The direction for this one has been tweaked a little, for a start Lily's parents survived the attempt to kill them off in a car crash with new identities and Missus Figg isn't a dotty old cat lady or over the hill woman of ill-repute, she's Harry's Great Grandmother who has had her memories wiped and been given a new identity a few times.
AU as usual, but the happenings around Halloween '81 will be a lot closer to canon than Other Harry in this one. James and Lily are killed, Sirius is induced to chase the rat and gets tossed into Azkaban without a trial and Harry is sent to Durzkaban.
However, Sirius is extracted from Azkaban and officially cleared by the Wizengamot with the assistance of the captured rat's Veritaserum testimony and memories within a few weeks…. And Harry was replaced with a Golem that's good enough to fool the Dursleys, Dumbledore and his watchers before the Dursleys could touch him.
As usual, all rights to anything from JKR's stories belong to her and as this is fiction, the events and people portrayed will not always match those of the real world.
James swore when he saw the dark figures approaching the front door of the cottage, without any alerts from the wards, because that meant that Lily and his parents had been right not to trust Albus. He barely had enough time to call out "Lily, he's here! Take Harry and go..." before the front door was blasted in. He found out the hard way that stunners and incarceration spells were utterly useless against Voldemort and less than half a minute later when he looked up from the floor to see the Killing Curse about to hit him, he realised that Albus had actually betrayed them even worse than Peter, whom he could plainly see standing just outside the ruined doorway…. Because all Albus' conditioning to never use curses that would harm or kill had just set them up to be maimed and slaughtered when they faced the Death Eaters, let alone Voldemort himself.
When Lily heard James' shout and then the door getting blasted in downstairs, she closed and sealed the door of the nursery, snatching up Harry and trying to disapparate, only to find that she was blocked from doing so, so she grabbed the portkey that Dumbledore had given them off the shelf and tried to use that, with the same result. The so-called unbreakable wards that Dumbledore erected around the cottage were supposed to block all inbound apparation and portkeys but allow both to be used to escape, so either the old bastard had lied about that, or Voldemort had added another layer of wards over Dumbledore's. Even if James hadn't stupidly loaned the Potter Invisibility Cloak to Dumbledore when he asked, there was no way for them to get to her Ship Trunk in the workroom downstairs without being caught by Voldemort….
So she looked Harry in the eye and told the family to look into the wards after she was gone, to find out why they hadn't alerted them of Voldemort's approach and wouldn't let her apparate or portkey out. She also said that she was just hoping that, if she couldn't stop Voldemort when he broke into the nursery, the protections they had placed over Harry would be enough to save him, and to make Dumbledore pay for this, because he was the one who was responsible for this happening to them. Then she quickly kissed Harry on the forehead, told him that she loved him very much and put him back in his crib, sending a Patronus message to Harry's Godfather Sirius to tell him that Voldemort was here and to keep Harry safe as she moved to stand between the door and Harry's crib, but not directly in front of Harry in case a curse aimed at her missed and hit him.
As soon as the door of the nursery was blasted in, she started hurling curses through the doorway. She knew that no-one on their side would have blasted in the door like that and she wasn't about to give up the advantage of surprise, so she was throwing everything she knew short of unforgivables in an attempt to take out as many as she could, hoping that she'd be lucky enough to catch out Voldemort and take him down before he could get to Harry. Unfortunately the snake faced bastard was as paranoid as she was and had cast strong shields before he blasted in the door, and one of the few things that couldn't be shielded against was the Killing Curse, so like James, Lily knew that she was done for when she saw one suddenly coming out of the dust and debris, heading straight for her. All she had time to do before it hit her was send a mental message of love to Harry, and then everything went black.
Voldemort was really hurting as he limped into the room, because the Mudblood had been powerful enough to get some curses through his shields and had surprised him with the lethal curses she had thrown at him without warning. Albus Dumbledore would pay for that because he had assured him through the followers he had in Dumbledore's Order that he would ensure that his people never used any of those curses. He mused out loud as he stopped beside the Mudblood's corpse and looked down at her.
"You have caused me considerable trouble Mudblood. Not only will I now be forced to heal myself before I allow any of my followers to see me, I promised you to Severus as a reward for his loyal service, just as I have promised Longbottom's wife to Wormtail. It will be most difficult to find another toy that will satisfy Severus, because he obsesses about you constantly. Why did you have to insist on fighting me, when it would have been so much easier for everyone if you just bowed to the inevitable?"
He shook his head and limped on to the crib, chuckling to himself when the toddler standing up in the crib glared defiantly at him with same vivid green eyes as the Mudblood. "You, too, have caused me trouble, child of the prophecy. It is a pity that you have to die, because if you have inherited your mother's strength and ferocity you would have made a formidable soldier for me, but the prophecy was clear, one of us must die at the hand of the other and I am afraid that it will be you who dies. When you see your mother in Death's realm, you can inform her that I saluted her as a worthy opponent, even if she was a Mudblood…. You can also inform Death that I have taken measures to ensure that I will not be standing before him until I am ready to do so, and that I have every intention of holding off that day for several Centuries at least."
With that, he raised his wand, pointed it at the boy and firmly incanted. "Avada Kedavra!"
Harry saw the same green light that hit his Mummy before she fell down shooting at him, but when it hit him, instead of disappearing like it did when it hit her, it stretched out until it reached the wand in the bad man's hand and then started pulsing. The bad man started screaming when the light started pulsing, because his skin was blackening as if he was burning up. Harry was screaming too, because it felt like his forehead where the green light hit him was burning up as well, but suddenly the green light blinked out and Harry and the bad man both collapsed. What Harry didn't see from where he was laying in his crib was that the bad man had just kept on burning until there was nothing left on the floor of the nursery but a pile of ash with some scraps of charred wood (from his wand) and cloth, and a few metal objects that looked as though they'd been through a fire.
About ten minutes after the green light first hit him, Harry struggled to sit up because someone was calling out "Master? Master, what's wrong, why were you screaming?" from the stairs. He thought he knew that voice, and that was explained when a face peeked fearfully around the ruined door frame. It was the nasty man Daddy called 'Wormtail' and Mummy called 'Rat'. "Master? Master, where are…."
