Chapter 36

Trials of the Just

It was the last day of the winter holiday and Harry was packing for the trip back to school when the letter from Ron came.

Dear Harry

I am sorry I didn't write sooner, and that I refused to see anyone once I woke up in the hospital wing, second time in less than one year. I just needed time alone. I still need time away and I accept now that I need help healing. Mum and dad found help for me in France, the healer Aries recommended has a Clinique there that has tutors who can help me keep up with my school work. I am going there one week from now and I don't know when I will be back. I hope I can start fourth year with you guys at Hogwarts, but unless the healers give me the go ahead, I won't insist on it this time. I know now, I did more damage to myself rushing through the Chamber debacle. I am sorry about that too. I didn't tell you that back then and it has been eating at me that maybe you didn't want to be my friend anymore because of me trying to torture you. I know it probably isn't true, but I still need to apologize for being a jerk to your new friends because of this. I will understand if you do not want to be friends with me after the events of this last year.

Please tell Hermione I am sorry for leaving and for being a crappy human being these past few months. I wish now that I didn't keep Crookshanks from eating Scabbers. I am also sorry for what that rat did to your family and your godfather. My parents tried to keep the newspapers away from me, but I overheard Fred and George commenting on the articles in the Daily Prophet. You must really hate him. I hate him just thinking that he could have killed my family as we all slept for all these years. I don't know if that is normal though, hating someone for something they could have done but didn't do. But all I seem to feel lately is hate, anger and remorse. Because of this I know now I need to be away from Hogwarts. I hope you won't hate me more because of this letter, but I felt that you of all people deserved to know what is going on with me. You are still my best friend Harry, but I understand if I am no longer yours.

Ron.

Harry whipped the tears in his eyes after reading the letter. This was it, he was really losing his best friend. Hogwarts starting tomorrow will no longer have Ron Weasley as a student.

'All packed and ready to go?' Aries asked coming into the doorway of his sitting room. 'What's wrong?' the man immediately came to his side seeing Harry so distraught.

'It's Ron.' He said pointing at the letter, and failing to keep the tears from falling. Aries read the letter and pulled Harry into a hug as the teen silently cried. 'I hate Pettigrew, he managed to take away my family, my godfather and my best friend.'

'Harry, Ron will be back. You haven't lost him.'

'It feels like I did.'

'Well, you haven't. Your friend is finally willing to let himself be helped. The fact that he told you all of this, all his fears and insecurities, means that he will confront them this time. And he trusts you enough with them. He still wants to be your friend.'

'I wish I could see him before he goes. Tell him he's an idiot for thinking I could ever hate him.'

'I will speak to Arthur. I think it will be good for Ron to see you before he leaves.'

Harry finally pulled away from his guardian and whipped his eyes. 'Thanks.'


The next the Wizengamot courtroom gathered was at the end of January. Both Narcissa and Andromeda were seated in the visitor's gallery while their uncle sat in his usual seat. Narcissa was looking forward to the proceedings. It was about time someone took the light fraction of the Ministry down a notch. It was a pity it had to come at the expense of her cousin.

'This trial will now commence.' Said Madame Bones. 'Presiding today pending the conclusion of this trial is not Chief Warlock Dumbledore but myself, the head of the DMLE. Legal Pierce, you have the floor.' The witch both sisters knew from her visits to the house and who dealt with the legal matters of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black after their uncle came to the isle took the floor.

'On the 14th of December last year we were witness to the trial of mass murderer Peter Pettigrew. While his punishment was dealt with, one of the heads of accusation would not have been possible without the aid of others. I am talking about the framing of Auror Sirius Orion Black, heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black and his incarceration in Azkaban.'

She paused and Narcissa could see everyone in the courtroom was tense.

'Such an oversight of the justice system should not have been possible which is why this trial was set up, to review the facts. The law states today as it did 13 years ago that any man is innocent until proven guilty. It also states that freedom is one of the fundamental rights of any man, woman or child on the land that is known as Great Britain. This isn't just a wizard law, this is the law of the country, magical and muggle both. The institution that is the Ministry of Magic takes in new members that swear an oath to uphold this and many other laws. But in the case of Sirius Black, he had been sent to Azkaban without a trial.' A swish of the wand later and projected in the middle of the room was a 3D hologram of a piece of parchment.

'Date: 3rd November 1981.' Said a robotic voice 'Auror Sirius Orion Black was found at the scene of the murder by explosion of thirteen people covered in blood and debris by Deputy Auror Rufus Scrimgeor and trainee Auror Wally Perkins. Black's condition was not ideal for interrogation as he seemed to have suffered a concussion. His mood swung from hysterical laughter to sobbing and repeated saying the phrase 'My fault…all my fault'.

On location report. Signed Wally Perkins.'

'This report was found misplaced in another file.' Said Miss Pierce

'To verify its authenticity the court asks that both Wally Perkins and Rufus Scrimgeor testify.' Amelia added.

Wally Perkins was put first on stand.

'You are Wally Perkins, former of the Auror Department?' asked Amelia Bones

'I am.'

'Were you first on the scene when Auror Sirius Black was found on the 3rd November 1981?'

'I was. My superior, Auror Scrimgeor, and I arrived there just as the debris settled after the blast.'

'Can you attest to this report's authenticity?'

'Yes, it was the report I filed with the Department on my return from the site the very same day.'

'Do you know how this report got lost?'

