…Office of the Headmaster, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
The room was a mess. Papers were strewn everywhere and the floor was littered with unidentifiable trinkets and doodads of little known, but obviously magical, purpose. There was even some evidence of spell fire on the stone walls. Most telling was that none of the portraits of previous headmasters were currently occupied. Luckily the frames were protected by the schools magic and with the recent upgrade to the ward stone and ward scheme that meant they were practically indestructible.
A temper tantrum within the office of the headmaster of Hogwarts was not historically significant. Over the centuries the school had hosted men and women of diverse personalities that existed all along the spectrum of light and dark magic use. Most of the portraits that had achieved the honor of being placed in the headmaster's office represented former heads who themselves caused more damage than was apparent in this moment.
What was significant was the person at the center of this particular outburst of anger and frustration. The current headmaster was considered a light sided mage who was famous for, among other things, his seemingly unwavering calm and cheerfulness. That he had cracked to such a degree would have been the biggest story to hit wizarding Britain since the return of the Boy-Who-Lived.
No one would know, of course, as the man would never allow the world to know of his slip in control. That it was the Boy-Who-Lived who had inspired the loss of control was an irony that the man sitting at the desk would not recognize. Albus Dumbledore sat at his desk using occlumency exercises to calm his mind. It was something he had only rarely ever had to do and his frustration at being forced to do them was making it more difficult.
The term had finally ended three days previously and he had only just made it through the end of term staff meeting. He had kept his calm and maintained his reputation, what was left of it, till everyone had well and truly left before he had exploded in anger. His aura flared and his magic started to create chaos in the room around him. The paintings had emptied at that point and missed him drawing his wand and shooting blasting curses everywhere.
The outward manifestation of his anger only lasted ten minutes but he had spent the following days calming the turmoil in his own mind. Albus Dumbledore took a deep breath and opened his eyes. The weeks after the incident in the chamber had been difficult for him and most of his internal turmoil was due to him still being unsure as to what was going on.
It had all started with his first decision. He had known that he needed to either gain possession of the book or have it destroyed. He had thought it was of the utmost importance. It had taken all night and cost him the ability to influence the cases against Lucius Malfoy and Minister Fudge or even become fully aware of their arrests, but in the end he had gotten the book and left everyone with the impression that it had been destroyed. He had thought himself so clever.
It did not take him long to confirm, for himself, what the book was. What had rattled him at the time was why the book had been used. If Tom had returned, like he had suspected, why expose one of his protections in such a way. All these weeks later he was still unsure, but it looked as if Tom had not returned and it was likely one of his followers that had attacked the Flamel's. If they had gotten the stone as was clear, why had they not used it to revive their Lord?
The only conclusion he had been able to make and the one he continued to have was that Tom had failed due to greed. Whichever follower he had trusted to steal the stone and kill the Flamels had been seduced by the power of the stone, as he had been, and decided to keep it for himself. It was an unsatisfying conclusion as it left too many unanswered questions but the other events of the last month had preoccupied the headmaster too much to really examine it.
...Flashback
The morning after the events of the Chamber, the Daily Prophet and the Wizarding Daily newspapers both announced the arrest of the Minister of Magic. Albus' paper of choice, The Daily Prophet, had the most details about what happened as their reporter, Joseph Baker, had been present for the "fall of the Administration" as he had dubbed it in his article. Albus had been surprised at the article, as he had not thought about what had happened to Hagrid after leaving the man with the Ministry representatives.
Reading through the newspaper brought shock after shock to Albus. That it had just been chance that the Minister and the Director of the DMLE had come into contact with each other struck Albus as only barely plausible, but he could not see how or why it would have been arranged. That it was the Potter group made sense as by that point Harry had already sent out a call for his Vassals and allies to bring him aid. Albus was still irritated by that, never considering that House elves could be used for such things and more irritated that he could not stop it from happening again.
Albus kept reading and learned that Director Bones had used the full power of her office and had unraveled the entirety of the Chamber of Secrets mess. She had not only discovered Lucius Malfoy's role in the present incident but she was able to figure out the details of what happened fifty years ago. According to the paper Rubeus Hagrid was to be exonerated and have his magic unbound.
There was a second article describing the events of fifty years previous and Albus was angry at how the writer portrayed the school. The headmaster at the time had used the schools disciplinary discretion in dealing with Hagrid and had denied the man a proper investigation by "professionals in the Auror office and the larger DMLE". Amelia Bones was quoted as saying "This miscarriage of justice happened because the teachers at Hogwarts thought they were investigators. I hope in the future matters of crime and justice will be trusted in the hands of the professionals who are trained to deal with it."
