Chapter 48

THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC - WIZENGAMOT TRIAL CHAMBER


"Sirius Black, do you admit to the death of James and Lily Potter?" Sirius just sat there and blew hair on his from. He was not talking and that was it.

His lawyer the Ministry gave him was feeling helpless because, the Accusing were driving their points straight home and all he could do was sit down and be quiet.

"Clearly, his guilty," Lucius Malfoy drawled looking around for support. The members of the Wizengamot nodded and the journalists took down notes and scribbled furiously at the least comment made. Sirius looked at Amelia and he could tell from her thoughts that she was scared of Sirius going to Azkaban.

Sirius cleared his throat and everyone looked at him. "You see something fellas, If I wanted to escape this shit hole, I could have gotten out already. Question you should ask yourself is this. Why did he come to Hogwarts of all places? Answer is I've got it planned." The whole court burst out into laughter and Sirius joined them to.

"He's mad," a Wizengamot member said from his seat.

"Righto!" Sirius replied and tried to clap but the chains fastened around his wrists prevented him from doing was not in charge of this case because, he was a witness so Fudge was calling the shots and then he banged the gavel.

"Silence!" he roared. The whole place quieted down and Sirius piped up suddenly. "You know for a sack of fat bones, I wonder how you managed to keep them quiet."

Fudge turned red and threw a direct statement at him. "You killed James and Lily Potter and those Muggles, including Peter Pettigrew!" Sirius roared and stood up and the Aurors drew their wands out. He calmed down and despite the chains holding him, he moved around and looked directly at Fudge. "Next time you make that statement, I'll make sure your term as Minister ends that very second! You think I killed those Muggles that's your plate of shit, but don't you fucking say I killed James and Lily! You hear me? All of you sick bastards and bitches don't you ever dream of it!"

"Bring him the Veritaserum," Lucius called out. "He's wasting our time." There was a round of applause from the Wizengamot members as an Auror stepped forward with the potion. He tried to open Sirius' mouth, but he lashed out with his chains and snarled at everyone but then, his eyes fell on Amelia who gave him a warning glare and he calmed down and took the potion. 'Right. Let's block our senses,' Sirius thought. He focused and closed his eyes and then mentally, he said the incantation 'auditiuo meo angustos'. He felt a tingling in his ear and then that was it.

He could not hear what Malfoy was saying. His lips only moved up and down like a fish. Sirius relaxed in his chair and smiled, closing his eyes. They could ask him all they wanted. He was going to wait for his godson.

"What's wrong?" Fudge asked. Why isn't he talking? Malfoy asked Sirius a series of questions, but yet still he was not talking. "That's it!" Fudge cried. "The court is going for a break." The journalists left the hall to either perfect their notes or gather more information from the Wizengamot members and if possible Sirius Black himself. Sirius was escorted to his cell and when they asked him questions, he snarled at them until they left him alone.


HOGWARTS - REMUS LUPIN'S OFFICE

"Should we get ready now, Moony? It's a long way," Harry said getting impatient. Remus smiled and continued marking. "Be patient now Harry. It's always good to be patient."

Harry sighed and sat back down, calming himself and raising his walls. It was the only thing that seemed to calm him when he was under tension.


THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC - WIZENGAMOT TRIAL CHAMBER

The journalists took their quills and others took out their recorders. The Wizengamot had settled and Fudge was looking really flustered. "Ladies and gentlemen," he started


HOGWARTS - REMUS LUPIN'S OFFICE


"There we are, I'm done with the marking. Let's see what's going on." He switched on the radio with a flick of his wand and looked at Harry as Fudge gave a speech towards the declaration of the verdict. "Guess it's time then. Quickly now. We're going out of the castle. I can't apparate here; the castle has charms against that. Brace yourself anyway Harry, it's quite nasty for the first time."

"How do we get in?" Harry asked. "Well I used to work for the Ministry then I faced a little problem and quit. My clearance hasn't expired yet so we can apparate right into the court room." Harry nodded and followed his uncle out of the castle.

THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC - WIZENGAMOT TRIAL CHAMBER


"We are gathered here today to hear the final verdict of this court. The council finds Sirius Orion Black guilty of all charges and sentences him to..."

CRACK!

Everyone jumped around and looked at what had caused the noise. Harry Potter had apparated with Remus Lupin into the court room and they were standing right in the middle receiving glares and surprising looks from individual members present. Dumbledore smiled quietly and reached inside his pocket for a sweet. He started sucking on it and folded his arms to see what would unfold.

