Disclaimer: As usually mentioned, I only own this fanfic, the rest belongs to J.K. Rowling. No copyright intended!
Chapter Eleven
Back in the juvenile section in the ministry jail cells (one where the female youth offenders were kept), Ginny continued dreading her stay. She still wouldn't accept that 'her' Harry wouldn't be interested in her. Ginny had just been put into an isolated cell after a counseling session and it didn't go well. The wizarding counselor kept trying to persuade her into accepting that Harry wasn't her's and never would be, but Ginny just refused to believe it. Upon being asked why she tried attacking Hermione, Ginny just defended her actions by claiming she wasn't 'in her right mind' because of the cursed diary's powers. That resulted in Ginny getting taken to a healer to undergo tests. The diagnostic spells revealed that Ginny had still been in her right mind at the time she was arrested, making Ginny realize that she was only possessed anytime she wrote in the cursed diary. This also resulted in having her stay in juvenile detention extended until sometime in the middle of July, much to her dismay. The other juvies warned Ginny not to do anything that could cause her sentence to be extended, and she learned that the hard way.
'This is gonna take an even longer period of time!' thought Ginny desperately.
Back at Hogwarts, everybody was heading to the Great Hall for dinner. Harry spotted Daphne and Tracey sitting by the end of the Slytherin closest to the double doors. Harry decided to summon up his Gryffindor courage and sit with Daphne to return the favour.
"Hello, Daph!" Harry greeted.
"Hi Harry," said Daphne as she looked up and smiled at him. "Did you decide to return the favour?"
"Yes," said Harry as he took a seat across from Daphne. "I thought it was best to keep things fair, since you sat with me at the Gryffindor table at lunchtime."
"That's nice of you, Harry," said Daphne, her cheeks turning red. "You're sure showing the traits of Gryffindor here!"
Harry also found himself blushing and smiling. Tracey was amused while watching the reactions between Harry and Daphne. Harry realized that there were plenty of decent Slytherins (at least half of the snakes were impressed to see Harry and Daphne helping to end that pointless rivalry). Only the pure blood supremacist Slytherins refused to accept that, but Draco was the worst on that matter. He marched over to Harry to get another rise out of him.
"Potter!" Draco growled. "How dare you sit at the Slytherin table!"
"I don't care about that rivalry, Malfoy," Harry retorted. "It doesn't make any real sense. All you're really doing is living in the past!"
"That ain't my problem, Potter," Draco sneered. "Now…"
"It actually is your problem, Malfoy," Daphne sneered back. "You won't get yourself anywhere while living in the past!"
"No one asked you, Daphne," snapped Draco. Then he turned his attention back to Harry. "Now, I advise you to go back to your house table, or else…"
"I have a better idea, Malfoy," said Harry irritably. "Get a life!"
That resulted in some snickers coming from the decent Slytherins and the Ravenclaws (since their table was the closest to the Slytherin's table). Tori happened to be sticking her tongue out at Draco behind his back, as her way of agreeing with Harry. The Malfoy scion certainly needed to get a life, but he refused to do that rather than acting all arrogant like his father. Draco walked over to his seat, but not before glaring at Harry for 'making a fool out of him.' Professors McGonagall and Snape were impressed with Harry and Daphne putting in some joint effort to end the rivalry (both were grinning as they witnessed Harry interacting with Daphne and Tracey). Professor Dumbledore wouldn't acknowledge that Harry wasn't in any real danger.
'I don't see why Harry won't forgive Mr. Ronald Weasley,' thought the headmaster. 'We must give second chances. It's the only way to bring peace!'
After dinner was over, everybody left the Great Hall and back to their respective common rooms. Before Harry could put as much distance between himself and Lockhart, the incompetent defence teacher spotted Harry and stalked after him. Harry couldn't really run due to the corridors being a bit overcrowded, allowing Lockhart to catch up to Harry. Once he did, Lockhart grabbed Harry by the arm and started dragging him away.
"I was afraid the interview would get cancelled, Harry," said Lockhart gleefully, while ignoring Harry's seething in anger. "So I thought I'd be nice to you and help escort you to my classroom. This'll be the best interview in the whole, wide world!"
'Just let me go!' thought Harry angrily and desperately. 'I don't want this stupid interview!'
They reached Lockhart's classroom, joined by some members of the Daily Prophet some minutes later. The interview that followed felt like an eternity for Harry and he knew, from the start that Lockhart was just using him for his own gain. After the interview was finished, Harry left (angrier than ever) and began stomping his way back to Gryffindor Tower.
'That's it!' thought Harry. 'The dunderhead has finally crossed the line. The next time he calls up another one of those stupid so called interviews, I'm just gonna resist! I'm also gonna write another letter to Amelia regarding Lockhart's crimes against me!'
