Also, did anybody catch the hint I dropped at the end of James letter to Harry? Anyone?
In case it has not been clear, I do try and make my writing as close to realistic as possible while also trying to keep it somewhat in line with cannon and how the wizarding world would do things. Which means that I do research a little bit if a topic comes up that I'm not completely familiar with. That being said, court procedure is a huge topic, and sometimes also depends a little bit on the individual judge. I apologize now for any and all obvious issues that any legal people reading this finds. Keep in mind I'm mixing what little I know of normal court system in general, with what I feel the wizarding court system would do things.
Also, this chapter does sort of bring up a controversial, and possibly painful for some, topic. It's just how I see the Dursley's treatment of Harry to have been.
Here is what I have for the suggestions for the Muggleborn girls name:
Morgan (or Morganna) 2
Lidia 2
Allegra (Italian for Joyous)
Rosetta 2
The judges shared a look when Rita Skeeter appeared, but left when it was clear the Aurors had the situation handled.
"I hate this." Judge Marie Thomas grumbled to her wizarding colleague when they were alone. That boy shouldn't be anywhere near this courtroom, let alone being called to give testimony. That boy sitting in her courtroom was nervous, and scared. Nothing like what her Dean told her about Harry Potter, it wasn't right.
"It's either this, or they go straight to the Mines without answering for their other crimes." Arbiter Robert Johnson reminded. "According to the Treaty between the Goblin nation and the Muggle government, the Goblins have to let the Muggle government handle the initial punishment of their own human citizens, if any punishment is to be had, before handing them over to the Goblins to be judged according to Goblin law. And there is plenty for the Muggle government to punish them for."
Thomas made a face. "Stupid treaty." She muttered while she rifled through Vernon Dursley's file and skimmed through the notes made by his lawyer, a Mr. Simmons..., to make sure the more pressing details would be fresh in her mind, and to remind herself what Simmons was trying to get at the end of the day. They were going for not-guilty to the charges of neglect and abuse, along with a reduced sentence for assaulting the arresting officers.
He was even trying to get the charges of embezzlement dropped... which was stupid since the Court wasn't even charging them for embezzlement, that was the Goblins jurisdiction in this case. And they'd already been found guilty and sentenced according to Goblin Law, and as per the wishes of the late Lily and James Potter.
Simmons clearly didn't understand that, instead of getting reduced sentences and not-guilty verdicts, he should be trying to get them as long in prison as possible, that way their time in the Mines was postponed for as long as possible. Because no matter what happened here, the Dursley's were going to live out the rest of their lives after prison in the Goblin Mines.
And she'd heard that the Mines were not somewhere you wanted to be. Especially since the Goblins didn't have the kind of laws that the Muggle world had, protecting workers and prisoners from inhumane and unethical treatment. Actually, the wizarding world in general didn't seem to have those kind of laws at all... Azkaban came to mind...
"This is going to be difficult to stay objective." She muttered. "My oldest son shares a dorm with Mr. Potter, you know."
Johnson snorted. "My niece is on the Gryffindor Quidditch team with him. Not to mention all the Boy-Who-Lived business..." He trailed off, thinking it was a good thing he'd long ago sworn a magical Oath to be objective in all cases, or lose his magic. He started flicking through the file for Petunia Dursley after setting Vernon's aside. Her file included a note from the social worker in charge of Dudley Dursley. Since she was the mother... sort of. Considering the lack of discipline in that boy... she wasn't much of a mother.
He paused when he saw a note about one Sirius Black applying for custody of the boy. Included in his custody application was a tentative schedule for Sirius's recovery (provided by Garnock), as well as a list of reputable Muggle boarding schools Sirius knew of that should be better for the boy than Smeltings was. He blinked in surprise, but nodded in approval and moved on. Looked like Sirius didn't want the boy to suffer in the system. It was a good system, but it had its flaws.
They were both brought out of their thoughts by a knock on the door. "Yes?" Thomas called.
"Ma'am? Sir? We're ready out here when you are. Vernon Dursley is out of holding and is in the room." One of the officers said after poking his head in.
"Alright, thank you, we'll be right out." Johnson said.
Thomas took a deep breath before gathering all the papers and turning to Johnson. "Shall we?" She asked, gesturing towards the door. She was nervous, this was her first time in the Combined Court.
"After you." He said, opening the door and holding it for her. When they reached the courtroom, he stopped with his hand on the doorknob and set his other hand on her shoulder. "I know this is you first case in the Combined Court. Remember, just focus on Muggle Law, that's your area here, that's why there are two of us. Leave the Wizarding Law to me. It's just another case." He said reassuringly. He knew that, eventually, she would know Wizarding Law just as well as she knew the Muggle Law, but that would be a few years down the road.
