Chapter 36.

Lucius looked at the new minister "And what manner of business would you like to address Minister?"

Amelia looked at Lucius "You didn't receive the news Lucius? We're about to witness a trial."

Lucius looked confused "What trial?"

Amelia looked at the doors, "bring in the accused." The doors opened and Aurors Tonks and Shacklebolt walked pulling a cage behind them. When the members of the Wizengamot saw who was in the cage they gasped. Albus Dumbledore was sitting there, his hair a mess, no glasses and his eyes lost their twinkle.

He rose up in the cage "I am the Grand sorcerer, order of Merlin first class, Supreme Mugwump and Chief Warlock. I demand to be released this instant and whatever charges against me are to be dropped."

Amelia glared at the former headmaster "No one has forgotten your titles Albus Dumbledore; you stand accused of numerous heinous crimes."

Dumbledore thought for a moment, "then I choose to defend myself in front of the Wizengamot." Amelia smiled "Alright then Dumbledore, the ones who brought the charges are Lord and Lady Potter are just waiting for their lawyer. They have asked, and I have agreed, that their lawyer act as prosecutor because of his intimate familiarity with the case."

"I object, that is highly irregular." Albus said, hoping to gain an advantage by having a prosecutor who was less familiar with the case.

"I agree it is unusual, but it is however legal. A happenstance you may be unfamiliar with in your own actions," replied Amelia coldly.

Dumbledore pondered who would dare go against him, the doors opened and Ted Tonks walked in. Dumbledore looked at him "Who are you?"

Ted looked at Dumbledore, "is your mind starting to slip Dumbledore? At your age I'm not surprised. The name is Tonks, Edward Tonks of Tonks and Johnson's law firm and father to Nymphadora Tonks and husband to Andromeda Tonks nee Black, my friends call me Ted. You can call me Mr. Tonks." He said with a cold smile.

Dumbledore didn't show it, but he felt a twinge of fear, Harry and Hermione smiled.

Amelia looked at Kingsley "As the Minister, I would technically be the one to fill in for the chief warlock but I'm also too close to this case and must recuse myself. Kingsley, you are unbiased, would you be the judge?"

Kingsley nodded and Amelia handed him a file, Dumbledore grinned Kingsley was a member of the order and would surely aid him.

Kingsley walked up to the podium "Despite my previous work with Mr. Dumbledore, I have always been an impartial judge and that won't change. Now Dumbledore, you are being brought up on numerous charges including multiple counts of child endangerment, kidnapping, stealing from a noble house, forging of marriage contracts for children who were not under your legal authority and attempted assassination of the current Lady Ravenclaw and wife of Lord Potter."

Albus frowned "I am innocent of the crimes I am being accused of. I have worked well with the children making sure they were safe and well cared for."

Ted raised his hand having spoken with Sirius and Harry over the last days of the holiday break. Kingsley nodded to him. "The defendant speaks of taking care of the children but in the year 1981 of Oct 31st, the night my client's parents were killed, one Albus Dumbledore gave an order to Mr. Rubeus Hagrid the Hogwarts grounds keeper to fetch my client, who was an infant at the time. He took him out of the care of his godfather, who was and is his legal guardian. His godfather had sworn the godfather's oath to protect and care for him. Dumbledore took him to live his uncle and aunt on his mother's side. This, despite having witnessed the Potter's wills before it was sealed and knowing that my client was not to be sent to their care. He did not even speak to the aunt and uncle, rather leaving him on a door step in the middle of the night on a cold autumn evening wrapped only in a blanket!"

Dumbledore frowned and said "Objection!"

Kingsley asked, "On what grounds?"

"I cast a warming charm on the blanket."

"That may be true, but it is hardly cause to object." He banged the gavel "objection overruled," Kingsley said glaring at Dumbledore. He turned to Ted Tonks "Do you have proof to show this?"

"Yes your honor I have a copy of the Potter's will and the memories of Lord Potter's Godfather Lord Blacks." Ted handed both to his daughter, "Careful Dora do not drop these." Ted whispered and Dora nodded, she walked over to the podium and handed Kingsley the will and memories. Kingsley looked over the will and saw in black in white Harry was indeed not meant to be sent to his relatives.

"The evidence shows that Lord Potter was indeed not to be taken to his relatives, so why was he placed with them Mr. Dumbledore."

Albus remained calm "During that time Death Eaters were still running rampant I thought it would be best to place Harry away from the magical world where he would be protected."

Ted looked at Albus as did Harry and Hermione and all shared the same thought 'He can't be serious."

Ted spoke up at this point "Your honor, Lord Potter may have been placed there by good intentions but it still goes against his parent's will and I spoke with Mr. Potter over the holidays and he doesn't remember seeing Mr. Dumbledore till his first year at Hogwarts, so how does he know the place my client resided was safe?"

Kingsley looked at Albus. "He raises a good point, how did you know Lord Potter was in a safe environment?"

