A Day in Court
Professor McGonagall was unsurprised to see Harry approaching her at the end of breakfast.
Given how anything major in the wizarding world could directly affect any number of the students each Head of House was required to keep up to date with the newspapers (at least the Daily Prophet, given that publications such as the Quibbler were rarely read by students), while the other teachers were recommended to try and keep up to date.
As such she had read about the upcoming trial for Sirius Black.
"I am afraid you won't be receiving a special dispensation to attend the trial," she informed him before he could ask. "For one thing, people would question why a student was missing class to see a trial, and using your adoptive parents name gives you a level of anonymity that I'm not willing to see sacrificed."
"How did you know what I was going to ask?"
"Given the timing it was obvious you had something to do with it, someone mentioned how close he was with your parents or something and you wanted to find out why. We're teachers for a reason."
"I need to know why he did what he did, what happened," Harry told her defiantly.
"Just because you turned down a place on the Quidditch team doesn't mean you can use the special treatment elsewhere," McGonagall told him.
It had taken a while after the flying lesson for McGonagall to hear about what Harry did, chasing after an out-of-control classmate and grabbing their uniform to bring their flight under control, and hearing about such skill at flying had made her mind jump straight to the Gryffindor Quidditch team and the way they hadn't won the cup for years.
She had called Harry back at the end of a lesson, to see if he was interested in joining the team, but he had declined, given that first years weren't normally permitted on the team and that he had never even seen a match.
She had accepted his decision, if only reluctantly, but with the promise that he would try out next year, when there wasn't the same rules against his joining the team, giving her hope for a stronger team over the next six years.
"The Quiddich team," Harry asked frowning, before shaking his head. "No, that doesn't have anything to do with this. I just need to know why."
"And you shall," Dumbledores voice said from behind them. "You may have forgotten my position as Chief Warlock of the Wizzengamot, or maybe you simply don't know the significance, but the trial cannot proceed without me. And so when it has finished I will be able to return and tell you exactly what was discovered at the trial. I just have to ask one thing first."
Harry frowned. "And what is that, sir?"
"Why didn't you come to me first?"
"You have a lot of responsibilities already, headmaster. It didn't seem right to ask you to add to your workload when you have so much more to do."
Dumbledore sighed. "Harry, I will always make time for my students. So trust me when I tell you that as soon as the trial has ended I will come to you and tell you exactly what we discover. Now, Minerva, I will be heading to the ministry. Please take care of the school while I'm gone."
"It... seems a bit early for the trial."
"There are other preparations to make first, and the protections of the school mean I will have to travel to the ministry by broom rather than one of the more convenient methods of getting somewhere fast."
Mcgonagall nodded. "The ministry has been trying to connect Hogwarts to the Floo network for years, just about ever since it was invented," she mentioned, remembering the arguments, "but considering the protective role the castle was intended to serve should the magical world be consumed by war no headmaster has ever permitted the defences to be so compromised."
"A portkey could be prepared," Dumbledore accepted, "but given the magical cost, not to mention the way the return enchantment must be placed while within the wards, it is easier and safer to simply fly."
"Why not travel outside the wards and use a different method to travel?"
"Alas, the ministry prevents apparition upon its grounds in much the same manner as Hogwarts, and madam Rosmerta would be most put out if I was to use her bar as a simple bus stop."
After a pause, in case Harry had any more questions, Dumbledore nodded, and turned back to the entrance hall, heading on his way to the ministry and Sirius Blacks trial.
[|]
Sirius had spent a decade, as far as he could tell, in Azhaban, all but ignored by the magical world, blaming himself for the deaths of James and Lilly.
It had been too easy for Pettigrew to trick him into handing over the position of Secret Keeper, he should have realised why Pettigrew was approaching him with the plan.
The idea of acting as a decoy Secret Keeper was a good one, he still believed that, but he should have given the role to Moony instead, he hadn't turned out a traitor.
As soon as he'd realised Pettigrew was compromised he'd run straight to the safehouse, only to find it destroyed, his friends dead.
Seeing Namikaze with Harry had given him the knowledge that his godson was safe, giving him the chance to avenge the boys parents, and he'd chased after Pettigrew, finally confronting him only to see the rat blow up a street after blaming him for everything.
