DISCLAIMER! This Harry Potter story was written for fun. All rights belong to the wonderful lady (JK Rowling) who gave the world Harry Potter to read and enjoy. New Movie is coming in April! Hurrah! Yeah, for Fanfiction – a great place to stretch your imagination and enjoy someone else's creativity too!

Note: I freely admit I ain't no lawyer. This chapter wrote itself, and remember, it's for fun.

Chapter 6 Adults Scream and Shout CHANGE SCENERY HERE: Dumbledore Stumbles

"Harry, what are you doing here?" Dumbledore asked mournfully. "Your aunt must be worried about you if you disappeared from your home this morning?"

Not replying or speaking to the headmaster, Harry dipped his wand into the Pensieve, retrieved his memory, and returned it to his mind. The sensation was new, and the teenager noticed he could perfectly fit the copy back into the original memory. Then he tapped the side of the porcelain bowl with his wand, and it vanished.

Madam Bones moved to stand between the teenager and the old wizard, her wand visible in her hand. She hissed her displeasure with the wizard but did not speak – Madam Marchbanks banged the gavel on her desk to call attention back to her. Dumbledore reluctantly turned from the witness chair to face Madam Marchbanks, who appeared to have a pounding headache as the adrenalin of the last half hour drained away.

"Albus Dumbledore, you just missed viewing the most interesting testimony I have ever seen in any trial in my one hundred and fifty years on this earth."

"Indeed?" he asked. "Perhaps you can share the highlights."

"Be quiet until I call on you to speak!"

Dumbledore attempted to reply but found himself silenced by the magic in the Wizengamot chamber. He glanced around and ignored Madam Bones, who continued to glare at him; Ted Tonks, and Samuel Abbot, who appeared to still be out of sorts; and the Wizengamot members who either remained in shock or mimicked the glare from Amelia.

'What memory did the boy show?' he wondered for a moment and then realised; it must have been the basilisk. 'Excellent!'

"Today, this court continues with the case of Albus Dumbledore versus Samuel Abbot, in the matter of an allegedly stolen basilisk." Catching and holding the headmaster's eye, she reminded him, "As adjudicator in the court, my gavel and I rule on all motions and objections. When the final bit of evidence is presented, I'll render my verdict. If either party objects to my ruling, the qualified members of the will vote to support or overturn my verdict."

She looked around and was pleased to find some semblance of order had been restored among the members of the Wizengamot as well as the visitor's gallery. Her gaze turned toward Tonks and Abbot, who both nodded to her. Finally, she looked back at Albus and found him frustrated not to be allowed to speak still. Lifting her gavel, the chamber's silencing charm was removed from the wizard, who cleared his throat and asked, "Can we begin now?"

"Begin? Albus, this court has already been in session for almost two hours this morning."

"How could you start without my presence? I am the plaintiff as well as acting as my attorney!"

Smirking, Madam Marchbanks commented, "And the old adage that the wizard who acts as his own attorney has a fool for a client is proven true once again. I did hold the court silent for the mandated five minutes after the hour set to begin the court day, but you failed to appear. Mr Tonks was here and ready to proceed, so we did."

"What testimony was given? What was said?"

Frowning, Madam Marchbanks replied, "It is not the court's intention of revising the earlier proceedings at this moment. You can read the transcript after the court adjourns."

"What did Harry Potter say? Who brought him here? I am his magical guardian, and he is here without my permission."

Madam Marchbanks asked, "Mr Dumbledore, are you saying for the record that you are the official magical guardian for the boy-who-lived?"

"I am!" Dumbledore insisted.

"Then you must take that matter up with Madam Bones, who worked with Mr Potter to make good on the subpoena that brought him to testify this morning."

Frowning, Dumbledore finally sat down as Madam Marchbanks turned to Ted Tonks and asked, "Mr Tonks, do you have another witness to call?"

"No, your honour."

Turning to Dumbledore, the witch said, "Mr Dumbledore, if you make your closing statement now."

"Closing statement?" asked Albus, still off-kilter.

Nodding her head slowly, Griselda explained, "When both sides have presented all their evidence and witnesses, the plaintiff's attorney makes a closing argument or statement. That will be followed by the defendant's attorney making his closing argument."

When Dumbledore remained silent for a moment, she continued, "As Chief Warlock…or Grand Warlock of the Wizengamot, I am certain you are familiar with the procedures followed in a court case, are you not?"

Calculating the number of votes he could count on among the members of the Wizengamot should Griselda rule against him, Dumbledore decided to wing it for once in his life. Andromeda Tonks observed the headmaster; her career was built on watching and reading her opponents in courtrooms. Today, she smiled broadly to signal to her husband that Dumbledore was miscalculated without all the facts. Ted saw his wife's smile and kept his composure, reviewing the closing argument he'd prepared last night after meeting and talking to Harry Potter.

The absence of the headmaster this morning caused Ted to mention 'seeing' the boy-who-lived battle the basilisk in his closing argument. Still, he was as prepared as possible after viewing that memory of the battle between Potter and Tom Riddle and the basilisk.

Rising from his chair, Dumbledore addressed the court. "Madam Marchbanks, members of the Wizengamot and good witches and wizards in the gallery, we all have many tasks to complete in our busy days, and I shall not keep you here longer than necessary. The facts, in this case, are that Samuel Abbot has purloined my basilisk, and he must return it."

Glancing at Ted Tonks, Dumbledore continued, "I ask the court to direct a verdict of guilty and order the Aurors to return my property as well as fines as deemed appropriate to punish the thief."