She took another breath before smiling and nodding at him gratefully. Johnson nodded back before he opened the door and waited for the officer to start announcing their presence.
When they got to their seats, they studied those in the room as they took a second to shuffle their paper or parchment work. They both mentally frowned when they noticed that an Auror was already standing between Vernon Dursley and his nephew, blocking Dursley's view everytime he tried to lean around to keep glaring and hissing threats at his nephew. Sirius had his arm around Harry and was holding the boy close while glaring at Dursley himself. Harry himself had his face pressed into his owls feathers while his body was plastered against Sirius. The owl was alternating between glaring at Dursley and making what could pass as comforting noises at her human.
They exchanged a look. They knew the boy shouldn't be here.
Severus was sitting in his office, alternating between grading essays and worksheets from the past few days, catching up on paperwork that piled up while he helped Pomona, and drawing up something of a plan for what he was going to do for the Slytherin Team tryouts. Since he had an entire team to replace this year. He'd already marked down that, if he out-flew everyone and earned his spot back, Terrance Higgs would be the Captain this year, since he'd been on the team before. He would probably be the only returning player...
He was also watching the clock, the trial should be starting right about then, if not a little later. He was broken out of his thoughts when his office door banged open. He looked up, annoyed and about ready to yell at whoever it was, but instead of somebody for him to yell at, it was Lucius Malfoy.
Wonderful, just what his day needed.
He let his annoyance show on his face briefly before he schooled his features, and the only sign of his surprise that he showed was a slow blink. Setting his quill down, he drawled, "Lucius, What can I do for you, your son's grades are excellent as always, if that's what you want." Oh, he knew perfectly well what Lucius was here for, he'd actually been expecting him sooner.
"Of course Draco's grades are excellent, why would they not be?" Lucius asked, a hint of pride in his voice that was covered up with his annoyance and anger at Severus taking his son off the Quidditch team. The fact that Severus actually temporarily disbanded the Quidditch team itself seemed to not really matter to him. "That's not why I am here and you know it." Lucius snapped.
"Ah," Severus drawled again, reaching out to shuffle parchments until he 'found' what he was looking for. He had kept the forged note, as well as a copy of the letter from the chairman of the Board of Governors, commending him on his actions regarding the behavior of his Snakes and thanking him for discovering the forgery ring among the students, also assuring him that his actions would be put on the students records if they had to break into the records room and do it themselves. Dumbledore had taken the original copy for some odd reason. Probably to use as target practice. "Yes... I do appreciate your donation to the Slytherin Quidditch team, and rest assured, the brooms will be put to their intended use in out-flying the competition as soon as I find new players to fly them."
Lucius narrowed his eyes at the man his wife had once tried to get him to name as godfather for his son, after he punished her for her back-talk, she never brought it up again. Of course, it was also after that that she ensured he knew better than to ever touch her like that again (he was rather painfully reminded why you never anger a Black), insolent woman. It was a good thing he refused though, despite his accomplishments, he was still a filthy half-blood. "And, I am sure you remember that my son should have been the one riding one of those brooms? He is the best flyer in this school, surely taking him off the team would damage the team's chances." He said silkily.
Oh, that wasn't what he was really saying. He could probably care less for the team, and more to the fact that to be on one of the Quidditch teams was a big honor and testament to the players skills on a broom. They only took the best at tryouts, after all. And, since Quidditch was such a big sport, anybody that was even remotely decent on a broom, usually tried out. To be kicked off the team... was a massive disgrace.
A disgrace he had just put on Draco Malfoy's shoulders. And his father was not happy about his son being disgraced.
And then there was the fact of his son being on Probation for the rest of the year. If he didn't behave himself, he could be suspended or expelled.
"Your son was caught willfully sabotaging another team, as was the rest of the former Slytherin team members. Per Quidditch league rules, the entire team has been dismissed. If this had been professional or even semi-professional Quidditch, the results would have been the same. Immediate dismissal from the team. And, per school rules and the Hogwarts Charter upon which this school was founded, they have been placed on probation." Severus said, sitting back in his chair, relaxed, which put Lucius on edge. Every Death Eater knew to avoid making him angry when he was 'relaxed'.
Lucius tried to put on a less confrontational face, but Severus was good at reading people, "There is no changing your mind on this, is there?" Lucius asked shortly. At this point he was trying to rein in his temper, and to keep from snapping at the Half-Blood who thought he could punish Draco like this, like one of the common folk. Only Severus' position within the Death Eaters was keeping him from pulling his wand and hexing the Professor.
