood stained robe and a few fragments. We closed off the area so no other muggles could get close. The muggle witnesses were questioned on site over the incident and then obliviated. Black was taken away by twenty members of the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol while the Obliviators took care of changing the memory of the muggle witnesses.
"Minister Fudge, as you have been on site, would you please tell the members of the Wizengamot what kind of fragments you found of Peter Pettigrew?" Harry asked politely.
"Of course. There was a bloody finger, nothing more. We were unable to find more remains, no matter how hard we looked for them." Fudge said.
"And how far away from the corpses you mentioned in your report were the bloody robe, the bloody finger, and Sirius Black?" Harry asked.
"Most about thirty to thirty-eight feet perhaps. The closest one fifteen to twenty feet." Fudge said pondering the question.
"What state was the robe you found in despite being bloody?" Harry asked.
"Well, there were a few cuts and stains on it." Fudge said.
"Thank you, Minister Fudge. I raise one question. How would it be possible that with a small distance like Minister Fudge just described the closest muggles being away from Black and Pettigrew's robe, their bodies were complete? While for those closer to the gas line that was hit that ripped open the ground, some limbs were ripped off, they were all found on site. Minister Fudge stated further that only a bloody finger and some bloodstains on the robe of Pettigrew were found, the robe being cut and stained but otherwise intact. How would the robe survive a blasting hex like that?" Harry asked, making a pause to have them think about what he had said while turning to Madam Bones. "Madam Bones, would you please allow me to borrow one of your aurors for a small demonstration for the Wizengamot?" Harry asked.
"That depends on your intention, Mr Potter." Amelia said impressed by the eleven years old boy.
"I want your auror to shoot a blasting hex on a dummy with a normal wizard's robe that can be bought in every clothing shop. The one I brought for this demonstration was charmed with a few protective spells that are normal in the higher price segment to make sure nothing can be overlooked." Harry stated, holding out a plain black robe.
"That can be done, Mr Potter. Auror Dawlish, please do the demonstration." Madam Bones ordered and conjured a wooden dummy.
Harry placed the robe on the dummy.
"Auror Dawlish, please give it your strongest blasting hex from a distance of fifteen feet away." Harry asked the auror.
Dawlish aimed. "Bombarda." He said and a bright red beam shot at the dummy, destroying it and making splinters fly around.
The robe was torn to shreds. Harry walked up there and took the robe. He held it out for all members of the Wizengamot to see.
"This is the effect of Auror Dawlish's best blasting hex from a similar distance that the witnesses stated Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew were standing away from each other. As you can see, the robe was torn to shreds. Now think about this. If Sirius Black shot a similar blasting hex like Auror Dawlish just demonstrated at Pettigrew, and if additionally the gas explosion increased the effect, proven by the state the muggle corpses were in, how could the robe stay in the state Minister Fudge described in his report and just reported in more detail?" Harry asked.
He let the Wizengamot think a moment about this. He heard many whispers wondering how that could be. His strategy required that they doubted the conclusions that had been drawn based in flimsy evidence. For that they had to realise just how flimsy the evidence was.
"The next part of my defence for the accused is based on the reports of the warden of Azkaban prison, Walter Kensington. Such a report is the routine procedure when a new prisoner is sent there. This one is about the placement of Rastaban, Rodolphus and Bellatrix Lestrange." Harry said, holding up a parchment before he started reading out loud.
We took all their personal things and placed them in the boxes in the security storage. There were their wands, a few galleons, sickles and knuts, two handkerchiefs, three wristwatches, their robes, a witch's hat and their shoes. On each of their left forearms we found the dark mark branded. The prisoners were given the normal prisoner's attire and placed in single cells in the high security tract.
And now the report from the health inspector that examined all prisoners in June 1991.
Even after a decade the Dark Mark is still present on the Lestranges' left forearms. It is much fainter than before, but clearly visible in a dull grey instead of a strong black like when they were arrested.
