Disclaimer: As mentioned before, J.K. Rowling owns the wonderful world of Harry Potter. I just own this fanfic and OCs. No copyright intended!
Ch. 36
Trials, Part 2/Dumbledore's Just Desserts
After the Harry haters, as well and Dudley and his gangs' trials, Harry decided to take Gabby out to Muggle London and brought her parents along, so Harry could get to know them better. Bill and Fleur went on another date, as Harry and Gabby could tell that they couldn't keep their eyes off of each other. Fred, George and Lee also asked Daphne, Tracey and Tori respectively on dates, as the three Slytherin girls enjoyed pranks just as much as Fred, George and Lee. Neville and Luna also went out on a date, and so did Viktor and Ginny.
Back at the Ministry, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was questioned about his plans, under the influence of Veritaserum. Albus admitted that he had kidnapped Harry's parents and sister, along with Sirius' daughter, in order for Harry to face his destiny, and said that that was also why he kept Harry's mail from him. Tom Riddle Jr was also kidnapped, in order for the Greater Good to succeed. Albus stated that he intended to frame Tom for his crimes, after Harry would've been forced to defeat him. Albus also admitted to have kidnapped Alaina in order to throw Amelia off track, so she wouldn't be able to interfere. Albus also admitted that the prophecy was fake, but he still blackmailed Severus into going along with it, and to make sure Harry was prepared by treating him with animosity. Albus also admitted that the scar was caused by a cut from a dagger, so he could pass that off as Harry having destroyed Tom as Lord Voldemort. Albus also admitted to taking huge amounts of money out of the Potter family vault, to pay his minions to help fulfill the Greater Good.
Barty Crouch Jr was given Veritaserum and, without a doubt, admitted to helping Albus in forcing Harry to fulfill the fake prophecy. He also admitted to have placed Harry's name in the goblet of fire, and when Harry got suspicious, Barty Jr placed a persuasion charm on him to forget about it. Barty Jr also revealed that he had used polyjuice potion to smuggle his way out of Azkaban, with his mother impersonating him and dying in Azkaban. Barty Jr also kidnapped Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, so he could impersonate the retired auror with the help of polyjuice potions and keep an eye on Harry to make sure he'd win the tournament.
Barty Crouch Sr was given Veritaserum and questioned. He admitted that he went along with the plan, to regain his popularity. Barty Sr revealed that, in order for that to work, he would watch Harry kill Tom Riddle, and then he'd declare Harry as a cold-blooded murderer, and have Harry chucked into Azkaban without a trial. Cornelius Fudge, under the effects of Veritaserum, also admitted that he agreed with that plan, so he could also regain popularity, and become the most popular minister yet. Mundungus Fletcher was also given Veritaserum, and he admitted that his role was to help Albus spread a bunch of gossip around, so they'd have a better chance to succeed in their plan. Ludo Bagman was also questioned under Veritaserum, and he admitted that he joined in on the plan, so he could be paid huge amounts of money to get himself out of debt with the goblins at Gringotts, but all that really did was send Ludo into an even bigger debt.
Peter Pettigrew was also given Veritaserum and questioned. He admitted that he was more concerned with saving his own hide, and in order to do that, he yelled out that Sirius was a cold-blooded killer, then he used a spell to kill those twelve muggles, then he cut off his own finger to frame Sirius. Then Peter admitted to finding out about Sirius being chucked into Azkaban without a trial, which made him smile that his plan worked. Peter also admitted that he had escaped justice by using his animagus form, which was a rat.
Lucius Malfoy was also questioned under Veritaserum. He revealed that he joined in on the plan in revenge for having been tricked into setting Dobby free. Lucius also revealed that he nearly used the killing curse on Harry within the vicinity of Hogwarts. Dolores Umbridge was given Veritaserum and questioned. She revealed that she went along with the plan in order to try to help exile Harry out of Britain for being an 'attention seeker.' Dolores also revealed that she wasn't a pure-blood, but a muggleborn who created false resumes in order to cheat her way into employment in the Ministry, as well as lying about her blood status, just so she could change a number of laws to ensure that half-bloods, muggleborns, beasts, half-beasts, or veela wouldn't be able to find any decent jobs (at least as easily). Consequently, Dolores lost all of her popularity (she was already losing some of that when she was arrested). Now, she was the most hated witch of the generation.
