Authors Note: Here's the next chapter, hope you like it. Also, I am upping the rating on this story to M just to be safe. Last thing I want is this story taken down.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the wizarding world, those rights belong to J.K Rowling.
Replies to comments:
Magitech: If any child under the age of 5 says they saw magic, the adults are going to think its just their imagination, but I'm thinking of using two separate classrooms for the kids, one for the magicals and one for the muggles.
Sturmundsterne: Sorry about that slight mistake, I don't have kids myself and my youngest sibling is 16, so it's been a while since I've had to babysit someone that young.
Chapter 19
Saturday, Wizengamont
Cyrus Greengrass is waiting for the last of the Wizengamont members to arrive, omitting the ones awaiting trial and hoping that today's trials go well. Once everyone has arrived and seated, Cyrus gets every one's attention. "Thank you all for coming, today we are continuing the trials that were put on hold last week due to the imprisonment of Albus Dumbledore. First up, Sirius Black, Aurors, please bring in the accused."
Once Sirius Black is brought into the Wizengamont centre, Cyrus sees that Sirius has a relieved smile on his face. "Aurors, disable the chains on the chair, Mr. Black is not a flight risk." Cyrus says. Although the aurors are shocked that the Chief Warlock has said to disable the chains, but they agree and tap the chains in the proper pattern to disable them. Once they are disabled, they bring Sirius and set him down in the chair. "Mr. Black, although you are a pureblood, would you consent to the use of veritaserum?" Cyrus asks.
"I was going to ask for it, Chief Warlock, so yes, I consent to veritaserum." Sirius replies, grateful that someone is on his side for once.
"Thank you, Mr. Black, Unspeakable, please administer the veritaserum." Once Cyrus says this, the Unspeakable gives the standard 3 drop dose, and steps away once its administered.
"Now, Mr. Black has been given the veritaserum, Ms. Bones, since you did so well last week, would you like to continue questioning the accused?" Cyrus asks.
"It would be my pleasure, does anyone in the Wizengamont have any objections?" Amelia asks, and seeing no one objecting, she turns towards Sirius, "Mr. Black, to make sure the veritaserum is working properly, please state your full name and old Hogwarts house for the court."
"Sirius Orion Black, Gryffindor graduate." Sirius responds.
"Thank you, Mr. Black. Ladies and gentlemen please note that the veritaserum is working properly, now, Mr. Black, are you a Death Eater?" Amelia asks.
"NO! I wanted nothing to do with those psychopaths, which is why when Albus asked me to join the Order I accepted." Sirius responds.
"What order are you talking about Mr. Black?"
"Albus' Order of the Phoenix, a type of vigilante group he started to help combat the Death Munchers."
"Can you elaborate on that please? Now that we know you are not a Death Eater, the following questions is just to get some more information." Amelia says.
"Albus told me he created the Order to help the aurors capture the Death Eaters, and I was in the auror corps, but I wanted to do more, so he offered me a position in it."
"Do you know who else was in the Order?"
"Frank and Alice Longbottom, James and Lily Potter, Peter Pettigrew, Remus Lupin, Alastor Moody, Marlene McKinnon, Mundungus Fletcher, Dealadous Diggle, Molly and Arthur Weasley, George and Fabion Prewitt, Severus Snape and a few more that I can't remember at the moment." Sirius lists off.
"Thank you, Sirius, now, did you know that both Severus Snape and Peter Pettigrew were marked Death Eaters?" Amelia asks.
"I knew about Severus, and Albus put a bug in our ear about a traitor in my group of friends, Remus, Peter, James and myself. Albus convinced us that the traitor was Remus, which is why we reduced the amount of news we sent him. I never thought Peter would be tough enough to switch sides, I never thought he'd betray us. We did so much to help him through school, we kept him from failing out of school. Why would he betray us?" Sirius says, trying to keep his emotions in check, which the veritaserum is helping with, but everyone in the Wizengamont can hear the hurt in his story.
"May I ask why you and your friends were invited into the group in the first place? I can't think of many reasons why Albus would invite a bunch of people fresh from school into this little group." Amelia asks.
"He knew our secret."
"What secret was that?"
"James, Peter, Lily, and I are unregistered animagi. We completed the animagus process halfway through our 5th year of school."
"That's quite impressive, may I ask what your animagus forms were?"
"James was a stag, Lily was a doe, Peter was a rat, and I am a dog. Albus found out about our forms during our 6th year, so he offered us all positions in the Order due to no one in the ministry knowing about our forms. I know it's illegal not to register so I will register the minute I get released and pay any fine you wish to bestow upon me."