'I didn't know it got lost to begin with.' Perkins said.

'It was found misfiled with the documents of a torture case from the year 1956.'

'As I said, I didn't know. They sent me back on the field right after I filed the report.'

'Isn't it customary for the auror who does the arrest to speak in the trial? Didn't you find it odd that you weren't asked to do so?'

'I was told that Auror Scrimgeor would be asked instead of me, as he had seniority. And then I heard the man confessed.'

'Confessed. For the record, would you consider a confession the mumblings of a concussed man at the scene of an explosion that killed 13 other people?'

'No, I assumed he had confessed after being given the necessary treatment for his wounds.' Perkins added.

'One more question, the final report, did you write it?'

'No, that was the task my superior oversaw himself as it was a delicate case with the man being considered a hero in the department and being also a member from the darkest family known at the time. I believe the head of the DMLE asked for Deputy Auror Scrimgeor to write the report in person.'

'The head of the DMLE at the time being Barthemius Crouch Sr.' added Pierce

'Yes.'

'No further questions at this time, you may take your seat in the stands.'

Perkins was followed by the man now running the Auror Department, Senior Auror Rufus Scrimgeor.

'Auror Rufus Scrimgeor, were you the one to find Auror Sirius Black on the third of November 1981 in Manchester?'

'I and a recruit, Perkins were first at the scene of the crime.'

'Who filed the original report?'

'Perkins did.'

'Who filed the final report?'

'I did, I gave it to my superior in person the day after the arrest.'

'Your superior at the time was Auror Alastor Moody.'

'I gave it directly to the head of the DMLE, Barthemius Crouch. Moody was seldom in the office as were we all in those troubled times.'

'This is the report found in the file of Sirius Orion Black.' Pierce said showing a memory ball and tapping it with her wand.

The voice of Rufus Scrimgeor came out of the memory ball slightly interrupted.

'The suspect was found at the scene of the crime, covered in the blood of the victims-. The spell that was cast was of unknown origin and the suspect's wand was - evidence -. Black was not responding as a normal person-. He was hysterical but did - fight apprehension. He - insisted it had been his fault. He was Apparated in a holding cell inside the ministry of magic where he was administered a calming potion that put him instantly to sleep.

Auror Rufus Scrimgeor 4th November 1981.'

'That is not my full report.' Rufus said.

'Would you be willing to swear an oath on that?'

'I would.' The oath was sworn in and the man extracted a memory which Amelia Bones used to project for the entire court. The real report went like this.

'The suspect was found at the scene of the crime, covered in the blood of the victims and some his own. The spell that was cast was of unknown origin and the suspect's wand was taken as evidence to be tested at HQ. Black was not responding as a normal person, partly because of his injuries, notably his head had been hit hard. He was hysterical but did not fight apprehension. He kept saying and insisted it had been his fault. He was Apparated in a holding cell inside the ministry of magic where he was administered a calming potion that put him instantly to sleep.

Auror Rufus Scrimgeor 4th November 1981.'

'Did it not strike you as odd that after you filed, this report, Sirius Black was sent to Azkaban the very same day?' asked Piece

'I was in and out of the office doing my job catching other Death Eaters. If Black was sent to Azkaban, it wasn't my concern. I assumed that he had confessed in some form or another.'

'You assumed? Is it customary that prisoners be taken to Azkaban only after a confession, and not even a public one?'

'No, but those were troubled times.'

'Yes, so everyone keeps saying. What is the procedure in cases like Sirius Black's?'

'We keep the prisoner isolated, offer them treatment if they suffered injuries. Depending on the availability of the Wizengamot, we schedule a trial after a week but no more than a month.'

'Less than a week?'

'Normally no, unless there is a long and well-structured investigation backing the case up. But even then, any Prosecutor or attorney needs time to put their case in order.'

'Didn't it strike you as odd that Sirius Black was sent to Azkaban just after one day?'

'I told you I was barely in the office. I couldn't follow every trial of every person I brought in.'

'Yes, true, you didn't follow every trial. You followed the trial of everyone but Sirius Black's. Case 153 Armand Hobs, Death Eater, found torturing a family of muggles; case 789 John Striker, Death Eater, captured while trying to escape by imperiusing a muggle to take him to France; case 1092 Jody McMillan found stealing from destroyed shops in Diagon alley. Another 12 cases, similar to these ones, all of which you testified for and attended the trial of in November 1981. Those were hectic times Auror Scrimgeor, so hectic that people overlooked a mass murder trial and instead spent three hours arguing if Miss Jody McMillan were to be given community work or sent to Azkaban for three months.'

'I was not responsible for Black not getting a trial.' Scrimgeor said through gritted teeth.

'No, perhaps you weren't directly responsible for it. And perhaps if it had been anyone else but this man, the man you were responsible for as your capture, who was also one of the best Aurors you had on the force… You didn't overlook the trials of strangers, thieves and torturers, but you overlooked the trial of a man who had been responsible of saving twenty of your men's lives and taking around 50 Death Eaters out of action, be it by capture or killing.'

'Black was ruthless, it wasn't a stretch to think he could have turned dark.' Scrimgeor said.

'What was your relationship with Sirius Black before the events of 31st October?'

'What does this have to do with anything?'

'Answer the question Auror Scrimgeor.' Said Amelia Bones

'He was working directly under Moody, I barely had contact with him.'

