Gobbledygook
"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."
After Vernon was led out, yelling his head off under the silencing charm they had to put him under when he started yelling death threats to his nephew, they switched out the Jury. Tonks said something to Harry about the two cases being too similar, since it was a husband and wife being charged with the same crimes and all. He said something about Vernon's Jury already being 'prejudiced' against her, so... in an effort to make it fair, they brought in an entirely new Jury. Well, the Muggles, anyway. The wizards on the Jury had sworn oaths to stay objective.
Then they brought out Petunia Dursley.
It was clear that her brief time in jail awaiting trial had not been kind to her. She was missing her make-up, and she had a clear bruise on her cheek, probably from another inmate when she showed her usual superior attitude. The only reason Vernon hadn't shown the same bruising, was because he'd been in solitary, the guards were afraid that he would be killed before they even got to the trial.
When Petunia saw Harry, Simmons breathed a sigh of relief when all she did was sneer at him, and then chose to ignore his existence, rather than the act her husband pulled. He just might be able to get somewhere with this one... hopefully.
"Petunia Dursley versus Harry Potter and the people of Great Britain." Was announced. "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."
"Mr. Simmons, go ahead." Thomas said, biting back a sigh. They had decided that they just weren't going to deal with Simmons attitude and just leave him to her.
"Thank you, your Honor." He was sweating. New Jury or not, he knew he wouldn't be able to make the same kind of opening argument as he did last time. Especially since last time it didn't even begin to work. It fell apart as soon as Vernon walked into the room and spotted his nephew. "Petunia Dursley is a loving mother, a loving wife, a pillar of the community." He couldn't change his script too much. He wasn't prepared. "When she opened the door to find her nephew on the doorstep, she was shocked, and afraid." He'd continue playing off the fear card... maybe that would get him somewhere...
Harry tuned out the rest of the trial when it became clear that this one would continue the same way as Vernon's did. With this Simmons guy trying to make all kinds of lame excuses for why the Dursleys behaved as they did, while Ted tore Simmons and his feeble arguments to shreds.
He only tuned back in when he heard his name called. Looking up, he saw everyone looking at him expectantly, while the witness stand was empty. He looked at Sirius, who was worried and trying to hide it, and got an encouraging grimace. Well, he was trying (Sirius was pretty sure the Calming Draughts were starting to wear off, but he was also pretty sure that he wasn't supposed to get another one today, the whole, trying to teach him how to deal with his emotions on his own, thing). He swallowed, but slowly moved to the chair he was being pointed to.
Hedwig joined him a moment later, sending waves of calm and comfort through the link. Simmons looked like he wanted to say something about her being there, but decided not to after glancing at Johnson for a moment. There was only so much the Arbiter would allow him to get away with, and dismissing a Familiar when her wizard was in distress, was not part of it.
The questions started after Harry gave his oath, magical of course, to be truthful. It started off small, asking how his summer was when he got home from Hogwarts.
"Mr. Simmons, I've never gone home from Hogwarts." Harry said, confused.
"Yes, you have. When you got off the Express, you went home to the Dursleys." Simmons said.
Harry tilted his head (all the women had to resist from cooing because it was adorable), "The Dursleys aren't home. That house has never been my home." He said, he was honestly confused. What was with adults and trying to insist that Privet Drive was his home? Just because he had the misfortune of living there for ten, eleven years, did not make it his home.
Unknown to him, that statement caused what little of the protective wards that existed around Number Four Privet Drive to collapse.
Albus stared in horror at the remains of what used to a spinning, and steaming sensor. The very same sensor that he used to monitor the wards around Privet Drive.
They were gone. This wasn't good.
Simmons blinked, opened his mouth, closed it, blinked again. Then, he decided to just rephrase the question. "Alright, then. How was your summer when you got back to the Dursleys house from Hogwarts." Inwardly, he was sweating... again. That hurt part of his argument. Again.
"It was the same as any other day with the Dursley's. Chores, chores, and more chores. Escaping from Dudley's gang whenever they tried to start another round of Harry Hunting, ducking the frying pan coming for my head whenever Aunt Petunia thought I said something magical or made a wizarding reference. You know, normal, everyday stuff. Although, I suppose the chore load was lighter than normal because I, er, forgot to mention that underage wizards aren't supposed to do magic at home." Sirius snorted, then coughed to try and cover it up. A few of the other wizards in the room smirked, too. Normally, they would disapprove, but in this case...
Harry was trying to sound as nonchalant and defiant as he normally was when one of the teachers caught him off guard with something. He hadn't meant to say anything about the frying pans, though. But, as soon as the thought of them popped into his head, the Oath ripped it out of his mouth. He decided that he really didn't like Oaths of Truth.
