The betrayal.
The next day, Hermione woke up early. She dressed up in her usual black dress and her black boots. It had become more or less their uniform, even if school regulations stated that they had to wear the official school uniform, she, Harry and Ron, never had done so.
The two boys usually wore black lose pants and a black shirt with a black leather jacket, while she wore her black dress. Around their necks they all wore their golden Phoenix necklaces.
Those necklaces were the result of their latest experiments. After months of studying the unforgivable curses they had found a protection against them and the final outcome were those necklaces. They were done with the scales of a dragon, to be more precise, the scales of Harry, for his animagy form was a dragon. They were beautiful, and any skilful wizard could sense the power that radiated from them.
Hermione smiled a little at the sight of the beautiful jewellery, it always gave he a warm feeling. She combed her hair in a high ponytail, and without a sound left the house. The boys knew she would be away all day, and professor Villjé didn't need to know where she was.
After walking a few minutes she stopped and started to concentrate. Harry was not the only one capable of doing wandless magic now. With a lot of studying, Ron and she had been able to do it too, they weren't as strong as Harry, but they could do almost everything they could have done with a wand. With a faint pop, she apparated just in a street next to the ministry of magic. Without a second thought, she transformed into her animagus form, which was a phoenix, and flew over to the grey building.
Once she reached one of the windows, she settled down comfortably, knowing the trial was going to take a while. Looking inside, she could clearly sense the uneasiness of the people inside. There were not many people sitting in the court room, it seemed that someone had convinced the minister to keep it quiet.
Dumbledore was there, with McGonagall, Lupin, and a few other teachers. At Lupin's feet sat Snuffles, Hermione shook her beautiful head, when Harry heard about that he was going to flip. Sirius Black, the most wanted criminal after their doubles, was sitting inside the Ministry of Magic, surrounded by aurors. No wonder Lupin was looking uncomfortable. Behind the teachers sat the whole Weasley family minus Percy, who was most probably working at the ministry right now. Next to them Hermione saw her own parents. She quickly moved her gaze back to the teachers, not wanting to see her family right not. All of them looked tired, it seemed the year hadn't been easy on them either. With a small snort, Hermione rolled her eyes. 'It's their own fault, if they only had listened, things would have been much different.'
Hermione shook those bitter thoughts out of her head when the accused where brought inside the court room. She examined her other self. She looked exactly like she had last year, not a single difference. No wonder they thought it had been the three of them who had done all that killing, it was like looking at your past self. She faintly heard her mother burst in to tears, but then the court entered led by the Minister of Magic himself. Quickly, they all started the questioning, not wanting to waste the time. It seemed Fudge thought the trial was just a formality he had to get over with.
The trial went smoothly, it was rather boring much like the ones she had seen on TV. There was a long list of people who came forward and testified what they had seen the former golden trio doing, it was very monotonous and obviously she wasn't the only one who thought so. She was nearly asleep when Harry's double was brought up before the jury. Her eyes snapped open and she looked interested as he was administered a small dose of veritaserum. Hermione settled herself on the window more comfortably to listen to what was said inside. The jury began with the usual questions, and Phoenix couldn't help but smirk at the words uttered in the Hall.
"State your name."
It seemed that the fake Harry was trying to fight the veritaserum but he wasn't able to for the answer that came was very clear. "Lucius Malfoy."
Hermione could have laughed in joy at the astonished faces of everyone, it seemed that the jury was about to fall out of their chairs at any moment now. "What do you mean? Your name is Harry Potter!"
Fudge looked as bewildered as everyone else, but the prisoner didn't change his statement. "No it isn't."
The monotonous voice produced by the veritaserum only seemed to confirm what they were hearing. Getting over his surprise, the Minister continued the questioning. "You look like Harry Potter. Why?"
Malfoy looked impassively as he answered. "Pollyjuice potion."
Everyone looked startled at this simple answer and Hermione rolled her eyes again, they were supposed to be smart.
"Since when have you been posing as Harry Potter?"
Lucius' answer was obviously reluctant. "October last year."
The jury looked at each other, realisation starting to dawn in their eyes. "Why would you do such a thing?"
Hermione shook her head, could they be anymore stupid?
"The dark lord, my master, wanted to crush the Potter boy, and what better way than to lose the trust of the people he most loved and respected?"
The smirk in Malfoy's face was evident when he stated this, Phoenix had to fight the urge to go down there and slap him across the face. The jury proceeded with the questioning and Malfoy confessed every single murder he had committed under Harry's name. Phoenix saw the Weasleys grow nervous, the jury seemed to notice it too and asked the question Hermione had been waiting for. "What are the names of your companions?"
"Narcisa Malfoy and Peter Pettigrew."
Phoenix nearly fell down the ledge. She hadn't been expecting this, it was even better than she could have dreamed. Wormtail had finally been caught. The following hours were spent questioning the three Death Eaters about everything they had done. The story of Sirius and Wormtail came out, as well as Voldemort's dark plans.
