Lord of the Wind
by Teddylonglong
All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.
COMPLETELY AU! Partly OOC! Time travel! Partly Animagus story!
It is my story, and I intend to write it the way I want it. If you don't like it, don't read it.
Reviews are very welcome, as they inspire my muse. Thanks a lot to the kind readers who commented on the previous chapter!
Gaoithe woke up to his father's voice. "Good morning, Gaoithe. It's time to get up."
Gaoithe blinked, only to groan in annoyance as realisation set in. 'All the colours are inverted and will be for the whole day,' he realised as he mumbled a greeting to his father.
"Gaoithe, I am really sorry," Severus said, and Gaoithe noticed from his voice and his expression that his father was probably feeling awful at the thought of how irresponsible he had been, when he made the twins brew a potion without confirming that the effects of his prank potion had worn off. He was just about to ask him if he could excuse him from his classes, when he remembered that the twins had attended their classes the previous day and dismissed the thought.
"You don't have to be sorry, Dad," he said softly. "Feeling a bit strange for a day is still better than having to attend a party at the Ministry. I'm going to change into my phoenix form until the beginning of the first class."
"I hope you'll feel better then," Severus said, sighing, as he pulled Gaoithe into a bear hug. "Take care, son, and if there is anything I can do for you, just let me know."
"Love you, Dad," Gaoithe mumbled, enjoying the quiet moment in his father's arms with closed eyes, so that he missed the small smile that was playing on Severus' lips.
風の力を持つハリー
Gaoithe struggled through his classes. He only told his best friends that he had had a potions accident without sharing details and that they shouldn't speak about it in order to keep it from his mother. After his morning classes, he transformed into his phoenix form, because he felt less nauseous that way, and had lunch together with Yuki and Fawkes in Professor Dumbledore's new office.
The still official headmaster was just having a meeting with the Minister of Magic, glancing at Fawkes' perch, when Yuki and Gaoithe arrived.
"Dumbledore, you know that it is important. It's bad enough that they couldn't attend the party. You already made huge mistakes when you let Harry Potter escape, provided that you really do not know his whereabouts. However, this time, I want you to make up for it, especially if you really intend to retire. I want the world to know what the British Ministry of Magic achieved."
Dumbledore leaned back in his seat. "I am sorry about Harry Potter. I thought it would be the best for him to hide in the muggle world. Concerning the event, I will speak with the Snapes and try to convince them. If that is all..."
"Very well Dumbledore, I await your fast response." With that, the Minister rose from his chair and stepped into the fireplace.
'What was that about?' Gaoithe wondered as he absentmindedly ate the delicacies that Twinkle had brought for Fawkes and his two guests.
"Yuki, did you bring a new friend?" Dumbledore suddenly queried, causing Gaoithe to cast him a surprised look.
#That's Cicero,# Fawkes replied, chuckling. #He is an old friend of mine.#
Gaoithe fluffed his feathers in confusion, only now realising that his feathers looked completely normal, while everything else still had strange colours. 'Oh no; I probably transformed into a fire phoenix or something. That's cool though, if even Dumbledore doesn't recognise me.'
風の力を持つハリー
Gaoithe dragged himself through his remaining classes, glad when the afternoon passed without any extraordinary happenings. To his surprise, Severus suggested to take the chameguises to the roof right away. "You know that this has to remain an exception, but you may do your homework later on," Severus said smirking, knowing from a glance into his son's face that the potion had still to wear off. "We must take Uisce with us though, because your mother has to do some office work together with Professor Dumbledore," he added, gently putting the little girl on the floor.
"Gee!" Uisce shouted in delight, looking pleadingly into her adored big brother's face as she raised her little arms and demanded firmly, "Up."
Gaoithe carefully lifted his sister, and on the way upstairs to the roof garden, he told his father about the conversation, which he had witnessed during lunchtime.