Simmons paused for a moment again and just watched him for a moment before clearing his throat to continue. Before he did, though, Harry noticed Petunia glaring at him again. He immediately paled a little and refused to say anything when the next question was asked, watching his aunt and shrinking back a little in his chair. Johnson luckily noticed the problem, "Can one of the Aurors obscure the view between them?" He asked, gesturing. Moody stepped forward and did, making Harry relax almost immediately, his hands going to Hedwig's feathery back almost without his notice.
"Should have done that earlier." Thomas muttered to him, and he nodded in agreement.
Simmons waited a moment before asking his question again. "What's your earliest memory at the Dursley's." Because, really, maybe the neglect and borderline abuse didn't start until he started showing signs of magic. If he could swing this as them simply being afraid of magic and not knowing how to deal with a young wizarding child...
"Learning how to cook and clean, before being thrown back in my cupboard because I didn't learn it fast enough." Harry said after a moment of thought.
"Not a burst of violent accidental magic?" Simmons asked, almost desperately. "Something that would have frightened them, perhaps?" Ted started to stand up and object, but Harry was talking before he could.
"I've never really had much of a problem accidental magic, the only times my magic really acted up was during or after a run of Harry Hunting, or after Aunt Petunia chopped all my hair off and it grew back." Harry said with a small shrug. Now that he couldn't see his Aunt, he was finding it much easier to try and be nonchalant. Ted slowly sank back down into his seat, but stayed on the edge just in case. Simmons was trying to herd Harry into a corner to just go with it, but, and this was probably also because of the Oath of Truth, it wasn't going to work.
But... the Oath wasn't supposed to be making him answer.
Sharpaxe and Barchoke looked surprised and worried about something, when Sharpaxe passively scanned Harry's magic, sucked in a surprised breath. "It's because of how powerful he is. The Oath is reacting to anything he's asked and forcing the answers out like Veritaserum would."
"His magic is more potent than the average wizards." Barchoke said in agreement. Before anything could happen, Sharpaxe got Ted's attention and quickly explained what they'd realized.
Ted looked at them sharply and asked if he Simmons could approach real quick to speak with Johnson and Thomas. Quickly, he explained. If the Oath was acting like Veritaserum for Harry, then the whole tone of this part of the trial was changed. Especially since Harry was a Heir to several pureblood families, no matter how short a time he'd known about it, he'd still had access to Family secrets. Not to mention, that the Oath didn't take away their decision of whether or not to answer, it merely ensured that whatever they said was the truth. Plus, there were the laws regarding the use of Veritaserum on minors.
Thomas sat back and looked to Johnson for his decision, since she was a Muggle, and this was her first Mixed-Court case. "Tonks, did you want to ask him anything?" He asked first, he saw the Goblins get parchment out and have a quill ready. Ted shook his head. He didn't want Harry to be here in the first place, why would he prolong the boys time on the stand any longer than needed? "Simmons?" Simmons scowled, but shook his head.
He couldn't ask the questions he wanted to anymore, couldn't twist the questions to back the boy into answering how he wanted him to while still telling the truth. Any further questions asked to the boy would be asked by the Arbiter, off a list of written questions.
"Good." He motioned for them to go back and dismissed Harry from the platform formally, making sure to word it in a way that the Oath would be fulfilled.
Sirius leaned over to the Goblins while Harry made his way back towards him. "I didn't know the Oath could do that." He whispered.
"It is rare, but it has happened before. Always in exceptionally powerful wizards or witches. Some people's magic is more potent than others, and when making Oaths or Vows on their magic... they are bound even more tightly to their word than other people, their magic binds them even more tightly. Takes what they said all the more literally in some cases." Sirius raised an eyebrow. And promptly made a mental note to make sure Harry was an expert in all things relating to Magical Oaths and Vows before his third year hit, he didn't want Harry to accidentally make one through careless wording on somebody else's part.
That would be bad.
For now, though, the trial continued with Harry zoning out again. And then, it was Petunia's turn to defend herself.
"Mrs. Dursley, earlier it was mentioned that Harry was periodically dodging frying pans to the head. Can you explain that?" Ted said.
She sniffed imperiously, "Why should I dirty my hands with his filthy freakishness? The frying pan will cause more damage and the heat from the stove will cleanse it after touching him." Several people were disturbed. She hit with the frying pan because it will cause more damage on top of keeping her own hands metaphorically clean? That was just a little messed up, she was talking as if he had some contagious disease. Those who had children going to Hogwarts, suddenly wanted nothing more than to hold their children and assure them, again, that they loved them and having magic did nothing to change that.