"Now from other reports I could ascertain that all the closest followers of the Dark Lord Voldemort bore that mark on their left forearm, am I correct, Madam Bones?" Harry asked.
"Yes, you are, Mr Potter. What are you trying to achieve with that question?" She asked.
Harry simply went to Sirius, pulled up the left sleeve of his prison uniform and pointed at the bare left arm.
"If Sirius Black was a follower of Lord Voldemort, more so his second in command, wouldn't he have the same dark mark like the others?" Harry asked, getting more talking from the ranks.
"Now I have given you two pieces that make the guilt of Sirius Black appear not so certain as it was seen in the past. Alone the missing Dark Mark should have led to a deeper investigation of the case. My question now is: Why didn't the Department of Magical Law Enforcement get proof that he did what he was accused of?" Harry again made a dramatic pause and looked around and into several people's eyes. "I can go on. The report of Bartemius Gregorus Crouch, the former head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and responsible for the order to send every prisoner to Azkaban, stated that based on the findings of the Department of Magical Catastrophes there was no doubt about Sirius Black's guilt and he signed off the transfer to Azkaban. Why wasn't there a proper investigation?
"Madam Bones, I read the basic Auror Manual in preparation for this trial, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it says, and this article hasn't been changed since 1947:
If a suspect is arrested for a crime, the first thing any auror or hit wizard has to do starting the investigation is confiscating the suspect's wand and perform the spell 'priori incantatem' to see the last spells done with the wand in question. The suspect is to be searched for any other magical foci and wands which have to undergo the same test. All spells that are found having been performed by the wand or other focus have to be noted and added to the official report."
Harry cited and got a nod of confirmation from Madam Bones.
"None off all the reports on the Sirius Black case ever states the spells that his wand has performed last. But procedure demands that the spells are documented in the report. As it is common procedure, I asked for the wand to be brought here to have the charm performed. If you would do the honours?" Harry said.
Madam Bones took the wand, looking more and more displeased with how this trial was going. Potter had brought up many good points. There should have been a proper investigation and until now she had believed that was the case. She knew Rita Skeeter was sitting in the audience. If this would continue the Ministry would be made a laughing stock. She pointed her wand at Black's wand.
"Priori incantatem." She said.
The wand performed a shield charm, a stunning spell, a lighting charm, a point-me spell and two levitating charms. No exploding hex.
"That's not possible." She said shocked.
"Now that we have confirmed that many things don't add up and could have easily been found out if just the basic steps of investigation would have been followed, after all, Sirius Black didn't put up resistance against the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol when they arrested him, so performing this little spell would have been an act of seconds and wouldn't have endangered the investigation and arrest of the suspect at all, I think we can say with relative certainty that Sirius Black didn't kill the muggles and Peter Pettigrew. It is impossible to get the described effects on the site of the explosion with any of the spells that the wand performed. The most aggressive spell would be the stunning spell. The team from Magical Catastrophes didn't find any other wands on site and Sirius Black also didn't have any others on his person. Concluding from the spells the wand performed, the suspicion of Sirius Black not being the one who has been found by Pettigrew, but it being the other way round comes up.
"I will come back to that thought later. The second part of the accusations was that Sirius Black was made the secret keeper of my parents. Chief Warlock Dumbledore, what was the base for your statement of Sirius Black being the secret keeper?" Harry asked.
"I was told by James Potter, your father, that they had chosen Sirius to be their secret keeper. I had offered him to become the secret keeper myself as Voldemort had shown an unusually high interest in your family and wanted to keep you safe, but James refused, saying that Sirius would never betray them and go into hiding himself to keep them safe. I know that the charm was performed on the 22nd October as at that point I forgot about the location of your home." Dumbledore said.
"So you weren't present when the charm was performed?" Harry asked.
"No, Lily, your mother, was the one that performed the charm." Dumbledore explained.