"That meddling old coot!" Severus blurted out angrily. "No, he hasn't spoken with me yet, but I can imagine what he wants." He let out a long sigh. "Fudge is someone who always wants publicity. I am sure that he wants us to have an interview with Rita Skeeter..." Seeing that Gaoithe looked at him questioningly, Severus interrupted himself to explain, "An extremely annoying female reporter from the Daily Prophet, to announce how grateful we are that Fudge arranged for the potions to be administered at St. Mungo's." He sighed. "If there is anyone, who helped us, it was Healer O'Brien, who is always very cooperative."
Gaoithe chuckled, shifting Uisce onto his other arm. "He gets along with my head of house pretty well, doesn't he?"
Severus glared at him, unable to hide a small smile. "Don't you dare say anything to either of them," he replied sternly. "Anyway, even if I don't appreciate you eavesdropping on others, I'm glad to know what Professor Dumbledore is planning. This gives me time to speak with Healer O'Brien beforehand and perhaps arrange something with Skeeter, before Professor Dumbledore can act, although she is an annoying bitch. I don't know about you, but I will definitely not participate in any press conference."
"I won't either," Gaoithe said quickly.
"Very well then, I'll write a small report for her to post in the paper, if she swears a wizard's oath that she will not change as much as one single word. How is that? That will make any press conference completely unnecessary."
"Dad," Gaoithe said hesitantly, "as far as I know, Luna's father is the editor of the Quibbler. Why don't you send your article to him, if you despise Skeeter so much? Frankly speaking, Luna asked me a long time ago if I was willing to speak with her father about the wolfscure potion, because he was interested to write about it. But I declined, because I wanted to keep quiet about the matter. I didn't know that they were going to make such a fuss with the Order of Merlin, so that everyone knows about it anyway."
Severus gave him a thoughtful look. "Very well then, let's speak with Ms. Lovegood later on. Maybe she can floo call her father and ask him. I'd appreciate if we could get around Seeker." He turned to his daughter. "Now Uisce, you're getting too heavy for your brother to carry you all the time. Get down now and stay away from the plants. Otherwise," he said, gently tickling the little girl's toes, "I'm going to use your toes for potions ingredients."
Uisce giggled happily and let herself sink to the ground to crawl as Gaoithe carefully placed her on the grass. "Now Iro, where do you want your nest?" Severus queried, looking for the chameguises.
Only now, Gaoithe realised that the two chameguises had left his shoulders and were contentedly busying themselves at one corner of the roof garden. "I think they already found a spot," he said, chuckling as he pointed at his familiar.
"That is an adequate spot," Severus agreed, causing Gaoithe to inwardly sigh in relief.
'I just want to get over with everything,' he thought. 'I can't wait for my vision to return to normal.' He absentmindedly noticed that Severus called Cicero and instructed him to help the chameguises, before he picked up his daughter and motioned for Gaoithe to follow him back home. At the door that led inside to their quarters, Severus stopped and waved his wand at the door, making a small flap appear, just large enough for a chameguise to pass. "Ah, that's a brilliant idea," Gaoithe said gratefully. "Thank you, Dad."
Severus gave Gaoithe a sharp look. "Do you still see the colours reversed?" he asked in a soft voice.
"Yes," Gaoithe replied. 'Just ignore me; it's bad enough that I can't see properly,' he thought, feeling very annoyed at his father's concern. "It's all right, Dad; it should wear off soon."
Severus glanced at his wrist watch. "Well, I suggest having dinner at home then. Uisce, are you hungry?"
Gaoithe chuckled as the girl squealed in delight and tried to run on her still unsteady, small legs, until she stumbled, landing on the floor a few metres before reaching the table. "You're getting fast," he laughed as he gently picked up the girl and sat her into her high chair.
When Minerva returned home after dinner, Severus and Gaoithe informed her about their plan of speaking with Mr. Lovegood.