"No." Severus said simply. "They got caught doing illegal activities. This incident was big enough that it couldn't be handled in-house, Professor McGonagall was brought in before I was even aware of the situation, over half the school has been implicated, including most of Slytherin House. I have a hard enough time dealing with the other Houses bullying and ostracizing the Snakes and thinking we are evil without having to deal with covering this up too. At least, with Ravens and Lions also being implicated in this, the other students can't point at Slytherin and try to say that it was because we are all dark and evil. They would have to point fingers at themselves first, and they won't want to do that." Severus said with his head tilted slightly, the closest he would ever get to a shrug outside of his quarters and when not with his godson.
Lucius glared for a moment, before he asked. "How long is his suspension from the team?"
"All former Slytherin team members have the chance to earn their spot on the team back. IF they keep their grades up to a level I will accept, and stay out of further trouble, they will have the chance to try out for the team again after Yule holidays. At the moment, I already know who I want as captain, provided he makes a good showing at tryouts."
Lucius looked like he swallowed a lemon. "I see." He said. He wasn't worried about Draco's grades being good, he was more concerned about Draco staying out of trouble. Draco had told him about his confrontations the year before with the Potter Brat and the blood-traitor, and now this year Narcissa was starting to exert her authority as the member of a Primary House. Now that Lord Black was back, she was saying she'd been lax in teaching Draco how to act like a proper Black. He didn't think Draco would actually listen to the woman, but that could also be a problem on its own. Since the Potter brat, that Draco seemed to have labeled as some kind of rival for some strange reason, also happened to be Heir Black.
He sat outside the courthouse where his target was. He was honestly looking forward to this, out of all the marks he's had, he'd never been hired to take care of a Black before. Of course, back in the day, they were one of those Families where you had to have a death wish to even consider taking one of their members out. Not to mention, there weren't many of them left anymore.
He was almost looking forward to the challenge that this Black was sure to provide.
A skilled Hit-Wizard, a Black, the Lord Black for that matter. Oh, sure, this one was still recovering from Azkaban, and that would take away some of the challenge, but still. A Black was a Black, and a Hit-Wizard was a Hit-Wizard.
He should know, he used to be one himself, after all. Until he was fired for his conduct on a case, he maintained that he did nothing wrong. Of course though, being fired from such a prestigious position, put him on a sort of black-list. Nobody would hire him, despite his skills, previous job experience, they wouldn't even look at his OWL or NEWT scores. So, he became a killer for hire.
And his current target? Lord Black, former Hit-Wizard.
And the same Hit-Wizard that filed the report that lost him his job.
Harry watched, shocked, as the Aurors dealt with Rita Skeeter. He felt a little better about this, knowing that the press wasn't going to be able to sneak in, they had just tried and been caught.
When she was gone, protesting the whole way about how she had a right to be there, the people had a right to know what their savior was hiding, and finally about how they would be sorry if they lost sales because she wasn't there to write for them anymore.
Sharpaxe and Barchoke actually snorted at that, and they started muttering together in their language for a bit. When they finally turned to Harry, Sharpaxe quickly explained that the Daily Prophet was the only major news outlet in the Wizarding UK. They didn't have to worry about sales. They had actually already been drawing up the paperwork to have her fired, anyway. Too many articles that were 99% lies, and .5% truth, with a little bit of insinuation included. Not to mention, how she got some of her information, she could actually be charged with treason, depending on just what information she got her greedy hands on from within the Ministry. The Daily Prophet did not need to be associated with that.
Once Rita was gone, Mad-eye spoke quietly to one of the officers to go get Vernon Dursley. Harry stiffened when he was brought in, in shackles. It was clear that they had to link several sets together to get them to fit around his rolls of fat. Runes were glowing on the individual chain links, letting the wizards know that they were magically reinforced.
The man may be all fat, and no muscle, but he had a lot of weight to throw into it if he wanted to break out. The chains could probably only hold up against so much before they just couldn't take it anymore.
When Dursley saw Harry, his face twisted into a sneer and he started hissing, "You little Freak, when I get my hands on you again, you are dead, do you hear me? Dead. I should have known better than to be so soft on you, I should have beat the snot out of you more often." The more he spoke, the more Harry shrunk in on himself, the harder he held onto Hedwig, and the tighter Sirius held him. One of the Aurors noticed what was happening, and Silenced the Muggle, but the man continued to glare.
Simmons noticed the Jury watching with wide eyes and quickly started quietly berating Dursley to get him to stop digging himself into a hole, but Dursley ignored him and kept glaring. Nathan Simmons was honestly starting to sweat now, the trial hadn't even started yet, and Vernon Dursley was already digging himself a giant hole! What was wrong with the man?