"Thank you, Chief Warlock." Harry said. "So, while all indications indeed point to Sirius Black being the secret keeper of my family we don't have proof of that. Professor Dumbledore didn't see the charm being performed which would have been the only way for him to know with certainty who was made the secret keeper. So far he only made logical deductions. From various stories I have heard about my parents' time at Hogwarts there always comes up a group of four friends that included my father, James Potter, as well as Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. They were said to be the closest friends with my father and Sirius Black being like brothers. Those four were infamous for being pranksters who sometimes went too far in their pranks.
"So, knowing that my father and his friends loved to deceive people at school, would it be too far-fetched to believe they planned a prank against Voldemort to keep us safe?" Harry asked, making people that had known the group at Hogwarts gasp.
Harry let them think about it for a while.
"The only one who can tell us with absolute certainty what really happened in 1981, what has caused his actions and what led to the failing of the Fidelius charm and the explosion that cost thirteen muggles their lives is Sirius Black himself. Though even if he is the only one knowing the whole truth, he never was even questioned." Harry said.
"He would just have lied." Somebody shouted. Harry gave the man an icy glare that froze the man's movements instantly.
"Do I have to assume that a member of the Wizengamot is so ignorant of the possibilities the Magical Law Enforcement has for solving a crime that he doesn't know that in cases of murder, terrorism and treason against the country the use of veritaserum isn't bound to the permission of the suspect?" Harry asked coldly.
Many whispered. It seemed they hadn't known that fact.
"That is written down in the Decree for the Ministry Controlled Use of Veritaserum, Article Seven. It would be good if those that are responsible for upholding our laws constantly kept informed about them." Harry stated. He knew he had stepped on a few toes with that statement, but they couldn't tell he was wrong as he had just shown.
"Chief Warlock Dumbledore, I request an interrogation under veritaserum of the accused." Harry said.
"Granted. Madam Bones, please administer the veritaserum." Dumbledore said.
Madam Bones took out a vial of the truth potion which she always had on her person for trials and walked over to Black. He looked at her grinning. The cheek of that man. He willingly opened his mouth and accepted three drops in his mouth. She started the interrogation as that was her part in a trial before the witness of the defence had the word, even if in this trial Harry Potter had been saying way more than her.
"What is your name?" She asked.
"Sirius Orion Black." He answered.
"Are you a Death Eater?"
"No." That caused uproar and Dumbledore needed to silence the Wizengamot. She saw Rita gleefully taking notes.
"Were you the secret keeper of the Potters?"
"No. We changed to Peter to trick Voldemort." Sirius answered. Harry looked smug.
"Why?" She couldn't stop herself asking.
"I was too obvious. I was James' best friend so everybody would assume that I was the secret keeper and come after me. We thought if we let people continue to think that and made Peter the secret keeper and he stayed in hiding, James, Lily and Harry would be safe from Voldemort." Sirius answered.
"What happened after you found the Potters dead?" She asked.
"I saw Hagrid being there holding Harry in his arms. He said Professor Dumbledore had ordered him to take Harry to his aunt. I tried to get Harry as I was his godfather, but he refused. So I did the next best thing and gave him my flying motorbike to get Harry to safety. I had to make sure Harry was safe and if I couldn't take him myself I at least wanted to give Hagrid a means to avoid attacks. I went into the house and levitated James and Lily out. I didn't want them to be crushed if the house crumbled. Then I was gripped by fury. I didn't think clearly anymore. I wanted to make the rat that betrayed James and Lily to Voldemort pay. So I went to hunt him down. I found him a few days later. I cornered him after trying to stun him. He surprised me by shouting how I could have betrayed Lily and James. Then he blasted the street behind him apart, grinned and cut off his own finger. He transformed into a rat and ran off into the sewer he had blasted open with his hex that coincidentally had hit a gas line.
"At that moment I couldn't help but laugh. Weak, pathetic, little Peter had got one over me. And I still felt guilty for suggesting him as the secret keeper to Lily and James. If I had just been the secret keeper myself, they would still be alive." Sirius said.
