Chapter 3 Courtroom Scuffle

Green smoke flashed as the photographers tried to get as many pictures of Harry and Hermione as they could when they stepped out of the van. There were at least a dozen of them, all crowded by the door to a rundown looking warehouse. But when Corra stepped out the car, everything seemed to stop. The photographers looked up from their lenses in awe. Taking advantage of this, Harry and Hermione slipped quickly through the wooden door followed by Corra. The interior of the building was a grand courtroom similar to the one Harry saw when he entered into the pensive. The room was fully packed.

"I have to go and meet someone. You two get a seat in the front row, and don't get out of each other's sight." Corra instructed. Then she disappeared into the sea of people.

As Harry and Hermione made their way to the front they saw Neville and his grandmother, talking to a man with a bushy mustache. When they finally reached the front row they sat on the two seats nearest to the aisle. While looking around, Harry was surprised to see Rita Skeeter sitting in a front row seat in a section on the right hand side marked "Reporters". Harry gave Hermione a nudge on the side, pointing to where Rita was sitting.

"What is she doing here?!" Harry asked.

"I have no idea but I'll find out. Save my seat." Hermione replied, and before Harry could object she had already made it halfway through the dozens of people walking to and fro. He watched as Hermione approached Rita, but surprisingly Rita looked happy to see her. She patted Hermione on the head and raised her Acid green quill. Hermione smiled sarcastically, then turned and walked back.

"What did she want?" Harry asked.

"The story, as usual. But she promised that she's on 'our side'." Hermione said while trying to smooth her hair. Which in Harry's opinion wasn't much help, as it looked the same.

Within a few minutes Corra, who was carrying a big, leather bound book joined Harry and Hermione. They sat patiently as they watched the high table in front of them fill up with wizards taking their seats. Dumbledore was the cheeriest looking among them.

"The ministry is here today, on a trial considering the innocence of Sirius Black." rang Fudge's voice, which brought the room to silence. "And here to defend him is… is…" He squinted and looked at the piece of parchment that he was holding as if in none belief, then he announced. "Corra Isis." At this, most of the court started to whisper and glace in Corra's direction. This however did not seem to bother Corra.

"And Lucius Malfoy will be..." Malfoy cut in before Fudge could finish. "Defending the good of the ministry"

"Umm… very well then. Lets hear the arguments and the court will decide after all the evidence is examined. The defense may go first." Fudge finished then sat down.

"The defense calls for Remus Lupin." Corra announced.

"I object!" Malfoy barked.

"For what reason?"

"The man's a werewolf!" Malfoy said loudly.

"So? He's still more human than you! Besides he is a important part of this case." Corra countered, coolly. The whole courtroom started to chuckle at Malfoy who seem to have steam coming out of his nostrils.

"Settle down!" Fudge called. "Lupin is after all an important part of this case. He will testify."

"Thank you." Corra nodded, as Lupin approached the bench. Malfoy sneered.

"Lupin. You were a friend to Sirius Black, yes?" Corra began.

"Yes, I am." Lupin answered.

"You were also a close friend to James Potter."

"Yes, I was."

"And you used to be a friend of Peter Pettigrew."

"Yes." Lupin's answer was curt with this question.

"Would you swear to the court that Peter is still alive?" Corra asked. Everyone in the court was stunned by the question, except for Harry and Hermione, of course.

"Corra I don't know if you have been informed but Peter has died." Fudge said to Corra.

"I know very well what happened that day, Fudge." Corra answered shortly. Everyone in the room hushed.

"Please explain to us, Lupin, of how Peter framed Sirius for the death of the muggles, and the death of Lily and James Potter." Lupin went on explaining everything from the beginning, ever since he became a werewolf. But Lupin had cleverly avoided telling everyone that James and Sirius had also became an illegal Animagus. When he finished most of the court seemed swayed by Lupin's story.

"I also have this photo which was taken two years ago showing Peter as the Weasley's family pet." Corra raised the picture, which was taken by the daily prophet with Peter on Ron's shoulder. She passed it on to Fudge who passed it on to all the judges.

"Did Sirius ever explain how he got out of Azkaban?" Corra continued with her questions.

"Yes, he did. He stayed sane and his mind stayed clear by knowing of his innocence and the hope of seeing Harry again. He is, after all, Harry's godfather." Lupin smiled. The room stirred once again with the whispers of conversation.

