43 The Order of the Burnt Chicken

"Ah, Harry. Ready for your hearing?"

Harry and Hermione looked up from their conversation with Madam Bones to see Dumbledore striding down the hallway, looking very grandfatherly and eager in his sky blue robes. They had stayed a little while with Madam Bones, reviewing everything from the night of the third task to the trial with her, as well as getting any and all paperwork taken care of and witnessed by her so the Minister couldn't interfere again. As a result, both of their Animagus forms were registered with her and they had both been officially emancipated. This allowed them to use magic outside of school, though obviously still under the restrictions of the Statute of Secrecy. Hermione in particular was looking forward to showing her parents some of what they had been learning the last four years.

"Hearing?" Harry asked curiously. "You mean the trial that Fudge moved up to 8am without notifying me?"

"Trial? My dear boy, it won't be that bad," Albus assured him, moving to steer him away.

"Oh it was," Harry said, sliding out of Dumbledore's grasp. "It was in courtroom 10 before most of the Wizengamot. Odd that they would meet without telling you, or several others of the light aligned. Anyway, once it was pointed out that I was emancipated by you, Crouch and the Cup last year, he changed the 'hearing' to a trial for breaching the Statute of Secrecy."

"Emancipated?" Albus stepped back in shock. "I'm afraid you're mistaken my dear boy. I never emancipated you."

"But you did say he had to participate in the Triwizard Tournament," Hermione interjected. "Which both the Ministry and the Wizengamot declared to be for 'of age' wizards or witches only. As both you, as the leader of the Wizengamot, Mr. Crouch, as a representative of the Ministry, and the Goblet as a representative of Magic, declared he had to compete, he must be of age. As he was not 17 yet, he clearly was emancipated."

"What? That's…" Dumbledore floundered.

"What? You never wanted that?" Harry asked. "Too bad, because my magical guardian at the time agreed with this and endorsed it. It's a done deal."

"But how… The hearing…."

"The trial, which even as a hearing started before a quorum of the Wizengamot, was an attempt to railroad us," Hermione continued. "The Minister and his toady, some Umbridge woman, tried to use facts not in evidence, ignore evidence, even ignore testimony by Ministry employees in order to get Harry thrown in Azkaban. And let me guess, your plan was to smile and twinkle your eye at them to get Harry off? I doubt you could charm your way out of a wet sack right now Professor."

"Plus you'd probably have helped them try to get our marriage dissolved," Harry accused.

"I told you Harry, I am your magical guardian and while underage, you cannot marry without my permission," Dumbledore said sadly. "I'm afraid that I can't give that no matter the circumstances, now come along. I am glad you dealt with your hearing so well but we must be going, we should get your aunt released in a day or two and then we just need to get you both back to Privet…"

"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore." Albus stopped dead at the irate harpy voice calling his name. Turning, he found himself facing not just Amelia Bones, one of the few people with the authority to do something to him, but Hermione Granger as well. The young witch actually scared him after her display at Grimmauld place. It had taken him almost an hour to return from the frozen wasteland she'd sent him to and he had no desire to return there, so he had to diffuse her first.

"Miss Granger,"

"Mrs Potter," the witch hissed, correcting him, power once again crackling through her hair and Albus swore her eyes were lighting up. Her ears were flat and her tail was straight behind her, Even Albus could recognize the irate feline in her. "You will leave now, you will stop trying to manipulate my husband, and you will leave well enough alone."

"I'm afraid…"

"Albus," Amelia interrupted him. "I advise you to do as Mrs Potter says, from what I've heard you didn't enjoy it last time you ignored her advice."

"Yes but,"

"No buts, everything they've told you is true." Bones stopped him getting a word in edgewise. "They're married, they're emancipated, and they want nothing to do with your manipulations. Now I understand you are using the place they are currently staying at as some sort of meeting place, that is at the discretion of the owner, but I will have Auror Tonks make regular check-ins with both of them. If they don't report your complete cooperation and lack of manipulation, I will charge you."