Sirius looked down in concern, Harry was shaking like a leaf and he knew that if it wasn't for the Calming Draughts in his system and the boy in his arms, he would be trying to kill Dursley with his bare hands right about now. Annoyed and angry, he gestured with his head for one of the Aurors to get between them already. When the man didn't move fast enough, he glared him into moving faster. The Auror didn't hesitate to move faster, and when he got there he had to continue moving side to side so he could keep Harry out of Dursley's sight when Dursley kept trying to glare at Harry around him.
Simmons was hissing in his ear to knock it off, the Jury was watching, but he continued to ignore it. That brat was the cause of all this, and that brat was going to regret the day he was born as soon as this idiot lawyer got him off the charges. His life, and his family, was ruined. His bank accounts and home had been seized by the Freak bank, he'd been informed that about half of what was seized would be held for Dudley in trust, (which was some relief since Dudley wasn't going to be completely penniless) but their lives were ruined. They would never be able to return to Privet Drive, even if their house didn't now belong to that Freak. And he would never be able to access what money they had left, either. It was all going to be handled by the bank until Dudley was of age. No matter who Dudley ended up getting as his legal guardian, since they had also been informed that they were never going to have custody of their son again. He would contest that later.
After this farce of a trial was over.
He was interrupted when the judges came in, and he was forced to his feet by one of the freaks. When they were finally allowed to be seated again, he resumed trying to glare at his freak nephew through the Auror standing between them.
"We have Vernon Dursley vs Harry Potter and the people of Great Britain." An official said, watching a Dicta-Quill to make sure it was working. "The Honorable Judge Marie Thomas from the city of London and Arbiter Robert Johnson of the Ministry of Magic preside. Opening statements will be first provided by the barrister of the Defendant, Nathan Simmons, followed by the plaintiff's representative, Theodore Tonks."
Thomas nodded, then motioned for Simmons to begin. "Thank you, your Honor." Simmons said, nodding to the judge, but ignoring the arbiter. Johnson raised an eyebrow at that, but didn't say anything. He turned to the Jury, "Vernon Dursley is a good, upstanding citizen. He has a successful, loving marriage, a son, and a good job in a successful company. He lives in a good neighborhood, a safe neighborhood. Until, one day, when he opened the door to find his one year old nephew on his doorstep. Attached to the child, was a letter, explaining that this child, his nephew, was in danger from the followers of the Dark Lord Voldemort." He paused a moment to let the wizards in the room get their bearings again, he didn't like saying it either, but his monikers were unprofessional. He hoped this worked, he was trying to convince them that the Dursley's had only been trying to protect their nephew, and keep him hidden away for his own safety.
"They now had to raise a child who was in danger from a world that the Dursley's wanted no part of, who was dropped on their doorstep without so much as a by-your-leave. According to the letter, his nephew was in danger from the people that followed the Dark Lord, so, he did what was logical. He hid the child, made sure that no trace of the child was seen in the house, because if there were signs, then he might be found that much easier, putting them all in greater danger. All Mr. Dursley has ever tried to do is protect his nephew." He finished with a (what he hoped, anyway) convincing smile. It would certainly be better if his idiot client wasn't still glaring at the boy he was supposed to 'care for' and have been protecting all these years! "Thank you." He said in the direction of the Jury with a small bow and went back to his seat.
"Mr. Tonks?" Johnson asked after a moment. Ted glanced at Simmons for a second before he got up, thanked the judge AND arbiter, and turned to the Jury himself.
"When we hear the name Harry Potter, the first things we usually think about, is Savior, Hero, a boy who has everything. We never consider, that, perhaps that was not the case. Eleven years ago, Mr. Vernon Dursley woke up to his wife screaming after finding a child on their doorstep, their newly orphaned nephew. Most people would, probably curse the man who left their nephew on the cold doorstep in November, and then take care of the child. This is not the case here. Yes, the child was in danger from the followers of the Dark Lord Voldemort, however, where in that does it constitute not even giving the child a bedroom? Where in that does it constitute not even feeding the child? Giving him proper clothing? He had a good job, he could afford clothes, food, toys. He could have done all that while still keeping the child safe and hidden. But he didn't.
He put a small child, who had just seen his parents killed in front of him, inside a cupboard under the stairs, and left him there. Didn't feed him more than needed to keep him breathing and relatively healthy looking so nobody would ask too many questions." He finished and glanced at Harry, who was still cowering near his dogfather. "Thank you." He said before he turned to sit down too. The Jury stirred, but didn't say anything. Simmons inwardly groaned, there was no way he was winning this case. The most he could do now was get as lenient a sentence as humanly possible.