(Scene break)
It was finally Friday afternoon, the day the Dursleys and those in the muggle world who did Harry wrong were going to be facing justice. The last few days had been a hassle and Amelia found out (from Tonks) that one of the teachers unjustly fired from her teaching job at St. Grogery's was Tonks' aunt (her father's sister). Amelia personally knew Tonks' parents and they were nice people, so naturally the head of the DMLE was more than determined to bring the wrongdoers to justice. Once they were ready, Amelia, Tonks and a few aurors apparated over to an alley near Privet Drive, transfigured their robes into muggle clothes and started making a beeline for the Dursleys' house. Once they made it, they approached the front door and knocked. The door opened a minute later and in the doorway stood a woman with short curly brown hair, a horse-like face and twice the usual amount of neck.
"What do you want?" asked the woman.
"Petunia Dursley," said Amelia, showing identity and warrants. "Amelia Bones, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement! You're…"
"I don't recognize the warrants," said Petunia hastily. "Now get…"
"We don't care if you recognize the warrants or not!" snapped Amelia. "Now you're under arrest for multiple counts of child abuse, multiple counts of child neglect, multiple counts of child endangerment, multiple counts of child slave labour and attempted murder."
Petunia found herself with wands pointed at her, so she reluctantly got down on the ground. Then she was placed in handcuffs and pulled up onto her feet.
"Now Petunia," said Amelia. "You don't have to say anything as it may harm your defence in court. Anything you do choose to say can be given in evidence."
Petunia was undeniably scared when she realized that her actions have finally caught up with her. She was taken to a ministry holding cell in the adults' section.
"What do we do now, Amelia?" asked a dark skin auror.
"We wait, Kingsley," said Amelia. "Harry's uncle is bound to arrive home any moment. Once he's arrested, then we'll head over to St. Grogery's Primary School and arrest the headmistress. She's been accepting bribes from Harry's uncle Vernon and one of the teachers who was blacklisted was Tonks' paternal aunt."
Suddenly, Amelia came up with a great idea on how to pull the stunt off. She advised all the other aurors to either find hiding spots in the house or use the disillusionment charm, that way Uncle Vernon would be thrown off track and by the time he realized what was going on, he wouldn't be able to escape. It was a few minutes later when a crunch of gravel was heard coming from the driveway, followed by a door closing. Once the whale of a man made his way inside and over to the kitchen, the doors closed and Vernon found wands pointed at him.
"Vernon Dursley," said Amelia, showing him warrants and identification. "Amelia Bones, head of…"
"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE," screamed Vernon. "I'LL HAVE YOU…"
"You shouldn't talk to the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement like that," snapped Amelia. "Now, these warrants are issued to have you arrested!"
"I don't recognize them, now get out!" growled Vernon, pointing to the doors.
"You do realize that it doesn't matter if you recognize them or not," Amelia snapped again. "You're under arrest for multiple counts of child abuse, multiple counts of child neglect, multiple counts of child endangerment, multiple counts of bribery, multiple counts of child slave labour and attempted murder! All of these crimes involved Harry James Potter, head of the most ancient and most noble house of Potter."
"Here, just take this and get out!" said Vernon, pulling some money out of his pocket and showing to Amelia. "The freak doesn't…"
Amelia retaliated by angrily pointing her wand at the handful of cash and setting it ablaze (to prove that she meant business), much to Vernon's shock. Then some aurors prepared to arrest the Dursley patriarch.
"Did you really think that bribery was going to work with me?!" snapped Amelia. "That'll also be a count of attempted bribery added to your record!"
"Now Vernon," said Kingsley as the Dursley patriarch was being placed in handcuffs. "You don't have to say anything, for it may harm your defence in court. Anything you do choose to say can be given in evidence!"
Vernon glared at Amelia as he was pulled up onto his feet and taken to the ministry holding cells. Amelia wondered where Vernon must've gotten all that money and that was one question she was definitely going to ask him later. Other questions including where Marge lived and which secondary school Dudley and his gang were currently attending. Now it was time for the head of the DMLE to confront Dumbledore… again, this time for placing Harry in an abusive environment. Just before leaving, Amelia could feel some kind of magic (the same kind when she approached the house), so she did some testing and discovered that there were blood wards around the Dursleys' house. The spell checking also revealed that the blood wards were cast by Albus Too-Many-Names Dumbledore, angering Amelia further. Once Vernon and Petunia were in custody, Amelia and the other aurors accompanying her apparated over to outside the wards of Hogwarts. When they arrived in the Great Hall, dinner was already in session. Some of the teachers were shocked to see Amelia and some aurors back within such a short time period.
"Ah, Amelia," Dumbledore greeted. "What may I…"
"Can it, Albus," snapped Amelia. "Now it's time for you to answer to my questions at the ministry!"
"If it's about Harry, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to…" Albus began speaking.
"As a matter of fact, it is," said Amelia irritably. "How do you explain the blood wards around the Dursleys' house?"
"Blood wards, Albus?!" asked Professor McGonagall, outraged. "Really, Albus? You put up blood wards?"
"Yes, Minerva," Dumbledore reluctantly admitted (with his deputy headmistress and potions teacher shooting glares at the headmaster). "It was the only way to keep Harry safe."
"How do they work?" said Amelia adamantly. "I haven't heard much of any of this before, so I insist you tell me!"