'But you did, on one case, the orphanage massacre. The case that led to the deaths of 30 % of the children and staff and 7 Aurors. The report was filed by Senior Auror Frank Longbottom, and this one wasn't misplaced or modified. I will not read it all out loud, as parts of it are too disturbing but this paragraph sheds some light into your barely relationship with Black:

'When the fighting was done everyone still living though exhausted thanked the efforts of Sirius Black and James Potter'. Without them, no one would have made it out alive out of that trap. I write this in my report because of what followed. Our superior thought that Sirius Black had had no right to barge in and disrupt a rescue mission exposing our world to the frightened children and muggle staff. Even though those children and staff had already seen and experienced magic on themselves, Auror Scrimgeor threatened Sirius Black with a disciplinary hearing, he would have done the same with James Potter, but Potter had quit the Aurors one month prior to pick up his father's affairs. The survivors, Cassandra Willowtree, Zacharias Jones, John Deerborn and myself strongly believe that Sirius Black's actions as well as those of James Potter saved not just us, but the children and staff of that Orphanage, and such actions do not warrant a disciplinary hearing.'

Now, Cassandra Willowtree died a few months after this report, as did Deerborn. But Zacharias Jones is still alive.'

'He is somewhere in South America, what of it?'

'He has consented to come today, he sits in the stands. Mr. Jones, please take the stand.'

Jones was a man in his later years and walked with the aid of a stick, but his eyes were sharp and intelligent as he took the witness oath.

'Would you be willing to describe or share the memory of what happened that night at the orphanage with us, after the attack was over?'

'I have prepared the memory. Talking about it…it doesn't get easier with time, not when you find out that the man that saved you was your enemy only to find out he had been innocent all along.' He gave the vial with the silver substance to Amelia Bones who examined it, gave it to another man next to her, who examined it as well before nodding and tipping it into a basin that then projected the scene in the middle of the room.

The building in the background was smouldering still. There were children crying, some too shocked to say a word, all of them with injuries some more visible than others. Scrimgeor was there trying to calm down two muggle women in hysterics, as was a younger looking Jones, Frank Longbottom with an ugly looking gash on his face, a woman in her thirties who was being helped by another man Narcissa didn't know, Potter and her cousin. Sirius was looking just as handsome as she remembered him from their youth.

Narcissa shuddered thinking of the latest pictures of the man in Azkaban. All the prisoners were photographed every six months for an ongoing study of the effects of Dementors on the physical and mental health of their victims. Her cousin had lost the battle with the physical after just one year in that hellhole. But even in the most recent reports and pictures, there had been no sign of madness.

A child's crying drew Sirius away from the Aurors followed by James, and Narcissa away from her thought and back to focusing on the trial.

'Hey, it's OK now, the bad men won't come back. Are you hurt?' Her cousin had a way with children. It was a crime against humanity that he never got to be a father himself.

'H-he twisted his ankle and h-he was he was screaming when the others p-pointed a-a stick at him.' The muggle nurse, by her clothes, answered.

'Well, an ankle would be easy to fix, but if he was tortured.' James sighed.

'How many were tortured?' Sirius asked.

'Only him and another boy, but the other boy is no longer with us.'

'We should take him to St. Mungo's.' James said.

'W-where?'

'It's a hospital, for our kind.' explained James.

'N-no. Please don't let them take me, please.' The boy turned to the nurse with pleading eyes as a medi-witch joined them.

'Padfoot, maybe we should-' James wanted to let the witch take over.

'It's OK James. Hey, hey, it's going to be fine. We won't hurt you, we're not with the men in black.'

'Y-you're not?'

'We're not. And I'll prove it to you. But you have to give me permission first.'

'Permission?'

'To heal your ankle.'

'H-how?'

'With the stick.' Sirius took out his wand and the boy gasped 'It's OK, I'll show you on me, OK?' and he pointed the wand slowly at a cut on his arm making it vanish. 'See, good as new. Now will you let me heal you?'

The boy looked from the nurse to Sirius and then nodded.

'Close your eyes.' The boy did so and Sirius let his wand work, fixing the ankle and the scrapes and bruises and the boy's clothes too.

'There we are, all done.' Sirius said and the boy looked down at himself astonished.

'Now, that part is easy, the bruises on the outside, but the ones on the inside…'

'H-how do I get rid of those?'

'By allowing this nice lady here to take you to St. Mungo's.'

'O-ok.'

Sirius got up from his crouching position as the medi-witch cast a sleeping spell on the child and guided him to the portkey prepared for the pedia-wing.

'S-sir, what is your name?' asked the muggle nurse.

'Sirius and this is my friend James.'

'Thank you.'

The two walked back to the other Aurors just as a squad of Obliviators arrived.

'You have some explaining to do Black! You deliberately put this mission in danger and exposed us to the Muggles.'

'Sir, the Muggles were already exposed to magic by the Death Eaters.' Said Black.

'We could have chucked it all up as a nightmare, but now that kid going to St Mungo's, that woman knowing your names. If a Death Eater wants to get information out of her, do you think a memory charm will keep him from doing so?'

'Sir, that child was under the Cruciatus. He needs medical healing way past what can be given on the field. And he will be obliviated after that, as will the nurse. And James and I, we're known to the Death Eaters already. We've been fighting them for almost all our time out of Hogwarts, actively.'

'And you think that gives you the right to just give information to Muggle civilians? You are not the boss here, I am. And I am telling you, what you just did warrants a disciplinary hearing.'

