All characters and events that you recognise from the Harry Potter books belong to JK Rowling. Any others belong to me.

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Harry gulped slightly.

"Ah, yes. I thought we'd be hearing something like this." Fudge said as he unpleasantly smirked. "You can't honestly believe this boy, Madam Bones?"

The woman, Madam Bones, raised an eyebrow at Fudge. "Can you elaborate Mr Potter?" She responded, turning back to face Harry.

Harry opened his mouth to speak but Fudge cut across him again. "He's obviously thought this through. Yes... a nice little cover story. Now muggles can't see Dementors. Highly convenient."

Harry's temper got the better of him "I'm not lying! We were-"

"AH!" Fudge waggled a finger at him, "I hate to interrupt what I assume would have been a very typically well-rehearsed story. But you have no proof that there were Dementors anywhere near!"

"Well do you have any proof that there weren't?" Harry snapped.

Dumbledore interjected before either Fudge or Harry could continue:

"If I may interject. We actually do have a witness."

Fudge went purple.

"Dudley Dursley is not a worthwhile witness!" He snapped.

"Well, it's a good thing that I have someone else who was in the vicinity and can vouch for Mr Potter." Dumbledore casually commented.

"We don't have time for this! I want this matter resolved!"

Madam Bones lightly furrowed her brows at Fudge.

"Minister, under the Wizengamot Charter of Rights, the accused has the right to present witnesses for his or her case. No matter how quickly you want the matter resolved, Mr Potter is entitled to present a witness." She insisted, watching Fudge.

"Yes. Very well." Fudge sighed dramatically.

"She's just outside." Dumbledore remarked.

"Weasley go get her." The minister demanded.

Percy obediently rushed out of the room, and returned with a rather scared looking Mrs Figg in tow. Dumbledore conjured her a chair by his side, and she sat down.

"Right let's get this over with. Madam Bones, if you will."

"Please state your name and address for the record."

"Arabella Figg, 5 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey." She responded in a quavery voice.

"That's absurd! There are no witches or wizards around the area! The situation has been closely monitored!" Fudge barked.

"Well I'm a squib, so you wouldn't have any record of me." She responded curtly.

"Thank you Mrs Figg. Please can you describe the attack?" Madam Bones gave her a wry smile.

"I was out for a walk in the evening, and I saw these two- well, actually. I felt them before I saw them. Everything went cold and dark. I felt every horrible emotion and remembered all my worst memories. I then saw two cloaked figures gliding straight towards a road underpass. Curiosity got the better of me and I went to investigate, from afar at first. I saw the smaller boy -that's Harry- do something, and a brilliant white stag charged them both down. When they were gone I went to help the boys. Harry's cousin was on the floor, very ill. I then helped Harry take him home."

"That is what you saw is it?" Fudge asked, ruffling his papers.

"That is what happened." Mrs Figg responded.

"Very well. You may go."

Mrs Figg shakily stood up and briskly left the room.

"Not very convincing." Fudge remarked to himself, but loudly enough for everyone to hear.

"Well she certainly described the dementors affects very well. I can't imagine what reason she's have to lie." Madam Bones responded. Other witches and wizards muttered their agreements.

Harry felt a spark of hope reignite within him.

"But what reason have the dementors to be there? The odds of them simply appearing in Surrey to attack two boys are absurd!" Fudge exclaimed.

Dumbledore opened his mouth, and the muttering instantly ceased.

"I don't think anyone would believe that the dementors were there by coincidence minister. The fact that, as we have heard from our witness, the dementors instantly went for Mr Potter and his cousin is clear evidence on the matter."

You could've heard a pin drop. The silence was icy. Madam Bones watched Dumbledore curiously.

"And what, is that supposed to mean?" Fudge asked coldly.

"It means that I believe that they were ordered there." Dumbledore responded lightly.

"Why would anyone in the ministry order the Dementors to attack the two boys? How dare you suggest such a thing!" Fudge barked.

"Oh, you seem to misunderstand. I simply meant, that there is a possibility that they are taking orders from someone other than the Ministry." Dumbledore watched Fudge intently from behind his half-moon glasses.

Even Percy stopped writing. The temperature seemed to drop. You could practically see the breath of everyone in the room.

Dumbledore continued. "I have given you my opinion on these matters, Cornelius."

"That you have." He responded coldly. "And I still believe that they are utter nonsense. You have no evidence."

"We have plenty of evidence, Cornelius. You just refuse to listen." Dumbledore responded without missing a beat.

Fudge took a second to gather himself, and then continued. "The dementors remains under the control of the ministry." He said plainly.