"That should be all. Thank you Lupin." Corra said sitting down.

"Mr. Malfoy." Fudge announced.

"Thank you Fudge." He said with his regular oily voice.

"Is it true that you are a werewolf?" Malfoy asked.

"Yes, but it does not affect my senses before I morph or my judge of character." Lupin answered sternly.

"Only yes or no answers, please. So you are a werewolf, am I correct?"

"Yes." Lupin answered rather crudely.

"Very well. And it was a full moon the night you found Harry, Hermione, Sirius Black, and Severus Snape correct?"

"Yes, but the moon was not yet up and I was fully in control of my mind and body. Also you forgot to mention Peter."

"Yes or no will be fine." Malfoy's voice pressed.

"Have you ever been committed to a mental hospital Lupin?"

"No!" Lupin was outraged.

"It certainly seem that you should be, as you seem to believe that Peter is still alive." Malfoy laughed.

"He is alive." Lupin countered.

"You would be a great fictional writer. You could make Galleons upon Galleons." Malfoy said eying Lupin's tattered robes. "With the story you just made up. It'd be enough to buy some new robes don't you think?" Some people in the court laughed at this.

"Objection." Corra's voice rang "Malfoy is clearly battering the witness!"

"Very well, strike that. I'm done anyway." Malfoy said, sitting down.

"The defense would now like to call on Harry Potter and Hermione Granger." Corra said standing up.

"Harry, Hermione. Have you ever been threatened by Sirius?" Corra asked.

"No, never." They answered together.

"Has he ever made an attempt to hurt any of you, or kill you?"

"No."

"Could you give me a brief summary of Sirius' personality for me please."

"Will he's kind, and …" Hermione started. Then the courtroom door flew open with a big explosion. Sirius was standing at the door.

"Accio!" Sirius screamed pointing his wand at the book that Corra was holding. It flew directly toward him and he caught it with ease. He turned to Harry and Hermione then screamed "Avada-Kedavra!" At the same time Harry could hear Corra yell "Timeedurius!" The green light seemed to pause, and without thinking Harry and Hermione jumped out of the stand and ducked under a table on impulse. A tremendous "BOOM" from the explosion of the court stands that shook the building to the core. Dumbledore raised his wand and "Expellimarus!" Sirius flew up and hit the ceiling rendering him unconscious.

The courtroom was silent and as Harry and Hermione looked up they saw Corra standing very still, a mist of pink aurora surrounded her. And as Harry looked at her, he felt a surge of power coming from her, like the one that Harry saw in Dumbledore. Hermione must have also sensed it because she let out a slight gasp.

Harry looked around the room everyone was looking at Corra, motionless. The only people that were moving were Dumbledore and Lupin who came to help Harry and Hermione up. Corra put her wand away, and then raised her left hand, and the book that Sirius took flew toward her. She caught it and placed it in her bag. The room was still motionless and silent. Corra then raised both hands and an orb formed surrounded Sirius who has obviously fainted, it carried him closer to herself and Harry. Everyone was still silent, Harry was sure that they feel the power that Corra possessed.

"The court should have a truth potion ready." Corra said.

"Yes." Fudge replied.

"Bring it here." Corra requested. The pink aurora that surrounded her earlier has now faded a bit. Fudge asked the wizard beside him to fetch the potion. The air became less tense than before. The dementor that was allowed to stay behind because of this case drew slightly closer to Sirius, but Dumbledore pointed his wand at it and it glided away.

"Why not perform the kiss now?" Fudge asked, softly.

"Because is not Sirius. And after the kiss has been performed he cannot return to himself." Corra said. Her green eyes focused through her spectacles. The small wizard had returned with a small vile of the clear potion. Corra fed the potion to who was lying there. He sat up with his eyes closed.

"Who sent you here?" Corra asked.

"Peter Pettigrew …Voldermort…imperius … curse." He manages to blurt out.

"Silencea." Corra ordered He went silent and slumped back to the ground.

"Why did you silence him?" Fudge asked.

"Because the mix of the truth potion and the imperius curse does not match. He will likely die from it and he is no use to us dead. I will ask however that this trial would conclude here. In light of this new evidence Sirius is obviously not guilty. And I would ask the ministry to leave this person to me. I am more than capable to handle him."