"So, what does Harry do, to warrant a frying pan to his head?" Ted asked bitingly, although this was more out of personal curiosity than anything else.
"He's there. Him and his freakishness. That freakishness will be beaten out of him!" She proclaimed proudly. "We will manage it, it will be proof that it can be managed, they can be returned to normal society!" She said this while looking at the Muggles in the courtroom, as if to reassure them that their children's magic could indeed be gotten rid of, and their children would return to how they once were. As if their children having such a gift was something to be ashamed of. All the parents of Muggleborns just looked at her in horror.
Several of the magicals in the room looked at each other, they were wondering if they shouldn't revisit that program that Tom Riddle tried to put into place regarding Muggleborns safety in their homes. Surely Petunia Dursley wasn't the only Muggle in contact with magic that felt this way.
Ted took one look at those parents and decided that nothing more needed to be said.
Nathan Simmons took one look at the parents on the Jury and realized what he should have weeks ago. There was no winning this case. This case was lost before it even began.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I am going home to my children." Marie Thomas said when she and Robert Johnson left the courtroom, after they got the right information filed with the officer in charge of the Dursleys. "My youngest daughter has shown signs that she might have magic, and I don't want to leave my husband alone to deal with it on his own... I hadn't met him yet when Dean was that age." And hadn't that been a nightmare and a half, being a single mother and trying to juggle finishing her schooling and the odd events surrounding her son, trying to keep them hidden so the other children's parents (and potential babysitters) didn't abandon them.
He snorted. "I wish you luck, if you need help, let me know. I have to head back to the Ministry and file some paperwork relating to this case. Luckily, I can avoid our idiot of a Minister and his nose since this whole case was under such tight privacy protocol."
"Why do you need to file paperwork, then?"
"Because the Ministry is stupid." He grumbled. "I also need to speak with Madam Bones about Rita Skeeter, since it was our trial she tried to crash... but no, most of the paperwork will be filed with the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Since the goblins are involved, and all that."
She made a face. "I hate that name. It makes them sound like a bunch of wild animals that need to be controlled, and not the intelligent race that they are." She said in disgust.
He barked a laugh. "That it does, that it does. You can blame some pureblood fanatic in the last several centuries for that one... well, I'm off. Enjoy the rest of your day. And remember," He called when she was almost out the door, "let me know if you want help!" She smiled at him over her shoulder and waved before the door shut. He sighed and picked up his files before heading to the buildings main office where the only Floo was located so he could get it taken care of and go home to his own family. If he moved fast enough, he should be able to avoid the Minister and not have to explain, for the hundredth time, that he could not give any details about the case.
He paused for a moment, and decided he would ask about Dean's biological father later, or just convince her to go in for an inheritance test. The daughter would most certainly be classified as Muggleborn, but for two half-siblings to both be magical, either one of the fathers was a squib, or the mother was. Magic wasn't that precise for making true Muggleborns.
Rita Skeeter was frantically trying to think of a way out of this. They knew she was an unregistered animagus now, that was automatic Azkaban time! She knew that they didn't have anything else on her, but that didn't matter. This was already serious enough.
There was nothing wrong with printing information in the paper, the people deserved to know what their government was hiding from them! That, and, it got her a pretty nice raise whenever she printed hot stories like that, whether all of it was the truth or not.
No, she would get out of this somehow, she had always been good at twisting words... she could talk herself out of this. The Prophet's lawyer would come and get her out of this. She was their best writer, nobodies stories sold as well as hers did.
The Weasley's, Hermione, and Neville were all sitting in an empty classroom. They had originally come in here to do their homework away from the chaos that was the Gryffindor House, somewhere they could be alone and not have to deal with everyone else's questions about where Harry was today and if his relatives were really on trial for child abuse.
Honestly, where on earth had they heard that?
When they asked, they were told by those that had parents in the Wizengamot that said parents had mentioned it off-handedly after the last Wizengamot session. And then Dean had come up to them as they were leaving and whispered that his mother was the Muggle judge for the trial, but he hadn't said anything to anybody else. Not even Seamus. They had tried to run damage control, but it had just become too much, so they retreated to get some homework done. They would ask Harry what he wanted to do about the Hogwarts rumor-mill when he got back from the trial.
Unfortunately, Percy was the only one of them able to somewhat focus on his homework.