"Then, we must ask: why would someone from the ministry order an attack?" Dumbledore spoke quietly, yet his words seemed to reverberate off the walls.

Fudge paled considerably.

The woman who had previously been submerged in darkness sat forward and into the light, her stubby fingers intertwined in front of her.

Harry couldn't help but think that she looked remarkably like a toad. She had little neck, flabby cheeks and sunken eyes. She wore a ridiculous pink bow on her head, and bright pink lipstick.

"The court recognises Senior Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge."

She nodded with a sickeningly sweet smile at Fudge, and turned to gaze at Dumbledore.

Her voice was remarkably high-pitched and girly, causing Harry to wince internally.

"I'm sure I must have misunderstood, Professor. But it sounds" she irritatingly fluttered her eyelashes and laughed curtly, "as though you are suggesting that someone from the ministry, ordered this attack." Her eyes were cold.

Harry gulped.

"Well, if it is true that the dementors are only taking orders from the ministry, and that Mr Potter and his cousin were attacked on the first, then I suppose I am." He tilted his head downwards slightly, not removing his gaze from the Undersecretary or from the Minister. "Of course it is possible that these were two dementors who were simply out of ministry control-"

"There. Are. No. Dementors. Outside. Ministry. Control." A purple Fudge spat.

"Then I am sure you will be conducting a full inquiry as to who ordered the attack, and why."

"You are in no position to dictate what the ministry does Dumbledore!" He snapped.

"I didn't believe I was for a second" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "I was merely requesting that you do your jobs and ensure that this matter does not go uninvestigated."

Fudge went a brilliant shade of magenta, and the toad-like-woman next to him whispered in his ear once more.

"We are not here to discuss the dementors, we are here to examine Harry Potter's offences!" The woman seemed to have put the words straight in his mouth.

"The dementors are highly relevant in this case. Under Clause 7 of the decree, it clearly states that magic can be used before Muggles in exceptional circumstances, including but not limited to sitiuations where any witch, wizard or muggle in the vicinity finds them self in a life threatening situation-"

"We are well aware of Clause 7 Dumbledore!" Fudge snapped.

"Of course you are. Then we are in agreement that it is applicable in this particular case?"

"Only if there were dementors." Fudge responded coldly, shifting his glare to Harry.

"You have heard from an eyewitness who's story corroborates with the accused's own. If you doubt her honesty then by all means, call her back and question her further."

"That's not- I- that's-" something seemed to snap inside Fudge. "THAT IS NOT THE POINT!" Multiple witches and wizards, including Madam Bones jumped. Dumbledore merely raised an eyebrow. "This boy has come up with so many ridiculous stories that we are beginning to lose count! What about the hover charm?! Or when he blew up his aunt?!"

"Okay, first of all," Harry interjected, "minister you have no reason to believe that I am lying. The situation may seem bizarre but that doesn't make it impossible. Secondly, I did not perform the hover charm, that was a house elf-"

"EXACTLY WHAT I MEAN!!" Fudge interrupted "A house elf! Who on Earth would ever believe that?!"

"The house elf in question is currently under my employ at Hogwarts. If you would so desire, he could be here in a manner of seconds." Dumbledore responded coolly.

"That's not- I DONT HAVE TIME TO LISTEN TO HOUSE ELVES! He blew up his aunt for crying out loud!" A few of the papers fell to the floor with the fuss that Fudge was making.

"And you did not press charges on that incident, so it pertains no relevance to this case." Dumbledore responded flatly.

Fudge, ignoring Dumbledore, continued. "And we haven't even touched the surface of what he gets up to at school!"

"But the ministry has no authority to punish Hogwarts students for their actions in school. Therefore, that also holds no relevance to this case. The ministry also doesn't hold the power to expel Hogwarts students, as I reminded you on the 1st of August. In your haste to ensure that the laws were upheld, you seem to have overlooked a few yourself."

"Laws can be changed Dumbledore!" He spat.

"And clearly changes are being made, as it has already become practice to hold a full criminal trial for a simple matter of underage magic since I was asked to leave the Wizenagmot." He said this quite calmly, yet there was underlying emotions of discontempt in the way he spoke.

Some of the witches and wizards began uncomfortably shifting in their seats.

Dumbledore leant back in his chair. "Your verdict?"

The members of the wizengamot began talking in hushed tones to one another, however Madam Bones and the toad-woman both continued to flick their gaze between the serene headmaster and the terrified student.

Harry's heart thumped furiously in his throat. This was it.

Eventually, the talking ceased.