The courtroom was deathly silent. The reality of what people had done to this man began to sink in. He was innocent and still had been sent to Azkaban.
"Did you hear enough? I think this is the irrefutable proof that Sirius Black is innocent of all the crimes you accused him of and tore him apart for in the press. You let an innocent man stay in Azkaban in the high security tract without even granting him a trial for ten full years. I have to wonder how many more people were sent to Azkaban without a trial. A right that every person is granted under the law of the crown which still is valid for the wizarding world according to the decrees made when, with the activation of the Statute of Secrecy in 1692, the English king let the magical population of England go and live in their own society with their own government completely separated from the muggles. The king permitted self-government as long as the crown was still the highest sovereign of all the people of England. Are there perhaps more unlucky ones like my godfather who were chucked there, seen as the scum of the world and forgotten without proof of their guilt? I request a thorough investigation on all the ones that were sent to Azkaban during the time that Bartemius Crouch was head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. With as shaky evidence as he had in this case, who is to say he didn't get rid of a few political opponents this way? Or just wanted to look good in the eyes of the public." Harry asked the assembled members of the Wizengamot.
One man was glaring at him, he had a strictly cut moustache and perfectly sitting robes. Harry guessed that it was Barty Crouch as many were now looking at the man suspiciously. He didn't care. That man was the reason he had had to grow up in the hell that was Privet Drive. He would destroy him and he was relatively sure this would do it or at least most of it.
"Members of the Wizengamot, I think it is time to come to a voting. You have heard the accusation, the defence and the interrogation of the accused under veritaserum provided by the Ministry through Madam Bones. Those in favour of declaring the accused guilty of the charges against him?" Dumbledore asked.
With the evidence Harry had shown, there was no one stupid enough to raise his hand.
"All for clearing the accused of all charges?" Dumbledore asked and the hands went up in masses.
"Sirius Orion Black, you have been cleared of all charges against you. I want to personally apologize for not having made sure that the laws have been followed during those dark times and thought you capable of those horrible crimes. I declare that you are given reparation of 50.000 galleons for every year you were held innocently in Azkaban. The Ministry will pay for all bills of St. Mungo's to restore your health after your long-term stay in Azkaban." Dumbledore said.
The chains that bound Sirius to the chair fell off and he looked like he couldn't believe it yet. He was finally free and the one to manage that miracle was his eleven year old godson. He turned to Harry and saw the boy grinning.
"Thank you, Harry. I don't know how I can ever repay what you did for me. I had given up hope of ever getting out of there. In the beginning I was sure they would find out the truth once I got a trial, but they never got me. How did you find out I was innocent?" Sirius asked.
"I didn't know it, but I thought it was impossible that somebody hit with a blasting hex wouldn't leave more remains than a finger. So there had to be more to it. After reading up on the records my suspicions grew. After all, if you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable must be the truth. That's my favourite saying from a famous fictional muggle detective called Sherlock Holmes. So if it was impossible that only a finger remained if Pettigrew was killed by a blasting hex, he had to be alive somewhere. Which meant you didn't kill him and probably the muggles as well. But the only one to know was you and by demanding a trial I could find out for sure." Harry said.
"Mr Potter." Harry heard the voice of Rita Skeeter behind him. A big group of reporters had come down to interview him and Sirius. Now it was show time.
"Rita Skeeter for the Daily Prophet. A few questions please." She asked.
"As long as you keep your questions to the trial and not get personal I will answer some questions, Madam Skeeter. I don't have to stress that I expect you to truthfully report on my statements?" Harry asked.
"Of course Mr Potter." She hastily agreed. After all, this story was good enough on its own.
"Then fire away." Harry said.
"Why were you so convinced that Mr Black was innocent?" She asked.