The Twins were in the corner, planning a prank in between talking to Neville about some plant or other that they would need for a potion they were experimenting with (apparently Neville was actually quite knowledgeable about Potions, or at least the plant-based ingredients). Ginny was writing in a little black diary that nobody could remember her having before, but the Weasley boys all assumed that their parents got her before school, sort of like he got Sapphire for Ron literally an hour before leaving to catch the train. And Ron and Hermione were talking about something that really made no sense at all to anyone except them and Harry. Something about flying keys and puzzles involving potions?
In between talking to the Twins about a plant, Neville was tending to a small plant that he took everywhere with him in a modified trunk. Harry had given him both the plant and the trunk as a late birthday present when he found out that his birthday was only a day before Harry's own. The trunk, was something of Harry's own design. Apparently, nobody else had ever thought of it before, which Harry just found to be stupid, after all, how on earth could they think of having a greenhouse area in a storage area within a trunk potions lab, but not think of making a portable greenhouse itself within a trunk? (Harry thought wizards were insane for being able to do amazing things, but not thinking of something that one would think to be such a simple concept.)
Finally, Hermione sighed and asked, "When do you guys think Harry's coming back? And how much time alone do you think he'll need?"
"Who knows, with Harry," Ron said. "He can be quite unpredictable when it comes to his relatives." Mipsy suddenly popped in with a look alike of Vernon Dursley, one that happened to have a target painted on it. Everyone was surprised, but got over it quick enough to shoot some spells at it. Although, in the end it was mostly prank spells. Neville looked at the end product and decided to take it up to their dorm, either Harry could squirrel it away in his trunks training room, or all five occupants of their room could enjoy its use. Dean and Seamus didn't have to know who the likeness was of, after all.
Ron grinned when he claimed it for them.
Hermione just shook her head. "Anyway, I think we should start making life difficult for Professor Dumbledore. Nothing big, of course, just..." She trailed off, looking at the twins, who were staring at her like she'd grown multiple heads and started singing Draco Malfoy's praises. Percy grinned, too. It was a look the Weasley's hadn't really seen in years, and enjoyed seeing on their brothers face again.
"Alright, what do you have in mind?" He asked, shocking her for a few moments before she regained her senses and shrugged sheepishly.
"I figured I'd let you guys handle that part." She gestured towards Ron and the Twins. She knew that Ron had a brain for strategy and the Twins... well- enough said.
The Weasley's exchanged evil grins, and instantly got to work. Ginny even put her diary down to help with the plans. After telling Tom what they were doing and getting his (rather enthusiastic) opinion, of course.
Tom Riddle, aged 16, sat in his mindscape within the diary and laughed at what that girl Ginny had just got done telling him. As far as he was concerned, these plans of theirs to prank the Headmaster would serve two purposes.
One, get her mind off that brat Harry Potter. Honestly, he may have been eager to hear about the Brat-Who-Lived in the beginning (because, hello, the boy was supposed to have defeated himself!) but now it was beginning to get annoying. Already. And lately, more than a little creepy. Maybe the first thing he should do when he finally gained enough strength to possess the girl, instead of going straight to the Chamber, would be to make sure Potters things were properly warded.
Because, it didn't matter how much he hated the brat for somehow defeating him. Nobody should suffer through that. And, yes, he was speaking from personal experience, once the girls got over his Muggleborn status, anyway. It only got worse when he made the stupid mistake of revealing his Slytherin heritage. He should have waited on that one until long after he graduated.
Hmmm... he wondered if his other self ever got around to filing those restraining orders or not...
Tom Riddle- three days after graduation from Hogwarts 1945
"Are you sure, sir?" The DMLE official asked, eyeing the long parchment in shock.
"Yes, I'm sure." Tom said, trying very hard not to hex the man for even questioning that this was happening.
"But, sir... this is- a lot of girls." He tried to press again.
Tom raised an eyebrow. "Yes, that is three-quarters of the female population, plus several males, that I've been in contact with at Hogwarts in the past seven years. I don't want any of them coming within three miles of me, ever again. I would make the distance further, but... I want to actually be able to stay in the United Kingdom." Tom said.
"Alright, but... sir, you realize that this severely limits the chances of you ever finding a wife. Not to mention, this is a lot of girls. There is every chance that some of these will be in Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade at the same time as you, and the Alley isn't exactly three miles long."
Tom stared at him for a moment. Then he leaned over the desk, putting on his best, 'you're being an idiot right now and I want to strangle you, but I'll be polite anyway' smile. "Sir, if I was in any way interested in any of these girls in a romantic sense, then I would not be getting restraining orders placed on them. Instead, I would be approaching the Heads of their Families, for a possible marriage contract."
The official tried again after skimming through the 300 name long list. "Sir, you realize that many of these names are Old Names. You have the Black family, the Smith's, Nott's, any one of these Families could completely destroy your life over this. Not to mention, didn't Walburga Black just start at Hogwarts this past year? I remember over-hearing Lord Black talking about it. She's twelve!"