Albus frowned "I had Arabella Figg, watching over Harry and she would report back to me on his wellbeing."

Ted looked at Kingsley "Can the defendant call upon Arabella Figg as a witness?"

Kingsley allowed it and once she was there and swore to tell the truth Ted looked at Mrs. Figg "Mrs. Figg, the defendant says you were to monitor one Harry Potter as he lived with his relatives is this correct?"

Mrs. Figg nodded "Yes, Albus asked me to watch him, making sure his relatives treated him well."

Ted nodded "Where do you live on Privet drive?"

"Why down the road, when I walk to the market I would see young Harry outside working in his aunt's garden."

Ted nodded "So on these walks, did you ever see his relatives, or how they treated him?"

Mrs. Figg frowned "Well no, I only observe I did see one day where his uncle putting bars on the boy's window and only his, I found that rather odd."

"Did you report that to Mr. Dumbledore."

"Yes, but he did nothing about it."

Ted nodded "Thank you, Mrs. Figg." He then turned to the Wizengamot members "You heard that bars on Lord Potter's window, like a prisoner my client had bars on his window and only his. My wife is gifted in healing when Harry Potter was brought into our home by his Godfather and Remus Lupin, my wife along with a few others heard Lord Potter detail what his home life was like. I would like to call Lord Potter to the stand."

Harry stood up and walked over next to Kingsley and Kingsley said "Do you Lord Potter to swear the whole truth and nothing but the truth in front of the Wizengamot?" Harry nodded "I so swear."

Ted looked at Harry "I apologise in advanced if this stirs up any bad memories Lord Potter."

Harry frowned "It's alright, Mr. Tonks."

Ted nodded "Lord Potter can you please tell everyone here what your home life was like?"

Harry could hear his wife speaking in his head encouraging him. "Well where to begin I was four I was made to clean the Dursley's entire home, If I didn't do well enough, I would be beaten and sent to my cupboard. I didn't even know my real name until I was in fifth grade when the teacher had taken roll call and I didn't raise my hand, I was always called boy or freak,"

The Wizengamot gasped and Ted frowned "Why did they call you a freak Lord Potter?"

"For having Magic, my relatives believed Magic was unnatural so they called me a freak."

The entire room erupted in whispers and Kingsley banged the gavel to silence the room and Harry was becoming pale. Ted looked at Harry and in a calm voice said "Terrible, worst sort of muggle's, What else did they do Harry?"

"Well aside from being sent to my cupboard I wouldn't be given any food except maybe a piece of bread or water and if there was any accidental magic I would go without food for a week, my uncle he would beat me and whip me bloody with his belt." Harry said now visibly shaking.

Hermione was tearing up as was Susan; other members were furious as they had children of their own and were disgusted. Dumbledore frowned and said "I doubt that." Kingsley banged his gavel and looked squarely at Dumbledore "One more outburst Dumbledore and I will hit you with a silencing charm myself."

Ted looked at Harry "Thank you Lord Potter did anyone else know this?" Harry frowned "When I received my Hogwarts letter, it was addressed to me in the cupboard under the stairs at my relatives house. Let it be shown the witness was not only sent to a unsafe home, but he was abused and the former head master knew about my client not even having a proper room."

Dumbledore raised his hand "I object, I only knew about the cupboard but as to the abuse how do we know Mr. Harry Potter is not lying? He has shown some dark tendencies this year."

Harry ground his teeth, he looked at Kingsley, "Your honor, if it will please the defendant I would like to show you the evidence." Kingsley nodded and Harry turned removing his robe and shirt showing his back to the Wizengamot." Everyone gasped seeing the overlapping scars going criss cross down Harry's back, including several that looked at be left by a buckle. Hermione made a fist and her knuckles were pale white, silently wishing to visit Harry's relatives and making them pay. Susan's eyes filled with tears seeing the scars she too wanted to make his relatives pay.

Dumbledore paled, Ted looked at Harry "Thank you for that Harry, I'm sorry you went through that." Ted looked at the other members "Let it be seen hat my client was indeed abused by a violent relative. Most people muggle or magical would break under that kind of torment. Having spoken to Lord Black about the abuse he said and I quote if I had not gone after Peter Pettigrew that night I would have raised Harry the way his parent's would have wanted."

Kingsley nodded "I believe that counts towards one of the charges, what about the others."

Mr. Tonks smiled coldly, "Well, your honor, the defendant has admitted to placing Harry with his relatives when he did not have legal authority to do so. I believe that proves the charge of kidnapping."

Albus's mouth dropped open and he started to say something before angrily snapping it shut again.

Kingsley smiled and turned to Albus. "Do you have anything to say on that Mr. Dumbledore?"

"No" he hissed in reply.

Ted looked at Albus "You know a great muggle once said 'He who represents himself has a fool for a client.'"

