Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling, nor have I made any money from the writing of this fanfiction. All characters belong to JK Rowling; only this particular plot line is mine.
Chapter Twenty
Amelia Bones stepped out of the Floo to see Hermione Granger obviously upset. Noting that Draco Malfoy was slightly in front of her, Amelia raised her hands slightly.
"You asked me to come, Mr. Malfoy. What can I do for you?"
"Madam Bones, as a point of clarification, you are permitted to use extracted memories for use in a pensieve in the Wizengamot during a trial, are you not?"
"If the memories can be verified as being untampered with, or false memories, the Wizengamot has permitted memories to be used in trial on occasion. Are you suggesting that Miss Granger supply me with phials of memories for my evidence in Ronald Weasley's trial?"
"Even with the memories being certified as untampered with, Ronald would still have his solicitor claim they were false. What we need is a way to force him to tell the truth for once," Hermione spoke up, still upset.
"The problem with this that I see is what one person believes to be true doesn't necessarily mean it is the whole truth. Veritaserum can only do so much, and we aren't allowed to use it often to prevent accidental overdose."
"And Veritaserum can't be given to someone under a certain age without parental consent, yes. Madam Bones, beyond caring for Susan, have you done much babysitting?" Hermione asked, as a thought occurred to her.
"I can't say that I have, Miss Granger. Why do you ask?"
"In the time I dated Ronald, I did a lot of babysitting for his older brother Bill's daughter, Victoire. Small children tend to try to fib to an adult to stay out of trouble if they do something that they think was 'bad'. I developed a charm that can be used in a way that has the same results as Veritaserum, but without risk of overdose, and like any charm or spell, can be cancelled with a simple Finite Incantatum. Call it a truth spell if you like. But if the person it's placed on attempts to lie under its influence, the person will stutter, before finally telling the truth. Similar wand movements to a Wingardium Leviosa."
"And it would have the same effect on an adult?"
"It should have the same effect. If you like, I can place the charm on you with your consent, and give you a test question to show you what it feels like."
"And if it works the way you say it will, I can ask the Wizengamot in advance to allow me to use it on Mr. Weasley at the trial. Good thinking. Okay, Miss Granger, I'll be your test subject."
Nodding, Hermione took out her wand, pointed it at Amelia, and after a swish, flick, and small counter clockwise circle, said the charm.
"Cogit Veritas. For your test question, I want you to try to lie and tell me sixteen. What do you get when you add five plus seven?"
"S-s-s-twelve."
"Finite incantatum."
"Amazing. I was literally prevented from giving you anything but a truthful answer to your question. I'll be bringing your charm to the Wizengamot to ask permission for its use in trial. How many memories are you suggesting giving me?"
"We were thinking memories of every incident the Aurors took a report for, which has gone missing, Madam Bones."
"How many phials? I would need to bring them from the DMLE, since we use a certain kind for evidence."
"I called Aurors at least once a month for the last year and a half, Madam Bones. Some of those Auror visits were to report more than one instance of Ronald being violent. You may want to bring around three dozen phials."
"I can do that. May I ask what gave you the idea for the memory phials?
Hermione glanced at Draco, a question in her eyes. He didn't want to bring up the letters, because of the threats of the alleged curse being released early if authorities got involved, but the fact one of them led to triggering a memory for her, he couldn't, in good conscience, stay silent.
"One of the reasons I'm protecting Miss Granger is because even during our time at Hogwarts, she excelled at research. I've been receiving letters for almost a year, demanding a good chunk of my fortune, or I've been assured the Malfoy Line will end. She's been trying to find out exactly what the person doing this may have on the Malfoy Family. I had just received another letter and turned on some music when she remembered the incident that I asked you to come take a report about."
"Is the handwriting familiar? Any idea who sent it?"
"It looked to me like Molly Weasley's handwriting, but I know from assisting Professor McGonagall that there's a spell that will mimic someone's handwriting, so we can't be sure it was actually Molly that sent the letter."
"I've heard of that spell, actually. Some students use it to have 'permission' to visit Hogsmeade. There's a couple of spells I can use to figure out if Molly Weasley actually sent the letter, and if not, who did write and send it," Amelia said, looking from Draco to Hermione and back.
Nodding, Draco retrieved the letter, handing it to Amelia.
"I placed it under stasis as well as an impervious. Up until now, the letters have been burning as soon as I read them."
"That's fine; the spells used to verify a letter won't be affected by those spells. If I may, Mr. Malfoy?"
Placing the letter on the table, Amelia tapped it with her wand.
"Sicut genuina cognoscere", she said, watching as the paper glowed a bright red.
"It glowed red, so the hand that wrote the letter is NOT the person whose writing it looks like. Now for the second spell."
Tapping the paper again, Amelia said the second spell.
"Verum ostendere manus."
For a moment, nothing happened, and then the look of the words began to subtly shift. It no longer looked to Hermione as if Molly had written the letter. When she saw the words had ceased shifting in appearance, she looked at the letter again.
"Sweet, merciful Merlin!"
"You recognize the handwriting, Miss Granger? Whose handwriting is it?"
"Oh, yes, I know that handwriting. After almost seven years of correcting homework, I'd know it anywhere. I just can't believe he's still this stupid."
"Granger? Who is writing the letters?"
"That's Ronald Weasley's handwriting, Madam Bones. I know it, because I would correct all of his homework in school before he turned it in. But it's Ronald's, without a doubt."