'For what?' Sirius asked angrily 'We just saved your sorry ass.'

'Sirius, let it go. Mad Eye will sort this out.'

'Running behind mummy's robe.'

'I dare you say that to Moody in person.' Growled Sirius

The memory stopped there.

'Mr. Jones, how would you describe the relationship between Sirius Black and Rufus Scrimgeor?'

'They normally avoided each other. It was luck that Potter and Black got Moody as mentor and not Scrimgeor.'

'So the relationship was tense.'

'Yes, mostly because of the rumours.'

'What rumours?'

'That Mad-Eye was mentoring Black to take his spot, leaving Scrimgeor as deputy. Everyone thought it unlikely, but the rumour started and grew and well, Sirius had a great record catching Death Eaters it seemed the rumours might be right for a change, if Mad Eye remained in active duty for a few more years, but then one day Sirius came and asked for a leave of absence, we didn't realize it then, but it was so that he could go into hiding as secret keeper. Mad Eye didn't want to give it to him, but Sirius said it was either that or he left the Aurors for good. Mad Eye was furious, but Scrimgeor, not so much. Took it as confirmation that Black was not cut out to be an Auror.'

'Thank you for your cooperation Mr Jones.' Said Pierce. 'We will let you know when the trial finishes.'

'The court will take a 15 minute break, and reconvene at 13:00.' Amelia Bones said. This wasn't going well for the newly appointed Head of the Auror Department. If they would not find whoever it was that tampered with his report, her former Auror colleague would have to resign his station. Perhaps leave the department all together.

The courtroom was dead silent as Barthemius Crouch took the stand.

'Are you Barthemius Julius Crouch, former head of the DMLE between 1978 and 1983?' asked Amelia

'I am.'

'Legal Pierce, you may question the witness.'

'Mr. Crouch. You've been the head of the DMLE for a while before switching to International relations. Can you tell me who signs the incarceration orders for prisoners pending trial?'

'For any incarceration to be valid there need to be at least three signatures: the Minister of Magic, the head of the DMLE or the head Auror and the Chief Warlock or in absence of the Chief Warlock, three distinct members of the Wizengamot with permanent seats.'

'Who signs the incarceration for convicted criminals?'

'There are no valid signatures needed for the incarceration of a convicted criminal. The conviction ruling of the Wizengamot stands as proof of trial and is not signed but created by the Scribe magic.'

'I see. Tell me, how long can a prisoner pending trial stay in Azkaban on the basis of incarceration orders?'

'That depends.'

'On?'

'On the complexity of the trial to be prepared. Anywhere between one week and one month.'

'Who signed the incarceration of prisoner Sirius Orion Black?'

'Minister Bagnold, Chief Warlock Dumbledore and myself as head of the DMLE.'

'How long was the incarceration supposed to last?'

Crouch turned away.

'Answer the question.'

'There were mitigating circumstances.'

'Answer the question.'

'Three months.'

'Three months? Two months more than the norm? Why?'

'It was necessary to gather the evidence.'

'Everyone was told in a newspaper article two weeks after his incarceration that the evidence was so overwhelming, that Sirius Black was sent to prison for life.' Pierce produced the article and read it out loud. Narcissa didn't have to hear it to know it. She had read it and reread it when it had come out trying to make sense of it.

'What was this overwhelming evidence that Minister Bagnold speaks of?'

'I can't say what the former Minister considered overwhelming evidence.' Said Crouch

'But you asked for three months to gather the evidence. Two weeks later this article pops up, from the head of the ministry you were working for. Did she not confide in you, her head of the DMLE? Didn't she trust you with the information?'

'She trusted me completely. My loyalty was never disputed. Never!'

'And yet, you do not know what the overwhelming evidence to which she alluded is. That doesn't sound that she trusted you.'

'This isn't the trial of Barthemius Crouch. This is to determine where the mistake with regards to Black was made.'

'The mistake with regards to Black begins with his incarceration signed by Minister Bagnold, Chief Warlock Dumbledore and head of the DMLE Barthemius Crouch Sr.'

'Legal Pierce that is speculation.' Amelia said but it was a half-hearted admonishment.

'Forgive me, Madam Bones, I withdraw the statement. How did the three months officially turn into life imprisonment for prisoner Black?'

Crouch refused to answer.

'Mr. Crouch, there was no other piece of paper in Sirius Black's file in Azkaban, but the original three months incarceration order. Was there another paper that was misplaced that turned the three months into life imprisonment?'

'Not to my knowledge.' Crouch said

'But there could have been. After all, we saw that Minister Bagnold did not trust you with the irrefutable evidence she spoke of in the article in the press.'

'The irrefutable evidence were 12 muggles and a wizard blown up. The knowledge that Black was secret keeper to the Potters who had died betrayed in their homes.'

'So his wand showed the explosion curse being performed and he confessed to being the secret keeper and betrayer of his best friend and his family.'

'No, his wand was clean. But he and Potter did say he would be secret keeper.'

'So, you didn't know how he blew up those muggles, and the knowledge to him being secret keeper is hearsay.'

'He could have had a second wand for all we knew that he destroyed after the spell was cast. And even Dumbledore himself said that Black was secret keeper.'

'Was Albus Dumbledore the binder?'

'No, that was Lily Potter.'

'So again hearsay. Was there any REAL evidence that he was a mass murderer and a betrayer?'