He suddenly stopped talking when he saw the pile of ash and charred scraps in front of the crib…. Because with Potter dead downstairs, Evans dead on the floor in front of him and the brat in the crib, those ashes could only belong to one person, his Master, Lord Voldemort. The Rat knew that his other Master, the Headmaster, would blame him for what had happened here and that he'd be relegated to picking over scraps again now that Potter's and Lord Voldemort's money was gone…. So he did what his father had taught him, quickly sifting through his Master's ashes to locate whatever valuables and coin he had been carrying, doing the same with Evans' body (and taking the chance to feel her up that he never would have been brave enough to take when she or Potter were alive) and searching the rooms upstairs for any other coin or valuables he could find. He was angry that he hadn't found Evans' House rings or family jewellery, not realising that the rings and key Heirlooms had been flashed back to the Potter vaults the moment the Potters died.
There was a crack of apparation downstairs and he hastily transformed into his rat animagus form, scurrying under the Potters' bed to hide. He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Dumbledore calling out "Is anyone here?" downstairs, because he'd thought that that was Black arriving and knew that the mad bastard would have killed him in a heartbeat if he found him there with the dead Potters. He was tempted to stay under the bed in his rat form and sneak out when the Headmaster went into the nursery, but he had enough rat cunning to realise that it would go worse with him if he tried that and Dumbledore scanned the cottage and found him, which he was bound to do, so he came out from under the bed and changed back. "Up here Headmaster."
Dumbledore stomped up the stairs and barked. "What Happened? Why is the boy still alive?"
The Rat quavered. "I don't know Headmaster…. The Dark Lord came in, toyed with Potter for a few minutes and then killed him before heading upstairs. Evans had sealed the nursery, but when the Dark Lord blasted the door in, she attacked him, and she wasn't casting stunners either! It took him a lot longer to finish her off than Potter, and then he went into the nursery. I heard him casting the Killing Curse again, and then he started screaming. When I came upstairs to see what had happened, all I found was Evans dead on the floor, the brat in his crib looking like his face was burnt and a pile of ashes and burnt scraps of wood and cloth on the floor in front of the crib that used to be the Dark Lord. I know it was the Dark Lord because I recognise the remains of his wand and robes."
Dumbledore swept into the nursery and looked around, he didn't miss the fact that the ashes had been pawed through to find whatever valuables were left or that Evans' robes were half off her, but paid no notice to either of those things. He cast about to determine what spells had been cast in the room, frowning at what the Mudblood had been casting because everyone in the Order had been forbidden to cast most of them, but the most interesting thing in the room was the dark magic emanating from the brat. Closer scans revealed that there was a miasma of dark magic centred around where a protection rune had been burnt deep into the boy's forehead.
(What they didn't show was that that dark magic was basically nothing more than the 'impurities' that had been filtered out of the magical energy that was forcibly sucked out of Voldemort after he cast the Killing Curse at Harry. Harry's little body was so overcharged with magical energy that he was almost exploding, and he probably would have if they hadn't prepared him to be able to accept and hold in additional magic through that protection ritual. Voldemort's image and memories had been sucked out with his magic, but they would remain locked away in one of the prepared 'memory vaults' in Harry's head until he made a conscious effort to look inside the vault. The fact that Voldemort's body had been burnt up by the remaining free magic from his magic being forcibly released and sucked out of him was an indication of just how much had been passed from Voldemort to Harry.)
At that point, there was another 'crack' of incoming apparation from outside and the wards told Albus that it was Sirius Black (he had total control of the wards because the cottage had been the Dumbledore Family home for the last Ninety years). He snapped at Pettigrew (Peter Pettigrew, AKA 'Wormtail' and 'Rat'). "It's Black, hide!" Then he stunned the brat and hurried downstairs as Pettigrew changed into his rat form and found a hole to hide in.
Black was kneeling beside Potter's body when Albus got downstairs. He put on his sorrowful grandfather face and said. "Alas, Lily is also dead upstairs, and Harry is gone, Voldemort must have taken him."
As Black started for the stairs, Albus hit him with an 'Obliviate!' and said. "Voldemort killed James and Lily but his killing curse rebounded on him and destroyed his physical form when he tried to kill Harry. You arrived as Hagrid was leaving with Harry. At that point you decided that as Harry was safe, your job was to go after Peter and bring him to justice. You will check all the Order safe houses from here to London, looking for Peter."
He smirked to himself as Black repeated "Yes, Harry is safe so I will find Wormtail and make him pay!" and rushed out the door to apparate away.
"Pettigrew!"
Pettigrew appeared in his Human form at the top of the stairs. "Get down here! I've got to show you where to start digging so that the ward stones around the cottage will be ready to remove by the time I get back from sending the boy off to his new home."
He showed Pettigrew where to dig and then apparated back to Hogwarts with the boy, where he obliviated that oaf Hagrid and told him that he had retrieved the boy from Godric's Hollow after his parents were killed by Voldemort and now he was going to fly Sirius Black's enchanted motorcycle that Black had enlarged for him to use to Little Whinging in Surry to deliver the boy to the only relatives he had left, Lily's Muggle sister and her family.
Once the oaf had left with the boy, he apparated back to Godric's Hollow. Luckily Pettigrew was enough afraid of him to get the task he was given done by the time he returned, so he collected the ward stones and gave him his next instructions. "Go back to your flat in London and then leave a trail of clues from there to the street where the Black Townhouse is. Scan around that street until you find a gas pipe access point that's close enough to a storm sewer opening for you to be able to set off an explosion and then use that to cover up you escaping down the sewer in your rat form. When Black catches up to you, start shouting about him betraying James and Lily until you've attracted enough attention to cover your escape, use a cutting curse to remove one of the minor fingers on your off hand so it looks like you were killed, then a blasting curse on the access point to cover your escape and get away through the storm sewer in your rat form. Go to your mother's flat once you're clear and I'll see you there. Do you understand what you need to do? You know that if you don't get this right, Black will keep coming after you until he catches you!"
Pettigrew went white at the idea of that and squeaked. "Yes Headmaster, I know what I have to do!"
Dumbledore nodded. "Well get to it then! I have a lot more work to do tonight!"