Hermione was growing bored, she knew most of this so she averted her attention to the professors. Dumbledore seemed to be listening at every word that was said, but the twinkle in his eyes had left and he looked older than Phoenix had ever seen him. McGonagall sat at the old wizard's side and seemed to be lost in her own thoughts while Lupin held his head in his hands. Hermione didn't know what Snuffles was thinking, he was just sitting at Lupin's feet and she could swear he was growling softly.
On the other hand, her parents looked confused at everything that was happening and Ron's father was trying to explain things to them in hushed voices. The red-headed man's face was blank, no expression marked his features. Molly was softly crying against Bill's shoulder while Ginny sat in Charlie's lap, her head buried in her brother's shoulder. The twins just sat there, obviously they didn't know what to think of everything that had happened.
A few reporters were also there, taking notes about all that was being said, Hermione suspected it would be out that same evening and she only could hope they were going to be truthful for once.
Half through the questioning, Poenix heard a gasp and she turned her head around, to face once again the jury and the prisoners. She smirked lightly when she saw that their doubles had disappeared and Lucius Malfoy, his wife and Wormtail were sitting in the chairs.
When the questioning was finally over, the court members retired with minister Fudge to decide the verdict. The rest of the people just sat there, they seemed to be too shocked to say anything. As the girl had suspected it didn't take long for the jury to return. One of the men that formed part of the jury went to stand in front of the Death Eaters and started to read the sentence. Hermione listened intently to his words, wanting to know what was going to happen now.
"The accused have been found guilty of supporting the dark lord, killing several wizards and muggles, impersonating three students, using unforgivable curses and going against the ministry. For that they are to be given the dementor's kiss as soon as this trial is finished. All charges against Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley are dropped for it is obvious they were falsely accused. Also they are to be accepted again at Hogwarts if they wish so. They will be given a house each, a million Galeons and a job in the ministry if they don't wish to finish their studies."
Hermione shook her head in shock. They really seemed to feel guilty, or maybe Fudge didn't want to lose his face in front of the reporters. The man wasn't finished and he continued reading the paper he was holding in his hands. "The same applies to Sirius Black, who will be accepted into his former work if he wishes so. Also he is given full custody of Harry Potter as was stated at Mr and Mrs Potter's will."
After those words, the Minister stood up and declared the trial finished and the three accused were dragged out of the court room. Hermione, not wanting to be spotted now that people were starting to move, and no needing to hear more, flew away to were she had arrived and apparated away.
To be continued...
A/N: Thanks for all reviews.
The next day, Hermione woke up early. She dressed up in her usual black dress and her black boots. It had become more or less their uniform, even if school regulations stated that they had to wear the official school uniform, she, Harry and Ron, never had done so.
The two boys usually wore black lose pants and a black shirt with a black leather jacket, while she wore her black dress. Around their necks they all wore their golden Phoenix necklaces.
Those necklaces were the result of their latest experiments. After months of studying the unforgivable curses they had found a protection against them and the final outcome were those necklaces. They were done with the scales of a dragon, to be more precise, the scales of Harry, for his animagy form was a dragon. They were beautiful, and any skilful wizard could sense the power that radiated from them.
Hermione smiled a little at the sight of the beautiful jewellery, it always gave he a warm feeling. She combed her hair in a high ponytail, and without a sound left the house. The boys knew she would be away all day, and professor Villjé didn't need to know where she was.
After walking a few minutes she stopped and started to concentrate. Harry was not the only one capable of doing wandless magic now. With a lot of studying, Ron and she had been able to do it too, they weren't as strong as Harry, but they could do almost everything they could have done with a wand. With a faint pop, she apparated just in a street next to the ministry of magic. Without a second thought, she transformed into her animagus form, which was a phoenix, and flew over to the grey building.
Once she reached one of the windows, she settled down comfortably, knowing the trial was going to take a while. Looking inside, she could clearly sense the uneasiness of the people inside. There were not many people sitting in the court room, it seemed that someone had convinced the minister to keep it quiet.
Dumbledore was there, with McGonagall, Lupin, and a few other teachers. At Lupin's feet sat Snuffles, Hermione shook her beautiful head, when Harry heard about that he was going to flip. Sirius Black, the most wanted criminal after their doubles, was sitting inside the Ministry of Magic, surrounded by aurors. No wonder Lupin was looking uncomfortable. Behind the teachers sat the whole Weasley family minus Percy, who was most probably working at the ministry right now. Next to them Hermione saw her own parents. She quickly moved her gaze back to the teachers, not wanting to see her family right not. All of them looked tired, it seemed the year hadn't been easy on them either. With a small snort, Hermione rolled her eyes. 'It's their own fault, if they only had listened, things would have been much different.'
Hermione shook those bitter thoughts out of her head when the accused where brought inside the court room. She examined her other self. She looked exactly like she had last year, not a single difference. No wonder they thought it had been the three of them who had done all that killing, it was like looking at your past self. She faintly heard her mother burst in to tears, but then the court entered led by the Minister of Magic himself. Quickly, they all started the questioning, not wanting to waste the time. It seemed Fudge thought the trial was just a formality he had to get over with.