'He was part of a family of blood purists and mad men. His brother died a known Death Eater, named as one by Rosier. His mad cousin was to blame for the Longbottoms. His in law Malfoy had escaped justice by invoking the Imperius, causing others to do the same and go free. The evidence was there. He was guilty, we all knew it.'

'So according to you being related to death eaters is a crime. Shouldn't we condemn you for the same thing then? Your son was a convicted death eater, was he not?'

'He was goaded into joining them by his friends. Rabastan Lestrange and Regulus Black!'

'So you decided to punish Sirius Black for going against his mad family because you couldn't keep your own son from following a mad man?'

'How was I supposed to know he was against his family? For all we knew he could have escape justice just like the rest of them.'

'And that is why you chose to forget about him in prison. Because you couldn't bare another man going free when you sentenced your own son to Azkaban. Isn't that right, Mr. Crouch?'

'Would you have allowed the right hand man of You-Know-Who to walk free? The chance was too great to plunge our world into a second war. And with a Black as the head of the ones that walked free and his little admirers in the Auror department. The Ministry would have not stayed light for more than a year.'

'The ministry wasn't light to begin with. It was your duty as head of the DMLE to see that every man got a trial. You allowed an innocent man to rot in hell only because of your fears and prejudice. Who else consented to this illegal kidnapping of Heir Black?'

Crouch refused to answer.

'Did you falsify the report Auror Scrimgeor handed in?'

'What? I falsified nothing.'

'Then how did the original report change?'

'I don't know. I got the abridged version from the get go.'

'We will see about that. Madam Bones, I request a full investigation on Mr. Bartemius Crouch Sr. and charge him with obstruction of justice, abuse of power, kidnapping of an Ancient family Heir leading to the heir's incarceration and death.'

'Request granted. The trial will be scheduled one month from today. Until that date, Mr. Crouch you will be locked in one of the low security cells in Azkaban. You have a right to a legal and the use of a private room inside the Prison to formulate your defence one hour every two days. Aurors, take him away.'

Crouch for his part did not protest.

'With Minister Bagnold deceased, that line of inquiry cannot be followed through. The court calls forward the last witness. Warlock Albus Dumbledore.'

Dumbledore sat down looking calm as usual but he did not feel calm at all. Legal Pierce was reading through her notes. Dumbledore didn't know the woman, she was a witch from America that Aries Black had brought with him to manage the legal matters of his many ventures. But from the rumours regarding her and her Magi-jurist firm, the woman was professional and just as ruthless as the man she was representing.

'Are you Albus Dumbledore, acting Chief Warlock, member of the IWC and headmaster of Hogwarts?' Amelia asked the standard question that began every interrogation.

'I am.'

'Legal Pierce, you may question the witness.'

"Witness" was such a misleading word, the headmaster thought. After all, the ones that had signed the incarceration were more than anything suspects, and not just witnesses.'

'Mr. Dumbledore, you were one of the people that signed the former Black heir's incarceration papers. What was your relationship with Sirius Black?'

'He was a former student at Hogwarts, one of the wizards working for the Ministry as an Auror and our path crossed frequently in the war against Voldemort.'

'In what way?'

'He was one of the young wizards that joined an association founded by myself in the hopes of stopping said Dark Lord.'

'You are talking about the Order of the Phoenix.'

'That was the name it was known by, yes.'

'What did this association do?'

'Anything and everything possible and within the limits of the law to stop Voldemort and his Death Eaters.'

'Specifically?'

'Some members were trying to convince people that blood supremacist ideals were wrong. Some put up wards for families or individuals that were targets, some tried to gather information on where Voldemort would strike next.'

'Sounds like the work that should have been done by the ministry.'

'The ministry was overwhelmed and there was a strong possibility that it had been infiltrated by Voldemort's men.'

'You mean to say that the Order was a safer place than the Ministry of Magic?'

'Not necessarily, but we were fewer and mostly likeminded people.'

'So you considered Sirius Black a likeminded person?'

'He joined the Order together with his friends. Who were either from light families or were Death Eater targets due to their blood status.'

'What you are saying is, you accepted him in the Order due to his entourage and not necessarily because you trusted him.'

'I admit there was some doubt on my part. He had been known to show a crueller side to those he considered enemies even in school.'

'You are perhaps referring to muggle born or half-bloods?'

'No. He never showed any sign that he cared about blood status. He mainly had altercations with the Slytherins.'

'And that made you mistrust him?'

'No, there was an incident in his sixth year that made me weary of him. He knowingly led another student into a dangerous situation that could have resulted in that other student's death.'

'There is no record of such a crime in Mr. Black's school papers.'

'The incident was resolved without casualties. At that time the heads of houses decided that a yearlong detention period would suffice as punishment.'

'For attempted murder? This should have been a case for the DMLE. Am I right, Madam Bones?'

'Indeed, Legal Pierce.' Madam Bones frowned. Sirius Black had not been as white a sheep as he seemed.

'It is not the subject of the hearing, but I would request permission to get to the bottom of this accusation.'

'Permission granted.'

'What good would it do now to bring up an event that happened more than 15 years ago?' Dumbledore asked.

'Perhaps had this event been divulged and analysed when it happened, the events of the following years would have been different. There is always good in truth, Mr. Dumbledore. Please explain the details of the attempted murder.'

Dumbledore had hoped Pierce would brush past this information as it clearly didn't favour the Blacks but the witch was defying his expectations. So he followed with the story about how a Slytherin Student had been sent down the tunnel to where the one Werewolf student would be transforming for the full moon.

