Title: What if - Prisoner of Azkaban?
Author: Beth Brownell
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Archive: Ask me first.
Rating: PG.
Pairing(s): None.
Beta readers: The members of HPBFF group on yahoo groups.
Summary: What if Harry Potter convinced the Minister of Magic of Sirius's innocence? AU.
Notes: This story does contain spoilers for the book Prisoner of Azkaban, if you have not read the book yet, I suggest reading the story first and then returning to this one. This is a what if story dealing with that story. What if Fudge told Snape to shut up and listened to what Harry had to say and decided to give Sirius the truth serum. To see if Harry is telling him the truth about Sirius's innocence and that Peter Pettigrew was indeed alive and was the real guilty one? Also, the first part of this story is copied directly from the book itself but the rest came from my head.
Disclaimer: I am only borrowing the characters that JKR created for a short time and I'm not receiving any money for this story. JKR is a Goddess for blessing us with them.
What if - Prisoner of Azkaban?
"WHAT?" Harry and Hermione both jumped out of their beds.
But his shout had been heard in the corridor outside and in the next second, Cornelius Fudge and Snape had entered the ward, both looking quite shocked to find them both up.
"Harry, Harry, what's this?" said Fudge, looking agitated. "You should be in bed --- has he had any chocolate?" he asked Madame Pomfrey anxiously as she made her appearance in the ward.
"Minister, listen!" Harry said. "Sirius Black is innocent of the murder charges! Peter Pettigrew faked his own death! We saw him tonight! You can't have the Dementors do that thing to Sirius, he's ---"
But Fudge was shaking his head with a small smile on his face. It was obvious to Hermione that Fudge was not going to believe Harry at all.
"Harry, you're very confused, and you've been though a dreadful ordeal. Lie back down now, we've got everything under control..."
"YOU HAVEN'T!" Harry yelled. "YOU'VE GOT THE WRONG MAN!"
"Minister, listen, please," Hermione said; she had hurried to Harry's side and was gazing imploringly into Fudge's face. "I saw him too. It was Ron's rat, he's an Animagus, Pettigrew, I mean, and --"
"You see, Minister?" said Snape. "Confounded, both of them..."
"We are not confounded! We know the truth! There was no trial! You proclaimed an innocent man guilty of a crime he didn't commit!" yelled Harry.
"Oh really, Potter! Black is guilty, as he was the one who slew those people," hissed Snape.
"You are wrong! Would you want your godfather in prison if you knew he was innocent of what they claimed he did, Snape?" barked Harry.
Fudge watched the scene with mild amusement as he started to realize that maybe they did have the wrong man in prison. It would mean working hard to correct that mistake but it would also mean admitting that there is a chance that Voldemort is alive and not dead as they believed.
"Snape, please be quiet. I have heard enough out of you, this night. Harry, give me your wand. If you were under the Confundus charm, the wands will reveal the last spell your wands did. If there is no Confundus charm done, I'll listen to your plea for Sirius's
life," Fudge said, calmly, holding his hand out towards Harry.
Harry hurried to his bed grabbing his, Ron's and Hermione's wands and handed them over to Fudge. Fudge held his own wand in his hand and took Harry's wand.
"Priori Incantatem,"
A huge Patronus of a stag appeared out of Harry's wand.
"Very interesting Patronus you got there, Harry. How did you create such a Patronus?" Fudge asked.
"When we emerged from the tunnel, the Dementors came after us and tried to kiss us. I couldn't let that happen and I cast the Patronus and I guess it worked as soon after I did it, I passed out." Harry stated.
Fudge smiled, as he handed Harry his wand back. He took hold of Hermione's wand and did the same spell as he did to Harry's. Chains appeared out of her wand. "Interesting." When he did Ron's, it revealed bandages. "There was no Confundus charm at all, cast with these wands. All right, Harry, I'm listening to your plea for Sirius's life. But I will need proof about his innocence, Harry to free a man who'd been convicted for thirteen years. The only thing that has been proven is that you, Hermione and Ron had not been under dark mind control. This does not necessarily mean that they are right."
Harry's heart leapt into the air with joy. "Please sir, give the Veritaserum to Sirius. If I recall correctly from reading one of the books for my potions class, no one can tell lies once that serum is in his or her stomach. I know I have not learned about this potion yet, but I read about it in the i Daily Prophet /i and I looked it up with help from Hermione. Question Sirius about the events leading to my parents' deaths and that of those muggles thirteen years ago?"
"All right, let us go to the room where he's at and see what he has to say. Snape, bring the Veritaserum to the room. We will see if Sirius Black will lie under the Truth Serum or not." Fudge turned to Harry. "I will not let him go if he tells us that he did do that, Harry. I will have the Dementors kiss him immediately."
"I know, sir." said Harry, as they entered the room where Sirius was at.
"Mr. Black, I am here on behalf of Mr. Harry Potter, to give you a chance to divulge the information you know about the murders that happened thirteen years ago."