It took another twenty minutes before they finally left the ministry, but once they had, they had all the paperwork they needed. Harry's confirmation of emancipation, along with Hermione's as his wife, a copy of their marriage certificate and apparition learners permits, which Tonks promised to help them with. It was a happy group that appeared back at Grimmauld place just before lunch.

"Oh Harry, you're back.," Mrs Weasley greeted them as they entered the kitchen. "All went well I assume, Albus was able to get everything sorted?"

"Professor Dumbledore," Harry stressed the name, hostility lacing his voice. "Didn't show up until well after the trial was over."

"What? Trial?" Molly was obviously confused. "I thought it was just a hearing?"

"If it was just a hearing," Hermione answered, "it was before a quorum of the Wizengamot, plus Fudge and some Umbridge bitch tried to railroad Harry. They ignored evidence that didn't fit their narrative, including ministry employee testimony, and after I pointed out he's emancipated, they changed it from underage magic to Breaching the Statute of Secrecy."

Molly just stared dumbfounded at Hermione. Not only from the explanation, but with anger in the young girl's voice. It also didn't help that her ears were flat in anger, her tail was straight out, and her hair had arcs of power running through it.

"It's true Mrs Weasley," Harry confirmed. "But my wonderfully brilliant wife showed them who's boss." Harry's happy tone and the kiss he pressed against the side of Hermione's head seemed to restart Mrs Wealsey's thought processes. She shook herself and resumed making lunch, which seemed to be enough sandwiches to feed an army.

"Be that as it may be," Molly pushed on, though slightly shaken. "There is still a lot to do around here, so wash up, and after lunch you can help the others in the den."

"I guess we can," Hermione said. "It is only fair since they did leave us alone to work on our defense."

Lunch turned out to be a mixed affair, each eating in relative silence with furtive looks between everyone. The twins were even withdrawn, as if waiting for some giant explosion. They would end up disappointed.

"Harry? Her-Hermione?" Ginny finally broke the silence.

"Yes?" Harry's wary response reflecting his unease.

"I need to apologize to you," Ginny was carefully contemplating the floor as she continued. "I… I made a lot of mistakes, did a lot of things I shouldn't have, and I'm sorry. I can only say that the influence I was under my first year was… it lingered. Bill took me to the goblins and helped cleanse the remnant in some ritual, but they said that it was weak enough that I could probably have fought it if I had tried. I didn't, I didn't want to. It showed me what I had always wanted and I never questioned it."

"Ginny…" Harry started, only to have her cut him off.

"No Harry, I need to say this." Ginny gathered herself a bit before continuing. "I did things to you, and to others, that never should have been done. I am trying to get better, I'm seeing a mind healer and I think it's helping. I know I don't deserve it, but I would like to try to be your friend again. I know it'll take time, but I'd like to be able to try."

Harry looked at Hermione, her chocolate eyes staring right back at him. They were so in tune with each other that their conversation required no words. An ear flick here, a tail swish there, a glint in an eye, and a shift in the corner of the other's mouth. No one else had a clue as to what was said, but they understood each other perfectly.

"You're right," Hermione said finally, sadly. "It would take a lot to return you to our friendship. It will probably take years to be honest. But if you are truly contrite, and truly want this, we will give you a chance." Ginny sagged with relief, and Hermione's voice hardened and her ears flattened. "Be warned though, you have absolutely zero good will left. We understand you were influenced by something very dark, but we also know it was just that; influence. It could have been ignored, yet you didn't. You acted on it, chose to act on it. Any further attacks on us will not be restrained by friendship, any more attempts to come between us will see you become our enemy, and never forgiven. Understood?"

"Y-Yes," Ginny stuttered, obviously petrified by the virulence in Hermione's tone. "Th-Thank you."