In addition, Albus read, the DMLE was able to call an emergency court case were in addition to his exoneration and magical release, the half-giant was awarded restitution from the estate of Tom Riddle. Albus had paled at reading the name, but calmed when he saw no other mention of it in any of the articles in the Daily Prophet other than that the boy had been the source of the false accusation against Hagrid and still had an estate registered with Gringotts.
Joe Baker's article was actually very good and Albus was surprised that the man who was known for editorial flourishes had written the story completely bias free. Albus supposed with the multiple scoops, such flourishes were not necessary. He left his chambers and headed toward breakfast pondering what he had read. The issue with the Minister and Lucius Malfoy was not good but Albus had to admit that Tom had lost a valuable piece.
Albus doubted he could do anything for the man but thought that the heir Malfoy would have to be lured from the dark path of his father. In the end the only bad news was that, no doubt, Rubeus Hagrid's loyalty would be with the Potters now especially with how prominently the group was featured in the article. Hagrid was useful but Albus considered the man a minor loss in the grand scheme.
He was wondering how he could justify firing the half giant when he arrived at breakfast. Minerva's support of the Potter group was already too much within his staff and another one, no matter how insignificant, was not something he wanted to tolerate.
He looked around and noticed that the entire hall was silent and some people were looking at him oddly. Albus supposed it was due to the bombshells in the Daily Prophet but when he arrived at his seat he discovered he was only half correct.
At his seat was a folded copy of the Wizarding Daily. The paper was the favorite of younger witches and wizards where the Daily Prophet was what the older generations read. He had not been able to find the owner of the new paper though he suspected it was tied to either the Potters or Longbottoms. His focus, as far as media ownership, was still on discovering who acquired the Daily Prophet.
The Daily Prophet was still "traditionalist friendly" which is why he did not suspect the rising powers of Longbottom or Potter but it was much more intelligently done. He thought perhaps the Notts but at that level of financial dealings, even his influence was not able to unravel the truth. As he looked at the headline "above the fold" he felt confident that it was the Potter group that controlled the new daily paper.
"Heir Potter Defeats Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets – Boy-Who-Lives also Conquers" Albus sat and scowled to himself. Outwardly he smiled, projecting grandfatherly pride, but inside he seethed. He had hoped to control the release of information or at least twist it to make himself look good but Osirus and probably Sirius had moved quicker than he was able because of the book. The article told the same story Harry had told the previous night though with some additional historical information about the chamber and Slytherin's intentions.
The headmaster unfolded the paper to turn to where the story continued and his heart nearly stopped at the headline below the fold. He looked up from the paper and at the students and finally was able to understand the shock that had gripped his school. He looked up and down the teachers table and saw that they were as engrossed as the students were. He looked over to the Slytherin table and saw that it was mostly empty with those who were present, reading the paper with anger and disbelief written on their face.
"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named: Half-blood!" Beyond his own shock and rising anger Albus was able to acknowledge that with news so ground breaking, the use of puns or clever writing was not necessary. As he joined the rest of the school in reading the explosive story he was taken aback. There where details in the article that he had only known due to well-informed assumptions and the liberal use of legilimency. But the article had found all the connections by using muggle records as well.
The article also had details that Albus had never known nor cared to discover, including a list of Tom Riddle aka Voldemort's early victims. They had even found one of the victims who after being secretly given a calming draught was able to tell the story of his own early assault by a young Tom Marvalo Riddle. The man was 70 now and still shaken by what had happened to him.
What was truly devastating about the article, however, was not the full biography of the man who would be the worst Dark Lord in history. It was the full family tree that traced Tom Riddle's family back on both sides.
As was known by his followers, the Dark Lord was indeed a direct descendent of Salazar Slytherin but he was also the spawn of a muggle. A muggle that was the victim of love potions. The paper had been clever in depicting the two headlines. The whole paper was arranged as Half-Blood Harry Potter vs Half-Blood Lord Voldemort and Harry was consistently shown to be the victor.
Harry was a true born Lord and member of the highest strata of life while the self-styled Lord was a pretender. One that failed the very first test of pureblood ideals. Harry was described as loved and cherished by his mother while Tom Riddle was a cast away.
The articles also told a much more heroic version of the death of Voldemort. The tale gave great credit to both of Harry's parents and cast him as the heir not only to the House Potter but to the bravery and ingenuity of his father and mother.
In the series of articles, the events of Harry's first year was retold and the whole paper looped back to the story of Harry once again victorious over the imposter Lord and his beast. Albus Dumbledore turned back to the front page and saw that the paper was a special edition. There was even an advertisement that offered a framed version of the front page.
