Questioning and False Leads

Harry woke up the morning after the girls had been attacked to find himself alone, though he spotted the open door to the bathroom and figured Hannah and Susan were having a shower before getting ready. Rolling out of bed, he collected his things before heading in as well. There seemed to have been a slight revamp as the last time Harry was in it there had been three separate cubicles – now it had a huge single area with three shower heads.

"It was like this when we woke up" Hannah said, noting Harry's puzzlement.

"Maybe it does this sometimes" said Susan as she picked up her flannel.

"Did you manage to get some sleep last night?" asked Harry as he undressed and stepped into the shower.

"We did after we both found this really cool pillow" Hannah giggled.

"Glad to be of service" said Harry. The trio talked as they cleaned up before drying off and getting dressed – Harry being interested in the clothing that the girls wore. He quite liked the look of whatever it was that Susan wore on her chest and wondered if he could get one himself.

"Oh, somebody has dropped off our timetables" Susan said, pointing out three identical pieces of parchment sitting on their small work tables.

"What do we have first?" Harry asked. "I could do with practicing my English"

"I thought you were English" Susan frowned.

"I am, but I meant my handwriting and spelling. I guess you don't have it here…" Harry shrugged.

"Most Purebloods are taught by tutors or simply left to the care of House Elves" Susan said. "Me and Hannah both went to a Muggle primary school so we could get a good basis of English, Mathematics and Science"

"We can help you if you'd like" Hannah offered. "It isn't your fault that you have missed out on so much and been made to pretend to be stupid to avoid those horrid Muggles"

"Really?" Harry's expression brightened a lot as he looked at his timetable. "DADA – whats that?"

"Defence Against The Dark Arts" Susan said. "It teaches you how to defend against bad wizards and witches"

"Will it help me to take on evil Hufflepuffs who attack classmates with pillows?" Harry asked before the three of them burst into laughter.

"We've got Herbology after that" Hannah said. "That is just taking care of magical plants and stuff"

"After Lunch" Harry read from his copy, "We've got Transfiguration and Charms"

"We've got nothing but free time after that, but I expect we might get a little homework to do" Susan said sagely.

"Do I still have to do it if I don't have a home?" Harry asked dryly.

"Um… I don't know – lets ask Professor Sprout. I bet she knows everything about homework" the red head replied. "Now… Howabout we get to breakfast before that redhead in Gryffindor puts us off eating"

"Which one?" asked Harry.

"The one in our year" said Susan.

"Oh, him" Harry shivered. "Even the Dursleys were never quite that bad" and the trio headed off for breakfast.

# # # # #

Defence Against the Dark Arts turned out to be a complete joke to the Hufflepuffs as their teacher seemed afraid of his own shadow. For some reason, Professor Quirrell had a garlic smell from his turban and would not make eye contact with Harry at all. Combining that to his never ending ability to stammer nearly every word in a sentence, and it made for a boring and annoying lesson.

"Maybe he is just really nervous" Hannah said.

"Maybe, but does that excuse the garlic smell? I mean, what if someone was allergic to garlic?" asked Harry.

"They'd die" said Susan, understanding at the same time as Hannah what he was thinking. After changing books from DADA to Herbology, they went outside the school and round to the greenhouses where their Head of House would teach the lesson. After being forced to spend years tending to the garden of 4 Privet Drive, Harry showed great promise for the subject and helped Hannah and Susan out if they got stuck a little bit.

"You three are doing well" Sprout said as she looked at their work of correctly identifying cut outs of different magical plants and matching them to the correct labels and marking the important and usable parts. "Especially you, Mr Potter, who has had very little knowledge of the magical world apart from what you have directly se–" Sprout paused as a magnificent brown owl swooped through the open doorway and circled twice before landing on the table used by Harry and the girls. After wondering who to give the letter to, the bird decided to err on the side of caution and allowed Sprout to retrieve the letter before flying off again. "Back to work" she said as she unfurled the scroll and started to read it, only to stop quickly and hand it to Harry – informing the boy that only he and the girls should see it.

Dear Mr Potter, Miss Bones and Miss Abbott

You are requested and required to attend a meeting with the investigating officer concerned with the case of Mr Albus Dumbledore and his attacks on your personages on Monday 2nd September 1991. A member of the investigating officer's team will arrive at Hogwarts at 3.45pm to collect and transport you to the Ministry of Magic in order to give your version of events and for any questions or examinations to be performed.

Regards

Jack Regan

Flying Squad

"Why would they have people flying to investigate crimes?" Hannah frowned.

"It's a Muggle police term that people have used" said Harry. "It is basically the group of the DMLE that deals with all of the super important crimes and raids"

"Regan is one of the best that my Aunt has – he's a tough old man" Susan said, "But he is fairly nice towards people like us"

"What are they likely to do? Read your mind or something?" Harry chuckled.