"I know what you all think of me, and what you believed me to do!" snapped Sirius, arms folded up in front of him. His mind replayed the night that he begged them to switch Secret Keepers and he wished that he never did that as they might be alive today.
"Oh, you will be under the truth serum. Harry wants you under the Truth Serum so we can know the real facts about that day. Two things might happen. I'll either end up freeing a man from years of being a convict or letting the Dementors kiss you." said Fudge, not minding the angry outburst from Sirius.
Snape entered the room with a cup. "Here's the Veritaserum, Minister."
"Good. Now, drink it." said Fudge, as he handed the cup to Sirius who drank it down. "What is your name?"
"Sirius Black."
"Are you the Potter's Secret Keeper?" asked Fudge.
"I was their first of two Secret Keepers."
"What do you mean their first of two Secret Keepers?
Dumbledore told me that there was only one and it was you, Sirius Black."
"The day before they were murdered by Lord Voldemort, I begged them to switch to Peter Pettigrew, who was one of their best friends from school, as Voldemort would come after me to get the information as everyone knows how close James and I were. It would be perfect ruse to hide the real Secret Keeper. They agreed and so it was done. But Lily and James refused to let Dumbledore know about the switch as it would be for the best as Voldemort would come after me and not the real Secret Keeper."
Fudge looked shocked, as did Snape. "What happened that night of their deaths?"
"I told Peter I'd be by to visit him later that night. When I did, he was gone. I feared the worst as I flew my motorbike to their home and found it in ruins. Hagrid was there with baby Harry. I begged Hagrid to let me have Harry, as he's now my responsibility. But Hagrid had his orders from Dumbledore to give Harry to his uncle and aunt to raise. I then gave him my bike and went off sniffing the ruins for any sign that Peter was there and there were signs of him being there. Him and Lord Voldemort. Both of them were in the house when it blew."
"You must have been deceived!" snapped Snape, angrily. "You couldn't tell who was in the house when it had blown up!"
"I was not deceived. My nose told me." said Sirius, calmly.
"What do you mean by your nose told you, Sirius?" asked Fudge. He was curious about it as he wrote it all down on the parchment he had with him. "Are you an Animagi, Sirius?"
"Yes, I am. Unregistered that is." said Sirius.
"Take your animal form for me?" asked Fudge. Sirius nodded and shifted into his dog form and came out of it. Fudge wrote something down. "Tell me about Peter Pettigrew and the day that those people were murdered by you."
"They were not killed by me, but by Peter Pettigrew. I didn't even have my wand in my hand when I confronted Peter about killing our best friends Lily and James Potter. I had realized that Peter had betrayed his own friends to Lord Voldemort. I should have gone to Dumbledore and told him what I found out."
"What happened?" asked Fudge, writing everything down.
"I was prone on the ground after he knocked me down, he was screaming at me for killing Lily and James, when in truth it was he who had betrayed their location and gave it to Lord Voldemort. The next thing I knew I was being cuffed by the Aurors. I looked around to see if Peter was around, but he was gone but for his finger and about twelve muggles on the ground dead. I laughed my head off as I realized that the little rat had chopped his finger off to escape my fury. I could see his wand on the ground next to his finger. The little rat, even though he could have killed me with his own wand when I didn't even have one on me-he didn't!"
"Was Peter Pettigrew an Animagus too?" asked Snape, he suddenly started to realize what Hermione and Harry were saying in the tunnel. Maybe Sirius was innocent of what they convicted him of those many years ago.
"Yes, he was, Severus. He could turn into a light grey rat. The only thing that would mark him as Peter now is his front paw where he had cut his finger off." Sirius stated. "Hey, you remember that prank I played on you when we were in school; I'm telling you the truth James knew nothing of it before hand. He knew nothing of it. It came directly from me. He saved your life of his own decision."
Severus growled at him. "You bloody mutt! You nearly gotten me killed that night!"
"Yeah, but you didn't." Sirius stated.
"All because of James stopping me from entering that tunnel, I swore I would repay him for what he did, even if I resented him for it."
"And you did by saving Harry from falling off his broom,"
Harry looked at Fudge. "Is this enough to let him go free?"
"I wish there was. We need to have Peter Pettigrew here to state his side of the story with the Veritaserum in his stomach. But he's not here." Fudge stated, looking sadly at Harry. "I'm sorry but Sirius will have to return to Azkaban till we find Pettigrew."
"NO!" cried Harry and Hermione at the same time.
The door was pushed open by McGonagall holding a light grey rat in her hand. "I'm sorry to disturb you Minister, but this rat was just brought to me by Miss Hermione Granger's cat - Crookshanks."
"Peter Pettigrew!" snapped Sirius, as he lunged towards the rat in McGonagall's hand and yanked him right out. His mouth was smiling big as he looked at the rat.
Peter was so scared of being killed by Sirius that he shifted right into his human form to the shock of both the Minister and McGonagall. "Please save me from him! He'll kill me, just like he did to James and Lily!" he cried.