The rest of the afternoon went well, especially the cleaning. Mrs Weasley had prepared bottles of Doxycide, and expected them to clean manually. The confused looks on Harry and Hermione's faces led to Fred and George explaining that since they were still in school, and couldn't use magic, they were cleaning by hand. A quick discussion later, and both teens started cleaning with magic. This startled the others but after explaining that as a married couple they were legally allowed to do magic, the others sat back and let them do the cleaning. Molly was less than thrilled, but even her tantrum had no effect when Sirius interrupted and pointed out that it was his house and neither of the two were her children.

It really came to a head later that night after dinner when Molly tried to throw the pair out of the Order's meeting in the kitchen.

"Shoo, out with you," Molly waved her towel at the teens, trying to force them from the room.

"I think not Mrs Weasley," Harry said defiantly.

"Get out, it's time for the Order meeting and you don't need to be here," she huffed, moving threateningly closer.

"Actually, since it is about us, we do need to be here," Harry countered, moving out of the woman's reach.

"Nonsense," Molly scoffed. "The Order will decide what is best for you."

"So the Order knows best huh?" Hermione challenged. "So if they were to decide that you and your family needed to leave England you would do it? If they decided that each of your children had to be sent to different countries and fostered with dark families, for the greater good, you'd do so without question? If they decide that your daughter had to be sacrificed, allowed to be tortured and beaten, you would allow it?"

"Of course not, how could you suggest such a thing?" Mrs Weasley snapped.

"Because that is what Dumbledore wants to do to Harry. If you wouldn't let that happen to your family then why should we?" Hermione snapped back. "Just this morning Dumbledore tried to make off with Harry. His plan was to get Harry's aunt out of jail, where she'd been since she was convicted of child abuse, and send Harry back to live with her. The so-called leader of the Light wanted to send my husband to live with a convicted child abuser."

"Not only that, he was my supposed magical guardian, yet never checked on me or checked why I was always so small, why I had so many scars. He did in fact deflect inquiries into those questions," Harry continued. "He has repeatedly denied my marriage claiming that he never approved it and would never, despite the Director of the DMLE and his own school Mediwitch confirming it."

"So Mrs Weasley," Hermione slipped next to her husband, and moved to the table. "If there is a discussion about us, we will be involved in it."

"I… but…"

"No Mrs Weasley," Harry said firmly. "We will be here, we will participate, and we will be heard."

The meeting went about how they figured it would. When Albus got up and tried to continue as if nothing was wrong, McGonagall put an end to that. It was humbling to see the venerable Scotswoman take the old wanker apart on their behalf. The rest of the Order sat back, letting the power houses duke it out.

"I told you the day you left him at that awful house that they were the worst sort of Muggles, did I not?" Minerva challenged.

"You did, but I told you…"

"You told me nothing but empty platitudes Albus!" Minerva cut him off. "And what did you say when I asked about him? He's doing wonderfully. Hogwash, he was treated like a Malfoy house elf. Worse in fact, because someone that claimed to care for him kept him trapped there."

"He had to stay behind the wards, Minerva," Albus stated sadly. "Yes, he may not have had the best childhood," he plowed on through McGonagall's derisive snort. "But as long as he called his aunt's house home he was protected."

"He never called that prison a home," McGonagall countered. "Had you ever checked, had you ever given him a second thought after you left him on that doorstep with nothing but a blanket and a note, you'd have known your protections were not working. But no, you had to leave him for ten years. Ten years Albus, before you deigned to notice him again! Then what do you do? You set him up to once again face the darkest wizard we've ever known."

"That isn't precisely…"

"Don't give me that," she once again cut him off. "Hagrid's Cerberus, you made sure they were friends and knew Hagrid couldn't keep a secret. Devil's snare, something ready made for Longbottom, though he got left behind. Thankfully Mrs Potter pays attention and reads more than anyone I know. The flying keys were made for Harry, as was the chess game you insisted I make perfect for Mr Weasley. They had already defeated a troll, and both Hermione and Harry grew up in the Muggle world where critical thinking is actually taught, so Snape's logic puzzle was simple to them."

"Hold on a minute," Harry interrupted. "There's a simple way to solve this."