"Thank you, Mr. Black. I have a few more questions for you? Did Albus tell you how to go about helping capture the Death Eaters?" Amelia asks, hoping she can send the information to the goblins.
"Albus said to stun and bind them, then alert the aurors as to their location, no deathly curses. I asked him why we can't kill them, and Albus said that everyone deserves a second chance, and yet he let the aurors send me to Azkaban without a trial." Sirius replies.
"Thank you, Sirius, now, the last question I have is, what happened the day after James and Lily Potter were killed?"
"Shortly after I felt the Fidelius Charm fail on their safehouse, I rushed there to see if Harry was alright. When I got there, I saw Hagrid picking up my godson and getting ready to take him to Dumbledore. I begged Hagrid to give me Harry, since James and Lily chose me to take care of Harry if anything happened to them. But Hagrid said he was on Dumbledore's orders to bring Harry to him, and next thing I know I have a thought nagging me to give Hagrid my bike and go after the traitor. I think Hagrid used a memory charm of some sort to get me to leave the place without my godson. Next thing I know, I'm running towards Peter, and before I can say anything, he turns, looks at me, and says, 'James and Lily, Sirius, how could you betray them?' and starts throwing curses at me, dark curses that I have never seen come out of his wand before that day, all I did was defend myself, I used shield charms and did everything I could think of to try and incapacitate Peter without killing him."
"What happened next?" Amelia asks.
"Peter got an evil smile on his face, turned his wand towards the ground, and used a bombarda curse on it, then he transformed into his rat form and ran down towards the sewers. Next thing I know obliviators and the aurors show up. I was in shock so I started laughing, and said that it was my fault that my best friend and his wife were killed. Next thing I know, the aurors have me in cuffs and are dragging me to Azkaban while the obliviators start wiping the memories of the muggles that saw our little magic show." Sirius answers.
"Thank you, Sirius. Unspeakable, please administer the veritaserum to Mr. Black. Members of the Wizengamont, we now know that Sirius Black is innocent of being a Death Eater and killing the muggles in London a few weeks ago, those in favour of dismissing these charges, raise your wand." Not long after Amelia says this, all but 5 wands are raised. "Charges are dismissed, now, due to the questioning we have learned that Sirius is an unregistered animagus, and since he pled guilty to that, what should his punishment be?"
"Ms. Bones, if I may speak?" Cyrus asks, the first time he's spoken up since Mr. Black's trial has started.
"Go ahead Chief Warlock."
"Normally, being an unregistered animagus is an automatic ticket to Azkaban, but since he has already been there, I propose that we ask Mr. Black to register himself and Peter Pettigrew so the aurors can keep an eye out for him and bring him in if found, along with asking Mr. Black to pay a fine of 500 galleons." Cyrus states, looking at Amelia, seeing if she agrees with this.
"That sounds like a plan to me, Wizengamont, may I get a show of wands to confirm the punishment for Mr. Black?" Once Amelia asks this, the majority of the Wizengamont raise their wands in favour. "Majority wins, Mr. Black, you are innocent of being a Death Eater and murder, however, you are found guilty of being an unregistered animagus, you must go register your form and the form of Peter Pettigrew and pay the fine of 500 galleons to the Wizengamont. If you cannot pay the lump sum right away, we can discuss a payment plan in private."
"Thank you, so much Ms. Bones, Chief Warlock. Once I get back, may I be sworn into my seat in the Wizengamont? My father is unwell and unable to do his duties, so, with me being the heir, I am allowed to take over the Black seat." Sirius says, relieved that he will never be going back to Azkaban.
"Unfortunately, you will have to go to Gringotts and talk to them about taking over the headship for the House of Black before you can vote in the Wizengamont, but you may return to the court and watch the rest of the trials. We will take a 30-minute recess before returning to the Death Eater trials." Cyrus states. "The next trial is that of Lucius Malfoy, followed by Bellatrix Lestrange. Court can disperse, please be back within the next half hour." With that, the Wizengamont begins to disperse to grab a cup of coffee and review the notes from the trials last week. Before Sirius leaves the courtroom to go register his animagus form, he walks up to Amelia.
"Amelia, I need to ask, where is my godson?"
"Don't worry, your godson is safe with Minerva McGonagall."
"How did Minnie get a hold of him?"
"After Hagrid picked Harry up from Godric's Hollow, he went to meet up with Albus and Minerva in a small cul-de-sac in muggle London. Albus wanted to leave Harry with his maternal aunt and uncle."
"PETUNIA!? WHY WOULD HE THINK SHE WOULD TAKE CARE OF HARRY? SHE HATED MAGIC!" Sirius shouts, momentarily forgetting he's still in the courtroom and quite a few people look at him weirdly for his outburst.