Vernon, Petunia and Marge Dursley had already been questioned under Veritaserum. As much as they knew that it was their actions that got them in their predicaments, neither one was willing to admit it.
Rita was also given Veritaserum and she admitted that she tried to ruin Harry's reputation. She also revealed that she had been paid to intensify that. Rita also revealed herself to be an unregistered animagus and used that to her advantage to get stories and twist them up differently.
(April 16th)
It was around a quarter after 10:00 AM when Harry and his friends went back to the Ministry, to see what Dumbledore's fate especially, would be. Naturally, Harry was tense, knowing he would have to face his so-called relatives, but Gabby held one of his hands to provide comfort. Oliver Wood also sat by Harry, and he wasn't too thrilled to learn how bad Harry's Pre-Hogwarts life was. Kassidy and Kassandra found spots near Oliver.
"Excuse me, are these spots taken?" Kassidy asked Oliver.
"No, ma'am," said Oliver, who immediately became smitten with Kassidy, and she seemed to reciprocate. "Y-Y-You c-can sit here i-i-i-if you w-w-want!"
"Th-Thank y-y-you!" Kassidy stuttered.
Oliver and Kassidy found themselves unable to keep their eyes off each other. Kassandra saw the ordeal, and she couldn't help but smile as she saw her big sister flirting. Bill and Fleur also saw the ordeal and they, too, smiled. Oliver and Kassidy introduced themselves to each other. Eventually, the start of trial began, and Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was the first defendant.
Albus was charged with multiple counts of kidnapping, multiple counts of false imprisonment, multiple counts of child endangerment (as he always insisted that Harry return to the Dursleys, despite their treatment), line theft on House Potter, conspiracy to slander Tom Riddle Jr's reputation with the Lord Voldemort malarkey, tampering with evidence to continue to get away with his crimes, multiple counts of blackmail, conspiracy to have Harry eventually chucked into Azkaban without a trial, creating a false prophecy, multiple counts of mail fraud, multiple counts of bribery, and multiple counts of corruption.
"This court finds Albus guilty of all charges!" said Lord Greengrass after he and the Wizengamot came up with a verdict.
"Albus," said Kingsley. "At Lord Harry James Potter's request, you are hereby sentenced to 400 to 500 years in the Gringotts prison mines!"
Then, Kingsley banged his gavel, signalling the start of Albus Too-Many-Names Dumbledore sentence. Albus was shocked to learn that he was punished with manual labour. As he was being led out, he screamed that he wanted a different sentence, which forseeably fell on deaf ears.
Barty Crouch Jr was up next. He was charged with child endangerment (since he was the one who placed Harry's name into the goblet of fire), tampering with evidence to escape from Azkaban undetected, attempted line theft on House Potter, kidnapping Alastor Moody, conspiracy to slander Tom Riddle Jr's reputation and multiple counts of false imprisonment. He was found guilty of all charges and sentenced to 25 years in the Gringotts prison mines and the rest of his natural life in Azkaban.
Barty Crouch Sr was next. He was charged with child endangerment, conspiracy to have Harry chucked into Azkaban without a trial, attempted line theft on House Potter, and multiple counts of corruption. He was sentenced to 20 years in the Gringotts prison mines and 40 years in Azkaban.
Ludo Bagman was next and he was charged with child endangerment, attempted line theft on House Potter and corruption. He was sentenced to 40 years in the Gringotts prison mines and 50 years in Azkaban. Mundungus Fletcher was charged with attempted line theft on House Potter, conspiracy to slander Harry's and Tom Riddle Jr's reputations, corruption and child endangerment. He was also found guilty of all charges and sentenced to 15 years in the Gringotts prison mines and 45 years in Azkaban.
Cornelius Fudge was the next defendant. He was charged with child endangerment, attempted line theft on House Potter, conspiracy to slander Harry's and Tom Riddle Jr's reputations, conspiracy to have Harry chucked in Azkaban without a trial, endangerment of the wizarding community (by covering up a number of crimes instead of doing something about it), and multiple counts of corruption. He was sentenced to 20 years in the Gringotts prison mines and 65 years in Azkaban.