...End Flashback
The anger that had been festering within Albus Dumbledore roiled after reading the article but he had been able to force himself to stay calm. Even now the unraveling of so much of his work left him on verge of another rage filled explosion. The boy sought only to capitalize on his fame and did not care about the consequences. Albus had worked hard to keep the secret of Tom's origins hidden.
He was sure it confused Tom; why Albus had not spilled his dirty secret. Albus knew that the truth would only send more people to Tom's cause. The insane man was proof of the dangers of muggleborns and half-bloods. Albus, himself a traditionalist, did not like the implications, that it was the infusion of muggle blood into the near squib Slytherin family line that produced the powerful wizard. That Harry Potter was similar in both origin and power was not lost on him either. It was best to keep things like that secret but Harry and his advisors had gone off halfcocked.
When Harry Potter arrived at breakfast that morning and was greeted by cheers, Albus' anger demanded that he lash out but he had been able to keep it contained. Not fully trusting himself he had left to check on Severus. It turned out to be a good idea. He had found the man still in the hospital wing and the effort required to calm the man helped him maintain his own composure. It was the next day that he nearly lost control of himself again.
...Flashback
Albus Dumbledore arrived at breakfast despite the desire to avoid it. However, unlike his potions master, he could not hide himself away. The discovery that the Dark Lord Voldemort had been a student at Hogwarts had raised some concerns. The paper did not suggest that anything could have been done to prevent his rise but he was sure the reputation of the school and the educators at the time had taken a hit. He knew it was important to show a saddened but determined visage to the public.
He had spent the previous evening combing through the article and not only was it very well researched and all true based on his own investigation but it was clear that the genie was out of the proverbial bottle and nothing could put it back. He had hoped he could find a way to soften the blow and give the traditionalists something to hold on to but had not thought of anything that would not do himself damage as well.
When he arrived at breakfast he saw that the Slytherin table was once again relatively empty and he shook his head. This blow to the collective ego of the house could drive many of them to the dark. Preventing that, had been part of the reason to keep Tom's history a secret. He had just settled in to eat his breakfast when the object of his frustrations approached the table.
"May I have a word with you, headmaster, at your earliest convenience?" Albus took a long look at the boy. Asking for a meeting with the headmaster was something that students had to do on occasion but his position typically would cause the student to be nervous or unsure. One of the benign reasons for his "grandfather" image was to put students at ease when having to deal with him and the legend that always followed him. But the boy in front of him had no nervousness or trepidation. It irritated Albus that the boy would be so unbothered by an interaction with him.
Typically Albus would see to such a need in the antechamber next to the great hall. It was both for expediency and to keep the child at ease as he knew his office was a daunting place for most students. But in this case he wanted to force the boy into as uncomfortable a position as could be reasonable. "Certainly, Mr. Potter, please come to my office after breakfast and I will try to help in any way I can. I find myself craving licorice quills recently." The boy simply nodded and returned to his seat at the Gryffindor table with his friends.
When the chime came to announce Harry Potter's arrival, Albus had already completed subtle changes to his office. Nothing that would be obvious but changes that definitely put the headmaster in a position of power and authority. He had also invited Septima Vector to sit in on the meeting. Normally he would have used Severus to act as the "bad cop" but Harry Potter did not react as expected to such things and he thought going the other way and inviting someone he saw as an ally would cause him to lower his guard.
It was a risk for Albus but the woman was young and likely easy to manipulate or even over power if it came to it. But as she was the Gryffindor head of house, Albus thought her presence would also be viewed as appropriate, further lowering Harry's defenses. "Come in, Mr. Potter" Albus said.
Using the boy's proper title was also a slight change to Albus' typical style. Being informal with someone while they were formal with him was an old trick that only worked if no one seriously called you on it. Harry Potter had called him on it, publically and in font of Lady Longbottom. He didn't want the houses of Potter and Longbottom as enemies, so he intended to try a different tact.
Albus Dumbledore looked on in shock and amazement at what the boy was saying. "You are telling me that you are going to harvest the Basilisk?" Albus said as his shock turned back to the simmering anger caused by the article. The boy nodded at him. That creature had to be at least a thousand years old and Albus knew exactly how valuable something like that could be.
He had planned to try and get at the creature himself over the summer but once again Harry Potter's advisors were up to the task. He had failed at keeping knowledge of the Potter legacy from the boy and each passing moment showed the heavy cost of that failure. He listened as the obviously coached boy spat off all the applicable rules that gave him first rights to the body.