Thomas made a note on her pad and nodded to Johnson, who said, "Simmons, you can present your case." He said, making his own notes.
"Thank you, your Honor." Simmons said, acting as if Thomas had been the one to speak. It was clear he agreed to many of Vernon's views regarding wizards, either that or he was just trying to keep Vernon happy.
"I would like to ask Mrs. Smith to come up?" He said. What followed was what many people in the room considered to be a farce. There were several Muggles that were being used as witnesses, they were told just enough about the wizarding world, not that magic was real, of course, but enough that they would need to be obliviated after this. Another thing they didn't know, was that they had been given small amounts of Veritaserum earlier so they wouldn't try and lie to get their neighbors out of trouble.
Basically, he would ask questions that were supposed to prove his point, and they would answer truthfully, using the lies that the Dursleys told the neighborhood. Problem was, what she was saying, and what the Jury was seeing as they watched Vernon Dursley glare at and whisper death threats to his nephew wasn't matching up.
None of the witnesses brought up by Simmons helped his case at all, if anything, they all harmed him. Ted Tonks was merciless in his cross-examination, he tore them apart... one of the inhabitants of Little Whinging almost burst into tears during his questioning when she was almost accused of aiding and abetting. Finally, Simmons was done for now, and it was Ted's turn.
"I would like to call Mrs. Arabella Figg to come up." He said simply. They all watched as the old lady walked in, and Harry, who had long since calmed down enough to pay attention, was relieved to find she was dressed nice, and not wearing her fuzzy carpet slippers. Once Mrs. Figg was seated and had taken her Oaths (wizarding oaths, of course, she had enough magic for that), he spoke again. "Mrs. Figg, you've looked after the boy when the Dursleys went somewhere. You've lived on that street since not long after Mr. Potter was left there. What would you say, from your perspective, was an average day at the Dursley household. Based on the condition you saw Mr. Potter in, what you saw of the family when they were outside, from your perspective."
"From the outside, the Dursley's looked like any other family. Loving, caring, except for Harry. I'd go past the house, and Harry would be outside, doing all the gardening. I've watched him, he'd come outside early in the morning, starting when he was about four years old. He'd water the garden, trim the bushes, mow the lawn, weed, I saw him take a drink out of the hose one time. His aunt came outside, grabbed him by arm, and marched him back into the house, saying something about stealing water from them." She added quickly. "He'd do all these outside chores, and he'd have them all done by six o'clock in the morning. School started at eight. Come home from school, and he'd paint the fence, or the garage door, or the shudders, whichever his uncle felt like that day.
Most fences, garages, or shudders would only get a new coat of paint maybe once a year or so, but Harry was out there repainting them every week, no matter the weather. I've seen him trying to paint the garage door when it was storming once. When he wasn't outside, I could hear a vacuum inside, whenever I glanced in the windows, I'd see Harry sweeping the floors while his aunt sat on the couch, sipping a brandy or something, watching television. It's been like this since he was four, the outside chores at any rate. I don't know when he started the inside chores."
"How did Mr. Potter look? He was doing all these chores, surely that would have warranted good meals? A strong, healthy body."
"He was rail thin. Looked unhealthy, I had to pick him up one time to save him from a fall down the stairs, I could feel his ribs." Mrs. Figg answered.
"Have you ever witnessed them strike Mr. Potter?" He asked next after a moment.
"I never witnessed the adult Dursleys personally strike Harry, however. I have watched that awful son of there's leading some of the other neighborhood children in a game called 'Harry hunting'."
Tonks interrupted her here. "Harry Hunting? What is that?" He asked, he had an idea, but he wanted her to be more clear. Honestly, the thought that the rest of the children in the neighborhood joined in and NONE of the adults found anything wrong with this...
"Oh, Dudley Dursley started it. He and his friends from the around town will start to chase Harry. If he hides, then they start to 'hunt' him, as if he were an animal. If they catch him, they beat him up. They'll do this at all hours, sometimes they'll interrupt him when he's trying to do his chores, he never gets them done before his uncle comes home when that happens." She explained quickly before continuing."However, I have heard Mr. Dursley encourage these... hunts- and congratulate his son whenever they caught Harry. I have seen them break his arm before, and the next time I saw him, he was out doing his chores, with a broken arm that was clearly never seen by a medical professional. There have been a few times when I saw a bruise here and there that didn't match what I saw those boys do during a Hunt."
Ted pursed his lips for a moment. "How would you describe the way they treated him? Based off of past human history." He said slowly, carefully. He had to word it so Simmons didn't try and protest that he was coaching her on what to say. He knew the judges would allow it, but he just didn't want to deal with the interruption. Thankfully, he stayed silent.