With that, he apparated away with the ward stones, and Pettigrew wasn't far behind as he suddenly remembered that it would be very bad for him if anyone found him there.
It took Albus over over three hours to place the ward stones, erect the wards and modify Vernon and Petunia Dursley's memories and behaviour enough to ensure that they would treat Harry Potter the way he needed to be treated for him to arrive at Hogwarts weakened enough to ensure that Tom didn't fail to kill him a second time. He also spend over and hour and a half finding a suitable house for sale for Arabella Figg to watch the Dursley house from, and making the couple in the house sign it over free and clear and move out by lunch time the next day, leaving everything but their clothes and personal mementos and their automobile behind so that Arabella could move straight in. The compulsions he cast on them, which resulted in the couple dying in a car accident when he triggered it a day later, would have been enough to have Dumbledore thrown through the Veil of Death if it wasn't for the fact that he'd had a law passed over Thirty years earlier that gave any sitting Chief Wizard or Chief Witch, Minister for Magic, Head of St Mungo's and Headmaster or Headmistress of Hogwarts immunity from prosecution in Magical Britain, for any crime.
When he was done, he apparated back to Hogwarts to collect Minerva McGonagall and bring her to Little Whinging. Unfortunately, Evans had apparently told McGonagall all about her sister and her husband and as soon as she realised where they were, she went off. Perhaps that was a good thing though because it allowed him to appropriately amend the instructions of what she would remember after he obliviated her.
Unfortunately for Albus, Minerva's first action when she returned to her chambers at Hogwarts after Hagrid delivered the boy and they left him on the Dursleys' doorstep was to seal her chambers and head straight into her trunk, because the Old Families had come up with processes to identify and contain Albus Bloody Dumbledore and his ilk's attempts to obliviate them and allow them to recover any memories they may have lost. Minerva's trunk was was one of the hundreds of Vargr Ship Trunks which had the Runic Portals that only the Old Families and Clan Gott in the Goblin Nation knew about, and she used that to call an urgent meeting of the Elders Council of the Old Families.
As the only one of the Three who currently had full control of his family heirlooms and with the wholehearted approval of Harry's undead maternal grandparents, Arcturus Black the Third, the current Lord and Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black and its associated Houses and Clans and Harry's Great Grandfather, had the House of Black's Fleet Trunk Bran create a Golem with Harry's current appearance and magical signature. The Potter Elves quietly popped in and replaced Harry with the Golem as soon as it had been created, so Harry was safe and sound by the time Petunia Dursley came out to get the milk and found a baby in a basket on their doorstep.
Harry had already been examined by the Healers, had all traces of dark magic cleaned off him, the wound from where he was burnt by the protection rune as it prevented dark magic entering him healed and was sleeping peacefully by the time the sun rose that morning. They'd extracted his memories of the night, so they saw Lily's message and what happened in the nursery up to the point where Dumbledore stunned him. Voldemort's comments about Harry being a child of prophecy and message for Death were worrying, and it had their people in the Unspeakables looking for the prophecy and hunting for information about what they believed the measures he was referring to were.
Some of the Family were asking why in the Seven Hells Sirius was off gallivanting around somewhere when James and Lily had been killed and his Godson had been in mortal peril, but they were ashamed of themselves when Frank Longbottom reported that they'd been attacked that night as well…. And that it had been his boss, Head Auror Amelia Bones turning up with a message from Sirius that they could well be in danger because Lily had sent him a message to say that Voldemort was at the cottage which meant that they were ready and waiting when the Lestranges, Severus Snape, Barty Crouch Junior, Rodrick Travers and half a dozen other Death Eaters suddenly turned up inside their wards. (How they got inside the wards was another problem, but while that had nothing to do with Sirius, it was the reason the Death Eaters weren't the only ones to die in the attack.)
And Sirius' name was just about completely cleared after they used Lily's Ship Trunk to get into the cottage and analysed the magic that had been cast there that night… As from the traces of magical scans made over James' body that had his magical signature, it was almost certain that the powerful 'Obliviate' cast by Dumbledore nearby had been used to wipe out Sirius' memory of what actually happened and program him to go off and do something to get him out of the way. Unfortunately they couldn't check what Lily said about the wards, because the ward stones had been dug up and taken away, so the wards were gone. The only thing left was the Fidelius hiding the cottage...
They weren't going to give Dumbledore or anyone else any opportunity to do use James and Lily's bodies or blood for their own ends though, so they replaced their bodies with realistic simulacrams, then went through the cottage, replacing everything personal, valuable or important to the Potters with conjured copies (unless it contained sensitive information, in which case it was just removed) and putting the originals into Lily's Trunk. When everything important had been cleared out of the cottage, Wulfram Vargr, who Lily had keyed into her Trunk as her Mentor, shrank the trunk, put it in his pocket and used one of his special runic portkeys to leave.
They knew that Dumbledore would be trying to get his hands on the Potter Money, and while James and Lily's vaults had all been locked down when they died Harry's trust vault was still active, so under the Director of Gringotts' orders, the Potter Account Manager had all non-monetary items in Harry's vault moved into other Potter vaults, along with nearly all of the coin. The account records were then adjusted to show that his trust vault would be topped up to One Hundred Galleons on his birthday each year until his Fifth Birthday, Two Hundred Galleons from his Sixth to Tenth Birthdays, Five Hundred Galleons from his Eleventh to Sixteenth and a Thousand Galleons from Seventeen to Twenty Four. Withdrawal limits were set at Ten Galleons per month up until he turned Six, Twenty Galleons a month from Six to Ten, and Fifty Galleons a month from Eleven to Seventeen (with the exception of August, when he could withdraw Two Hundred Galleons for school supplies and expenses). Once he reached his majority he was expected to be responsible enough to control his own spending. Any requests to withdraw amounts in excess of the monthly limit had to be submitted in writing to the Potter Account Manager with reasons for the request and he would determine whether or not to approve the request. These rules (which the official records would show had been in place since Harry was born) would restrict how much money Dumbledore could steal from Harry if he managed to get assigned control over Harry by the Wizengamot as they strongly suspected he'd be trying for, but Charlus Potter had had a reputation for being very careful with money, so it would be quite believable that he would have had Harry's trust vault set up like that.