The trial went smoothly, it was rather boring much like the ones she had seen on TV. There was a long list of people who came forward and testified what they had seen the former golden trio doing, it was very monotonous and obviously she wasn't the only one who thought so. She was nearly asleep when Harry's double was brought up before the jury. Her eyes snapped open and she looked interested as he was administered a small dose of veritaserum. Hermione settled herself on the window more comfortably to listen to what was said inside. The jury began with the usual questions, and Phoenix couldn't help but smirk at the words uttered in the Hall.
"State your name."
It seemed that the fake Harry was trying to fight the veritaserum but he wasn't able to for the answer that came was very clear. "Lucius Malfoy."
Hermione could have laughed in joy at the astonished faces of everyone, it seemed that the jury was about to fall out of their chairs at any moment now. "What do you mean? Your name is Harry Potter!"
Fudge looked as bewildered as everyone else, but the prisoner didn't change his statement. "No it isn't."
The monotonous voice produced by the veritaserum only seemed to confirm what they were hearing. Getting over his surprise, the Minister continued the questioning. "You look like Harry Potter. Why?"
Malfoy looked impassively as he answered. "Pollyjuice potion."
Everyone looked startled at this simple answer and Hermione rolled her eyes again, they were supposed to be smart.
"Since when have you been posing as Harry Potter?"
Lucius' answer was obviously reluctant. "October last year."
The jury looked at each other, realisation starting to dawn in their eyes. "Why would you do such a thing?"
Hermione shook her head, could they be anymore stupid?
"The dark lord, my master, wanted to crush the Potter boy, and what better way than to lose the trust of the people he most loved and respected?"
The smirk in Malfoy's face was evident when he stated this, Phoenix had to fight the urge to go down there and slap him across the face. The jury proceeded with the questioning and Malfoy confessed every single murder he had committed under Harry's name. Phoenix saw the Weasleys grow nervous, the jury seemed to notice it too and asked the question Hermione had been waiting for. "What are the names of your companions?"
"Narcisa Malfoy and Peter Pettigrew."
Phoenix nearly fell down the ledge. She hadn't been expecting this, it was even better than she could have dreamed. Wormtail had finally been caught. The following hours were spent questioning the three Death Eaters about everything they had done. The story of Sirius and Wormtail came out, as well as Voldemort's dark plans.
Hermione was growing bored, she knew most of this so she averted her attention to the professors. Dumbledore seemed to be listening at every word that was said, but the twinkle in his eyes had left and he looked older than Phoenix had ever seen him. McGonagall sat at the old wizard's side and seemed to be lost in her own thoughts while Lupin held his head in his hands. Hermione didn't know what Snuffles was thinking, he was just sitting at Lupin's feet and she could swear he was growling softly.
On the other hand, her parents looked confused at everything that was happening and Ron's father was trying to explain things to them in hushed voices. The red-headed man's face was blank, no expression marked his features. Molly was softly crying against Bill's shoulder while Ginny sat in Charlie's lap, her head buried in her brother's shoulder. The twins just sat there, obviously they didn't know what to think of everything that had happened.
A few reporters were also there, taking notes about all that was being said, Hermione suspected it would be out that same evening and she only could hope they were going to be truthful for once.
Half through the questioning, Poenix heard a gasp and she turned her head around, to face once again the jury and the prisoners. She smirked lightly when she saw that their doubles had disappeared and Lucius Malfoy, his wife and Wormtail were sitting in the chairs.
When the questioning was finally over, the court members retired with minister Fudge to decide the verdict. The rest of the people just sat there, they seemed to be too shocked to say anything. As the girl had suspected it didn't take long for the jury to return. One of the men that formed part of the jury went to stand in front of the Death Eaters and started to read the sentence. Hermione listened intently to his words, wanting to know what was going to happen now.
"The accused have been found guilty of supporting the dark lord, killing several wizards and muggles, impersonating three students, using unforgivable curses and going against the ministry. For that they are to be given the dementor's kiss as soon as this trial is finished. All charges against Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley are dropped for it is obvious they were falsely accused. Also they are to be accepted again at Hogwarts if they wish so. They will be given a house each, a million Galeons and a job in the ministry if they don't wish to finish their studies."
Hermione shook her head in shock. They really seemed to feel guilty, or maybe Fudge didn't want to lose his face in front of the reporters. The man wasn't finished and he continued reading the paper he was holding in his hands. "The same applies to Sirius Black, who will be accepted into his former work if he wishes so. Also he is given full custody of Harry Potter as was stated at Mr and Mrs Potter's will."
After those words, the Minister stood up and declared the trial finished and the three accused were dragged out of the court room. Hermione, not wanting to be spotted now that people were starting to move, and no needing to hear more, flew away to were she had arrived and apparated away.
To be continued...
A/N: Thanks for all reviews.