It had taken him only seconds to realise what had happened, and he broke down from how the traitor had used their confrontation to fake his death.
Then the aurors took him into custody and Crouch, who'd never liked him due to his families history, saw him thrown into prison.
Given that Crouch was related to the Black family, Sirius couldn't help but feel this apparent hatred was somewhat hypocritical, saying that Crouch could throw off the heritage of his Black ancestry but not Sirius, ensuring that the dislike was mutual.
He'd spent the early months of his sentence expecting Dumbledore to get him out, or at the very least for him to be cleared at his trial, but the headmaster never even visited.
When the guards came he'd thought they were taking him to his trial, but instead they threw him in a different cell, deeper in the prison.
It was then he realised that he wasn't getting out.
But now, after so long at the mercy of the Dementors, he had been moved back to the holding cells, guarded solely by humans rather than demons, giving him a chance to recover.
It was nearly enough for him to start to hope again.
There was the sound of his cell door unlocking and a guards voice called out.
"You, with us."
Sirius struggled to his feet, following the guard.
It was time to see if his luck was really changing...
[|]
Lucius watched Dumbledore take his feet within the stands.
"We now begin the trial of Sirius Black, for the crime of betraying James and Lilly Potter to their deaths."
Before him, before all of them really, Lucius acknowledged to himself, Black himself stood, flanked by aurors.
"Given the time the accused has spent in Azkaban, waiting for this day, I move that the customary restraints be dispensed with."
"I second," Lucius said before one of the Headmasters usual allies could. "My cousin-in-law has endured restraints long enough."
It couldn't hurt to make it sound like he was chained up in Azkaban rather than merely being restrained by the locked cell.
"All in favour," Dumbledore continued, one of the few not to respond visibly from Lucius agreeing with him.
The show of hands, from both of the major factions for once, was a clear majority.
"Motion carries," Dumbledore declared. "The accused will not be bound to the chair. With that point of order complete, We shall proceed. Interrogators: Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. Court Scribe, Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. Please confirm for the record that you are the Sirius Black these proceedings are to judge the guilt or innocence of?"
At Sirius' firm nod, indicating an apparent unwillingness to speak just yet Dumbledore continued.
"The charges are as follows. First; that the accused did, with full knowledge of the consequences, betray the location of James and Lilly Potter to the terrorist forces of the self-styled Lord Voldemort-"
He was forced to halt between the outcry at the name and Sirius' shouts of "that's a lie", drowning out whatever he might have tried to say. Once the court quieted once more, however, he resumed.
"-on or around the date of Halloween, some ten years ago. Second; that the accused did commit the murder of his former friend Peter Pettigrew the same week. Third; that in the process of the second charge Mister Black did use magic in the presence of muggles, risking the reveal of our society."
He paused.
"Should these charges be deemed valid I will append a fourth, causing the deaths of aforementioned muggles by use of magic. How does the accused plead?"
"Not guilty," Sirius called, his voice much stronger than you'd expect from anyone who'd spent any time in Azkaban.
Lucius made a note to approach Sirius later to learn the secrets of how he resisted the influence of the Dementors for so long.
He could need it himself if things didn't go to plan.
"In the initial hearing, the accused is recorded to have said he was responsible for the deaths of James and Lilly, but the record makes no claims of guilt or innocence in the case of Pettigrew and the muggles. As this is not the only irregularity in the record, I feel I have no choice but to ignore its findings."
So saying, Dumbledore removed a single sheet of parchment from the stack before him, handing it to the Scribe to be re-filed.
"In the case of the first charge, it is stated that you, Sirius Black, were made Secret Keeper to the Potters," there was a certain level of uproar at the reminder of the first use of the Fidelius charm in many years, but it died down when Dumbledore panned his gaze across the room. "As such, the old penalties for betraying a Secret apply."
"Point of order," Fudge interrupted. "What penalties?"
"There was a time when the Fidelius was in common usage. During this period a law was written to increase the charms protection, granting a sentence of death to any who revealed the Secret entrusted to them against the will of the charms caster. This law was never repealed."
Dumbledore paused to see if Fudge would interrupt once more.
"Mister Black, do you deny being made the Potters Secret Keeper?"
"I do," Sirius responded without hesitation.
The uproar paused proceedings again, until Dumbledore could silence the court.