Tonks made no objections to Dumbledore's statements, so the wizard continued to wax poetic for another three minutes before he finished saying, "I thank the court for its time."

Her face was a pureblood mask of indifference once again; Madam Marchbanks thanked Dumbledore and waited for him to sit down before she turned to Ted Tonks and said, "Mr Tonks, if you make your closing statement."

"Thank you, Madam Marchbanks. As was shown today in this courtroom, Mr Harry Potter killed the basilisk in this unknown chamber underneath Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Per the laws of Magical Britain, the carcass of any magical creature that tries to kill a wizard belongs to the wizard who kills it. Mr Harry Potter is that wizard, and the carcass is his to dispose of as he chooses. Per Mr Potter's testimony, it was he who sought out Mr Samuel Abbot to process and manage the sale of the many parts of the carcass that will be of interest to potion makers."

"With Gringotts managing the sales, wizards can be assured of accurate reporting of all costs and profits to the benefit of Mr Potter. We ask that the court finds in favour of Mr Samuel Abbot in this matter."

Then Ted Tonks sat down and caught Albus Dumbledore off guard. The headmaster attempted to rise and speak, but Madam Marchbanks frowned and waved him back into his chair. She cleared her throat and said, "The evidence, in this case, is overwhelming, and there is no doubt in my mind that Albus Dumbledore brought this baseless case to the attention of the court to waste our time. With prejudice, this court finds in favour of Samuel Abbot."

Dumbledore rose from his chair and declared, "As the plaintiff, I question the verdict."

"You can't," Griselda smirked.

Drawing himself up, Dumbledore argued, "I most certainly can and will! It is the law that if any party in a lawsuit questions the judgement of the adjudicator, he can ask that the members of the Wizengamot vote to overturn that verdict."

"That is the law," Madam Marchbanks replied. "However, the plaintiff is forbidden from addressing the court unless directed to speak by the judge or on the witness stand. You identified yourself as the plaintiff and spoke out of turn. Therefore, I impose of fine of four galleons, payable immediately."

His eyes glared at Madam Bones with her wand aimed at him, and at Madam Marchbanks with her pureblood mask still in place, Dumbledore slammed four galleons onto the table where he sat. Then he addressed the court, "As attorney for the plaintiff, I question the verdict, and…."

Silence was imposed once again on Dumbledore, and Madam Marchbanks addressed the members of the Wizengamot. "Good witches and wizards of the Wizengamot, the attorney for the plaintiff, questions my verdict, and I turn to you to either confirm my verdict or refuse it. If confirmed, the case is dismissed. If refused, the case will be retried with a three-judge panel."

Dumbledore waved his hand and, when the silencing charm was removed, said, "Point of order, Madam Marchbanks."

"Yes, Mr Dumbledore?" she asked, completely masking her growing impatience with the wizard.

"As attorney for the plaintiff, I ask that when the Wizengamot votes, the decision of that vote be final and binding on both parties. There is no need for additional courtroom time."

"Your client agrees to a binding decision without an opportunity for retrial or appeal?"

"I do…he does," Dumbledore replied.

"Very well, Mr Dumbledore, but remember my earlier comment about your client."

Turning to the members of the Wizengamot, she restated her charge, "The attorney for the plaintiff questions my verdict and I turn to you to either confirm my verdict or refuse it. If confirmed, the case is settled in favour of Mr Abbott. If refused, the case will be settled in favour of Mr Dumbledore. And there are no grounds for retrial or appeal."

She took a breath and continued, "All those in favour of confirming my verdict, raise a blue light."

Dumbledore stared as the glare from the blue lights filled the chamber. It took almost three minutes for Griselda and Amelia to total the numbers. Then the old witch asked, "All those in favour of rejecting my verdict, raise a red light."

There were four red lights among the seats for the members of the Wizengamot; all four were compatriots of Albus Dumbledore for many years. Even Arthur Weasley, newly seated beside his grandfather as Lord Old Weasley, voted against Dumbledore!

Madam Marchbanks banged her gavel on the desk and announced, "By a vote of 87 to 4, the verdict in favour of Mr Samuel Abbot is confirmed with prejudice."

She banged her gavel on the desktop one last time and declared, "This court is closed."

There was applause from the gallery that grew quite loud, but Dumbledore remained seated and silent.

'How is this possible?' he wondered as he noticed Madam Bones approaching his chair.

With her wand still pointed toward him, she said, "Plaintiff Albus Dumbledore, I am instructing you to accompany me to the DMLE department for questioning regarding your willful disregard for the safety of the children enrolled at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, as well as your knowledge of Tom Riddle, a.k.a. Lord Voldemort. Also, you have made various statements in the last two days regarding Heir Potter Harry James Potter. Know that anything you say may be used in evidence against you."

Aggravated by the witch, Dumbledore began to reply, "Amelia, I don't have time."

The world went dark for Albus Dumbledore. While floating in the air as he was removed from the Wizengamot chamber, he began to revive but was quickly hit with another spell. The second time he stirred, it was while Aurors stripped off his outer robes and summoned all magical devices and ornamentation. This time, he was hit with two spells to knock him out. Finally, he awoke naturally and slowly before struggling to sit up. He was dressed in his clothes without his flashy outer robes. Worse, his shoes, belts, rings, bracelets, broaches, hat, and wand(s) were missing. On his ankles were a pair of manacles linked by a heavy chain. A second pair encircled his wrists.

'Magical suppression? How inappropriate!' he decided. Looking around his cell, he noticed one light in the ceiling far above him, a door with a peephole, a table without any chairs, and the cot, a pillow or blanket.

SCENE CHANGE: Questioning Albus Dumbledore