It took them two weeks to find out what had happened to Sirius, two weeks of watching his name being dragged through the mud by the Daily Prophet on the basis of lies told by Albus Bloody Dumbledore…. While the traitor Pettigrew had been awarded an Order of Merlin FIRST Class 'posthumously' for bravely giving his life in an attempt to stop that foul traitor, the Dark Lord's right hand man Sirius Black, and all it took for real Death Eaters to get off free and clear was to claim that they were under the Imperius Curse and make a suitable 'donation' to whatever so-called charity was being used to funnel money to the people who were being bought off. Luckily, Peter Pettigrew was too stupid to stay out of sight when he was a supposedly dead hero and he was caught after one of their people saw him haggling over prices with a street whore in Muggle London.
Amelia pumped Pettigrew to the gills with Veritaserum and he sang like a bird. The Pure-Blood mind set worked in their favour, because while neither Pettigrew or Dumbledore were Pure-Bloods, they shared their arrogant stupidity, so it never occurred to either of them that anyone would recognise Pettigrew in Muggle London… And Dumbledore had told him things that he really shouldn't have because he was certain that it would never get back to Magical Britain. What he told Pettigrew gave them the clues they needed to work out out where Sirius' file was hidden, and meagre contents of that file gave them more than enough justification to call for a Secret Emergency Session of the Full Wizengamot to be held the next day.
Another thing that was going in their favour was that Dumbledore, Minister Bagnold and Director Crouch of the DMLE were mired down in so many dodgy dealings that they didn't have a clue what issue the emergency session had been called to address.
As soon as the Wizengamot Chamber was sealed by Dumbledore, as the Chief Warlock, Arcturus stood and when Dumbledore refused to recognise him, he made him recognise him, and that's when the fun started.
"I, Lord Arcturus Sirius Black, Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black and Its Associated Houses and Clans, challenge the right of Chief Warlock Albus Dumbledore, Minister for Magic Millicent Bagnold and Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to preside over this Secret Emergency Session of the Full Wizengamot… In fact I challenge their right to represent or in any way be associated with the Wizengamot or Ministry of Magic of Magical Britain and charge them with attempting to unlawfully end the primary line of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black! I have in my hands, proof that these three ordered Baron Sirius Orion Black, Heir Primary of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black and Its Associated Houses and Clans, be incarcerated in Azkaban Prison for life without his being tried before any formal Wizengamot Court or Tribunal, any formal investigation or any formal charges being tendered against him. I demand that they pay for these crimes!"
The Wizengamot Chamber erupted with cries of outrage, even those who were part of Dumbledore, Bagnold and Crouch's factions were outraged that these three from mere Minor Houses would dare to have the Heir Primary of a Most Noble and Most Ancient House, one of the three Founding Houses of Magical Britain no less, thrown into Azkaban without any of due process afforded to the most inconsequential of the captured Death Eaters. When someone hesitantly pointed out that the charges levelled against them needed to be verified before anything could be done, Arcturus bit out.
"Not with those three sitting up there! Get them down on the floor of the Chamber to answer the questions of the Wizengamot and install appropriate replacements to preside over this session, and then we'll verify the details!"
Arcturus may have been in his Eighties, but no-one was willing to challenge him when he was in a towering rage like this, so Dumbledore, Bagnold and Crouch's cries of outrage were ignored as they were hustled down to the floor of the chamber and forced into the accused's chairs that had appeared before the Wizengamot Officers' benches. The way the magic suppressing chains that were part of the chairs wrapped tightly around them as soon as their arses hit the chairs proved that they were definitely guilty of something.
Tiberius Ogden, as one of the senior members of the Wizengamot, took Dumbledore's place as Chief Warlock, Saul Croaker, as Director of the Department of Mysteries, took Bagnold's place as senior representative of the Ministry of Magic and Amelia Bones, as Head of the Auror Office, took Crouch's place as senior representative of the DMLE.
While she was well aware that the file Arcturus had was everything relating to Sirius' arrest and imprisonment, to show that they'd dotted the 'i's and crossed the 't's, Amelia sent a Senior Auror to retrieve certified copies of all files on record from the last Century that referred to anyone named Sirius Black. She was well aware that the majority of the files would relate to Arcturus' father, Sirius' Great Grandfather, and that most of the rest would refer to Auror Sirius Black's service record, but Lily Evans had made them see how wilfully blind most Witches and Wizards in Britain were…
So the files the Auror brought back would be an eye opener for the Wizengamot as they showed that the only Sirius Black who was likely to do what Sirius was accused of was in fact the current Sirius Black's Great Grandfather, who had died eight years before the current Sirius Black was born. It would also force Crouch to explain why he had been so eager to incarcerate the Auror who had one of the best records in his department for putting down and putting away Death Eaters without even questioning him.
Bringing out Pettigrew and making him testify under Veritaserum would expose Dumbledore's lies about Sirius being the Potters' Secret Keeper, not to mention killing Pettigrew, and give them a chance to put him under Veritaserum, because unlike Bagnold and Crouch, Dumbledore didn't have the Pure-Bloods' protection against being forced to testify under Veritaserum. They had the least material on Bagnold, all they could hit her with in this matter was the fact that she had co-signed an order that she had to have known was unlawful, but Arcturus' charge that she was unfit to represent or be associated with the Ministry would give them the opening they needed to question just how she had amassed so much money in the eighteen months since she became Minister for Magic, and query how that related to a number of questionable actions which had occurred under her leadership, especially her sudden increase in Gringotts visits since Samhain. With the way tempers would be running hot in this session, they shouldn't have too much trouble getting her dismissed as Minister and permanently banned from the Ministry.
Amelia snickered to herself as she thought about how angry Uncle Saul had been when she first told him that she'd be nominating him to replace Bagnold, but he was the only one they could trust who had any chance of getting voted in. Uncle Wulf also grumbled about having to replace Saul as Director of the Department of Mysteries, but accepted that it was inevitable. On the other hand, Uncle Tiberius didn't have an issue with being put forward as the next Chief Wizard and Frank and Uncle Arcturus had already told her they would be making sure that she would be the new Director of the DMLE… But she had plans to get Frank back for that by making him Head Auror in her place. Alice would back her in that, especially after they'd lost James and Lily and Edgar and Amanda the way they did, Frank was Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Longbottom and had his Heir to protect and raise to take over from him, he had no business putting himself at risk unnecessarily.