"All those in favour of conviction?" Madam Bones' booming voice reverberated off the walls. Harry looked around.

Fudge, the toad woman and about 10 others had their hands up.

Less than half.

Harry's heart fluttered with hope.

"All those in favour of clearing the accused of all charges?"

Madam Bones herself put her hand up, and over thirty others did too.

Fudge narrowed his eyes.

Suppressing his rage, he cleared his throat. "Cleared of all charges."

"Excellent!" Dumbledore beamed as he and Harry stood up. "Harry, I would like a word later, if that's okay." He murmered .

Harry looked into Dumbledore's eyes. He looked troubled.

"Of course, sir."

Dumbledore smiled slightly, turned and swept out of the room alongside all the other members of the Wizenagmot.

Back at Grimmauld place, the Weasleys, James, Lily and Sirius were eagerly awaiting news.

James was pacing in the kitchen, while Ron and Hermione were talking in very low tones. Apart from the ticking of the clock, there was almost complete silence.

Lily had her head in her hands, and Sirius was bouncing his leg anxiously. Even Fred and George were too worried to continue working on their products, and had joined them all in the kitchen.

The time ticked by painfully slowly, until the front door opened and shut quietly.

They all stood up, staring at the door.

Harry entered, his expression unfathomable as he closed the door and turned around to their expectant faces.

"Cleared of all charges." He beamed.

Pandemonium would be the only word to describe the scene that followed.

Fred, George and Ginny each let off a few small fireworks which bounced around the room. Ron, Hermione, James, Lily and Sirius all enveloped Harry in hug after hug, while Mrs Weasley yelled at the other three.

Mrs Black screamed from the hallway, and the fireworks were still showering them all in colourful glitter. Everyone was trying to talk over her screeches and the resultant effect was an indecipherable babble of jumbled-up words. Yet Harry still felt as though he could've cast a hundred Patronuses in that moment. All of their happy faces jabbering on about how thrilled they were for him... it meant more to him than he ever could have articulated.

James grabbed a load of butter beers and passed one to everyone. He then stood on a chair.

"A toast!" He held his up. "To Harry James Potter, the best son anyone could ever ask for" (Harry turned a bright shade of purple) "and a free man!"

They all clinked their glasses together and took a swig.

Harry spent the next half an hour recounting the events of the hearing.

"Well it sounds like you held your own mate." George commented.

"As much as I could. It was kind of hard when I wanted to simulataneoulsy throw up and punch Fudge."

Fred snorted. "Now that, would've been spectacular"

They all chuckled.

"Everything okay, Harry?" Ron asked.

"Dumbledore said he wants to speak with me later. It's a tad nerve racking to be honest."

James and Lily shared a nervous glance.

"Did he say what it was about?" Lily asked.

Harry shook his head and took another swig of butterbeer.

"Ah well. You'll find out soon enough. Anyway, who's up for a game of exploding snap?" Fred waggled his eyebrows causing Ginny to snort butterbeer out of her nose.

One intense and memorable game later, they were all sat around the kitchen table, accompanied by Kingsley, Arthur (who had returned from work), Tonks and Hestia. Molly was providing them all with third helpings, when Dumbledore entered through the kitchen door.

There was a moment of awkwardness as he locked eyes with Lily and James. He seemed to take it in his stride though.

"Lily and James, do you mind if I have a word?"

They shared a glance, then nodded and stood up, following him out of the room.

Harry looked apprehensively at Ron, who gave a shrug.

Lily and James sat down on the sofa in the sitting room, opposite Dumbledore who sat in an armchair by the fire.

He sighed as they stared at him expectedly.

"I would like to start by apologising. I know that it's not enough, and that it will never be enough, but from the bottom of my heart, I am sorry. I will cut straight to it. I want to tell Harry everything. I want to tell him about the prophecy and the connection. Obviously I can't divulge too much of the prophecy regarding its content because of the connection-"

"I'm sorry, you seemed to have skipped a step. What connection?" James asked, frowning.

Dumbledore's eyes widened. "Ah, that is something I have forgotten to tell you both. In that case, it's probably best you stay. But I wanted to ask if you are both okay with me telling him. It's ultimately up to the two of you."

They shared a glance.

"We don't want any secrets anymore. Yes. Let's tell him."

Dumbledore smiled lightly, "I'll go get him."

A few minutes later, Dumbledore returned into the room with a confused Harry in his wake.

James and Lily scooted apart on the sofa to make room for him, and he sat in the middle of them.

Dumbledore sighed again. "Harry, I think a discussion is long overdue here."

Thank you for reading! As always, leave any thoughts or questions in the review section. ;)