"Thank you Harry," Albus said kindly. "I knew I could count on you to support me."

"I never said that," Harry corrected darkly, then looked around the table before speaking. "Mr Shacklebolt, you are an Auror, correct? Effectively a magical policeman?"

"That is correct," the dark skinned man confirmed, a note of curiosity tainting his voice.

"So you know the laws pretty well," Harry paused, then continued when the man nodded. "What are the responsibilities of a magical guardian when the child in question is raised by muggles?"

"Well, it's an unusual situation to have a magical guardian before attending Hogwarts," the man began. "But the duties would be the same. Ensure the child is safe and cared for, if the child is hurt or something happens in the magical world, they are the point of contact for the muggle parents or caregivers. If the home is unsafe, they are to inform us, the DMLE, and assist in finding the solution that most benefits the child."

"And if the home environment is not safe and the magical guardian does not inform you?" Harry pressed. "Say the home is abusive. They would be guilty by proxy, correct?"

"It is not a well defined area, but yes," Shacklebolt confirmed.

"Harry, what are you getting at?" an older witch with icy blue eyes asked.

"For years, Albus Dumbledore has proclaimed he is my magical guardian," Harry said softly into the silence. "He has used and abused that position. He has denied men their due justice while protecting others who should have faced the consequences of their actions. He has declared many times that despite his insistence I compete in the Triwizard tournament, that I am not emancipated. He has denied my marriage because he did not, and would never, approve of it. He even today tried to claim he was my magical guardian and I had to do as he says."

"I'm not sure what you're getting at Harry," Dumbledore spoke in a curious tone, as if he was indulging a petulant child.

"I'm getting at this," Harry snarled, and turned his back to the crowd. Everyone in the room was confused about what Harry meant, until he raised the hem of his shirt to expose his bare back. Scars crossed his back, some thin, some thick, but all obviously lash marks. Even the trail of hair above his tail couldn't hide the marks, as the midnight fur turned white wherever a scar crossed into its domain. Harry flinched at the gasps and indrawn breaths. Hermione moved beside him and he buried his face in her neck, taking sanctuary in the perfume of her wild hair.

"Mr Shacklebolt," Hermione near hissed. "If a magical guardian allowed such marks to be inflicted upon his ward, and did not inform the DMLE, through ignorance or deliberate inaction, he would be guilty of child abuse himself, correct?"

Every eye in the room swiveled to Dumbledore, who was stunned by the actions of the teens. With a sigh, Kingsley rose, looked at Tonks and the wizened and grizzled man that had been introduced as the real Moody, and moved towards Dumbledore.

"Albus Dumbledore," Shacklebolt began as the other two rose as well, drawing their wands as they did. "You are-"

"Wait," Harry's voice cracked as he turned back. "As much as I want the bastard to pay, there are bigger issues to consider."

"Thank you-"

"SHUT UP" Harry snapped, and whatever Albus was going to say died, for no sound left his still moving mouth. Harry had silenced him, wandlessly, and everyone saw the effects. "You are through manipulating the situation old man." Harry stalked towards the silent Dumbledore. "You will stop all manipulation of myself or my friends, you will inform me of everything you know about Voldemort and his followers, and you will not try to manipulate, coerce, or otherwise influence anyone in this room or involved with me. You will not keep secrets about me or those close to me. Do that, and you will be allowed to stay free. Try anything and I'll have you thrown under Azkaban. I don't like you, but since Voldemort is back, and he fears you, you are needed to help ensure the safety of Hogwarts. I want a magical vow on this; the safety of the children there is the only reason I'm considering this. Do your bloody job, Headmaster, and protect everyone in that school."

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore looked around the room, and knew he'd lost.

A/N No, despite everything going on in my life this story is not dead. However, I am doing a massive rewrite of fifth year, changing the timeline around starting in what would be the next chapter so it will be a while before it's ready. I apologize for the delays, and just want to do you rabid fans justice in seeing this story to its finish in the manner you have come to expect from me.