It was quickly agreed that sending Sirius to Azkaban without a trial had been unlawful, and that the three parties who did so had known full well that it was unlawful. Sirius was quickly retrieved from Azkaban to be tried, but Dumbledore, Bagnold and Crouch were left just where they were. There was a marked lack of sincerity in the apology when Bagnold was told that they wished that they could release her from the chair, but that was not possible until after Lord Black's charge that she was unfit to represent the Ministry had been resolved, and getting Heir Black out of the hell hole that was Azkaban to stand trial, as he should have done before he went there, was obviously their first priority.
When Sirius had no trouble testifying under Veritaserum that he was innocent of what he'd been accused of, Crouch of course started spouting off about the Blacks obviously having some way to beat Veritaserum, because they were the oldest and most powerful of the Dark Houses, and that all Death Eaters claimed to be innocent, but they were obviously lying. That gave Frank the opportunity he had been waiting for.
"You mean like your son and Heir Bartemius Crouch Junior? Oh I'm sorry Uncle Barty, you did know that your son and Heir was killed while attacking Longbottom Manor with his fellow Death Eaters on Samhain, didn't you? If not, it also is my sad duty to inform you that before he was killed in the process of attempting to end the line of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Longbottom, Cousin Barty murdered his aunt, that is my mother and your sister, Augusta Longbottom née Crouch. What I really don't understand is that Mother was the one who gave Barty the secret to the Fidelius Charm and then let him and his fellow Death Eaters through the wards… But even though she was apparently working with him to try and wipe out my family, Cousin Barty couldn't help himself and killed her anyway. I never knew that the Crouch family were such treacherous psychopaths, but I'm glad that the Longbottom blood was obviously strong enought to overcome those traits."
Crouch was frothing at the mouth as he screamed that Frank was lying and he was going to kill him, and Frank kept prodding him until he had a massive heart attack. With his magic being suppressed it couldn't heal the damage, so he was dead before they could get a healer into the chamber, and those stupid Muggle ideas about using CPR or whatever it was called to revive the dead person were decried as necromancy, so no decent Witch or Wizard would ever consider using them.
A Ministry flunky popped up at that point and tried to claim all assets of the extinct House of Crouch for the Ministry, but he tried to hide under his seat when Frank shot to his feet and challenged him to an Honour Duel.
Tiberius was having trouble keeping a straight face when he asked Frank what the problem with the Ministry claiming the assets of an Extinct House was and in answer Frank drew himself up and made a decree. "I, Lord Francis Harfang Longbottom, Magically Accepted Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Longbottom and Its Associated Houses and Clans, hereby claim in the name of the House of Longbottom, all titles, lands and other assets belonging to the Noble and Ancient House of Lestrange and Minor House of Crouch by Right of Conquest, So Mote it Be!"
There was a flash as Magic accepted his decree and Frank went on in a more moderate tone. "That is why, Chief Warlock Ogden, the Ministry's representative was attempting to steal what rightfully belonged to the House of Longbottom…. Madam Bones, to prevent anyone attempting to steal what is rightfully yours, perhaps you should claim what you are due at this time as well?"
Amelia nodded. "Yes, you are quite right Lord Longbottom, thank you for that reminder..."
With that she stood up. "I. Madam Amelia Susan Bones, daughter of the House of Bones and Magically Accepted Regent of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Bones and Its Associated Houses and Clans, do hereby claim in my own name all titles, lands and other assets belonging to the Noble Houses of Prince and Travers and Minor House of Snape by right of Conquest. A new cadet branch of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Bones will be formed by me in my own right with the claimed titles, lands and other assets. So Mote It Be!"
There was a flash as her oath was accepted as well and she turned to Tiberius and explained.
"Severus Snape and Rodrick Travers also took part in the Death Eater attack on the Longbottom Family on Samhain Sir. Sirius Black had contacted me and asked me, as Head Auror, to warn the Longbottoms that they may be in danger, because he had received a message from Lily Potter to say that the Potters were being attacked by Voldemort and he was heading there to try and aid them. I had access to Longbottom Manor so I went to deliver the warning in person and assist if anything happened and just after I arrived eleven Death Eaters appeared inside the wards. I engaged Snape, Travers and some of the lesser Death Eaters while Lord and Lady Longbottom engaged the Lestranges, Barty Crouch Junior and the others. As I put Snape and Travers down in combat myself, whatever they owned is mine to claim by Right of Conquest, and as they were both heads of their Houses, that includes the titles, holdings and fortunes of their Houses."
Tiberius nodded. "Quite right Lady Bones, but may I ask why the public was not made aware of the attack on the Longbottoms before this?"
"We have been trying to keep it quiet while we rounded up everyone else associated with the attack Chief Warlock Ogden. We captured four of the Death Eaters alive and have been questioning them in custody since then. We were planning on putting them on trial once we finished questioning them, but that plan has obviously been derailed by the Ministry representative's attempt to steal the assets of the House of Crouch from the House of Longbottom."
Tiberius nodded again. "Well as that plan has, as you say, been derailed by the Ministry's representative, are you ready to prosecute those four at this time?"
Amelia thought for a moment and nodded. "Yes Sir, I doubt that there's much more we can get out of them. Truth be told, we didn't get much out of them at all because the Lestranges, Crouch, Snape and Travers were the only ones high enough in Voldemort's organisation to know much and they all died in the attack on the Longbottoms."
"Very well, may I suggest that we bring them in and try them once we're done with the matter of Baron Black's unlawful incarceration?"
Amelia nodded again. "Certainly Sir, I'll get someone to bring them from the holding cells."