'So Sirius Black, being of legal age, forced a student into a room with a werewolf.'

'He didn't force the student. He provided the information on how to get to the werewolf.'

'Without telling the other student there was a werewolf at the end of the tunel?'

'Yes.'

'But telling the student to go on a full moon.'

'No.'

'Did the student know there was a werewolf involved?'

'There might have been suspicion.'

'It seems there was a lot left to chance from Sirius Black's side if this was all he had to go on and he wanted the other student dead. Who was this other student?'

'I do not think they would appreciate being dragged into this after such a long time.'

'An attempted murder has been brought to our attention and has been linked to a serious flaw in character that can perhaps justify the incarceration without a trial of one Sirius Black.'

'Sirius Black is dead. This will not help the ones that knew him to heal.' Dumbledore said

'We are not in a hospital. We are in a court of law. We are pursuing the truth, not trying to create martyrs by brushing over the serious crimes people have committed. Who was this other student?'

'Severus Snape.' Dumbledore finally said resigned that his potions Master would have to stand in as witness.

'We ask that Mr. Snape be brought in for questioning.' Pierce said

'Mr. Snape is present in the visitor stands.' The court scribe said.

'Mr. Snape, it is of course your right to refuse questioning, or to ask this issue be resolved at a later date, but if it is convenient to you, we would like to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible.'

'I will answer your questions now.'

'The court thanks you for your cooperation. Please take the witness oath. Do you also want to press charges against the deceased?'

'He is already dead.'

'Very well. Please relate the events mentioned by Mr. Dumbledore from your point of view.'

'I was a Slytherin while Black and his friends were Gryffindors. This seemed to be enough for them to attack me at any given time. They called these attacks pranks, but what they were, were blatant acts of bullying, always one against three or four. One such…prank was Black telling me how to get past the Womping Willow on a full moon night. This got me almost face to face with a transformed werewolf. If his friend hadn't gotten cold feet and stopped the prank at the last moment, I would have been dead or worse, a werewolf myself.'

'So Black told you to go past the Womping Willow and you went there on a full moon because…a student known to play horrible pranks on you said so?'

'I was trying to unmask their criminal activities.'

'By going to a place a known enemy told you to go to without telling a teacher about it?'

'The teachers were biased. Black and Potter were star students that could do no wrong. I needed proof.'

'Did Black tell you to go on a full Moon?'

'No. But that was when one of them went missing regularly.'

'Did you know there was going to be a werewolf at the end of the tunnel?'

'I had my suspicions.'

'And you went in anyway?'

'The teachers wouldn't have believed me without proof.'

'The teachers already knew about it. What was your plan in case you did come face to face with a werewolf?'

'I would have backed away and gotten the teachers.'

'Mr. Snape, a werewolf is a creature studied in third and sixth year of defence against the dark arts. The first thing that one learns about it is that it is unpredictable and incredibly good at finding and catching their prey. A sniff of a human in its proximity would have had it giving chase. How were you going to back away from something like that?'

'I was prepared to fight it too. It was a threat to everyone in the school.'

'I was under the impression that this particular Werewolf had been in school for more than five years without any incident of it attacking students.'

'That was because it was under heavy enchantments.'

'Not just the Willow tree?'

'No, there were three layers of wards and reinforced doors between it and the school.'

'And you went through them?'

'As I said, I needed proof.'

'You unlocked the cage that kept a werewolf trapped because you needed proof? Didn't it occur to you that those enchantments were put there with good reason, perhaps by the werewolf himself?'

'They were too complex to be put up by a student.'

'So who put them up then?'

'The teachers.'

'And you didn't think that if teachers put enchantments up, they had good reason to do it, that they already knew about the werewolf?'

'It didn't cross my mind at the time. As I said, I was trying to uncover a crime.'

'By braking school rules yourself? By freeing a dangerous creature from its cage.'

'I wasn't sure there was a werewolf there.'

'Then what did you think you would find? What was the crime you thought your fellow students were guilty of?'

'I thought this investigation was to prove Black's a criminal, not to accuse me. Clearly this courtroom is biased.'

'Mr. Snape, this courtroom is trying to get to the bottom of a serious accusation, but it is not here to prove anything but the truth. You said you were led to your near death by Sirius Black, but by your own account, the man only told you how to get past the willow tree. He did not tell you to do it on the full moon, nor did he push you into the tunnel. And I for one would have been more cautious if a known enemy had come to me with that information.'

'He didn't come to me with the information. I wouldn't have been so stupid to follow through with going down the tunnel if the information had been offered freely.'

'So how did you get him to tell it to you?'

'Does it matter?'

'A great deal, if he didn't want to tell you, it couldn't have been attempted murder, though by the looks of things, even if he wanted to tell you, he couldn't have been blamed for your own decision to go down the tunnel.'

'Black had been put on a potions regiment that freed his inhibitions before returning to school after the winter holidays. That specific potions regiment had long lasting effects, more than a month. He was still under their influence and so he was easier persuaded to give away information that normally he wouldn't have. But the potions were in no way impairing his judgement. He knew exactly what he was doing and that it could mean my life if I went down that tunnel at the wrong time.'

'What potions regiment was this? Who prescribed it?' asked Pierce

'Libertanimi and Helium Horribilis. I do not know who prescribed them.'