"I believe that's a very good idea. Professor Dumbledore said something about having to hold a press conference to please Minister Fudge," Minerva said thoughtfully. "Gaoithe, why don't you go and fetch Ms. Lovegood? She can contact her father from our fireplace, if she thinks that he might be interested. Seeing that Gaoithe hesitated, she asked in concern, "Is everything all right, Gaoithe?"
"Yes," Gaoithe replied, smiling, before he thought to his father, 'Thank Merlin, the potion has worn off now. I can see properly.'
'I am very glad and relieved to hear that. I am really sorry, Gaoithe,' Severus replied immediately.
Seeing that his mother looked at him questioningly, Gaoithe said, "I just thought, maybe Mr. Lovegood would be interested in my idea as well. However, I'd prefer to share it just with the two of you first." Looking at his sister, who was fast asleep next to him on the sofa, he smiled and said, "I already know that Uisce will agree right away."
Minerva let out a snort. "Uisce would agree to anything that you might suggest," she said, smiling fondly at the boy.
Gaoithe rolled his eyes and sighed. "Well, it's nothing very special, but I'd like to have a zoo for magical creatures, if possible on the far end of the Hogwarts grounds right next to the forest, so that the animals don't have to be completely locked in but can freely go into the forest and come back as they please. Since there is no need for the Shrieking Shack anymore, I thought that we could rebuild it accordingly, giving each animal inside and outside rooms." Before his parents, who were sitting there, staring at him in surprise, could react, he explained, "I haven't spoken with him yet, but I'd love Hagrid to look after the animals, provided that our new headmistress will approve my idea." He smirked, glancing at Minerva.
The Potions Master thoughtfully ran a hand through his hair and asked, "And how do you plan to make the animals return from the forest?"
Gaoithe chuckled. "It should be possible to put a charm on them that'll make them come back after a certain amount of time, shouldn't it?"
"Of course, that won't be a problem. I am sure Professor Flitwick would be happy to help you with the charm," Minerva agreed.
"Where are you going to get the animals?" Severus enquired, raising an eyebrow at his son.
Gaoithe glanced at Yuki, who was cuddling with Fawkes on her perch. "Well, Yuki and Fawkes as well as Iro and Akira promised to spend a few hours each day in the zoo, until we have enough animals to get the zoo running. I also thought I could go into the forest in several magical forms and talk to the animals there. Maybe some of them would like to have a place to sleep in safety and get food on a regular basis. We could fix a time, for example in the afternoon or during the weekends, when all animals have to be in the zoo, while they'll be free at all other times," Gaoithe said unsurely, absentmindedly trying to free his forefinger out of Uisce's strong grip. 'Even when she's asleep, she is that strong,' he thought in surprise. "I also intend to buy a few animals at the Magical Menagerie. I'd love to have a toad like Ron's, for example," he remembered. "Oh well, shall I ask Luna to come over for a moment?" His parents voiced their consent, and Gaoithe quickly stepped through the connecting door into Merlin House.
Luna immediately agreed to contact her father. "He will be very pleased to hear that you're willing to give him an interview," she said in excitement.
"Well, try to contact him," Minerva suggested as she took a small silver coated cat from the mantelpiece and lifted the head, revealing a small box with floo powder.
Luna leaned into the fireplace, and shortly later, her father entered the Snapes' living room. "Professor McGonagall-Snape, Messrs. Snape, may I believe what my daughter told me through the fireplace?" Mr. Lovegood asked, letting his eyes wander around with apparent interest.
"It depends on the conditions," Severus replied, smirking, and explained that he would only agree for the article to be published after closely examining the final version.
"Of course, Professor Snape," Mr. Lovegood reassured him. Suddenly, a parchment was hovering in front of him in the air, and he was holding a light green quill in his hand.
While Severus explained about the wolfscure, Mr. Lovegood took notes, and Gaoithe could not help following the green quill's every move with his eyes. The wizard merely slightly moved the quill with his right hand without even touching the parchment. However, every word that Severus' lips revealed clearly appeared on the parchment.