He could not see a way out of it. Even if he denied the boy's request it would only make him and House Potter into enemies. It might be a risk worth taking if he had a plan to get to the carcass. But he did not. With the Parseltongue ring that was so popular in the wizarding world he could speak the password but he did not know what it was and he was sure the boy would not tell him.
And even if he did get the snake before Potter's people could, the boy was already talking about press releases and stealing the claim from a twelve year old boy who had risked his life to save the eleven year old girl he fancied would destroy Albus more thoroughly than Tom had ever hoped to accomplish.
He looked over at the head of Gryffindor House and realized that she presented another obstacle as he could not play ignorant of the conversation. Obliviation was an option but it was a hot button issue in the papers with the Lockhart scandal and his usual assurances, if caught, might not be accepted as easily. He nodded with a big smile accepting what the boy was saying without conditions and thanked him for informing him. The "Retrieval Team" would arrive on the weekend and with that Harry Potter left his office.
...End Flashback
It had been a spectacle. Albus had been the host as he was the headmaster but Harry Potter had been the star. Along with the retrieval team had been members of the press, both local and international. Xeno Lovegood had been at the head of the reporters and had been treated with great respect as he was considered one of the world's foremost authorities in magizoology.
It would remain unknown to Albus that Luna would be especially thankful to Harry for the respect her father gained that day and the bump in circulation for the Quibbler or how pleasurable Luna's thanks could be. Albus had planned to suggest that Harry was being selfish by keeping the exceedingly valuable creature. Especially as he was already one of the wealthiest wizards on the planet. As was becoming typical, that plan died "on the vine".
He was just starting the subtle manipulation of a Daily Prophet reporter when Xeno announced his discovery of an inner chamber. When he made it to the room, he saw that they had discovered a treasure trove of historical artifacts. It seemed to have been found previously and Potter acted as if he was surprised suggesting that it was Tom Riddle that had found it previously.
Albus had not been fooled. If Tom had found the chamber, all of the items from the other founders would have been taken or destroyed. His suspicions where confirmed when Harry announced that he had no claim over these precious items and would expect them to go into the possession of Hogwarts. Xeno had quickly relinquished his own "finders" claim asking only that some of the less delicate items be made available to the students.
Albus saw the approval in the eyes of all the reporters, many of whom had also graduated from Hogwarts and conceded that Potter's advisors had scored him another point against Tom Riddle who supposedly kept the treasures hidden. Albus could only wonder at what he and his cabal had already taken. It was obvious that many books were missing but Albus wondered if any magical treasures had been lost. He would never know it, but Harry had only taken books. Enough books to fill half the Hogwarts library, but just books.
The plan to cast Harry as selfish for keeping the carcass, which was currently being rendered professionally, was all but dead with the treasures he had given to the school, but Harry finished it off when he announced that he would not be keeping any of the profits from the rendering but instead it would go to Rubeus Hagrid and the family of Myrtle Warren as they were the true victims of the creature.
By the following Monday, Harry had won Teen Witch Weekly's best smile award and was offered membership in the Dark Force Defense League. The ceremony was to be in the middle of the summer and the boy would be the youngest ever member. As Albus sat in his office he knew that there was some talk of awarding him an Order of Merlin, Third Class.
He tried to not think of the boy as it just consumed him with anger and frustration. Harry Potter was not having a proper effect on the wizarding world. Even things that were not directly caused by him, had been because of him. The Lycans, Sirius Black, the Squibs, even the return of the House of Longbottom and the re-emergence of the Prima Potentia Magicae.
Responding to his call for help also lead to the fall of the government. To do that accidentally seemed beyond implausible but he could not see how it was done purposefully. The goal had only been to exonerate Rubeus Hagrid but that seemed such a simplistic goal to Albus Dumbledore that he could not see that Hagrid was the key to all that had happened that year.
...Flashback
The Ministry of magic was a spectacle. Reporters were present at every possible location with the highest concentration located in courtroom 10. It would be the trial of the century as the Minister of Magic along with various ministry employees including many department heads were facing charges in a series of trials that would likely take the entire week, culminating in the trial of Minister Cornelius Fudge.
When operating as intended without the influence of bribery and corruption, the wizarding justice system was not only efficient but it was swift. The availability of truth serum made such concepts as "beyond a reasonable doubt" redundant. The important factor in wizarding trials was corroboration and evidence.
A person under the effects of veritaserum would tell the truth as they knew it, so a witness could honestly testify they saw a person commit a crime and a person could honestly declare their innocence but in a world of polyjuice, both things could be true. So despite the advantages, trying cases in the Wizarding world still required great skill.