Lucius Malfoy was up next. He was charged with lying about being under the influence of the Imperius Curse to evade justice, attempted murder of Lord Harry James Potter with the killing curse, attempted line theft on House Potter, creating several counterfeit contracts, multiple counts of attempted genocide, multiple counts of bribery, conspiracy to exile Harry, and multiple counts of corruption. He was sentenced to 50 years in the Gringotts prison mines and the rest of his natural life in Azkaban.
Dolores Umbridge was the next defendant. She was charged with attempted line theft on House Potter, multiple counts of attempted genocide, creating several counterfeit documents, conspiracy to exile Harry, forging a resume to manipulate her way up, lying about her blood status, and multiple counts of corruption. She was sentenced to 45 years in the Gringotts prison mines and 85 to 125 years in Azkaban.
Rita was after Dolores and she was charged with conspiracy to slander Harry's reputation, learning to become an animagus without registering and multiple counts of corruption. She was also found guilty of all charges and was sentenced to 20 years in the Gringotts prison mines and 40 years in Azkaban.
Peter was after Dolores, and he was charged with multiple counts of murder, conspiracy to ruin Sirius' reputation, conspiracy to ruin Harry's reputation, conspiracy to ruin Tom Riddle Jr's reputation, eluding justice, tampering with evidence to frame an innocent person for his crimes, and learning to become an animagus without registering. Peter was found guilty of all charges and was sentenced to 20 to 40 years in the Gringotts prison mines and after that, spend the rest of his natural life in Azkaban.
After lunch, it was Vernon Dursley's trial, and he was glaring at Harry. Gabby held one of Harry's hands for comfort. Lily and James glared at Vernon, who didn't seem intimidated, that was, until Hagrid also glared at Vernon, and he cowered. Vernon was charged with multiple counts of assault and battery on Harry, multiple counts of using Harry as a slave, multiple counts of child neglect, multiple counts of bribery, multiple counts of slandering Harry's reputation in the muggle world, multiple counts of attempted murder (especially since he allowed Ripper to try to maul Harry to death, which would've happened if Harry hadn't climbed that tree, and he tried to strangle Harry for inflating Marge, regardless of it being accidental, and he even allowed Dudley and his gang to beat up Harry relentlessly), and multiple counts of corruption. A squib judge was brought in for the adult Dursleys, and Vernon was found guilty of all charges, and sentenced to spend the rest of his natural life in a muggle prison.
Petunia was up next, and she cowered when she caught Lily's glare. Petunia was charged with multiple counts of assault and battery on Harry (since she once aimed a heavy blow at his head with a frying pan, and the number of times she smacked Harry across the face), multiple counts of child neglect, multiple counts of child endangerment, attempted murder (since she didn't care if Ripper intended to maul Harry), slandering Harry's reputation in the muggle world, multiple counts of bribery (some of those times, Vernon wasn't able to do it himself), multiple counts of using Harry as a slave, and multiple counts of corruption. She was found guilty of all charges and sentenced to spend the rest of her natural life in a muggle womens' prison.
Marge was the last defendant. She was charged with multiple counts of assault and battery on Harry, multiple counts of using Harry as a slave, attempted murder (since she allowed Ripper to try and maul Harry, and yet, she also refused to call Ripper off until the next morning, making Harry all sleepy and scared), multiple counts of bribery (there were some occasions where she would bribe people to keep quiet about her and the other Dursleys' treatment toward Harry), child endangerment, and multiple counts of corruption. She was also found guilty of all charges and sentenced to spend the rest of her natural life in a muggle womens' prison.
Once the Dursleys were finally brought to justice, Harry blew a sigh of relief, knowing he could finally relax and finish his education without worrying about his enemies out there. After leaving the courtroom, Harry tapped Gabby on her shoulder. She turned around with a grin and Harry kissed her on the lips as he hugged her. Gabby's heart melted as soon as that happened, she was waiting for that moment. Everybody cheered and wolf-whistled at that, happy for Harry and Gabby. Harry also pulled out the necklace he bought for Gabby from his pocket and put it around her neck, making her smile more.
To be continued!