Dumbledore almost had a heart attack too when they brought Pettigrew in. After Pettigrew's testimony under Veritaserum, his immunity from prosecution was the only thing that saved him from a trip through the Veil for his part in James and Lily's deaths and his lies that could well have killed Sirius too. They pushed him even closer to a heart attack when they stripped Pettigrew's Order of Merlin from him and gave it to Sirius in apology for what had been done to him and recognition of what he'd done in the Blood War, then presented evidence that a) His true name was in fact Albus Percival Dumbledore, not Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, who his Order was issued to. and b) That the remarkable feat of valour that he had supposedly earned his Order of Merlin with had been the killing of the Dark Lord Gellert Grindelwald in an epic, hours long duel, when in fact he had merely snuck up behind his lover Gellert Grindelwald and stunned him, and Grindelwald was living in relative comfort in Nurmengard up until he was arrested by the ICW a week ago…
The Wizengamot was outraged to find that they had been played for fools for over thirty five years and stripped the Order of Merlin from Dumbledore then and there, along with the Baronetcy that went with it (which also went to Sirius) so that the Minor House of Dumbledore reverted to the Dumbledore Family. While they were on a roll, they stripped the positions of Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and Magical Britain's representative to the International Confederation of Wizards from him and permanently banned him from being part of or representing the Wizengamot or Ministry of Magical Britain in any capacity, which in turn cost him his position as Supreme Mugwump of the ICW, because you had to be an official part of the ICW to lead it.
Clearing Sirius and having Pettigrew and the other Death Eaters sentenced to be sent through the veil of Death went fairly quickly after that, and as Bagnold was considerably smarter than the other two, she made it easier for them by resigning as Minister for Magic and accepting the permanent ban from Ministry and Wizengamot activities without a quibble. That allowed her to walk away with her head held high and most of the money she'd accumulated as Minister.
Dumbledore on the other hand proved that he was nowhere near as bright as he thought he was, because he insisted on being allowed to assign the proxies to the Potter seats as was his right before the votes were taken for his, Bagnold's and Crouch's replacements. Tiberius looked up at Arcturus and Arcturus nodded with a smile, because if he had to do the work of being Chief Warlock, Tiberius certainly deserved to get the fun parts too.
Tiberius smiled and waved to the large crystal mounted on a pedestal before the Wizengamot Officers' benches that was commonly known as the Stone of Truth, but its function was to provide Humans with a way to directly interact with the Magic of the Wizengamot (and the Wizards and Druid Councils before that). "Very well Mister Dumbledore, if you believe that you have the right to assign the voting proxies for the House of Potter, you may use the Stone of Truth to do so."
"What are you talking about? I will be instructing the Clerk of the Court who the Proxies are to go to."
Tiberius affected a comically confused look. "Surely you jest Mister Dumbledore? You could not possibly have held the position of Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot for over Thirty Five years without gaining any understanding of how the Magic of the Wizengamot works?"
Dumbledore was getting rather miffed with the firewhisky maker. "My numerous duties have not allowed me the time to delve into the minutia of the mechanisms of government Tiberius, that is why we have staff to do these things for us."
Tiberius frowned at him. "That is Chief Warlock Ogden Mister Dumbledore, or Acting Chief Warlock Ogden if you insist on being pedantic! You have always insisted that others address you by your proper titles, so you should have no trouble understanding the concept…. And the very idea that getting a proper understanding of the Magic of the Wizengamot is something that is beneath the Chief Warlock simply boggles belief. It is no wonder that you failed in your duty so catastrophically if you never bothered to take the time to learn about something so important. The Wizengamot, and therefore the role of the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, revolves around the Magic of the Wizengamot!"
"I have neither the time nor the inclination to bother attempting to rectify your ignorance so I will merely say that the Stone of Truth is the only way to assign voting proxies in the Wizengamot. If you truly have the right to assign proxies, it will do as you command, if not it will inform you and everyone else present that you have no right to do it…. So either place your hands on the Stone and assign your proxies or go to the visitors gallery and stop wasting the Wizengamot's time!"
Dumbledore stomped over to the Stone in a huff and placed his hands on the crystal, declaring in a loud, clear voice. "I, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, authorised by the Wizengamot of Magical Britain to be the guardian of Harry James Potter until he reaches his majority, hereby declare that Elphias Doge is to hold the voting proxies of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter and Its Associated Houses and Clans, and Amos Diggory is to hold the voting proxies of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Peverell and Its Associated Houses and Clans. So Mote It Be!"
On the a pause as the Stone judged Dumbledore's right to do this, Amelia looked across at Tiberius and Saul and stage whispered. "He parroted most of that back pretty well, do you think he deserves a treat for that?"
Any response beyond a snort was cut off as the Stone 'spoke'. "You are not Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, your true name is Albus Percival Dumbledore. You lack the minimum qualification of a Hereditary Knighthood to hold a seat on the Wizengamot of Magical Britain, so you have no right to stand here, trying to act as a member of the Wizengamot. The Family Magic of the Houses of Potter and Peverell does not accept you in any capacity and therefore you have no right to represent the Houses of Potter and Peverell in any matters. You do not have the right to represent any Houses, Clans or Families in the Wizengamot, including the Dumbledore Family."
When the Stone finished 'speaking', Tiberius choked down his laughter and said. "I did try to warn you that everyone would hear if you tried to wrongfully claim rights Mister Dumbledore. Now if you would take your seat with the other visitors, the Wizengamot has business to conduct…."
He was cut off by Sirius standing to be recognised. "I apologise for causing further delays Chief Warlock Ogden, but I have a pressing question for Albus Percival Dumbledore."
Tiberius waved for him to continue, looking forward to the old fool getting another slap down.
"Where is my Godson Dumbledore? I have been informed that none of the chosen guardians nominated in James and Lily's wills know where he is and the last I saw him, Hagrid was taking him to you."
Dumbledore got a smug look on his face, happy that he'd get at least one win today. "Alas, I cannot divulge that information Sirius. The Wizengamot gave me the irrevocable appointment to serve as Harry Potter's guardian until he reaches his majority, so his safety is my responsibility and I will not risk him being exposed to Dark Wizards."
"How, pray tell, were you appointed to be Harry's guardian when both James and Lily's wills clearly state that as his Godfather, I am first choice to be his Guardian, then the Longbottoms and a number of other notable and trusted citizens of Magical Britain after them?"
"I was forced to have James and Lily's wills sealed for Harry's protection until he reaches his majority, so I have no knowledge of what is in them…. Or whether what you say is true."