'That's fantastic,' Gaoithe thought in absolute amazement. 'It's writing exactly what Dad says. I'd love to have one of these in order to take notes in my classes.' However, he knew better than to voice his thoughts in front of his parents and instead told Mr. Lovegood about his idea to build a magical zoo on the Hogwarts grounds as soon as Severus was finished with his explanation.
"That is a very interesting idea," Lovegood exclaimed, looking appraisingly at the boy. "Will the zoo be only open for Hogwarts students or for the whole magical world?"
Gaoithe looked at his mother with uncertainty. "I'd love it to be open for everyone, but I don't know if that's possible," he replied in a small voice.
"We will coordinate the project with Professor Lupin, our Care of Magical Creatures Professor, and Hagrid, who will be responsible for the zoo, provided that he agrees," Minerva informed the visitor and explained that Gaoithe had only told them about his idea an hour ago. "However, I am sure that we will be able to allow visitors at certain times, at least during the weekends."
"Does Professor Dumbledore already know about these plans?" Lovegood queried with apparent interest.
"Professor Dumbledore told me that he's going to officially announce his retirement on the weekend," Minerva replied, glancing at Severus. "Apparently, he urgently wants to retire, because the Minister is putting pressure on him in several matters."
Severus raised an eyebrow. "I just hope Fudge won't try to put you under pressure," he said in concern.
Minerva let out a snort. "Well, let him try. He won't be very efficient."
Gaoithe looked back at Mr. Lovegood, noticing that his face was scrunched in thought. "Professors, if you don't mind me asking, is it planned to announce the change in the headmaster's position through the Daily Prophet on Monday morning?"
Minerva and Severus exchanged a glance. "Probably," Minerva finally replied.
"Very well then," Lovegood said in determination. "I shall send you all three articles tomorrow morning. Will you be able to return any corrections by tomorrow night? If possible, I'd like to bring out a special edition of the Quibbler on Sunday."
"Your support is highly appreciated," Severus replied without any emotion showing on his face. "It's time to put an end to Minister Fudge's as well as the Daily Prophet's behaviour of pretending that they own Britain's magical world. We shall inform Professor Dumbledore beforehand though, since we don't want him to suffer a heart attack."
Minerva replied in agreement and exchanged a few more words with the reporter about the change of positions at Hogwarts. In the meantime, Gaoithe let his eyes wander around. While Luna was staring into space with an extremely pleased expression on her face, Minerva looked excited, and Severus was smirking. 'The Minister will be so angry,' Gaoithe thought, wondering how Dumbledore was going to react.
風の力を持つハリー
The Quibbler was released on Sunday morning. During breakfast, Professor Dumbledore announced that he was going to retire and accept the new post of a research professor and that Professor McGonagall was the new Headmistress. Only a few minutes later, the owls flew into the Great Hall, distributing a copy of the Quibbler's special edition to their respective recipients.
Inwardly chuckling, Gaoithe observed from the Merlin table how Professor Dumbledore's expression turned into a frown and further into anger as he skimmed the newspaper. 'I'll go back home for a while. This is going to be fun,' he decided and left the Great Hall to flash home, hoping that he would be able to eavesdrop on the conversation between the former Headmaster and his parents. Unfortunately, neither Minerva nor Severus came home after breakfast. 'Oh no! They're probably meeting in Mum's office,' Gaoithe realised in annoyance. Knowing that he couldn't just flash into the office in his phoenix form, he transformed into a mosly. Only a few days ago, he had discovered the tiny, magical fly, which was able to flash over short distances, in an old tome about magical creatures.
Without contemplating further, he flashed into Minerva's office in his mosly form and made himself comfortable on the shelf above that, on which the Sorting Hat was sitting. Minerva was sitting behind her desk, and Severus and Dumbledore were sitting opposite of her, while Uisce was peacefully asleep in her playpen next to the desk.
"What does this mean?" Dumbledore asked sharply, pointing to the article about his retirement.