"I must ask the court to remain silent unless they have questions relative to the case. Mister Black, I am sure you are aware of how much this claims would change the face of the case if it should prove true? I motion that Veriterserum be made available to confirm the accused claims at the conclusion of questioning."
"Seconded," a voice called, and the vote that ensued saw the motion pass but not nearly to the same level as the prior one.
"The questions will be limited to ascertaining the truth of the accuseds prior answers," Dumbledore declared. "Black, if you were not the Secret Keeper, who was?"
"Peter Pettigrew," came the answering snarl.
"So your attack upon Pettigrew was for his betrayal," Came madam Bones' accusation. "You should have brought him in rather than just kill him. Not to mention the muggles."
"I didn't kill him. He faked his death before I could do anything."
"What do you mean," Fudge couldn't help asking. "Pettigrews dead, the whole street was destroyed. All that was left was a finger."
"He cut it off himself, escaped into the sewers."
Sirius really wasn't helping his case. Lucius knew he was innocent, but even he was struggling to understand what Sirius was trying to say.
"Mister Black, would you mind explaining how Pettigrew could manage to escape into the sewers without being seen? After all while the street was blasted open to the sewers, the hole wasn't large enough for a man."
"He wasn't a man when he escaped, Lucy!"
Lucius winced at the name Sirius used.
They had never been what you might consider 'on the same side', and Sirius' nature, combined with Lucius' name, had meant the nickname was inevitable. Which didn't mean he liked the name by any means.
"If he wasn't a man, what was he?"
"A rat!"
"Are you trying to say Pettigrew was an illegal animagus, and you knew?"
"We all were," Sirius answered.
Dumbledore was quick to speak. "Should we find the accused not guilty on the other charges, I feel sure we can excuse any... irregularities with relevant animagus paperwork with time served. To summarise your story, Pettigrew was the Secret Keeper and betrayed the Potters. When you found they were dead you pursued him, as soon as you were sure Harry was safe that is-"
"That's right, Harry! Where is he? Is he alright?"
"Harry is fine, and currently attending Hogwarts. In any case, you claim that you pursued Pettigrew after his betrayal, but when you confronted him he cut off his finger, blasted open the street and transformed into his animagus form of a rat to escape into the sewers. In this case, why do the reports state that you were in a state of uncontrolled laughter when the aurors found you?"
"I'd realised Pettigrews schemes. How he'd convinced me to persuade the Potters to make him the Secret Keeper and me the decoy, so they wouldn't be able to force me to talk. All in order to betray them to him as soon as possible. He had it all planned."
Lucius frowned at the continuing signs of Sirius' instability. He had seemed so... together at first.
Perhaps whatever means he used to keep himself sane-
It came to him.
Dementors hunted humans, hence why their prison was kept stocked with appropriate prey, but animals were all but safe.
As such an animagus form...
Lucius frowned. He was unlikely to convince the ministry that he had 'innocent' reasons for becoming an animagus, and if they found he was and hadn't registered he would face a prison sentence.
He would need a different method of protecting himself...
In any case, the questioning proceeded in a similar manner, and the truth serum confirmed Sirius' claims in the end, seeing his release. Yet another case of the truth serum ensuring justice was done.
Of course, Lucius considered, if you knew what you were doing, it was possible to 'deceive' truth serum, much as he had done.
After all, he had only stated that he was placed under the imperius, not that he had been made to do anything by the curse.
"Mister Black shall be kept in Saint Mungos to be treated for excessive Dementor exposure," Dumbledore finally announced, drawing Lucius' attention back. "Only when the Healers are sure he is as well as can be managed will he be released. In the meantime, I propose checking on all inmates of Azkaban to ensure that everyone exposed to Dementors has been found guilty."
"Hear, hear," Fudge quickly agreed. "We must work to ensure that no other tragic failures of our legal system can be permitted."
And with one final comment by the minister, the trial was over.
AN: Unfortunately it seems that the Covid situation could upset my update schedule, so please be aware that chapters may be delayed. Beyond that I am sure the previous chapter will have raised certain questions, but I am setting up Fudge the way I am for a reason.
If anyone is surprised at the date set for the trial, it was simply to keep the tradition of significant events each halloween, as Quirrel wasn't about to release a troll this year.