Amelia Bones had been the head Auror at one point in her career and that had definitely been important for her rise to the head of the DMLE, but more importantly she was a barrister. The Director of the DMLE is the equivalent of the Attorney General in the muggle world. Her work in the Auror's office was part of the unwritten rules of promotion as Aurors reported to the DMLE and would not be comfortable with a head that had not been "in the trenches".
She had still been unique in her rise though. She had started her career as a fast rising and well respected barrister in the Ministry Office of Prosecution (MOP). Someone whose eyes were set on Administration, which was what the Director's Office and staff were called, typically went to the Aurors first. After five years there, a person would then transfer to the MOP. The goal was then to be promoted up the ladder before being selected for Administration.
All previous DMLE Directors had been selected from the Administration, until Amelia Bones. She worked as a barrister for six years before joining the Auror Academy. She worked her way up until she was the head of the Auror Office. And in one of the last moves before retirement, Former Minister Bagnold appointed her as Director of the DMLE.
Administration was known to be a political cesspool and Amelia's appointment was a minor political scandal at the time. The retiring Minister was only able to accomplish it in the aftermath of the first war with Voldemort when many of the dark families where either hiding or bribing their way out of her clutches.
Once Amelia Bones was appointed, it had taken her two years to clean up Administration and build the DMLE into the department it should be. In that time she had also gone to muggle law school secretly and applied many modern but otherwise unrecognizable reforms to the DMLE office as a whole but pointedly in the MOP and Administration Offices.
Now, Amelia Bones, was about to present the case of the century. She brought the best and brightest of the MOP unto the team but she would be the lead prosecutor if for no other reason than to protect her staff from political retribution. They had only had two weeks to pull together all the cases and be ready for trial. Even with the typically quick Magical justice system, two weeks to prepare cases for thirty accused, which included seven that were members of the Wizengamot and the Minister of Magic was unreasonable and it was obvious to Amelia that political favors had been called in.
Unfortunately for the denizens of the back rooms of the ministry, Amelia Bones had three things going for her. The first was her team. In the eleven years since she had become the Director of the DMLE she had worked hard to stamp incompetence out of the MOP and the Administration. In fact, despite the four Aurors that had been caught up with the minister, the Auror Department was found to be clean of corruption and run well by Rufus Scrimgeour, who had replaced her when she was promoted to Director. She would learn that many of the other offices under her were as corrupt as everywhere else.
The second factor that allowed Director Bones to walk into the courtroom with confidence was the fallout from the Sirius Black incident. She had recognized the hallmarks of backroom dealing from the minute her office had started to investigate it. She had made it hard for them but she had allowed the former death eaters to slither their way free. But she had used the outrage to get massive reforms to the judicial system. Veritaserum was now mandatory in all cases and was no longer at the discretion of the judge or prosecutor.
The last factor was that Amelia Bones had been thinking about prosecuting Death Eaters for a decade. She was constantly thinking about how she would have prosecuted the end of the war differently. What questions she would have asked, how she would have asked them. The biggest mistake she had discovered was that confessors were not questioned under truth serum. The thinking was that, with a confession, there was no need. She disagreed.
The trials started with a bang with the trial of Jonathon McDonald. The man was a low level ministry employee at the Floo Network Authority. His crime was seemingly minor and he confessed to taking bribes to give out floo addresses to unauthorized people. Amelia's team had not been able to pre-interview him and he had only been considered a minor case of corruption. The fact that he was part of this series of trials was, to Amelia, an attempt to make the process seem frivolous.
But she was nothing if not thorough and over the objections of the man's representative and even the three judges, Amelia called for the Veritaserum. The "bang" came when Amelia started her questioning. She asked him what would be standard baseline questions like his name and address. Then she went on to ask about the crimes he had confessed to and whether his confession described the full extent of his crimes. He answered "no". When he was asked to describe the full extent of his crimes was when the bombshells started.
Jonathon McDonald had used his position in the Floo Network Authority to not only give out unauthorized addresses he had helped in attacks on those people. He would shut down their floo access to prevent escape and if paid enough would even open direct access to their houses. He had only done it a few times since the end of the war but during the war he had done it multiple times. With more clever questioning, the man admitted that he was not a Death Eater and knew at the time that his actions would likely lead to people's deaths. For him it was only about the money.
The case had left the wizarding world, who was listening live over the wizarding wireless, stunned. The question of why victims of death eater attacks had not left via their floos had just been solved. And the man who was responsible had not done it for any ideological reasons, he had just wanted money. The early trials would all turn out in similar ways turning what was supposed to be a distraction into the reckoning that had been avoided at the end of the war.