"I was informed about the reasons why I didn't grow up with my godfather by Professor Dumbledore in late June while I had to stay at St. Mungo's to treat some problems that were caused by my muggle relatives and which my teachers at primary school hadn't managed to counteract. When I asked for the reasons for Mr Black's imprisonment I was told the stories and spotted some things that didn't add up. Like the finger that was the only thing remaining of Pettigrew, which I pointed out in my defence. So I wanted to know more and asked Professor Dumbledore that he got my godfather a trial. I didn't want anything more.
"After all, every citizen in Great Britain has the right under the law of the crown for a trial. It doesn't matter that the Ministry of Magic governs the wizarding part of Great Britain, we are still subjects of her Majesty the Queen." Harry said.
"Mr Potter, Richard Davies for Magic Tomorrow. Why did you take over the defence for Mr Black personally? After all you are just eleven years old." Another reporter asked.
"Well, I tried to get a professional barrister at law to take over the case, but they all refused, stating they didn't want to take a lost case." Harry answered.
"Mr Potter, you said your muggle relatives were the cause for your stay at St. Mungo's. What did they do to you?" Rita asked.
"That is personal Madam Skeeter. I will just say they have to face charges for child abuse and theft from me soon." Harry said.
He was sure Rita would snoop into the Dursley's family now. They would be the most hated people in the country.
"Mr Potter, how were you able to present such a well-structured defence? Do you intend to go into making a career of being a barrister at law?" Richard Davies asked.
"I don't know yet which profession I want to follow when I am an adult. I would have preferred to not have been forced doing the job an adult should have done in my stead, but the only one willing to at least listen to my godfather was Professor Dumbledore and he is the Chief Warlock and had to preside over this trial. And how I was able to do this, well, I have buried myself in all the law books the Hogwarts library had on the topic for three weeks. And as a Ravenclaw I know how to do research properly." He stated.
"Yes, your sorting was a surprise for many. Most people had expected you to go to Gryffindor house like your parents." Rita asked.
"I was pretty sure I would end in Ravenclaw. During my time in primary school the library was my refuge from my brutal cousin and his gang. The librarian helped me hide there and showed me books she thought would interest me. My knowledge about criminal investigation comes mostly from a muggle mystery novel series I love called Sherlock Holmes." Harry said.
"Mr Black, what are your plans now that you are free?" Davies asked.
"I'll first get back to my normal strength and then I will request to be given custody of my godson if he wants to live with me. Lily and James made me his godfather and thanks to the actions of others and a bit of misjudgement on my part in my grief, I lost the chance to be there for him these past ten years. I don't know yet if I will return to my former position in the DMLE. Due to the war I never took a formal exam for aurors like many others at the time. We were just given the training and then let into the field. I'd have to discuss this with Madam Bones after I am healed." Sirius said.
"Mr Black, I think something else needs to be taken care of now." Madam Bones' voice was heard saying.
The reporters parted and Amelia stepped forward and held Sirius' wand out to him. Sirius took it smiling and felt great being reconnected with his wand after all this time.
"Thank you, Madam Bones." Sirius said.
"I also wanted to apologize for not having believed in you. You were one of us and have fought against the Death Eaters many times. I should at least have investigated your guilt more, I'm really sorry." She said.
"Apology accepted. You were just following orders of Crouch. He is the one whom I won't forgive. If he had just done his job nothing of this would ever have happened." Sirius answered.
"One last question then I need to go." Harry said.
"How do you feel as the youngest Quidditch player at Hogwarts in a century?" Rita asked.
"It's great. I love flying and playing Quidditch and my team-mates are great. I hope we can win the Quidditch Cup this year for Ravenclaw. But we still need to win against Gryffindor and Slytherin and both teams are strong, but I like a good challenge." Harry said.
Then he turned around and walked out of the courtroom, Sirius following him. Harry had organized for a private room with a floo-connection to talk to Sirius in private.
Once they reached the room Harry closed the door behind them to keep nosy reporters out and turned to Sirius. He looked a bit unsure of how to treat his godfather.