"We decided to use the Quibbler to make our announcements instead of relying on that bitch from Fudge's censored newspaper," Severus replied in an even voice.
Dumbledore slowly popped a lemon drop into his mouth, before he queried in disbelief, "Don't you think it would have been appropriate to speak with me beforehand?"
"Maybe we should have told you," Minerva replied in a soft voice, "however, can you imagine how upset the Minister would be if you had known of the matter in advance?"
"Oh well, that's a valid argument," Dumbledore said, thoughtfully stroking his beard. "Concerning the zoo on the Hogwarts grounds, I believe that it's a wonderful idea," he continued. "I suggest that Gaoithe contacts Charlie Weasley and asks him for a pair of dragons."
Gaoithe looked into the old wizard's baby blue eyes. 'That's a great idea,' he thought, resolving to speak with the twins about the zoo as soon as possible. 'Maybe they'll have more ideas.'
All of a sudden, the fireplace flared and the Minister appeared in the flames, demanding to be allowed to step through. "Dumbledore," he roared, pacing the round office. "What do you think you're doing? You quit your job, and I have to receive this information from the Quibbler?" He spat the last word. "Who do you think I am?"
Severus mumbled something into his nonexistent beard, causing Gaoithe to inwardly chuckle.
"Apart from that, I asked you to arrange for an interview with Messrs. Snape and Ms. Skeeter," the Minister added, glaring at Dumbledore.
"I am sorry, Cornelius, but I only announced my retirement this morning, and I was not aware of the fact that Professor Snape and his son decided to prefer giving Mr. Lovegood from the Quibbler an interview. I am afraid this was a very unfortunate coincidence in combination with a bad timing," Dumbledore said calmly, slowly sucking on his lemon drop.
"The matter with the change of positions at Hogwarts only came up by chance," Minerva threw in sternly. "However, both my husband and I, and I am sure that our son agrees as well, were very pleased with our conversation with Mr. Lovegood as well as with his performance. Therefore, I believe that from now on we're going to ask him if we need to make anything public."
'Oh my, she speaks as if she was talking to a student in detention,' Gaoithe mused, glad that he was not the one to whom his mother was speaking at the moment.
"Very well then," Fudge said thoughtfully, and Gaoithe noticed that a small smirk appeared on his face. "Since the position of the Transfiguration teacher happens to be vacant now, the Ministry will send you an adequate professor for the subject."
"I am afraid that will be unnecessary, Minister," Minerva replied icily, causing Fudge to look at her in surprise. "Our professors here are competent enough to acquire new staff members without interference from outside."
"And whom do you intend to hire?" the Minister asked sharply, eyeing the new Headmistress in shock.
"We will officially announce our new staff member tomorrow..." Minerva said, trailing off when Dumbledore interrupted her.
"Minerva, I think it is all right to tell Cornelius that we plan to hire Mr. Black right after his trial tomorrow."
"Black?" Fudge repeated in clear surprise. "We'll see how his trial goes."
"There is enough evidence for his innocence," Minerva said firmly. "Now, if that's all, Minister..."
Once again Gaoithe was happy that his mother was not speaking to him as the Minister of Magic stepped into the fireplace with a furious expression on his face. 'I wish he'd retire together with Dumbledore,' he thought. 'I really don't like him.'
The Headmaster excused himself as well, and Gaoithe carefully flew onto Severus' back for a ride home, while Minerva leaned down to take Uisce out of her playpen. As soon as Severus stepped through the connecting door to the living room, Gaoithe took off and flashed into his own room, where he transformed back into his human form. On his way back to the living room, he heard Severus say, "Well done, Min. However, Albus is too manipulative. Why did he tell Fudge about Black? Frankly speaking, I don't like that."
Minerva cast him a surprised look and asked, "Do you think he'll try to manipulate the trial? Oh well, thank Merlin that Pettigrew is with Albus."