Sirius was furious and barked "Clerk…." he made an obvious effort to compose himself and then started again. "Please allow me to offer you my unreserved apologies for that unintended slight Sir Horace. I am afraid that my lack of information about my Godson's health and whereabouts has rendered me rather overwrought at the moment. Would you be so kind as to inform me whether and if so when Lord and Lady Potter's wills were in fact sealed and Albus Dumbledore appointed by the Wizengamot to serve as his guardian….. Whether that appointment is in fact irrevocable… What the precise wording of the appointment and sealing are… And who and how many Wizengamot members voted for this travesty please?"
"Certainly Baron Black, I will do so momentarily…..."
The Clerk broke off as he found the relevant entries, and he was obviously getting angrier as he read what was recorded, when he was done reading he quickly checked a few things and then addressed Sirius.
"I must admit to becoming exceedingly angry myself about what has been done Baron Black, and I will be seeking advice from the DMLE as to whether any of the parties involved can be charged for their actions, because they are at the very least, borderline illegal…."
"As to your specific questions…. Lord and Lady Potter's wills were in fact sealed and Albus Dumbledore was officially appointed as Harry James Potter's Guardian in Magical Britain until he reached his legal majority on the day after Samhain, the First of November Nineteen Eighty One. At that time both you and Lord and Lady Longbottom were all available to take Lord Potter in because this was before the incident that you were arrested for. As both decrees were specifically worded as to be irrevocable, are under the official seal of the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot of Magical Britain and the Wizengamot Members present voted almost unanimously to approve the Chief Warlock's requests, they do indeed appear to be irrevocable in Magical Britain until Harry James Potter reaches his legal majority. I will provide copies of the actual wording to you My Lord but while clumsy they are, on the face of it at least, legally binding."
"As for the members voting these measures in, this and the person serving as Clerk of the Court are what I wish to seek advice of the DMLE in regard to. For a start, no one who was qualified and approved to serve as the Wizengamot's Clerk of the Court was notified of or in any way involved with this secret Tribunal of the Wizengamot. The person who officially served as Clerk of the Court for this Tribunal does not meet the minimum requirement of holding a Hereditary Knighthood to sit on the Wizengamot and serve as one of its Officers. He also has absolutely no legal training or experience and is, to put it bluntly, nothing more than a rather mediocre filing clerk currently employed in the Wizarding Administration Services office. For another, there were barely enough Wizengamot members present in this Tribunal to qualify for the determination of a minor matter, let alone the determination of the guardianship of the person and estates of the Lord of two of the three most senior Most Noble and Most Ancient Houses of Magical Britain…. And lastly, there was no representation from the majority of the factions which make up the Wizengamot, as per the mandatory requirement for all Wizengamot Courts and Tribunals, all members sitting on this Tribunal were part of what used to be Mister Dumbledore's faction… It is clear to me that this was an obvious attempt to circumvent both the wills of Lord and Lady Potter and the requirements of the Wizengamot to gain control of Lord Potter, but while it's at best only borderline legal and I am certain that we will be able to prosecute at least some of the parties involved, at this time I cannot see any way to overturn the guardianship of Harry James Potter in Magical Britain before he is legally of age."
Sirius was fighting the urge to laugh, as Horace was being rather obvious in repeatedly pointing out the three biggest mistakes the bastard had made. First and foremost, Harry James Potter didn't exist, not in the context of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter anyway, because Harry was a diminutive of Henry, and it was only ever used in informal settings, such as Harry or Harry Potter… Shite, even when Lily was chiding him as a baby, she'd used Henry any time she used his middle name… For that matter Harry's true name in Magical Britain at this point in time was Henry James Potter-Peverell, and if he became Head of the House of Black as well as they intended, it would be Henry James Potter-Peverell-Black… While in the Mundane world he had official birth certificates in the names of Henry James Potter, Henry James Evans, Henry James Potter-Evans, Henry James Rosier, Henry James Potter-Rosier, Henry James Russo, Henry James Potter-Russo, Henry James Rosier-Russo, Henry James Peverell, Henry James Black, Henry James Black-Rosier and Henry James Black-Russo on record in a number of different countries so that. a) He had citizenship and different identities in a number of countries to hide under if necessary. And b) He could use the different identities to get a much broader education than would normally be possible without attracting too much attention….
Dumbledore's next major mistake was specifying him reaching his legal majority, rather than the age of Seventeen, because Harry had already reached his legal majority. To ensure the stability of the Laws of Magic in Magical Britain, the original charters for the Houses of Potter, Peverell and Black all specified that the Heir Apparent or Primary would ascend to the titles of Earl and Head of House and therefore be deemed of legal age the moment the previous Earl died, irrespective of their physical age. This was an attempt to ensure that the Founding Houses would always have extant Heads of House, so that their Family Magics would continue to provide the foundations for the Laws of Magic in Magical Britain. So Harry was legally of age and accepted as Lord Potter-Peverell before he left the cottage in Godric's Hollow that night….
And his third mistake was that the guardianship appointment was specifically limited to Magical Britain, but Dumbledore had dumped Harry in Muggle Britain.
All in all, Dumbledore's machinations had gained him nothing, as from what Moody had whispered to him as he was escorting him to the Wizengamot Chamber… Apparently what Dumbledore had stashed away in Lily's sister's house in the Muggle World was in fact a realistic Golem which Grandfather Arcturus had organised and they'd somehow replaced Harry with before he was taken into the house. Presuming that he could believe that, and he was confident that he could, Harry and the Houses of Potter and Peverell were safe from interference at this point, so he could have some fun while letting the old bastard thinking he'd won.
"Thank you for your candour Sir Horace. I am sure that it will be no surprise to you that I share your outrage at this deliberate attempt to circumvent the legal processes of Magical Britain and hope that you will be able to being as many of those responsible to justice as possible. Please advise the House of Black if we can be of any assistance in this matter….."
He turned to look at Dumbledore and growled. "This isn't over old man, if anyone harms a hair on my Godson's head, I will be doing everything I can to bring the might of the House of Black down on your head!"
Sirius smirked, because from the way Dumbledore was walking as he hurried off to the visitors' gallery, it looked like he'd succeeded in frightening the old bastard.