'Those potions are used only by mind healers in controlled environments usually on patients suffering from the effects of the Cruciatus curse. Who knew that Sirius Black was on these potions at the time?'

'I do not know.'

'Where did you get this information from, then?'

'His brother.'

Pierce turned to Amelia Bones 'In light of this information I request that the attempted murder accusations be dropped effective immediately. The amount of information given would have been insufficient to cause lethal damage on its own and the use of reality altering potions in and of itself would exempt any person under their influence of ill intent.'

'Agreed, however the use of reality altering potions is at the moment just hearsay. Who had administered the potions and why needs to be investigated before the issue is put completely to rest.'

'As this trial focuses more on the injustice of sending Sirius Black to Azkaban without a trial, I request this be investigated separately.'

'Agreed. Severus Snape, you will make yourself available for further questioning in the coming weeks.'

'So the mutt walks away unpunished again?'

'He is dead, sir. This was merely to determine if a character flaw demonstrated during his school years would have been the cause of suspicion and a plausible reason for sentencing a man to life in Azkaban without a trial, however illegal such a sentencing may be. By the looks of things there are more crimes to be discovered, including the use of an unforgivable on a student, if the potions regiment was indeed sanctioned by an authorised healer for the purpose it was created.'

'They were attention seeking bullies that didn't care that their actions had consequences. Black would have gladly seen me dead in any other way but that.'

'Your words alone cannot convict a man of attempted murder when the facts point in another direction. In this case it would be wise for you to keep quiet and accept the consequences of YOUR actions. Actions that, need I remind you, could have unleashed a werewolf on a school full of children.' Pierce said.

'Mr Snape, please return to the stands.' Amelia added.

'Mr Dumbledore, did you know that Mr Black was under the potions regiment described by Mr Snape?'

Dumbledore closed his eyes. How could he have missed it? 'I did not. I only knew that Sirius had run away from home during the winter holidays.'

'Why didn't you notify the DMLE about the incident?'

'The incident had no real lasting consequences. Had I notified the DMLE the one consequence that would have followed was to have the werewolf student expelled. He was innocent in the matter, I deemed it unfair to expose him to such injustice.'

'Who knew of the student's status?'

'At the beginning, just the staff. But the student's best friends found out at the end of first year.'

'And they said nothing?'

'They accepted him and as I recently found out, tried to help him during his transformation by becoming Animagi.'

'Those friends were James Potter, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew.'

'Yes.'

'They all joined the Order of the Phoenix?'

'Yes.'

'And because of the incident with Mr Snape you suspected Sirius Black was not as trustworthy as the other two.'

'There was someone who had been giving away information. Sirius Black had given away information on his friend back in sixth year. It was suspicious.'

'Did you confront Black with this?'

'I had no proof. I tried talking to James about it. But he dismissed the possibility that Sirius was a mole on the spot. His reaction was such that I refrained from talking about it again. I tried keeping a closer eye on Black but he was in constant movement. Being in the Order and an Auror kept the man busy and unpredictable.'

'You testified about Black being secret keeper when you were not the binder. Why?'

'I honestly believed it. I offered myself as secret keeper to the Potters, but James insisted that he wanted Sirius to be secret keeper.'

'Why?'

'Sirius was known to have some of the strongest mental shields in the Auror force. He had been tested against Legilimens and the Imperius and always managed to repel the attacker within a few seconds of the spell casting. Plus there was no one James trusted more than Sirius.'

'So your testimony was based on the Potters and Black saying he was secret keeper.'

'Sirius was also the one that handed me the paper where the Potter's location was written.'

'But you didn't see him writing the information on paper.'

'No, he had it ready when he came to Hogwarts the morning after the Fidelius was set up.'

'What happened to the piece of paper?'

'After I read it Sirius took it and burnt it in front of me.'

'And you didn't find it odd that he gave the information to you on paper instead of speaking it?'

'I was in the headmaster's office, the portraits there, though unable to relate the information, could if they wanted or made to, point a person in the right direction.'

'You didn't remark anything odd about the writing on the piece of paper?'

'I didn't know Sirius's writing well enough to find anything wrong with the note.'

'Yet you did think you knew the man well enough to relate a rumour as fact.'

'I gave testimony to the fact that James named Sirius Secret Keeper and that I had gotten the location of the house from Sirius Black.'

'Omitting to specify that you had not in fact been present at the casting or that Sirius Black had not TOLD you the secret but in fact had given you a note with the address.'

'I did not say I was caster, nor did I insinuate it. I realize that perhaps that omission which I did not think relevant at the time, could look as ill intent on my part but I am willing to swear an oath that I truly believed Sirius Black to be the Keeper when I gave the information to the Head of the DMLE when he asked for my signature on the incarceration papers.'

'The Oath is accepted.' Amelia said and Dumbledore proceeded to make it. At the end he still had his magic intact.

'Why did you agree to such a long incarceration period?'

'As I said before, Sirius Black was known to have extremely strong mental shields. It was a way to ensure the accused would be easier to interrogate when the trial came.'

'But two weeks after that Minister Bagnold spoke of irrefutable evidence that demanded the man be kept in Azkaban without a trial. Couldn't you as Chief Warlock have made sure the man had a trial?'

'As Chief Warlock I am asked to oversee the trials that the ministry deems necessary. I receive the agenda of each trial session one week in advance and can also pick trials that with my knowledge and experience can benefit from me presiding over them. However the Chief Warlock is not the one that makes sure that the accused are given a trial. That is the Head of the DMLE.'