She thought for a moment, before she answered confidently. "I would say they treated him like a Master would his slave."
Murmuring broke out among the Jury, but one look from Thomas quickly silenced them. Ted looked at her for a moment, before glancing at Harry, who was sitting up a little now, but was still clinging to his owl and guardian, and said he didn't have any more questions for her. Simmons got up, and he knew that this would not be easy. But, he knew that he could get her testimony thrown out, after all, she'd seen all this and did nothing, making her an accomplice.
"Mrs. Figg. You said you watched all these alleged events happening, you've even taken a peek inside the house on occasion to see what was happening behind closed doors. And yet, you never called the police? Never called Child Welfare?" He asked. He saw out of the corner of his eye the judge frown, but knew that unless Ted Tonks said something, she would allow it.
"Objection," Ted said before she could speak, standing up and nearly causing Simmons to groan out loud. But Ted Tonks would not allow his witness to be thrown under the bus, especially when she did nothing wrong. "Inside the files in front of the Jury are copies of phone records of calls made to the police and Child Welfare, as well as copies of the letters she wrote and sent to the proper Wizarding and Muggle authorities as well as the wizard who placed her there in the first place. The reasons why there was never any action is being investigated, although we suspect wizard intervention." Sadly, he couldn't just outright tell them it was Dumbledore, this wasn't Dumbledore's trial. That, and that was an ongoing investigation that was actually a separate matter from why they were here.
"Noted, move on, Mr. Simmons." Johnson ordered while some of the Jury picked up the folders curiously and quickly glanced through them.
By this point, Simmons had to force himself to calm down. That had been his best shot, and now he had basically nothing. It didn't help that Dursley had finally shifted his glare from his nephew's direction, to him. "Many children have proven to be highly finicky eaters, and even more are naturally clumsy as they grow into their bodies. Could the injuries and overall unhealthy state of Mr. Potter's body not have been from that? You have said that all you witnessed was him doing a lot of chores, you never saw them strike the boy, so how do you know that he did not fall down the stairs as the Dursley's have said for years?"
Mrs. Figg stared at him for a moment, blinking. "I watched the neighborhood children chasing and beating him, lead by Dudley Dursley with Vernon Dursley clearly supporting those actions. And, before you ask, I broke up the children's 'game' many times. I did not just stand by and watch." She added before he could try and accuse her of that, too. "As for being a finicky eater and clumsy... whenever I had him, I made sure to feed him. He was no finicky eater, he ate anything and everything I put in front of him. Sometimes he would be so hungry that he would try to eat himself sick before I taught him not to do that. And he wasn't clumsy, either. I knew him before he went to the Dursley's, I babysat every once in a while for his parents. He was already walking by the ninth month, when most are just starting to figure out how to stand. He was more coordinated when he was a year and a half than some five year olds."
Harry perked up a little bit, that was news to him. Why didn't she ever say anything? Did Dumbledore ask her to keep quiet or something? Or did she fear the Dursley's wouldn't let him come over anymore if they found out?
Simmons was quiet. "No more questions." He finally said. This was not going as well as he hoped it would. It was clear at this point that he was not going to get the Dursley's off. He glanced at Harry Potter, he hadn't spoken up yet, despite Dumbledore assuring him that the boy would drop the charges, the loyalty potions and charms would ensure it. So... when would the boy speak up already?
Ted got up again, and this time he called Mr. Prewett, followed by the goblin Healer, and finally Augusta Longbottom. Each and every one of them supported Mrs. Figg's position of neglect and near slavery-like conditions that Harry grew up in. Granted, none of them were there and saw anything, but they did have eyes and ears. They had each observed Harry, either during his time under their professional care, or when he was staying in the Longbottom's manor. Ted once again reminded everyone that the medical reports were in their folders. Simmons didn't even bother getting up this time, his mind was drawing a blank. The only thing he could think of would be if he got the boy up on the stand and got the boy to recant the charges.
Finally, Ted was done, and judges called Vernon Dursley up to be questioned on his side of the story. Naturally, Ted asked the first questions. And, naturally, Vernon was given a Muggle-safe dose of Veritaserum just to be sure. Just like everyone else that went on the witness stand that didn't have magic to swear a wizards oath with.
"Mr. Dursley, when you saw Harry on that doorstep that morning, what was your first thought when your wife told you who it was?" He asked.
"That the Freak needed to be drowned, that way there would be one less Freak in the world." He practically snarled. A few on the Jury gasped, shocked, and they whispered among themselves for a moment before they caught sight of Thomas's glare and settled down, although they were still visibly shocked. Sirius could be heard growling as he held his pup.