"Good morning," Harry said shyly and looked around at the various faces staring at him. The Wizengamot members were dressed in black, others in red and Dumbledore was sitting on another side of the room sucking a sweet. He winked and nodded at Harry and then, Harry realised the headmaster knew what had been going on. He squinted from a flash of a camera light and took off his glasses to wipe his eyes. The Aurors in the room had grown alert and were waiting for a signal to apprehend him. Remus slowly walked over to the journalists side and waited for Harry to take looked at Sirius and winked.

"Hey boy! I was waiting for a long time, but good timing anyway," Sirius called out. "Hey Moony, I see you are alive." Harry looked all around him and sighed. He could see Daphne's father and Lucius Malfoy and Neville's grandmother. "What the fuck was I thinking anyway?" he muttered.

"Would you mind telling as the cause of your rude interruption Mr. Potter?" Lucius Malfoy demanded and Harry looked up at him.

"Enough of this yada yada. You've got the wrong guy. I know all that shit about Sirius in league with Voldemort." Most of them cringed at the mention of his name but Harry ignored them.

"Look at all this. Does it make any sense to you? Someone blows his fellow man up and then you say he's guilty? You have to actually sit down and triple check every possible explanation before you do something, but no, there's no organization in the system and people do as they please. Sirius Black is innocent because I say so. End of story goodbye!" Harry growled.

"Where's your proof," Fudge called out from where he stood. "Thought you'd never asked old boy," Harry chuckled. "I present you Peter Pettigrew," and with that, Harry released the charms on the box and Remus forced him to reveal his true self. A small man in a dusty suit and mousy brown hair with watery eyes looked around the room. Everyone gasped in shock. Peter looked around and saw Sirius sitting down chained and then he saw Remus and screamed. He tried to run but Harry and Remus bound him in ropes and he collapsed on the floor.

"Well ain't you ugly," Harry said. "First thing is that, the Ministry didn't keep tabs on certain people known as Animagus, Pettigrew included. You see something, he's a fucking rat!"

The journalists scribbled furiously with this new revelation and tried to shout questions, but Harry ignored them. "Someone get me Veritaserum. It seems like the Council can't ask a damn question," Augusta Longbottom called out. Amelia took the bottle from Doyle and administered it to Sirius. Harry turned to look at Dumbledore who was looking at everything quietly, without showing any sign of shock. He walked over to his sde and said nothing.

"I knew you lied Harry, your story of how you captured Sirius didn;t add up," he whispered.

"I'm sorry Professor" Harry replied. Dumbledore winked at him and offered him a sweet. "It explains your prowess in all fields of magic; next time, do feel free to tell me anything."

"Yes Professor," Harry replied and unwrapped the toffee. Augusta Longbottom stepped down from her seat and walked to Sirius. She demanded for a bit of parchment and quill and wrote a note on it. Sirius read it and chuckled, undoing the spell he had cast on himself.

"For the benefit of everyone present, Mr. Black used a spell to block his hearing. This explains his inabilty to answer the questions thrown at him when the Veritaserum was aplied," she said severly and Harry started to udnerstand why Neville was afraid of her.

"Very smart Augusta," Sirius whispered."Wish you were born in my day." She glared at him and he stopped talking immediately.

"Now Mr. Black, do you promise on Merlin's name to speak nothing but the truth?"

"I do."

"Now would you please tell your story."

"It's all true. Peter is animagus. He betrayed Lily and James and then that night, when I was going to check on him, he was not there. I tracked him down and I cornered him an alley. He was smart that time you see, he blew his body to bits but then he transformed into a rat and joined the other rats in the sewers. He cut his finger on purpose to make everything look like it was me, shouting bloody murderer the whole time."

"How did you learn about Mr. Pettigrew's whereabouts?" Augusta asked.

"Well I always read the papers and I have contacts as well in the criminal underworld. My contacts told me that, they had leads onWormtail. He was last seen in Wales, possibly looking for Voldemort, but he probably figured he wasn't there and he returned home."

Peter gasped and started whimpering and begging for mercy and Harry walked up to him and kicked his face. "Noble council, if you don't mind. It's a bit of a family matter," Harry excused himself. Doyle signalled for a group of Aurors to move Pettigrew and hold him.

"Home? Mr. Black," Augusta asked. "Do you mind explaining his home?"

"He lives with old Arthur Weasely and family. He's the pet of their son, Rob or whatever his name is. I followed Peter to Hogwarts and I hid in the forest for some time. Then one day, during a Quidditch match, he was in Hagrid's cabin eating what I call Hagrid's wonderful cooking." Peter squealed in surprise again and Amelia hexed him with a jinx causing him to writhe in pain.

"Thank you Mr. Black," Augusta said and turned to leave. "Oh, one final question," she said and turned to face him. "Did you kill James and Lily Potter?"