"Calm down Sirius, like I said, Minerva disagreed with this, and picked Harry up off the doorstep not an hour after Albus left him there and she blood adopted him not long afterwards, so that he had at least one parent, and it helped that she was listed as one of the guardians in James and Lily's will." Amelia says, glad that Sirius is calming down after hearing that his godson's in good hands.
"Thank Merlin, as much as Minnie was a tough teacher, I have a feeling she had a soft spot for Lily. Lily was a favourite among all the teachers at Hogwarts."
"Yes, it is. Now, if I were you, I'd get going to animagus registration, and get to Gringotts to pay your fine and you might even be able to get the Headship before the trials recommence." Amelia says, noticing that the half hour recess is quickly disappearing.
"I am off like a galloping herd of turtles." With that, Sirius lightly jogs out of the courtroom.
30 minutes later
Once everyone has returned from the break, Cyrus is about to tell the aurors to close the doors to signal that the Wizengamont is back in session, but as he's about to open his mouth, he sees Sirius running like hell towards the courtroom, "Hold the doors! I'm coming! I'm coming!" Sirius shouts, sliding to a stop once he's in the courtroom with the door swinging shut behind him. "Made it in the nick of time. Chief Warlock, I have registered with the ministry as to what my animagus form is, and I just returned from Gringotts. I have paid the fine to the rightful vault and was able to meet with my account manager to gain Headship of the House Black."
"Welcome, Lord Black, please take your seat and we will begin Mr. Malfoy's trial. Aurors, please bring Mr. Lucius Malfoy in and make sure the charms have been properly reapplied to the chair." Cyrus says. "Now, as we wait for the new Lord Black to take his seat, does anyone wish to question the defendant? Or may Ms. Bones continue with questioning?" When no one offers to question the Death Eaters, Cyrus continues, "Ms. Bones, are you good with continuing questioning the Death Eaters?"
"I am Chief Warlock." Amelia says, as she sees her fellow aurors bringing in Lucius. Once he's in the chair and the chains have firmly wrapped around his arms and legs, Amelia begins to speak, "Lucius Malfoy, you are charged with treason for becoming a marked Death Eater, murder in the first degree and rape, how do you plead?"
"Not guilty." Lucius says silkily.
"May I ask why you are pleading not guilty?"
"I was under the Imperious curse, if you are unaware of the effects of this curse, I will be glad to expand your knowledge."
"I am aware of the effects of the Imperious curse, all aurors are informed of the 3 unforgivable curses during their training. Members of the Wizengamont, although Mr. Malfoy here is a pureblood, I move to continue this trial under veritaserum." Amelia states.
"You cannot use veritaserum on me, Ms. Bones. The law clearly states that you cannot use veritaserum on purebloods, which I am." Lucius interrupts.
"Apparently you do not know the law as well as you think Mr. Malfoy. The law states, 'If a member of the Sacred 28 is charged with 1st degree murder, they cannot oppose the use of veritaserum.' Unspeakable, please administer the veritaserum." Amelia says once she sees no on in the Wizengamont objecting to this, since the law is on her side. Once the Unspeakable has administered the serum, Amelia continues, "Let's try this again, Mr. Malfoy, to ensure the veritaserum is working properly, please state your name and house you were in in Hogwarts."
"Lucius Malfoy, Slytherin graduate."
"What's your wife's name?"
"Narcissa Malfoy nee Black."
"Members of the Wizengamont, please note that the veritaserum is working properly, now Lucius, I have a few questions for you, first, were you under the Imperious curse when you took the Dark Mark?"
"No, I took it willingly." Lucius said, knowing that nothing once the veritaserum has entered your system, nothing can stop it and wishing he took an antidote for it.
"Why did you become a Death Eater?"
"The Dark Lord promised the world to us, he promised that once he took over the Ministry, we could kill as many muggles as our hearts desired, and even said that we could have our fun with them as well. I eagerly joined, because I know that muggles are nothing more than dirt beneath our feet, and we need to wash them off."
"I see, now, if I may ask, do you know your Dark Lord's true heritage?" Amelia asks, knowing that Lucius isn't going to like what she knows.
"I know he's a descendant of the great Salazaar Slytherin, he possesses the gift of Parseltongue and has never been shy of this fact."
"Do you know how exactly he's related to the Slytherin line?"
"No, he never thought to let us know."
"His true name is Tom Marvolo Riddle, son of Merope Gaunt, a near squib and muggle Tom Riddle." Amelia says, secretly loving the look of shock on Lucius' face. "Your precious Dark Lord, is a halfblood, and using your money to fund his quest of power."