"If you didn't want Harry, then why keep him? Why not send him to an orphanage?" Ted asked, he chose to not ask the man why he didn't just kill Harry and be done with it. Harry himself was in the room after all. He could hear Hedwig making soft noises to attempt to comfort her wizard.
"The letter that came with the little freak said we would be well paid for him to stay there, it also said something about protections for our family. It said something about the followers of that weirdo that killed Petunia's freak sister were still out there, and they might come after us because of the blood connection." The wizards in the room visibly paled at hearing this Muggle casually referring to the Dark Lord Voldemort as 'that weirdo'.
"So... you kept him for the money." Ted asked, to clarify.
"I wouldn't have kept him around even if we were offered the Monarchy. Petunia insisted. She said we could use the protection. I was all for drowning the little Freak."
Ted decided to move on when he heard Sirius' growling get louder. "You said you were being paid a good amount. How much of that, did you actually spend on Harry? After all, that money was supposed to help you, and go towards his care."
Vernon barked out a laugh, "Why would I spend money on that freak? He should be grateful, we provided shelter, food, and clothes at all. He should be grateful we kept him at all!" He spat. The Veritaserum was making him speak the truth, despite the fact that he knew the truth was not what he needed to be speaking right now.
"How much was he fed, on a daily basis." Ted asked, pouncing on that opening.
"The freak got enough to survive. A piece of cheese here, some bread there, some water here and there. The occasional orange during the winter. If you really want to know his eating habits, I suggest you ask the kitchen workers at the primary school we sent the brat to. They're the ones who fed him." Vernon said dismissively.
Ted watched him for a moment, he honestly could not understand it. How on earth could such a loving father, treat another child this way? "It was mentioned earlier that Harry was doing an alarming number of 'chores' for his age. What was the average chore list, and when did he start them?"
"Once Petunia noticed that the brat could already walk, she started showing him how to clean. Once he could do it on his own, she just left him to it. When he was three, she deemed him old enough to cook without burning the house down, although the brat couldn't even do that right for a couple more years yet. When he was four, we sent him outside to take care of the yard. He gets up at four, does the yard-work; mowing, trimming, weeding, watering. About six, he comes inside to start breakfast. If breakfast isn't on the table by the time we wake up, then he doesn't get his piece of bread for the day, after breakfast is made, he has to sweep the house before going to school at quarter to eight.
We wouldn't even send him to school if it weren't required by law, and if it didn't mean getting our government support check cut." Harry stiffened, on top of getting paid out of his vaults, they were also getting government support?! What, how? Surely they made too much money, between Vernon's job and his stipend from the Potter vaults, that they shouldn't qualify? Thomas interrupted here.
"I'm sorry, did you just say you've also been receiving government support checks?" She asked, shocked. "On top of the stipend from the Potter family vaults?" That shouldn't be possible. While she asked this, she was going through the folder in front of her, provided by the lead inspector for this case. There was nothing in the Dursley's financial records about a government support check. Add to the fact that Harry was the missing Potter heir. If the Dursley's were really getting support checks, then the government would have known years ago where he was, and that he wasn't supposed to be there.
"Yes, every month we get a check from the government, from the Child Welfare department." Vernon said.
Both judges looked at the Child Welfare representative, but she just shook her head in bewilderment after frantically going through her own files and finding nothing. They looked at each other, and Thomas finally said, "This matter will have to be investigated further. Please, continue."
Ted asked the question again, so that he would continue where he left off. "After he gets home from school, he cleans the upstairs, then goes outside and repaints whatever I tell him to paint, and finishes the rest of the yard-work from that morning. Then, he comes in, cooks dinner, and goes back to his cupboard for the rest of the night. If I'm feeling generous, I might give him some cheese for dinner." Vernon finishes.
Ted was silent. "What did you do, if Harry didn't finish his chores on time?"
"He'd get a good smack upside the head, that's what. Then he'll be sent to his cupboard until I feel like letting him out again."
"And how long does that usually take?" Ted asked.
"A week, if I'm in a good mood." Vernon made a face of disgust. "I have to let him out for school though, blasted nosy teachers think he needs to be there every day."
"Beyond the times you smacked, were there any other times you raised a hand to Harry? For any reason, either with your hand or some other object." Ted asked, trying to contain his anger by this point. None of this was anything new to him, he found most of this out during his investigation, but still.