...End Flashback
Albus Dumbledore, who was not a member of that tribunal of judges had listened to the trial from his Chief Warlock's office in the ministry. He had not thought it important to be part of the lesser trials and would not be seated as a judge till the Lucius Malfoy trial later in the week. Even as he sat in his office a week later he was not sure whether his presence would have prevented anything but he still wished he had been there to try.
Accused after accused had their trials and the scope of the betrayals became staggering. People had sabotaged communications, destroyed important correspondences and even killed other people within the ministry. And what was amazing to Albus, was that most of them had done it for money. They had no ideological loyalty to the light or the dark.
The worst of the corruption seemed to have been in the Department of Magical Transportation. In addition to Jonathon McDonald closing down the floos of targeted homes. A member of the Portkey Office provided faulty portkeys, two people in the emergency floo call office would delay emergency calls so as to prevent the Auror's from responding in time to attacks. All were convicted to long terms in Azkaban.
Albus Dumbledore's anger was for a moment replaced by sorrow for the many lost lives. Not those murdered by death eaters but of the lives headed to Azkaban. He truly believed that forgiveness was the only path of the light. To pull these people from their families was equally as dark as what they had done. But he was not part of the deliberations and the Wizarding World was left with broken families.
Albus shook his head as his anger started to climb again at the shortsightedness of people like Amelia Bones. After the "minor" trials came the "major" ones. With the revelations of the earlier sessions, he had tried to make the trials secret for the good of the nation but had been overruled. Amelia had argued to his tribunal that the "world was watching" and that "the faith in our institutions has been broken".
Her words had been printed verbatim in the next day's paper and with the Minister of Magic on the verge of being ousted and imprisoned, editorials were suggesting that Amelia Bones might be a good candidate to fix the Ministry of Magic. Supporters within the Magical Office of Prosecutions, the Auror Office and the DMLE Administration offices were already giving out quotes about how she cleaned up those departments.
The woman was too unyielding in Albus' eyes. Under her watch, not only had prosecutions gone up but so had convictions. And it was all he could do to keep sentencing from becoming too strict. He did not acknowledge or chose to ignore that crime and recidivism was at its lowest point in history. Amelia Bones' DMLE was strict but she had also created a minimum security and medium security wing at Azkaban and offered job and family counselling. For such a small community as the wizarding world, that small change had reduced crime by 30% on its own.
But as was the new normal, Albus Dumbledore, could only imagine a world that operated on the rules he would set for it. The trial of Lucius Malfoy had been the source of more bombshells. Albus still became nauseous at what was discovered in that trial. But despite the truly evil deeds done by the former Lord Malfoy, Albus still was more distraught at the outcome and what it meant for the Wizarding World.
...Flashback
It was clear that the trial of Lucius Malfoy would not be similar to that of those who had come before him. He was the first of the wealthy Wizengamot members to be tried and Amelia had been able to get his trial done first despite being the highest ranking member of the Aristocracy accused. The man entered the courtroom dressed in immaculate and expensive robes and his obviously high priced barrister matched him in elegance and comportment.
Albus knew that this was not going to end well for the man. It was likely that he had not paid attention to earlier trials thinking them beneath him and he would undoubtedly be surprised at how determined the Director of the DMLE would be. "Or perhaps…" Albus though "…he believes he has an ace up his sleeve that protects him." Albus could only hope as he considered the loss of Malfoy to be a serious [chuckle] blow to his own plans.
Amelia Bones had been dreaming of this moment since the death of her brother Edgar. To have a death eater at her disposal in a trial. And, if her suspicions where correct, I highly placed one. The earlier investigations had just been around the dark object and bribery of the minister. No one had asked about his death eater activities and that was Amelia's intention. She wanted whatever secrets he had to be public that way even if he somehow escaped justice, the world would still know the truth.
The woman already had a reputation throughout the wizarding world as a tough administrator and as a minor hero from the end of the war when she was in the Auror office. But the week leading up to the trial of Lucius Malfoy had turned her into a super star. She had won every case and her elegance and skill in the courtroom had the wizarding world entranced. Her opening arguments for the trial of Lucius Malfoy was the magnum opus to all she had done that week.
The opening statement was a thing of beauty. She told the story of how the cursed book got into the hands of an innocent girl. Excited about her first time at Hogwarts. It was a recap of the story told in the papers but with Lucius Malfoy cast as the shadowy villain behind it all. The story had all those who were listening enraptured and, unbeknownst to all, even Harry Potter and his group thought her telling was better than Sirius and Remus'.