"When do you think your treatment in St. Mungo's will be over?" Harry asked.
"I don't know. But I guess I'll have to stay there for one or two weeks to get at least over the worst effects of the long-term dementor exposure. So I think I won't be out of there before Christmas." Sirius answered.
"And you also don't have a place ready where you can live. Why don't you come and visit me at Hogwarts? I'm sure Professor Dumbledore can arrange that over the break. Before I agree to living with you, I want to be sure we can get along. I have some things I insist upon; in others I'm willing to discuss them with you. I have made too many bad experiences in my life to just let others control me." Harry said bluntly.
"I'm sorry to hear that, I really am. I wanted to take care of you like I promised. I just didn't think they would just chuck me into Azkaban, being innocent without even giving me a chance to explain myself. They just let me rot. I thought after I caught Peter I could explain everything to Dumbledore and he would help me getting custody of you." Sirius said remorsefully. "I regretted ever letting you go the moment I could think again. As far as the dementors let me think."
"No, the best you could have hoped for would have been visiting me until all the Death Eaters were caught. Dumbledore placed me with Petunia as Mum gave me a protection based on her sacrifice. He set up blood wards based on that sacrifice. As long as I could call the place where my mother's blood lived home, I would be safe from Voldemort and his minions there. The wards have fallen now as I don't see that place at home, never did in fact, but to break the spell I needed to declare it. Which happened when Professor McGonagall came to visit me after I asked for more information about Hogwarts after I got my letter." Harry explained.
"I see, but he must have known how Petunia disliked magic. All of us in the Order of the Phoenix knew that." Sirius exclaimed horrified.
"He knew she did and placed Mrs Figg to look out for me in the neighbourhood. But my magic worked too well for her to notice. She knew I was neglected, but she couldn't spot physical abuse. And as long as I was 'only unhappy' Dumbledore didn't want to risk the protection the wards gave me. After they broke my arm when I was four and I was in pain for four days, my magic took over and healed me. It was the same from then on with all my other injuries over the years. It stopped when I scared them by using accidental magic against Vernon when I was nine. I froze him in his position for four hours. After that they feared what I would do next if they didn't stop physically harming me." Harry said in a low voice.
Sirius sank onto his knees and carefully hugged Harry, knowing that with that history he would be cautious of physical contact. He had been through it himself with his parents after he had been sorted into Gryffindor.
"It's okay, I understand. Take all the time you need to get to know me. I'll be there for you when you need somebody to talk to. You don't have to, but I can say from my own experience that it helps telling someone." Sirius said seriously.
"Huh? You went through abuse too?" Harry asked still tense in the embrace.
"Yes, but for me it were my own parents who did it. I am from a very dark family. The only close family member I ever liked was my cousin Andromeda. The others followed the stupid pureblood supremacy doctrine. My brother even became a Death Eater. My parents were so proud that he was going to clean the world from the 'mudblood' filth." Sirius spat out the word mudblood. "But obviously he soon got cold feet after seeing what the Death Eaters really did and wanted out. Sadly you didn't just tell Voldemort 'I quit'. It was life-time service or death. Shocked my parents massively when their precious perfect son died by the hand of Voldemort or more probably one of his minions. I don't think Regulus was important enough to be killed by Voldemort in person.
"Well, I was the only one not following the family doctrine. I was sorted into Gryffindor when I started Hogwarts. The rest of the family was always in Slytherin. Nasty bunch altogether. Two days after the sorting I got a horrible howler about staining the family honour and if I knew what was good for me I would have a resorting. She really managed to get the resorting done, but the hat refused to resort me, stating he didn't make a mistake. After that life at home for me was horrible. I was seen as a bloodtraitor. They only saw Regulus as their son from then on; I was the unwanted house guest. And my parents showed me exactly what they thought of me. There are some curses you never should use, the least on your own child. I'm pretty sure they used all of them on me.