"If it needs to be" said Susan seriously.

"Well they can stay out of mine" Harry said hotly. "It was tough enough to tell people about what the Dursleys did, but I am not having others jogging through memory lane"

"Oh no…" Susan coloured, "What I meant was they'd search for the memories of what happened at that time and see if there is anything missing that they could spot to use in evidence. There should be a book about it in the library, so we can look at it during Lunch later on"

"Can I tell them that I don't want them to poke around my head?" asked Harry as they restarted their work.

"Well as you are underaged, I suppose that you could refuse to do it. Your parents would have to be in attendance for any questioning, but the problem is that yours are dead… Might be a problem there" said Susan.

"Wouldn't he be able to do it as the last of the Potters left alive?" Hannah asked her friend.

"Oh, that's a point – we'd have to tell my Aunt about that" Susan replied.

"Would you mind explaining?" Harry frowned.

"When a parent dies, the oldest living child is thought of as the head of the family. Because your parents died, that might have made you the Head of your Family"

"So it is inherited?" Harry clarified.

"Yeah – but you'd know something about that after reading the papers your mum and dad left you" Hannah said.

"Never knew anything about that" Harry said. "Then again" he added, "I think that's what might have confused the Goblins a bit and your Aunt seemed to be really angry about that"

"Maybe we can find out what is going on later" Susan said. "I am sure that my Aunt would get somebody to take us to Gringotts so we can speak to a Goblin or two"

# # # # #

"Tell me, Mr Dumbledore, exactly what did you think to gain from your actions?" asked a grey haired man with a gruff voice.

"I have no idea what you are talking about" said Dumbledore.

"Oh, come off it…! You were seen in your office with two underaged girls in their underwear. Add to that the fact you used one of the Unforgivables on another student… Doesn't look too good for you, does it?"

"I have immunity from any prosecution" Dumbledore said. "I am the Chief Warlock and Supreme Mugwomp"

"What you are, mate, is nothing more than a low down cheap little scrote who gets off with sick fantasies"

"Now what you did with those two girls is sick enough, but are you so stupid as to prey on the niece of the head of the DMLE?" asked the other man in the room. "Your actions towards them would have got you about ten to fifteen years in prison, but the use of the Unforgiveable is an automatic life term without any chance of reprieve or parole in Azkaban"

"Someone of your age…" the first man whistled dramatically, "Could be the end of you. Of course" he added, "If you were being forced to do it by somebody… Well that is another story – could work in your favour at your trial"

"Trial?" Dumbledore frowned as he looked between the two Aurors.

"Well apart from the use of the Unforgiveable, Mr Dumbledore, there is the case of the two girls being forced to strip and service your sick perversions"

"And don't forget the whole fraud issue" said the second man sipping from a cup of tea.

"Fraud?"

"Yes, you nearly thought you could get away with it… The Goblins were very helpful to us when we explained that they had unwillingly helped to aid in fraudulent activities"

"I have always been honest with my accounts" said Dumbledore. "I admit that I have sometimes done some strange dealings, but they have all been perfectly legal"

"Legal?" the first man snorted in disgust. "Is it legal to purposefully steal money from a child's legacy? Is it legal for you to wilfully disregard a legal document regarding the placement of an orphan? Is it legal for you to imprison people without a trial? Is it legal for you to employ a former Death Eater at a school full of vulnerable children?"

"Professor Snape has my full confidence – he was my spy during the war" Dumbledore smiled his best smile and looked like a forgiving grandfather. "And I did what I thought was best for Harry Potter"

"Snape might have been a spy, but he was not a spy legally on the books of the DMLE, Department of Mysteries or any other Ministry agency" the grey haired Auror leaned in close to Dumbledore's face. "And I never mentioned Harry Potter… Something you want to tell us?" and Dumbledore paled as he realised he had made the biggest mistake of his life.

"I want a lawyer" he said simply.

"Mr Regan thought you'd ask that" the second man said, "But not a single one would come and speak up for you after we told them what you were being held for"

"I want to make a deal"

"What sort of deal?" the newly identified Regan leaned back in his chair and pulled on his cigarette.

"Reduced term in jail in exchange for naming others who were involved"

"Like who?"

"I want a promise"

"I can't promise anything" Regan replied smugly.

"Weeeeeeeellllllllll" the other man drew the word out, "Maybe if he gave us just one name, we could look into it and get back if it looks good for us. If it does, then we'd talk…"

"Good idea, George" Regan said. "Name…?"

"Shaklebolt – Kingsley Shaklebolt. He came to me a few days ago saying that Potter had been abused badly by the Muggles I placed him with, but he said that he'd make the investigation go away if I did something for him"

"Like what?" asked George.