Vernon made a face. "I slapped him around a few times and took a belt to the whelp a couple more, but it was too much work to bother. Besides, why would I want to be touching that filth more than I had to? It was bad enough I had to go scrub my hands off good every time I did have to touch him, I don't want his freakishness to contaminate me! I left the physical punishments to my Dudley, it was a good learning experience for him, although I had him wash off thoroughly afterward as well. It was good for teaching him how to put others in their places." A hint of pride entered his voice when he spoke of his son.
A few of the jury looked horrified that he was proud of his son for being a bully, that he taught his son that it was ok to beat people up whenever he felt like. A few heard muttering that the only place Dudley Dursley belonged if he didn't learn different would be a juvenile detention facility.
Vernon suddenly snarled, "I should have beat him, though. I should have gone ahead and just beaten the freakishness out of him!" He yelled. Harry squeaked, and tried to hide, but Sirius held him in place, whispering assurances in his ear, despite the fact that the calming draughts and the boy in his arms were the only reason he himself wasn't going up there to tear the fat Muggle apart with his bare hands. It was a pity he was banned from any and all magic usage for the day, and that he was still so exhausted from the day before.
Ted stared at him for a moment, then turned around. "No further questions, your honor." He said. He raised a (only slightly) mocking eyebrow at Simmons, silently asking if he really wanted to try and get Vernon out of that hole. The fact that Vernon was dosed with Veritaserum was just beautiful, he couldn't lie, no matter what. Simmons looked down at the table for a moment before he shook his head, no, he didn't have questions.
The judges looked satisfied, then dismissed themselves and the Jury to go and discuss. The charges about resisting arrest were a separate matter, and he had already had a hearing about that matter. While they did that, the Aurors led everyone in the room to a side-room where they had lunch set up. Harry was shocked to find that he was very hungry, and tired. The stress from the day in general was already starting to wear on him.
He didn't know why he was acting like a scared little kid right now, he was used to Vernon, and didn't normally cower like this. Yes, he was scared of his uncle, but he'd never showed it like this before. He hadn't reacted like this when he went back to Privet Drive for the summer after a year at Hogwarts. But… he had now experienced what true family could be. Sirius, right now, was showing a care that Vernon never had. Even just the few weeks he'd been with Severus and Augusta Longbottom, seemed to have broken down most of the defenses he'd built up over the years. Added to the fact that he had thought he would never have to see them again, and now here he was.
He wasn't sure yet how he felt about that. For now, though, he tried not to notice the looks he was getting from some of the other Privet Drive residents, and just focus his attention on what Sirius and Augusta were talking about, along with Sharpaxe and Barchoke. He fell asleep about halfway through his meal.
When Harry fell asleep against him, Sirius looked down and snorted before moving the boy into something of a more comfortable position, while Augusta moved his plate. "He hasn't drank his potion yet." She noticed, picking up the full vial.
"Here, I'll make sure he takes it before we get called back in." Sirius said quietly. Then they went back to their conversation like nothing ever happened, except for Sirius combing his fingers through his pups thick rats-nest hair. He shook his head. "They didn't even ask him to come up, what was the point of him being here?" He asked Ted.
Ted shook his head, "Simmons was going to call him up, but I guess he decided not to at the last minute. He must have figured that it would only make things worse."
"Can Harry go back to the school for his aunt's trial, then? Or does he have to sit through that, too?" Augusta asked bitterly.
Ted shook his head and sighed. "I can ask. I hope they do let him go back to school." With that, he left to go find the judges and Simmons, to see if he could get Harry out of here, he shouldn't have even been here in the first place. When he came back, he shook his head, Harry would have to stay.
It was another two hours before they were all called in, and by that time, Sirius had to rouse Harry out of a nightmare twice, each time he tried to stay awake afterward, but he was exhausted. The first time, he did manage to down his potion before going back to sleep, so that was good. The only good thing about the wait, was that it was a sign that the Jury couldn't decide on a punishment. According to Ted, anyway. He said that sometimes it was because they couldn't decide on a guilty verdict, but in this case... he was pretty sure they were deciding the punishment.
When they went in, the Jury, judges, and Vernon were already there.
"Has the jury reached a verdict?" Johnson asked.
One of the jurors stood, holding a piece of paper. "We have, your honor."
"What say you?"
"On the charges of Child abuse, we find the defendant, Vernon Dursley, to be guilty. On the charges of child neglect, we find him guilty. On both charges, we the jury, recommend the maximum sentence by law." The spokesperson said before sitting down.
"Very well." Thomas said with a nod. Her and Johnson conferred quietly for a moment, before turning to the rest of the room.
"Because of the claim on his life by the Goblin nation, we cannot charge to the full extent of Muggle Law, however. We sentence you to ten years prison for Child Abuse and Child Neglect."
Thank you to girlinpink44 for your help with this chapter!