"From then on I always stayed at Hogwarts over the holidays, the only time I went 'home' was over the summer and if it got too much for me, I used the floo to go to James' home. Sadly there is nothing you can do against your own parents while you are a minor in the wizarding world, especially if they are as wealthy as my parents were. I couldn't just tell a teacher and have them take me away from there. No court would have done it. The name 'Black' had too much political power. In the summer before my sixth year I couldn't stand it anymore after my mother had put me under the cruciatus curse repeatedly for refusing to join Voldemort. I packed my school trunk with everything I wanted to take with me and ran away in the middle of the night after picking the lock on my door. Your grandparents took me in. They were great people. Even after I came of age and got my own place with some money my uncle Alphard, who was my godfather, left me, I was always welcome for dinner at Potter Manor." Sirius told Harry.
Harry was surprised. He hadn't thought that in the wizarding world things were even worse than in the muggle world. For him at least he had the security that his parents wouldn't have treated him like the Dursleys did. But for Sirius going through that on the hands of his own parents? He couldn't imagine how he must have felt. But if Sirius went through that he could probably understand him better than others.
"When I was little, the Dursleys always let their anger out on me. The one who became violent was Vernon. Petunia only shouted at me and they all called me a freak. They told me it would have been better for everybody if I had just died with my parents in the car crash that they caused when they were drunk. Halloween was always the worst. Dudley paraded with all the sweets he got in the neighbourhood from trick or treating and rubbed it into my face that I wouldn't get a single sweet. The first time Vernon beat me with his belt that I remember was when I was five. Before all injuries were from him grabbing me too hard and shoving me into the cupboard under the stairs where I slept. He had been denied a promotion at work he had hoped for and got drunk and vented his anger on me. At school things didn't get better except that I was away from Privet Drive most of the time. When it was apparent that I was smarter than Dudley they forced me to not outdo him." Harry didn't know why all those words spilled out of him, but now that he had started he for some reason couldn't stop and he felt strangely safe in Sirius' arms, who was rubbing circles on his back.
"Over the breaks Dudley and his so-called friends always hunted me and, if they got me, beat me up. The library at school became my refuge. The teachers had been told that I was a delinquent by Vernon and Petunia and that I needed to be handled with absolute strictness. In the neighbourhood they gave me the fault for all the things Dudley did. There was after all no way that their precious son could ever do anything wrong." Harry said bitterly.
"When I was eight, I decided that if they punished me anyway for anything I could as well earn it by refusing to do what they wanted. They couldn't beat me too badly; otherwise it would have been noticed. Vernon made sure to only hit where my too big hand-me-downs from Dudley would cover it. So I stopped holding back. Dudley of course wailed at home when the report cards came and told I cheated to be the best in class. I was punished, but I ignored it and kept excelling. I also started playing football. Being on the school team would mean more time away from the Dursleys and I didn't need their permission to be on a school team, only if I had wanted to join a private club. Mr Miller, the physical education teacher that was in charge of the football team, finally noticed that I was neglected. I didn't tell him about the beatings as the marks always disappeared over night. But he saw that I was underweight and too small for my age.
"From then on other teachers also looked closer and at school I was safe. The teachers watched in the canteen and punished Dudley for trying to ruin my food. I spent all my free time in the library or on the football field training. I became so good that I was a set part of the team that participated in matches against other primary schools during the great competitions of our area of England. I had decided that as the police, the muggle law enforcers, didn't take my anonymous letters serious, I needed to get out from the Dursleys on my own. I had heard about scholarships for secondary boarding schools that were given to the best students. So I worked on getting one of them and I succeeded. I was offered five of them and was trying to decide which one to attend to get to the top in society and earn as much money as possible when the Hogwarts letter came. I hoped that magical law enforcement could perhaps help me if the muggles couldn't. So I told Professor McGonagall that I had been beaten and given punishments for no reason by the Dursleys. She took me to St. Mungo's where I got the first medical examination of my life.