Gaoithe played with Uisce until lunchtime, before he spent the whole afternoon in Merlin House. Although he intended to work on his assignments, he couldn't get much done, because everyone wanted to speak with him about the zoo, Dumbledore's retirement and Minerva's appointment as headmistress. Finally, he ended up having to do his homework until late in the evening, unaware of the fact that Minerva was observing him disapprovingly.
"Gaoithe, I told you often enough that you should do your homework earlier," she scolded him lightly. "You need your sleep, and it's after curfew already."
Gaoithe let out a sigh. "I know, Mum, but I couldn't do anything this afternoon. Everyone kept asking me questions and such. Oh, by the way, Luna told me to say thank you for choosing her Dad over Ms. Skeeter."
"You may tell her that I will contact her father soon to speak with him about more frequent editions of the Quibbler," Severus threw in. "I always loathed the insufferable Daily Prophet, and we urgently need to do something against its monopole position." He smirked as he continued, "I might be willing to make a small donation from my Order of Merlin award to achieve this."
Gaoithe sighed in relief as he closed his Defence book. "Finished. Would you mind handing my parchments to your colleagues, or should I send Yuki? Professor Dumbledore told me that we have to leave at half past seven tomorrow morning."
Severus reached for the parchments. "I'll give them to your teachers. And now off to bed with you. You don't want to fall asleep at the trial."
風の力を持つハリー
In the morning, Fawkes flashed Professor Dumbledore, Sirius and Gaoithe to the Ministry of Magic. A young Auror, whom Dumbledore introduced as Nymphadora Tonks, was already waiting for them and led them through the Ministry. Gaoithe looked at the Auror in awe. He liked her immediately. 'I wonder if that's the real colour of her hair,' he mused as they arrived at a reception, where he had to state his name and hand over his wand for a short inspection. The Ministry employee at the reception, who seemed very sleepy that early in the morning, waved them through quickly, and Gaoithe unconsciously sighed in relief.
As soon as they entered the corridor leading to the court room as Tonks explained, three Aurors appeared seemingly out of nothing, pointing their wands at Sirius. "Follow us, Mr. Black," the oldest of them demanded in a cold voice.
Sirius nodded and turned around to leave with the Aurors through a dark wooden door, which Gaoithe hadn't even noticed so far.
"Good luck, Sirius," Gaoithe said quickly, causing his godfather to wave his hand to him from over his head without turning around.
With a strange feeling of foreboding, Gaoithe hesitantly entered the courtroom together with Dumbledore and the young female Auror with the bright pink hair.
Gaoithe looked around the courtroom in confusion. 'Why are so many people here?' he wondered. When he hesitantly voiced his question, Dumbledore looked at him with a sad smile on his face.
"Many people knew and loved Lily and James Potter," he said gently. "They want the person, who betrayed them to Voldemort, to be punished for what he did."
'My birth parents,' Gaoithe thought. 'That's true; I want Pettigrew to be punished, too.'
Gaoithe listened quietly as the trial was opened and the public gallery was told about the charges against Sirius Black, before the judge questioned Sirius. Afterwards, several people, among them Professor Dumbledore, were asked to give their testimony. 'What about Pettigrew?' Gaoithe wondered, when finally, the judge turned to Sirius once more. "Do you have any proof that Pettigrew is alive?" he queried.
Sirius glared at Dumbledore in confusion. "Of course, sir. Gaoithe Snape and Professor McGonagall-Snape captured him and left him in Professor Dumbledore's care. Where is that damn rat?"
"Do not shout," one of the Aurors admonished him harshly, causing Sirius to sit down with a furious expression on his face.
Professor Dumbledore rose from his seat. "What Mr. Black says is absolutely correct. Mr. Pettigrew was in my care, until I handed him to Minister Fudge last week, when I retired from my position as headmaster of Hogwarts and cleared my office. Now Cornelius, where is Pettigrew?"
Fudge stood up and replied, "I am sorry, but he seems to have escaped this morning as soon as the Aurors tried to transfigure him back. I therefore doubt that it was Pettigrew at all. Probably, it was just a normal rat." Gaoithe noticed that the Minister seemed very pleased about something.