"Power he will surely share with those he deems the most important, those with those privileges were known as 'Members of his Inner Circle.'"
"Who was in this 'Inner Circle'?"
"Bellatrix and Rodolphous Lestrange, Severus Snape, Peter Pettigrew, Barty Crouch Jr., Walden McNair, and myself. We were the most loyal to his cause of ridding the world of mudbloods." Several people in the Wizengamont visibly cringe when Lucius uses this slur.
"I see, Mr. Malfoy, we have been in contact with the goblins, and in case you didn't notice, we have several new people in the Wizengamont, all are muggleborns, and heirs to old families that have long been thought extinct. Do you know why this is?" Amelia asks.
"Why should I care? The Malfoys are a Noble house, and mudbloods are nothing more than people who have found a way to steal magic from us, which is why some families end up with squibs."
"That is where you are wrong, Mr. Malfoy, muggleborns are descendants of squibs that have been cast out into the muggle world by their family. They did not steal magic, as you so eloquently put it, the magic is in their DNA, it is as much as a part of them as your hair is."
"No matter what you say, it is irrelevant, the Dark Lord will return and put those mudbloods in their place."
"Why do you say that the Dark Lord will return? Do you know something we don't?"
"The Dark Lord asked me to keep something safe for him, he said it was more valuable than anyone would ever realize."
Amelia quickly recovers from her shock, thinking that Tom may have requested that some of his followers hold his horcruxes safe. "Where is this item now, and did Tom ask anyone else in the Inner Circle to keep an item safe?"
"It is in a hidden drawer in my personal bar in my office at my place, and under a lock that can only be opened with my blood, and he also asked Bellatrix Lestrange to keep an item safe." Lucius says, cursing the fact he can't keep anything back due to the veritaserum in his system.
"Thank you, for this information Lucius, now, do you wish to change your plea from not guilty, to guilty? Since you've basically admitted to murder, rape and voluntarily becoming a Death Eater.
"Yes, I'm guilty of all of it." Lucius admits, hoping that he won't get too heavy of a sentence since he's still a formidable member of the government.
"Thank you, members of the Wizengamont, the defendant has pled guilty to all of his charges, now for punishment. I propose that Lucius Malfoy be sentenced to 1 year of Azkaban in the maximum-security wing, and after that year, he is sent through the Veil of Death." Amelia wishes she could sentence him to the veil right away but needs his blood to get that horcrux to the goblins.
"Hem-hem." Amelia cringes when she hears this person clears her throat. "Surely Azkaban will be punishment enough for someone as important as Mr. Malfoy here. Not only is he a member of this Wizengamont, but he is also a new father. Why would you commit a child to growing up without a father?" Dolores Umbridge asks.
"Ms. Umbridge, I know you are new here, but you are a junior assistant in the Magical Catastrophe Department, you cannot put your two cents worth in just because you like the sound of your own voice and let me remind you, the madman that Lucius gladly served left several children orphaned or wiped-out families completely. We cannot let murders roam free; do you understand? If you don't, I'm sure I can send you out with an auror to talk to people who have lost members of their families to see the hurt Voldemort and his followers have caused.
Delores sighs and decides to keep her mouth shut for the time being, glad that she convinced the Dark Lord not to mark her. Her reasoning was that she would be able to get into a position of power in the Ministry easier if she was able to stay under the radar, and since she never spoke at Death Eater meetings and observed more than integrated herself into other followers' plans, no one knew that she was a Death Eater.
"Anyways, back to Mr. Malfoy, those in favour of 1 year in Azkaban followed by the Veil, please raise your wands." Cyrus asks, getting the Wizengamont back on track to sentencing. Shortly after saying this, all the Light Faction and over half the Neutral Faction raise their wands in approval. Cyrus quickly counts the wands in favour. "Those oppose?" The majority of the Dark Faction and a few of the Neutral Faction raises their wands, the rest of the members abstaining from voting. Cyrus starts counting the wands, once he's done counting, he continues, "By 5 votes, the punishment is approved. Unspeakable, give Lucius the antidote to the veritaserum, then the Aurors can send Mr. Malfoy to Azkaban." Once the antidote is given, the aurors gladly handcuff Lucius Malfoy and drag him out of the courtroom to be sent to Azkaban. "We shall take an hour for a lunch break, then when we reconvene, we will commence the trial of Bellatrix Lestrange, court adjourned." Cyrus bangs his gavel, wishing he could have something stronger than coffee to drink right now.
End Authors Note: That's all I have for now, I will update in the next day or so, it depends how long it takes me to write the next chapter. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please read and review.