'So you did not feel responsible for the man you sign over to the Dementors for three months? The man that had been working for your organization ever since he finished school and put his life on the line for you for years?'

'I did not feel responsible for the man's choices. I did however ask Minister Bagnold about the decision to condemn him without a trial. She explained that the man had confessed and that due to the recent crimes committed by other Death Eaters which were closely related to the Blacks, the Lestranges, there was great animosity against the family. There was talk about an attack on the prisoner in the courtroom when the trial came. The information was such that the animosity extended to other Aurors which had ties with Death Eaters and even simply Aurors with very old wizarding names due to Barty Crouch Jr. involvement in the crime against the Longbottoms. The Minister's advisors decided that it was safer to just keep the man locked in and not give the angry voices fuel to act on their hatred.'

'And this information was kept from the head of the DMLE?'

'I do not know. It is however possible that the former Minister thought to spare Barty the details due to his son's involvement.'

'So you agreed to send a man to prison without a trial?'

'I agreed with her decision to give the population time and space to heal, but I asked her to consider a closed room trial as an alternative, as no trial at all would cause a precedent that did not sit well with me.'

'To this she said what?'

'She said she would consult her advisors. I admit that after that I had forgotten our discussion and assumed that a trial was held only without it being released to the media.'

'A lot of assuming is being done by the head of an office that should base its actions on facts.' Pierce said 'No further questions.'

Dumbledore took his seat back with the masses as Madam Bones called for a 15 minute break before the final session.

'Esteemed assembly.' Pierce began. 'You have heard the witnesses of the ones involved in the illegal incarceration of heir Sirius Orion Black. While the circumstances of his arrest were extraordinary and those were indeed difficult and troubled times, it does not excuse the serious miscarriage of justice that happened. A man lost his freedom, his health, his life. A family lost one of its sons, a godson lost his godfather, friends lost a loved one. The Aurors lost one of their own and the trust they had in each other because of it. Society lost one of its members who had fought to uphold the law because the law was not respected. How will a man regain the years lost, or recover his health enough to live a normal life, how will he be brought back to life? What will replace a son in the eyes of a family, a lost friend in the heart of his friends? How will we ensure the law is respected when we have lost faith in the ones that were supposed to uphold it? This wasn't a trial with accusers and accused because it wasn't just one man or woman that sealed the faith of one of our own. It was each of us who saw and looked away, that judged without knowing the facts, who assumed without understanding. Was this what those difficult times were all about? Was this what the Aurors that fought and died against oppressors hoped to build? Is this what you want to be known for?'

Pierce looked from the Wizengamot to the masses of visitors in the public section and rested her case. The silence that followed seemed to weigh on the eyes of everyone present, for none could look up. It fell on Amelia to break the silence.

'What we learnt today is that even a system can make mistakes when the people that govern it do not respect the law or are put in difficult situations. It is not an excuse for what happened, and while I know that nothing can replace a life, restitution for the loss suffered by the Black Family is the least of what the ministry can offer, together with an in depth investigation to the events that led to Heir Black's death and the punishment of the ones that will be found in the wrong.'

'Forgive me Madam Bones, but as Head of House Black I must decline any restitution the ministry wishes to give the Black family. I understand the sentiment behind it, but money was not the reason I asked for this trial session. To ask for something as trivial as gold for the freedom and the life that could have been of a human being is setting a price on something priceless. No amount of earthly possessions can return a loved one back to us and the ministry's money should not be spent trying to fix what cannot be fixed. Sirius Black didn't fight for money, he fought for a better world. So what I want to see from you, from us, is building that better world. A world where the system cannot be used to send innocent men and women to prison without a trial. A system that is transparent in its decisions and gives equal rights to its citizens and where freedom, magic and life is respected. It is our right and our duty to make it happen.'

Amelia had never seen anything like it. She had expected an uproar, shouts of approval or disapproval, applause or anything related to noise. Instead she was faced with a silent crown of witches and wizards taking out their wands in oath. The little light at the tip of the wands illuminating determined faces.


A/N: OK, that was a lot to write and honestly I am not sure I am entirely satisfied with it. There will be more repercussions to come and don't worry, Dumbles will get what he is due, but it won't be abrupt like Crouch's demise. Also, Snape's part wasn't fluid enough, but my reasoning behind it is that Snape really believes himself to be in the right and that is why he decided to testify. I know there are Snape lovers out there but I never could like the guy. He was bullied, true, but he also turned into a bully. And his hatred towards Sirius and Lupin in book 3 was totally irrational. Not to mention that what he believes to be an attempted murder on Sirius' part is really him being a gullible and ignorant ass. If your worst enemy tells you to jump off a bridge and you do it the enemy is not responsible. And come on, Hermione figured Lupin was a werewolf in 3rd year after doing an essay. Snape didn't know there would be a werewolf at the end of that tunnel after 5 ½ years of observing the enemy? How much of a dunderhead was he? The part with the potions that Siri was on will be explained later.

Also: the story hit more than 1000 followers! Wow, never thought that would happen. Thank you, you made me very happy and your comments made me happy too.

As always have a lovely week, as virus free as possible, I am starting a new construction site and we have to hold many meetings via teams or skype. That is going to make everything so complicated and completely ineffective. Ah well, complaining won't solve anything so, Go Teams! Yey…my enthusiasm wants to be eaten by a werewolf.