"Healer Ickings then did what I had hoped for. Getting me out from being under the Dursley's control. I was really afraid what they would do if they found out I knew about magic." Harry ended the story, shaking in Sirius arms.
He didn't know why he had told him all of that. He had kept it all to himself until now. He hadn't told anybody the whole story. Why did he tell a man he had just met again after ten years?
"Shh, it's okay, Prongslet, let it all out, it helps." Sirius said soothingly rubbing Harry's back while on the inside he was furious.
"Why did they do that to me?" Harry asked and tears spilled from his eyes.
He didn't want to cry. Crying never helped. It never made things better. Only doing things did that.
"Some people are simply like that. I didn't understand my parents' reasons either. You can only try to deal with it. There is nothing that can change the past. The only thing you can influence is the future." Sirius said rubbing circles on Harry's back, while he let the tears he had definitely bottled up for a long time fall.
"I only wanted to be left alone by them. When I realized that they didn't love me and never would, I only wanted to be left alone by them. Why couldn't they just let me be? Why did they have to beat me?" Harry cried.
Sirius realized that inside of this boy who appeared so strong and mature on the outside was still an eleven year old boy who had been forced to stand on his own feet far too early.
"That is over. You'll never have to return there. They will pay for what they did, I'll make sure of it, I promise." Sirius said.
On the other side of the door of the room Sirius and Harry were in Albus Dumbledore felt ten years older than before. He really had wronged Harry horribly. Hearing Harry tell Sirius all what had happened in his life brought home how much he had failed. He could have prevented that it got so bad. He should have reacted to the reports of Arabella in a different way, but he had been too stubborn to believe that there could be more going on than a certain amount of neglect and a lack of positive attention.
He had come here to talk to both how they wanted to arrange things now, but when he had opened the door a bit he had heard Sirius telling Harry about his home life. And then Harry had talked. Probably for the first time ever. He had known the boy had been beaten, but had not had the whole picture. He hadn't expected how long he had been beaten. And he shouldn't have just believed in Sirius' guilt. He had known him since he was eleven. Sirius had always been against the Dark Arts his family practiced. He should at least have talked to him, given him the chance to defend himself. But in his grief and anger about the loss of Lily and James he never did it.
He waited until he was sure Harry had got himself collected again and knocked on the door.
"Sirius, Harry? I wanted to talk to you about the arrangements for the future. While we will have to wait until the trial of the Dursleys is over in February to have the question of custody for Harry cleared, you have the strongest position, Sirius. Lily and James made you Harry's godfather therefore it's very probable that the court will give you custody if you both agree." Dumbledore said.
"I talked a bit about that with Harry, Professor Dumbledore, and we decided that the best thing would be if I could come to Hogwarts to visit over the Christmas holidays so we can get to know each other better. We will see if we can come to an agreement. I want to finally live up to my name as his godfather, but the final decision is his to make. I won't force him to do anything." Sirius said.
"That will be no problem. I'll arrange for you to get a room in the guest wing for the Christmas break. There is just one thing you should know, Severus Snape is working at Hogwarts as our Potions Professor. If I allow you to come over the holidays, I want you to promise to not act on your childish grudge against each other." Dumbledore demanded.
"If he promises to do the same, I'll promise to treat him neutrally. Don't ask me to like him, I'll never be able to do that. There is too much in our past for that." Sirius agreed.
"I think that will be enough for the moment. I guess you will be at St. Mungo's for the time being?" Dumbledore asked Sirius.
"Yes, I want to get back to normal as soon as I can. Getting over the malnourishment will take some time, but I'll work on it." Sirius said.
"I'll keep in contact and write you, Harry." Sirius promised.
"I'll write you too, Sirius." Harry answered.
Dumbledore led Harry towards the floo in the room and Harry left to Hogwarts. Dumbledore left the room, he needed to take care of some procedures, and Sirius went to get his things and hoped to not be mobbed again by the press.
And done. I hope I get the next chapter done quicker than this, but I can't promise anything.