As Tiberius was about to get into the business of electing Dumbledore, Bagnold and Crouch's replacements, Arcturus stood to be recognised.
"My apologies Chief Warlock Ogden, but I too have a matter which I believe needs to be addressed before we proceed with the matters you have been attempting to get to for a while now."
Tiberius nodded, as he knew what Arcturus was up to and was actually looking forward to it. "Very well Lord Black, if you feel that this is necessary, please proceed."
"I thank you my Lord, I will require the use of the Stone of Truth to proceed."
Tiberius just waved to the Stone and Arcturus moved to it quickly.
Lucius Malfoy was another one who wasn't as bright as he thought he was, because his first thought was that the old man was disowning Sirius Black, which would put his son Draco next in line to become Lord Black…. Though that could just have been desperation speaking, because after losing the Rosier fortune (and votes) to some unknown parties when old man Rosier died in the early Seventies and the Lestrange fortune to Longbottom just now, plus what they had had to pay out to get those sitting on the Tribunals to accept the Imperius defence, the Dark Houses needed to get a serious influx of money in order to stay afloat.
At first Lucius thought that Old Man Black was just taking the opportunity to twist the knife a little, because he started out by confirming his identity with the Stone of Truth and calling for the eradication of the Wizarding Family of Dumbledore and claiming all assets of the Wizarding Family of Dumbledore in the name of the House of Black as compensation for his attempt to defame and kill the Primary Heir of the House of Black.
But he couldn't do anything but stare in horror once that was done, as the old man then used the Stone to verify that the Dark Lord was neither a Lord or a Pure-Blood, his mother had been a Squib from the lowly Gaunt Family and she had used love potions to trap a common Muggle into eloping with her and getting her pregnant…. But she stupidly stopped feeding him potions once she was sure she was pregnant and as soon as he shook off the effect of the potions and saw what he was shackled to, he ran off and left her, getting the marriage annulled as soon as he got home. So Tom Marvolo Riddle, AKA Lord Voldemort, had actually been born a bastard in a Muggle orphanage, becoming an orphan very soon after because his mother died in childbirth, and that was where he was raised. His father had hinted that the Dark Lord was actually a Half-Blood a few times before he died, but he'd never said anything about him being a common Mudblood bastard street urchin!
Musing about that, Lucius almost missed the most important part of what the old man was up to, stating that anyand all members of the House of Black who served the illegitimate common Muggle-Born pretender Tom Marvolo Riddle, or was married to and supported anyone who served Riddle, especially those who had allowed Riddle to brand them like common slaves, had brought shame on the House of Black…. Because the House of Black did not bow down to or serve anyone but their rightful monarch… So he was hereby calling for the dissolution of their marriages and reclaiming any and all titles, lands and other assets or monies that had come from the House of Black or were acquired or accrued as a result of anything that came from the House of Black, and formally severing any and all ties between them and the House of Black (the most extreme form of banishment). Any Black titles, lands or other assets that were in the possession of ex-members of the House of Black that had come to them other than as dowries and wedding gifts or acquired or accrued as a result of anything from the House of Black were also reclaimed.
More than a few Witches and Wizards in the Wizengamot Chamber collapsed when the Stone of Truth carried out Arcturus' decree (some never to get up again), because the loss of the Black Family Magic was significant... And those who were married were hit even harder than those who were single, because they lost their spouse's Family Magic as well as the House of Black's when their marriages were cancelled. Lucius struggled to cover up the extent of the impact this had on him, because on top of the loss of magic making him feel weak and vulnerable, he was ejected from the Noble House Tiers and forced to do the walk of shame down to the Minor House Tiers…. But he was far from the only one who was forced to do that.
Between Frank and Amelia taking the Lestrange, Crouch, Prince, Snape and Travers votes and Arcturus reclaiming several times that many from Voldemort's followers and their spouses... And all of those involved in the questionable Tribunal where James and Lily's wills were sealed and Dumbledore was appointed Harry Potter's Guardian being suspended from having anything to do with the Wizengamot until after the matter had been resolved to the Wizengamot's satisfaction... Tiberius, Saul, Wulfram and Amelia were voted in almost unopposed as the Chief Warlock and three key roles in the Ministry. Frank didn't bother trying to argue about replacing Amelia as Head Auror because he knew that it would be a wasted effort.
A/N: This one may be shorter than most of mine, as many of the characters I don't like have been dealt within a few weeks of Halloween '81.
There is no Tommy shade left to run back to Albania with its tail between its legs, as Harry's protection sucked all of his magic and memories out of him and he expired then and there, shade and all. His Horcruxes may or may not have been disabled, we don't know at this point.
Bella, Rod, Rab, Barty Jr, Sevvie and Gussie were all killed in the attack on the Longbottoms. The Longbottoms got the Lestrange and Crouch titles and money and Amelia got the Prince and Snape titles and money, so she's a Baroness in her own right now.
Barty Snr had a heart attack when answering questions and sadly wasn't saved in time.
Wormtail and four other Death Eaters were put through the Veil.
Lucy and a pile of other 'Voldomites' have lost a large whack of their titles (votes) and fortunes when Grandpa Arcturus reclaimed everything that came from the House of Black…. And a few of the older ones died when they lost the old Black Magic.
Albie lost his Chief Warlock and Supreme Mugwump positions, his Order of Merlin and the Baronetcy that went with it, and has been banned from having anything to do with the Wizengamot and Ministry.
Bagnold also lost the Minister's job and has been banned from having anything to do with the Wizengamot and Ministry… But she kept most of her ill-gotten gains and she's clever enough to still be a player.
Sirius has been tried and cleared.
The Goblins replaced Harry with a realistic Golem before he was taken in by the Dursleys, so he's safe and no living being will be hurt by them in the house, but Dumbles still believes that he has him where he wants him.
And the Chief Warlock, Minister for Magic, Director of the DMLE and Director of the DoM elected into office in November 1981 are all from the Old Families.
Oh, and I'm sticking with about Three Pounds to the Sickle, Fifty One Pounds to the Galleon and around Ten Pence to the Knut, as that makes more sense to me.
So not that much so far. ;^)