Fudge looked like he was going to object but thought better of it. "All agree that Sirius Black is innocent say 'I'." Most of the people who could respond said 'I' "Those who oppose clam 'nay'." Some did, but the "I" was an obvious win. "I hereby claim Sirius to be stripped of all charges." Fudge announced. His voice was not as confident as before.

"So who is he?" A small wizard asked, pointing to 'Sirius'.

"We'll find out in a few minutes." Dumbledore answered. And sure enough the changes started to appear first his hair, then his face.

"Merlin's beard! It's Percy!" Hermione breathed out in astonishment. Dumbledore and Corra did not look surprised at this.

"This court is dismissed." Dumbledore announced. Then, slowly, people began to exit. Lupin drew up a stretcher for Percy and they walked out to the waiting van, which was driven by Dido, who squeaked at the sight of Percy and asked how he was.

They returned to the valley fairly quickly, and Mrs. Weasley had a start when she saw Percy lying there. Soon, they moved Percy to a room next to Mrs. and Mr. Weasley. Everyone was keen on hearing what had happened. Dumbledore explained most of everything to everyone, while Sirius was shaking his head at Corra. Finally, as the sun was about to set, Dumbledore bid his farewell.

Corra insisted that everyone should eat at their own room that day but George, Fred, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione all came to Harry's room to eat. Mostly everyone wanted to hear again what had happened. Dumbledore explained everything but with out much action. George and Fred were astonished to know on how Percy had tried to kill Harry and Hermione.

"O' man, I guess he has some guts in him after all." George said.

"No offense Harry, Hermione." Fred added.

"None taken." They answered together.

"I wonder how on earth Corra paused the curse." Hermione said to herself with a look of admiration in her eyes.

"Yeah, I wonder." Said Ron. "It's supposed to be a unblockable curse isn't it?"

"She must be really powerful." Ginny spoke up.

"What did Voldemort want with that book anyway?" Harry thought outloud. Then he realized that everyone was staring at him. "Oh, sorry."

"You know what? Harry … has a point." Ginny piped. "We probably should start calling you- know, I mean vol… voldem…voldemort by his name." almost everyone, other than Harry, gave her a startled look. Harry, however, winked at Ginny, which resulted in her face turning cherry-red.

"You know, our little sis is right!" Fred followed.

"Yep! After all is just a name. What harm can it do?" George agreed.

" I guess, if Corra could say it, I could too." Hermione followed.

"What do you say, Ron?" Harry asked.

"Hey, I'm not a chicken." Ron joked. And as if on cue everyone said "VOLDEMORT."

After dinner everyone joined a game of exploding snap, until Corra came and told everyone to go to bed. But just before she closed the portrait Harry decided to ask her.

"How did you block the curse?"

"I didn't, Harry. The curse itself is unblockable."

"Then how?"

"I… I'm glad that you and Hermione acted on impulse, and were quick enough to jump away." Corra said, closing the door behind her. "Good night."

* * *

Later that night Harry had a disturbing dream. He was in a room it looked familiar. But something seemed missing, between the ancient armchair and the old rotten rug. Then Harry recognized where he was, he was here before! It was the place where he first saw Voldemort in his dreams. But the difference was that there was no fireplace, and the decor looked newer.

A soft knock came from the door, and the chair turned. Harry didn't need to see his face to know who was sitting in the chair.

"Come in." The cold voice rose from the chair, it was Voldemort's.

"I'm sorry my lord. I have failed." Wormtail spoke, shaking in the doorway.

"I don't blame you." To Harry's surprise Voldermort actually sounded glum. "She was there. You couldn't have completed the mission."

"Thank you my Lord." Wormtail said his voice trembled slightly.

"Do you have the evening prophet with you?" It was more of an order than a question. Harry watched as Peter unfolded the newspaper and handed to Voldemort. Harry felt a sting of pain from his forehead.

"Don't touch me!" Voldemort screeched, Wormtail crouched back.

"Sorry my Lord."

"No matter, I bet he felt it too." Voldemort smirked. "I've noticed that you tried to kill the little brats."

"Yes my Lord."

"Hummm… if she really stopped your attack that means it really was her. Very well, hold off the killing for now. I'll deal with them later. When she … WHO'S THERE?" Voldemort said suddenly.

"I don't see anyone, my lord." Peter replied shakily.

"I sense him. He's here."