"Make it look as if Potter had attacked the two girls and forced them to undress" Dumbledore hung his head down as if in shame. "After getting him expelled and gaining control of his vaults, I'd get a quarter share with Shaklebolt getting half and the other quarter going to the two girls equally"

"What did he have over you?" asked Regan. "I mean you could have blown him off and then reported it to get him suspended or even jailed"

"He… He had pictures of me with my lover"

"At your age? What's her name?" asked George.

"Actually, it is a man I have been seeing for nearly fifty years"

"There is nothing wrong with being queer" Regan shrugged.

"Some of the best Aurors are gay" agreed George.

"I know, but Shaklebolt had pictures of me in the act, so to speak, and he promised to release them to the public if I didn't do what I was told to do"

"What is this man's name?"

"I don't know if I sho–" Dumbledore was cut off by Regan.

"Name or this is all over and you spend what little years you have left pissing into a bucket and staring at stone walls for twenty three hours a day"

"His name is Gellert – Gellert Grindelwald"

#

Amelia Bones looked at the report given to her by Regan and Carter before rubbing the bridge of her nose and sighing.

"Do you believe this?" she asked her two best members of the Flying Squad – nicknamed The Sweeney.

"Short of dosing him with drugs… No, Ma'am – I don't at all" Regan said, lighting up a cigarette. She didn't allow people to smoke in her office normally, but she made an exemption for these two only – anyone who could manage to live after kicking Voldemort in the balls could do fairly much anything they wanted. "But of all of the Aurors in the department he picks Shaklebolt? And, not only picks him, but identifies him by name…? We'll have to bring him in for questioning"

"Is he in the office?" asked Bones.

"Yeah"

"Uh, actually Gov, I just saw him heading to the Portkey point – said something about going out on escort duty" Carter spoke.

"I don't recall authorising any prisoner transfers to or from Azkaban"

"Never saw it in book for today" Regan said. "Cause… That doesn't mean it is a rush job"

"Lets check"

"There was one, Gov" Carter said, frowning for a moment in remembrance. "He was detailed to get Harry Potter, Hannah Abbott and the Director's niece from Hogwarts and bring them over to give statements"

"If he's really involved with Dumbledore somehow…" Bones paled. "Regan, take whoever is in the office and go after Shacklebolt – bring him in for questioning. Be careful how you do this because he might take hostages"

"And if he does?"

"Terminate his employment"

"Right" Regan stubbed out his smoke and stood. "Come on, George… We've got work to do"

# # # # #

"You know" said Shaklebolt, "I did wonder about what Dumbledore was thinking from time to time, but I would never have thought him capable of this"

"What could you have done?" asked Harry.

"I could have arrested him"

"And he would have made your life hell" shrugged Susan.

"The main thing is that he never touched us and that Harry saved me and Susan"

"I would have beat him up for touching my friends like that" he replied. The boy still had no idea of what had happened, but he knew it was not a very nice thing to have happen to either of his friends. Harry made a mental note to ask Madam pomfrey about it when he had his first lesson on biology later that evening. As they made their way to the lift, one of them opened and Regan and Carter came out with drawn wands.

"Put your wand down, step away from the children and your hands up" said Regan.

"Wha- Whats going on?" Kingsley asked

"Dumbledore has told us of the blackmail he has been getting from you" Carter said.

"You are under arrest for blackmail and conspiracy" Regan added. "Come quietly and we will not use cuffs on you"

"But I haven't seen Dumbledore until we came to take him away from Hogwarts. I have been on medical rest after that attack a month ago in Colchester" the Auror replied.

"Hey, he's right there, Gov" Carter said.

"You what?"

"Yeah, he spent three weeks in St Mungos and then a week covering light duties"

"I can vouch for that" said Susan. "Me and Hannah visited him while he was in the hospital and then he came to stay during the days at my Aunt's house"

"We've been had, george" said Regan.

"ALERT! ALERT! PRISONER ESCAPE IN DEPARTMENT OF MAGICAL LAW ENFORCEMENT! ALL AURORS AND GUARDS TO ATTEMPT CAPTURE!" and the Aurors all looked at each other before Shaklebolt spoke.

"You did check that he wasn't wearing another wand, right?"

A/N:

Just a quick note to say I am sorry this is a little long in coming, and also to say that it is shorter than what you'd expect from me because I really am worn out with things going on in my personal life. Basically, my on/off GF left me and I really did not have the heart to do any writing until recently...

The next story to be updated will be By All Necessary Means followed by Growing Up in Space And Time. Incidentally, if anybody is good with photoshop and computer picture editing, could you raise your hand either in a review or PM?

Last, but not least, there is a vote on the home page... Simple question with two options

Regards

Pixel and Stephanie