After relaying how a brave second year Gryffindor conquered the beast to save the damsel. And re-iterating the size of the creature with the use of a truly terrifying illusion spell that showed the Basilisk's head was by itself large enough to fill the courtroom. After the story was completed and the room was stunned in wonder, she lowered her voice in the silence and apologized.
She apologized on behalf of the Auror Office, the DMLE, the Ministry of Magic and Wizarding public at large for not being there to protect the young children. Amelia Bones was a politician and despite being incorruptible, she carried a bit of the insincerity of all politicians. But no one would doubt the sincerity of that apology. Amelia Bones took the failure unto herself and was truly sorry for it.
She said she was shamed that "a boy who had already given his parents in the fight for justice and freedom was once again forced to stand in the breach and protect one more young, innocent and beautiful witch from the evil of cowards like Lucius Malfoy." Then her voice began to climb as she outlined that they, as a ministry and as a populous had been given a chance.
"The villain sits before us in a way that the Half-Blood Riddle did not. We have a chance to do our part for justice, for beautiful damsels and in honor of those who paid the ultimate price. I will stand! At the end of this, I hope you will stand with me."
Albus sat at the bench looking at the woman in astonishment. He was not one to be overcome by such words but he knew the wizarding world was. He looked around the crowd and was only happy that the people present could not vote for the Minister of Magic in that moment as she would have won by acclimation. Lucius Malfoy's face was moving between anger and amazement and his barrister, though stoic in his bearing, had panicked eyes.
The well-dressed man's opening presentation was shorter and much less impressive or convincing. His position was that by the end of the trial, his client would be shown not to be the enemy that the public was looking for. Albus could tell when the barrister looked over to Amelia Bones, that he had intended to attack her character but thought better of it. Albus thought that was smart.
At the conclusion of the opening statements, the case began. Even though it was likely unnecessary as everyone already believed the story, Amelia Bones presented evidence to prove each part of the story true. Even Newt Scamander came out of retirement to corroborate the spirit who possessed Ginny Weasley and Xeno Lovegood as to the age of the beast. He also gave a well-received lecture on the likely strength of such a creature and made an offhand comment about the possible uses of the rendered parts that increased their value by at least 15%.
At each stage Director Bones folded in Lucius Malfoy's part. The Auror's who raided Malfoy manor testified, under veritaserum, about the hidden cache of similarly dark artifacts discovered in a hidden area under Malfoy's office. A discovery that it was clear Lucius Malfoy was both angry and nervous about. And then the minister's guard detail, whose trials had already occurred were forced to testify about the conversation they had witnessed between the Minister and Lucius Malfoy where the latter convinced the former to arrest Rubeus Hagrid as a means to weaken Albus Dumbledore's influence.
As her last witness she called Lucius Malfoy. He rose out of his chair and practically glided to the witness stand. He looked the part of a proper aristocrat and carried a smug and self-satisfied look on his face. It was out of place compared to the mountain of evidence that had been presented. Amelia smiled at him and indicated for the bailiff to administer the veritaserum.
The man moved to Lucius side and the Malfoy Lord opened his mouth to accept the potion. A moment after the third drop was administered, Lucius Malfoy vomited. He continued to wretch for a minute until it was clear his stomach had no more to give. The leavings were disgusting and reeked.
The room erupted into chaos and it was up to Albus Dumbledore as the chief judge of the tribunal to bring the room to order. He looked over at Lord Malfoy and then at Director Amelia Bones. He had once again been surprised at her guile. The potion to overcome Veritaserum was exceedingly expensive. So much so that it was thought a waste of resources for the DMLE to stock the even more expensive purgative. But apparently she had been able to get some.
Amelia Bones explained as much to the crowd as a magical forensic team entered and collected samples from the disgusting pile on the floor. When they were done, the remainder was vanished and Lucius was handed a glass of water. It wasn't until the bailiff returned with another vile of clear liquid that his anger at his embarrassment faded with the realization of what was to happen. All his smugness was gone as he turned fearful eyes to his lawyer.
It took ten minutes of ever more outlandish claims and motions, all of which were rejected as even Albus could not afford to prevent what was to happen. Finally after each point was rebutted by Amelia Bones gracefully and without anger or frustration, her opponent who had become desperate and disheveled looked at his client with fearful eyes before giving up. Lord Malfoy did himself no favors by trying to fight the bailiff.
In the end the accused was bound to his seat and forced to take the potion and the questioning began. She had him verify his involvement in the attack at Hogwarts. He admitted that the target had indeed been the House of Potter but that he also wanted to hurt the House of Weasley.