Harry woke up gasping for breath as his scar stung like hot coals. Hedwig who had flown back from exploring the valley looked concerned as she fluttered down and sat in front of Harry.

"It was a dream." Harry told her, and then decided to take a walk. Getting up he though of what the dream was about, this dream was unlike the others, he could remember clearly of what had happened. Harry got up, put on a bathrobe, that he found in the closet, over his pajamas, and then opened the portrait hole.

As Harry walked down the hall and down the spiral stairs he saw that the table was gone and was replaced with the sofas and the armchairs. The fire at the fireplace was dancing merrily. Lupin was in a chair stroking the rim of a cup that he was holding, mesmerized by the firelight; Harry decided to join him.

"Hello, Harry." Lupin greeted as Harry sat down in the chair opposite of his.

"Couldn't sleep, huh?" Lupin asked realizing Harry's hands were on his scar. "What's wrong?"

"I had a dream, and when I woke up the scar hurt." Harry replied simply and found himself not wanting to talk much about the dream to Lupin, who looked like he was in bad shape.

"What was it about?" Lupin asked.

"Well, I was in a room, it was the one that I dreamed about before but different." Harry said. "Voldemort was there, and Wormtail."

"Did the d…Voldemort say where he was?" Lupin asked.

"No… he didn't."

"You better get some sleep. And tell Sirius about the dream when he wakes up in the morning." Lupin answered rather depressingly.

"Are you all right?" Harry asked rather worried.

"I'm fine. There's going to be a full moon in two days." Lupin replied looking into the fire.

"How is the potion coming?"

"Not as well as we have hoped."

"Can I do anything to help?" Harry asked, because Lupin was acting extremely out of touch.

Lupin smiled at him "Nothing you need to worry about." Then he took a sip from the cup he was holding. "If we can't improve this wolfsbane potion at least we'll try to make it taste better."

Harry saw the rim of the cup, which gave out a glow like the moonlight. Lupin caught Harry's gaze.

"It was from my grandfather."

It then occurred to Harry that he knew little of Lupin's past, and everyone else's.

"Well … it's late." Lupin said at last. "You and I both need some rest." He got up pointed his wand at the fire and it went out. The difference was amazing as moonlight flooded the room. It was surprisingly bright. Harry looked up for a moment then walked back to his room. He looked back and saw Lupin was still staring up at the night sky.

When Harry entered his room, he felt refreshed and still had no desire to sleep. Instead Harry took out a piece of parchment and scribbled down what he had dreamed about. He pondered a moment about the book that Corra was holding, the one that Voldermort seemed to have wanted. It must have been five in the morning when he finally dozed off. But was awoken by the sun's rays at about eight.

Harry looked at what he had written about the dream then tried to decipher some of his more messy writing. Once he finished, Harry joined everyone else down to breakfast. He took Lupin's advice and told Sirius everything he remembered about his dream, which was crystal clear in his mind. Sirius was looking very thoughtful after Harry had explained everything he remembered to him.

"So you felt it when Wormtail accidentally touched Voldemort's hands?" Sirius confirmed.

"Yes." Harry replied for the third time.

"That means that you and Voldemort are now connected somehow." Corra said thoughtfully.

"Wormtail said something about failing the mission. I think it has to do with that book." Harry hinted wanting to talk more about the book.

"What book was it anyway?" Hermione asked innocently.

Corra paused. It was obviously something she did not want to talk about. "The book was a family heirloom. But I don't think Voldemort was really after book."

"How is Percy?" Ron asked.

"He is still unconscious, but he will be fine." Lupin answered.

"Could we perhaps visit him?" asked Hermione.

"Of course, but not now." Corra smiled.

After breakfast Corra asked Harry aside as everyone excused themselves from the table. Corra handed Harry a piece of old parchment. "It will map the grounds of this house and Hogsmead." She taped the paper with her wand and chanted. "A promise to obey by the rules of the flower and light." Then little lines appeared onto the parchment. Unlike the Marauder's map these were colored lines. They formed into detailed pictures of each room, but each individual was still little colored dots with small labels on the bottom. It also mapped the forests that surrounded the mansion.

"Wow." Harry sighed out.

"To clear it, just tap it with your wand."

"Thanks." Harry said looking at the map.

"Consider it as an early birthday present." Corra smiled. Harry cleared the map and thought about the look that would be on Ron and Hermione's face when they saw that he had obtained another magical map.