He let out a groan. 'He let him escape to take revenge on Mum,' he thought in absolute annoyance and dislike for the Minister as he hesitantly rose from his seat. "Excuse me, sir, but I am a phoenix Animagus and as such able to flash myself to anyone. Will I be excused for a few minutes in order to try to catch Pettigrew? I saw him in his human form, and I know that he's alive."
"How old are you, boy?" Fudge sneered, before he turned to the judge. "He is only thirteen and certainly looking for attention."
Dumbledore jumped from his seat. "I will go. Gaoithe, you stay here. Fawkes!" Instantly, the phoenix arrived in front of the old wizard, and before everyone knew what happened, Dumbledore disappeared together with his familiar.
The judge announced a thirty-minute break, and everyone begun to talk simultaneously. Gaoithe realised that everyone but him, Dumbledore and Sirius seemed to thoroughly enjoy the situation, especially the reporters, who were standing around Sirius and Fudge, feverishly taking notes. 'Thank Merlin they leave me in peace,' he thought, deciding to unobtrusively remain on his seat. 'I'd love to speak with Sirius; however, I don't want to run straight into the spotlight.'
"Gaoithe, you're doing great," a gentle voice caught his attention. It was Tonks. She was now wearing dark blue hair, and Gaoithe stared at her in confusion. "Sirius is my cousin," she explained. "I really hope that he'll be free afterwards. I just know that he is innocent."
"He definitely is," Gaoithe reassured her but interrupted himself, when Dumbledore and Fawkes arrived in front of him.
"Gaoithe, you must come with me. I can't reach him," Dumbledore said gravely.
Together with the old wizard, Gaoithe grabbed Fawkes' tail feathers. Fawkes elegantly arrived in a huge field, occasional trees scattered here and there. Before Gaoithe could wonder where they were, Dumbledore pointed to the stump of the tree in front of them.
"Fawkes told me that he can sense him inside that tree. I assume that he used the small hole over there to get inside."
Gaoithe examined the tree, feverishly trying to make a plan. 'I need an animal that is able to get in there and force him outside,' he thought, looking up in confusion, when Dumbledore queried, "Gaoithe, do you have an idea?"
"A summoning spell doesn't work, right?" Gaoithe asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"No. He must at least be stunned for the summoning spell to work. However, since I can't see him, I can't stun him. I tried everything that came into my mind in vain, before I returned to fetch you. I thought maybe one of your Animagus forms..." Dumbledore admitted, before he trailed off, suddenly looking very old.
'The mosly is supposed to be able to stun a person by its bite,' Gaoithe recalled what he had read a few days ago. Not even taking the time to explain his plan to the old wizard, he transformed into his phoenix form and further into a mosly. Flashing himself straight to the rat that was sitting in an empty birds' nest inside the tree, he bit the rat into its backside, causing the small animal to remain unmoving.
In the meantime, Dumbledore had conjured a cage, into which he put the summoned rat without releasing it from its stupor. Together with the caged Animagus, they returned straight into the court room.
The rest of the trial passed uneventfully, and at two o'clock in the afternoon, Sirius Black was a free man. He came over to Gaoithe and sat next to him as a thirty-minute break was announced before the trial of Pettigrew. Before Gaoithe knew what happened, the small group was surrounded by reporters, and he found himself being blinded by flashing cameras.
'Just tell them you're going to give an exclusive interview to Mr. Lovegood from the Quibbler later on,' Gaoithe quickly thought to Sirius, who returned a questioning look. Gaoithe nodded, and Sirius turned to the reporters.
"Leave me in peace. None of you cared that I was thrown into Azkaban, even without a trial or any proof at all. I won't speak to you. Mr. Lovegood, please contact me later on."
"Thank you, Mr. Black, Mr. Snape," Lovegood said in surprise, slightly inclining his head.