Amelia explored each point and got it on record that the House of Malfoy had illegally and with purpose caused the financial woes of the House of Weasley. The admission would not gain the Weasley's anything but it was a matter of honor and Amelia had no problem showing the Weasley's to have it in abundance.
Lastly, Amelia Bones asked why he had done it. Lucius' answer of "because my master commanded me" created dead silence within the courtroom. Albus Dumbledore went to raise his gavel to stop the questioning when his hand was touched by Abraham Rosier. The man and his family was a well-respected light sided member of the Wizengamot. His facial expressions told Albus what he already knew. He could not stop this. He sighed and looked back to the proceedings in resignation.
Amelia who had paused cheered inside when no one stopped the stone from continuing its roll. "And, Lord Malfoy, who is your master" she said calmly. Amelia gained a new respect for Lucius Malfoy as he fought the effects of the potion. It was fruitless but he lasted ten full seconds, which was impressive. But then he answered "The Dark Lord". She had known it would be his answer but it still was a watershed moment for her and she struggled to hold in her emotions.
"Do you mean the Dark Lord Voldemort?" Director Bones' question caused gasps in the crowd but at the same time those outburst were quieted quickly as everyone wanted to hear the answer. Lucius struggled again against the truth serum but then answered "Yes! And don't you dare speak his name!" Amelia ignored the admonishment and continued her questioning,
It took two more administrations of the Veritaserum but Amelia got Lucius to expose the entirety of the Dark Lords plots. By the end of the eight hours of testimony, almost every dark aligned family on the Wizengamot had at least one member wanted for questioning and many, like the Parkinson's, had almost all their adult males wanted.
Lucius turned out to be the inner circle member that Sirius Black had been thought to have been and his actions during the war and after where terrifying and brutal. It was discovered that the "dark mark" as it was called was applied through a blood sacrifice ritual and could not be completed under the effects of any compulsion or the imperius curse. That discovery had seen small fights erupt in the gallery as people turned on those known to have the dark mark who avoided prosecution with the "imperious defense".
Amelia's closing was simple and straight forward but no less powerful. A quick recap of the life and crimes of Lucius Malfoy before she stared at each of the tribunal judges before looking at the gallery. Then she turned and stared directly at a stone faced Lucius Malfoy and concluded with "No matter what is decided here, I will stand, even if I must do it alone to my dying breath." It was an open and direct challenge. Fear had been the greatest weapon of the Death Eaters and Amelia Bones would not be afraid.
At the conclusion of the trial in the deliberation room, Albus Dumbledore gave an impassioned speech about forgiveness. He talked about leading "those who have fallen to the dark, back on to the path of the light". Unfortunately for the "leader of the light", he had not been able to stop Amelia Bones from having Lucius Malfoy describe his crimes in detail nor had he been able to stop her from getting the Malfoy family head from admitting that not only did he enjoy his actions at the time but he did not regret them.
In the end the stories about the atrocities committed were too fresh in everyone's minds and Amelia Bones had become "the living embodiment of lady justice" as the Wizarding Daily would later describe her. Lucius Malfoy was sentenced to 25 years in Azkaban to be followed by the Dementors' kiss.
...End Flashback
Albus had been distraught at the verdict. The dementors kiss was in itself a cruel punishment but to have someone suffer under the effects of the creatures first was, to him, inhumane. As far as he was concerned, the entire wizarding world was falling to the dark. Anger, sorrow and frustration competed for primacy in his emotions as he sat at his desk.
The remaining trials had seen mostly similar stories. Some had been regretful of their actions but all continued to believe in blood purity. All, including Lucius before them, refused to believe Voldemort was a half-blood. It was a clear delusion, one that Amelia had allowed them to keep. Only some, like Walden Macnair and Garus Jugson, got the same sentence as Lucius Malfoy. Most just got 25 - 50 years in Azkaban.
"The minister's trial had been anticlimactic in comparison", Albus mused to himself. In the end he was more like the low level ministry workers. He knew or suspected what Lucius was and was doing but had no allegiance to any side himself. He just wanted money and was enamored with the power of the Minister's Office. He was sentenced to fifteen years in Azkaban.
"The ministry has fallen" Albus whispered into his dark and still partially destroyed office. He was so focused on the world that was being lost that he was not paying attention to the world that was rising. The Ministry had cleaned house which meant opportunity was everywhere. Promotions where happening based on merit and muggleborns were being hired in key positions for the first time. If Albus could, he would have noticed that the UK Wizarding world was finally truly healing.