Ted smiled nastily, "Now, as to the other charges. Mr. Dumbledore, in Lord Potters first year, had a teacher in defense against the dark arts, one Professor Quirell. This individual let a troll into the school told everyone it was in the dungeons. He then sent all the students to their dormitories, including the Slytherins whose dorms are in the dungeons! But the troll wasn't there; it was roaming and made its way to a girl's bathroom where Lady Ravenclaw was. If not for Lord Potter, she would not be here and Rowena wouldn't have an heir."

Kingsley looked at Albus "Is this true? A mountain troll was in the school?"

Dumbledore sadly nodded "At the time I was not aware of Professor Quirell's actions."

Kingsley looked at Dumbledore "It is the headmasters job to make sure all the teachers are properly educating student's and make sure they are safe."

Ted looked at Kingsley "In the second year students were being attacked, petrified. The headmaster did not contact the DMLE nor make more than token efforts to protect the students and no effort to discover the cause. Lord Potter and his friend's investigated and, despite the dangers, found out that a basilisk was living in the bowels of Hogwarts Castle and slew the beast with the sword of his ancestor."

Kingsley looked at Harry "Is this true Lord Potter?"

"I ran the sword through the top of the snake's mouth and through its head, but it bit my forearm as I did it. The former headmaster's phoenix healed me with his tears despite Dumbledore's removal from the school by the ministry. Yet he must have known it was a basilisk or he would have never sent Fawkes in the first place."

Kingsley frowned "How big was the Basilisk if you could fit your arm in its mouth?"

"Oh, about 60 feet long, the mouth opened about 3 or 4 feet wide."

The entire Wizengamot gasped at this.

Kingsley paled "Lord Potter, I see an Order of Merlin in your future. Very brave, defeating a troll and killing a basilisk you would make a fine Auror."

"Thank you sir" replied Harry.

Kingsley looked at Albus glaring then moved back to Ted "Anything else?"

Ted nodded "Last year during the tournament, Lord Potter was tossed into the Triwizard tournament by a disguised criminal pretending to be a teacher using Polyjuice potion. During said tournament's final task my client vanished for a time and was not seen till he returned injured and with another student who had been killed. One would think the headmaster should have checked to make sure the cup was not tampered with before putting it at the end of the maze."

Albus raised his hand "I object, I made sure that the cup was indeed not tampered with before sending who I thought was Alastor Moody to place the cup."

Ted looked at Albus "That may be Albus but I knew the real Alastor Moody, never saw him take a drink he said it dulled his senses and made him less vigilant. My client saw the imposter drinking from a flask, a flask filled with Polyjuice potion which your potions teacher verified."

Albus remained silent and Kingsley nodded. "Moving on to the charges of stealing from the house of Potter."

Ted nodded "We have statements from the Goblins of Gringotts that one Albus Dumbledore had been making large withdraws from Lord Potter's school vault. Some of the money was placed in a private vault and some given to Lord Potter's relatives for proper care which he did not receive. Without Lord Potter's knowledge, he also had marriage contracts drawn up so that Lord Potter would be married to Ginevra Weasley and Lady Potter be married to one Ronald Weasley."

Ted handed the documents to his daughter and she handed them to Kingsley and he saw the official seal. He read the documents and they showed Ted's statements to be accurate.

"Luckily Albus forgot if the contracts are not signed by the legitimate head of house the contracts are voided."

Kingsley looked at Ted "And the assassination attempt on Lady Potter?"

Ted handed Kingsley a paper "This is a copy of the letter sent to one Minerva McGonagall by the potions master Severus Snape that Albus Dumbledore requested a poison be made, one not detectable by smell or taste. I spoke with Severus in Hogsmeade and he assures me he didn't make a poison because he knew that Albus Dumbledore was plotting against Lady Potter."

Kingsley looked at Albus "I think that is sufficient." He looked around at the Wizengamot, "Please raise a lit wand if you wish to make a single vote on all charges." Almost every wand immediately made a sea of lights around the room.

"Very well, raise a lit wand if you find him guilty and unlit if you find him not guilty"

A few diehard supporters of the so-called leader of the light raised unlit wands, but the rest were angry at how a Lord had been treated and the threat to their children.

Kingsley looked around. "Very well, the defendant is found guilty on all charges. All his assets will be liquidated and the money returned to Lord Potter Mr. Dumbledore be sentenced to life in the high security wing of Azkaban prison." Kingsley banged his gavel.

Albus shook against his cage "You can't do this without me! Voldemort will win the war, Harry you need me..." Albus found himself silenced. He looked at Kingsley who was pointing his wand at him "I said one more outburst and I would silence you."

Amelia looked at Kingsley "Thank you Kingsley. Come see me in my new office you and Tonks later when I'm officially moved in. Now take that sorry excuse for a human being to Azkaban."

Kingsley nodded "Consider it done Minister."

Tonks and Kingsley moved and grabbed hold of the cage and wheeled Albus out and began the journey to Azkaban.