"Allow me to tell you something," Dumbledore suddenly spoke to the reporters. "Did none of you notice the contented look on the Minister's face as he announced that Pettigrew had escaped? I handed him the murderer in form of a wooden rat. However, he did not want Mr. Black to be free for reasons, which Mr. Black will reveal to the Quibbler later today. As soon as Mr. Pettigrew's trial commences, I will request a trial against Minister Fudge because of this matter." With that he rose from his seat and crossed the room in a speed that did not give out his age.
Gaoithe observed in annoyance how the reporters took notes of Dumbledore's announcement in obvious excitement. 'I'll never talk to any of them about anything important,' he resolved, before he turned to Sirius and exchanged a few words with his godfather.
Too soon, the trial began again, and Gaoithe sighed in relief, when the judge decided that they didn't have to hear everyone's evidence again, because they had already provided all the necessary information during Sirius' trial. However, Peter Pettigrew was questioned under Veritaserum and admitted that he had done everything that had sent Sirius to Azkaban for twelve years. Gaoithe was just beginning to become really bored, when the prosecutor stopped his interrogation and asked if anyone had still questions for Pettigrew.
"I have," Dumbledore said firmly. He rose from his seat and walked towards the Minister, who was sitting near the jury. "Mr. Pettigrew, how exactly did you manage to escape this time?"
The room turned absolutely quiet as Pettigrew answered, "Last night, Minister Fudge came to me and told me that he'd let me free under the condition that I'd stay away from the human world forever. He apparated me to a huge field, where I spent the last few hours, before I was captured again."
Ignoring the collective gasp that followed Pettigrew's statement, Dumbledore turned to the judge. "In my position as the Head of the Wizengamot I ask you now to extend this trial to the Minister of Magic."
After a thirty-minute break, Fudge was questioned under Veritaserum. "Is it true that you set Mr. Pettigrew free last night?" the judge asked.
"Yes."
"And why was that?"
"Because I didn't want Sirius Black to be free."
"Are you a supporter of 'You-Know-Who'?"
"No."
"Why then did you free Pettigrew?"
"Because I wanted to take revenge on Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall-Snape. They want to prevent me and the Ministry to take more influence on Hogwarts."
The questioning continued for thirty minutes, and Gaoithe sighed in relief, when the jury finally retired to decide on its verdict. 'It's nearly dinner time,' he thought in surprise at how fast the day had passed. 'I hope they'll send Fudge to Azkaban together with Pettigrew.'
He was pulled out of his thoughts, when Sirius asked Dumbledore, "Who do you think will become the new Minister of Magic?"
Dumbledore thoughtfully stroked his beard, looking at the younger wizard from over his half-moon spectacles. "Maybe Amelia Bones or Arthur Weasley," he said finally. "However, we must await the verdict of the jury first. Some of them might be just as corrupt as a large section of the Ministry."
On Tuesday morning, the Headlines of the Daily Prophet shouted,
'Ex-Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, sentenced to a lifelong stay in Azkaban.'
A few lines farther down it said, 'It leaves us to wonder why Fudge wanted murderer Peter Pettigrew to remain free. We hope that Mr. Sirius Black will be able and willing to enlighten the magical world.' Two other large Headlines covered the rest of the front page.
'Sirius Black innocent'
and
'The Potters' betrayer Peter Pettigrew kissed.'
"That was fast," Severus commented dryly as he put the newspaper down and motioned for Gaoithe to hurry up. "Breakfast is going to commence in a few minutes."
Gaoithe shuddered at the thought of being kissed by Dementors. He had never seen any; however, Sirius had told him how cold, unhappy and just awful he had felt in their presence. At breakfast, Minerva informed the students about the events of the previous day and introduced Sirius as her successor as Transfiguration teacher and Head of Gryffindor from January onwards, before she continued, "Amelia Bones, the aunt of Susan Bones from Merlin House, has been appointed with the task of compiling a list of eligible candidates for the position of Minister of Magic. The election will be on the fifteenth of December."