"Of course not! James was like a brother to me and Lily was someone I picked on when I wanted to argue. I wouldn't betray them to Voldemort, but it's my fault they died. I knew Voldemort would come for me because, I was the first person anyone who wants to know about James would come to. I was right because, I was attacked by some Death Eaters and before all this, I convinced James and Lily to make Peter Secret Keeper because, he was more inconspicuous. Guess I was wrong."

"That's enough for us all Mr. Black, what has happened has happened. It's no use brooding," Augusta said, trying to mask the sadness in her voice. She lashed her right hand out and banished Wormtail to her side and forced the Veritaserum down his throat. She gave him a couple of seconds and then pushed him on the cold green floor. The cameras flashed violently and then everything returned to normal.

"Really? Is all this necessary?" Lucius Malfoy called out and looked at Fudge for support but the Minister was looking for votes and ignored Lucius, commanding him to sit down.

"Is it true you ungrateful bastard?" she hissed and Pettigrew coiled himself on the floor and nodded.

"IS IT TRUE?!" she bellowed and the cameras started flashing again.

"YES! I TOLD THE DARK LORD! IT WAS ME! PLEASE FORGIVE ME! SIRIUS IT'S ME PETER, YOUR FRIEND!" he screamed hysterically. He crawled over to Remus and tried to grab his leg.

"Remus, you have a kind heart, tell them to let me go. I beg you!" Remus ignored him and Pettigrew crawled over to Harry and Dumbledore.

"Harry you look like your father and you have -"

"I know, my mother's eyes. eave here before I kill you," he hissed at him.

"Headmaster?" Dumbledore simply put a sweet in Pettigrew's pocket and banished him across the floor. The Aurors came to grab him and led him away to the back of the room.

"Now I believe the Wizengamot would like to make a final and fair verdict?" Daniel Greengrass pointed out in a deep and strong voice. "Sirius Black is cleared of all charges. Who goes with me?" He raised his hand up and slowly, the Wizengamot members raised their hands till the majority was in Sirius' favour.

"Cleared of all charges," Fudge said banging his gavel and leaving the court room in a hurry. Harry looked around for a minute and said out loud, "Greengrass I know you are listening to this but I just wanna say I'm sorry for being a prat." Dumbledore winked at Harry and left the hall and Harry looked at Daphne's father for a moment and walked away to the journalists.

"I told you I had everything planned," he whispered and kissed her forehead. She sobbed on his shoulder and told him to be quiet.

"Mr. Potter, tell us what you plan to do now your godfather is free," a woman asked. Harry looked at her badge and saw her name, Rita Skeeter. Harry looked at her and wrinkled his nose in disgust. 'I don't like that surname,' he thought. 'Sounds too wicked and full of bad stuff'.

"Well Miss Skeeter here's an answer for you," Harry looked at the writing pads and recorders and willing with all his magic, they started burning. The journalists dropped their work in shock and they all looked at Harry in disbelief. "No lies and exaggerations out there miss, use what you heard today," Harry said walking out of the courtroom with Remus.

"Where's Sirius?" Harry asked. "Over here boy, nice show out there, maybe you should do this when you grow up." Harry chuckled and Sirius turned to face Remus. "You are a true friend, Remus. Thank you." Remus nodded and left the Ministry with Harry.

"Hello Peter," Sirius greeted him as he was being led away. "S…Sirius. My friend. You have to believe me, I was scared. The Dark Lord has tools so terrible you can't imagine."

"I know that," Sirius said and then he threw a punch at Peter. The Aurors tried to hold Sirius off but they remembered what happened at Hogwarts and allowed him to have his retribution. "Here's for James," and Sirius punched his face. "For Lily," another punch. "For Harry and his sad childhood," another punch. "For Remus," and this time they all heard Peters nose break. Sirius turned to leave and then he stopped. "I almost forgot here's for me, you miserable arsehole," and the last punch left Peter dazed.

"Get this piss outta my sight!" Sirius barked and the Aurors quickly did their job. "Hmm! Look at him. He's free now and he's bullying next." Sirius turned around and saw Amelia Bones standing behind him.

Amelia walked up to him and slapped him three times. "What kind of plan is that you useless dog? It could have backfired!"

"Why do I always get greeted with a slap," Sirius moaned, looking at Amelia. "I'm free now Amelia. You can leave that apartment and come to Grimauld Place with me, that is if I do the repairs, then Harry will stay with me and then life goes on."

"Aww, I'm sorry Sirius," Amelia teased playing with his beard. "Never mind bitch. I found some private spot in that room. Let's get together shall we?"

"Sirius it's the bloody Department of Mysteries."

"Good thing. We'll just kiss each other behind those shelves and crystal balls eh?" Amelia giggled and Sirius pulled her in and locked the door and started kissing her with passion.


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