"Twelve, and already a completely crazy stalker." Tom hissed, losing his calm for a moment. He took a moment to collect himself, then continued more calmly. "Sir, I myself also have friends among Old Families, I will be fine. Now, if you will please, just file the restraining order. Let me deal with any potential fall-out."
Two hours later, a pleased Tom Riddle walked out of the Ministry building with a thick folder in hand, filled with the parchment work pertaining to over 300 different restraining orders, and the Ministry owls spent the next week sending out the official notices to the girls (and about ten guys) involved.
A week after that, Tom Riddle was called in front of the Wizengamot by the angry Lords whose daughters now had restraining orders against them (they couldn't pursue a contract with him if he had restraining orders against their daughters, after all). He walked out smirking, and the daughters, instead of being reassured it was going to be alright when their fathers came home, all instead ended up being contracted out within the next several weeks or put under Magical Oaths so that they wouldn't be tempted to pursue one Tom Riddle anymore. For those who were already contracted, the clauses in their contracts were looked over again for loop-holes and tightened up.
Oh, he was sure it happened, he wouldn't have forgotten such a crucial detail to his survival after all.
Hmm... maybe he should also leave a note on Potter's bed that that was an option. After, of course, making sure he had wards to keep the crazies out.
Two, who didn't love the chance to make Albus too-many-names Dumbledore just a little miserable? The number of 'harmless' pranks he himself pulled on the Headmaster and didn't get caught? He usually managed to pin it on one of his precious Gryffindors, which of course didn't even begin to go punished. Honestly, why didn't the man just get rid of the House system and declare everybody to be Gryffindor's, and be done with it? His favoritism was ridiculous.
For once, he couldn't wait until Ginny wrote back. Because, next time, it would be about something actually important that had nothing to do with being a creepy stalker fangirl.
"Well, pup. That's finally over. You did a good job in there. Vernon is going away for ten years before spending the rest of his life in the Mines, and Petunia is going away for eight before the goblins get ahold of her. " Sirius said as he led Harry out of the courthouse, the goblins trailing behind them discussing whatever it was that the two account managers wanted to discuss, and Hedwig once again on his shoulder, and under Muggle repellent charms so she wouldn't be noticed. Then, Sirius paused for a moment and bit his lip while he tried to decide how to word this. "Pup, there was something I wanted to discuss with you. About your cousin, Dudley."
Harry looked up at him, a clear question in his eyes, as well as some worry.
"You see, I realize that he was awful to you. But, at the same time..." Before he could continue though, Hedwig spotted movement and alerted Harry through their link. When he turned his head to look, he spotted somebody raising a wand. His eyes widened when he realized the raised wand was being pointed right at Sirius, and, just as he saw a flash of light, his mind absently supplied that it was spell-light, he pushed Sirius out of the way. Unfortunately, they were at the top of the stairs, and he pushed both himself and Sirius right over the edge and down them.
Behind them, Sharpaxe and Barchoke saw it happen and sprang into action. While Sharpaxe fought through the crowd and confusion to reach Harry and Sirius, Barchoke went after whoever was trying to kill them. Because they recognized that particular spell, and, while it wasn't the Killing Curse, it wasn't used unless you wanted someone dead. It was also a good spell to use in a Muggle area, since it left off a sound like a gunshot, preserving the Statute of Secrecy.
When Barchoke came back not even a minute later, he was angry. "He got away." He growled, not happy. The crowd had gotten in the way, as soon as the 'gunshot' went off and Harry and Sirius started going down the stairs, everybody had scattered, and had started running around in a panic. Perfect for whoever it was to escape. Sharpaxe growled too, both of them showing their sharp teeth under their glamours.
"We will find him, he has declared himself an enemy of the Nation." He said while checking the two over. He cursed. "They need the hospital." He said, worried. He glanced at Hedwig, "She needs a Healer as well."
The Aurors finally arrived, they took one look at what was going on, and made a perimeter while the courthouse security started getting people calmed down and out of the way. It was lucky for them that the only security there that day, were magically aware. Which, of course, was done on purpose. Moody clomped his way over.
He took one look, "I'll port-key them to St. Mungo's." He said shortly, and grabbed his Auror badge, which happened to double as an emergency port-key to two places. The hospital, and Auror headquarters. One muttered word, and the three wizards, plus one owl, were gone.
Well, there we go. Got a little bit of diary-Tom in there too. I had fun writing that bit, actually.
And who doesn't love a bit of a cliff-hanger?