"Well," Albus began explaining. "Lily's sacrifice that night gave Harry strong protection, so in order for that to work, I placed him with his mother's sister. That was to ensure that Harry would be safe from Voldemort and his death eater for as long as he can call the Dursleys' place home, and as long as Petunia at least took him in willingly."
"Harry," Amelia called out as she turned her attention to him sitting at the Gryffindor table. "Would you come up here, please?"
Harry nodded his head, got up and walked up to Amelia standing in front of Dumbledore. Harry gave the headmaster a distrustful look once he approached Amelia.
"Yes, Amelia?" asked Harry.
"Would you explain to Dumbledore about your life in that house?" said Amelia.
"Yes," said Harry. Then he faced Albus. "My relatives abused me left and right. They made it clear to me for as long as I can remember that they never wanted me. They didn't love me, they hated me! I even told you so, headmaster. But you never listened to me, you just dismissed that as foolish nonsense."
"You see, Albus," said Amelia. "When I went to the Dursleys to have Petunia and Vernon arrested, I felt some kind of magic when the aurors and myself approached the door to that house. I did some spell checks and found that they were blood wards, and the effects were almost nonexistent!"
"See, Albus," said Professor McGonagall in an 'I told you so' voice. "I warned you what kind of people those muggles were. But no, you just went with your 'Albus knows best' attitude and left Harry on the doorstep without any second thoughts. What if Harry had been kidnapped? Anything could've happened to him."
"And Harry was genuinely confused when I gave him his acceptance letter personally," said Hagrid, outraged. "He knew nothing about the wizarding world or the truth about how his parents died!"
"Given Petunia's reaction," said Amelia. "That implied that she only took Harry in grudgingly."
"She still took him in." Albus tried defending his actions.
"You said that the blood wards would work if it was willingly," said Amelia. "And if my intuition is correct, Harry would've also needed to be raised with love and affection in order for the charms to work to it's fullest. But those people abused Harry left and right, never gave him any love or affection and just used him as a slave!"
"I only wanted what was best for Harry." Albus tried defending his actions again.
"But that wasn't what was best for him in truth," said Amelia sternly. "Even if your intentions were good, it still backfired big time! No more of these misdirection games, Albus. I'm gonna have to place you under arrest!"
Albus reluctantly sighed in defeat and stepped around the staff table. Once he was next to the headmaster's podium, Albus was placed in magic suppression handcuffs.
"Now Albus," said Amelia. "You don't have to say anything, as it can harm your defence in court. Anything you do choose to say can be given in evidence."
As Albus was being led out, the students stared at the ordeal in shock. For the first time in decades, Albus was utterly stumped. He felt that Vernon and Petunia would've seen reason to raise Harry like a son, but they just did the opposite of what they were instructed to do. Before the auror escorting Albus out made it to the door, the school governors approached them to confront Dumbledore.
"Albus, we received word on what was going on," said the head governor. "We can't believe what you did to Harry! Now, we'll give you the option of retiring from your post as headmaster or you can risk getting fired! The choice is yours."
"I'll retire," said Albus, knowing his actions have finally caught with him. "I know getting fired won't look good on one's resume."
Once Albus was escorted out and over to a ministry holding cell, the governors walked into the Great Hall to ask Professor McGonagall if she wanted to be the headmistress. Before they could, Harry came up with another idea.
"Amelia," said Harry. "I think Professor Lockhart needs to be arrested! He's been harassing me for much of the year, and he even tried 'mending' the bones in my arm during the quidditch match involving the rogue bludger. I even told him not to do it, but he tried anyway and ended up removing the bones in my arm instead."
This resulted in the other aurors pointing their wands at Lockhart (who was sweating profusely). The incompetent defence teacher also found himself placed in magic suppression handcuffs, getting told his rights and led out of the castle and over to a ministry holding cell. Harry was happy that his aunt and uncle had been arrested so far.
"Harry," said Amelia. "Do you know which secondary school your cousin currently attends?"
"Yes, it's called Smeltings Academy," stated Harry. "The same secondary school my so called uncle went to."
"And what about where your uncle's sister lives?" asked Amelia.
"That I'm not 100% sure," said Harry. "All I know is that it's somewhere out in the country."
"We'll get those two arrested, followed by your primary school headmistress, Harry." assured Amelia.
"Thank you, Amelia!" said Harry gratefully.
After she left, Harry returned to his dinner. The head of the governors asked Professor McGonagall if she wanted to be the new headmistress and she accepted, with Professor Flitwick becoming the deputy headmaster (but still the head of Ravenclaw house). Classes next week were cancelled due to the circumstances. Now Harry had to somehow prepare for his relatives' trials.
To be continued!
Author's note: An anonymous reviewer known as 'Nicholas' suggested that Uncle Vernon try bribing Amelia, who responded by setting the money ablaze to show Vernon how much she meant business. So I'd like to give a shoutout to that reviewer.
The user 'Jay Saxena' even came up with the idea of Amelia planning to investigate where the Dursleys were getting the money for all those times of bribing people, so that will be explained in a future chapter. Stay tuned for more!