"Not if I have anything to do with it!" snapped McGonagall, glaring angrily at Peter after he was seated and she cast a spell which prevented him from transforming to get away from them. "You betrayed your best friends for what? Power? Money? Fame? Having a
real dear friend? Peter, you had friends in James and Lily Potter! How could you let them die?"
Peter didn't say a thing until Fudge handed him a cup which Sirius had drank from. "Yeah, they were my friends but he stole her from me! He stole the one girl that I loved!"
"Who stole your girl from you?" growled Sirius.
"Lily. I loved her and told her that but she told me she loved James more than me and would be marrying him, which she did." Peter said sadly. "So I made a bargain with Lord Voldemort, to get the girl of my heart back to me. I told him where to find them at. He was going to only kill James and Harry leaving me with Lily. I would come in like a hero and rescue Lily when I heard her screaming at Lord Voldemort not to kill Harry, to kill her instead. He killed her and broke my heart. I went mad and fled from the house. In
my mad state, I blamed Sirius for Lily and James's death and made sure that he'll get punished too. I cut my finger off and cursed thirteen muggles to die, and then I fled from sight. I went and lived with the Weasleys since I knew that Arthur Weasley worked
for the Ministry. He would know when the Dark Lord came back or not. I stayed with them being their family pet rat Scabbers for years till I heard that Sirius had escaped Azkaban and was free. I was so terrified; I started to lose my hair."
"Why, Peter, did you let a friend go to Azkaban?" asked Fudge, his voice was angry.
"Because he let James take Lily from me! Plus I was jealous of him. Having all the girls while I got none." said Peter.
"I have to state this, Snape, go get the Dementors. The Ministry will right the wrong done on Sirius Black right now. Sirius Black, I hereby find you innocent of the charges of murder and you are now free to go. I'll notify the Muggle Ministry about you been proven innocent of the murder charges."
Fudge turned from Sirius to look at Peter. "Peter Pettigrew, I hereby find you guilty of murder. I order the Dementors' Kiss to be administered upon you immediately." said Fudge, as Harry hugged Sirius and cried happy tears for once.
Harry didn't want to stay in the room to see the Dementors kiss Peter, but he did. Harry thought of the happiest moment of his life as he watched the Dementors kiss Peter and left him a mindless husk of a man. It was soon after that that Peter Pettigrew's heart stopped and he died.
Hermione asked, "What about Buckbeak? He's innocent of attacking Draco."
"Oh, yes, we managed to get Draco to show us what he did that day to provoke Buckbeak to attack him and when Buckbeak didn't ' i attack /i ' him like he did that day, we knew something was not correct in his statement about the hippogriff attacking him and we learned that it was Draco's fault that he was attacked and we found the hippogriff innocent of the attack," Fudge stated.
McGonagall turned to Sirius. "For some strange reasons, I had my doubts about you being guilty, Sirius."
"Good. I need to now find myself a job, a house for two and get my life on track again."
"Sirius, the house will be handled by the Ministry. I will be expecting to see you at the ministry registering yourself as an Animagus in the morning." spoke Fudge. "Also, I need to correct a wrong in the Daily Prophet about your wrongful imprisonment. I will make sure you are fully compensated for those years you were needlessly locked away, Mr. Black. I do have one question, Mr. Black, why a house for two?"
"For my godson and I to live in, Harry's going to live with me," said Sirius. "I'm going to go into Hogsmeade and get myself spiffed up. Then, he and I are going to go to his Muggle family to get the rest of his stuff."
Fudge smiled and said, "Then, why don't you sleep here tonight and in the morning you can deal with your godson's Muggle family?"
Harry and Sirius headed back to the hospital wing together since Madame Pomfrey wanted to check Sirius out, as he looked overly exhausted and there were scratches on his body which she wanted to examine. They walked in to see Ron sitting up in bed chewing on some chocolate.
"What's he doing here?!" snapped Ron, pointing towards Sirius.
"Sirius has been cleared of all charges now, Ron. He had the truth serum given to him and he revealed the full truth about what happened. I'm going to be living with him, come the summer holiday." said Harry, as Sirius laid in the next bed next to Harry, looking at the young teen.
Two days later, after a whirlwind of store visits thankfully helped by Hermione and Ron. Sirius walked out of the last one which was the hairstylist with his face and hair a lot cleaner than what they looked three days earlier. Since Sirius could Apparate, he and Harry Apparated to the Dursley's home.
Harry smirked as he opened the door; this was going to be a very good visit. Vernon was home having lunch in the kitchen.
"Pet, dear, is that you?" asked Vernon, as he stood up from the table to enter the hallway. His face went from happy to mad all within a few seconds. "You, what are you doing here! Get out of here, boy! You are no longer welcomed to live here!"
"Good, because this is my Godfather Sirius Black, you remember the supposedly convicted murderer that was on the telly a few months back? Well, this is him but now innocent of all charges. I'm here just to tell you that you are no longer my guardian as Sirius is now my official guardian from this day forward." said Harry, with anger in his eyes as he looked at Vernon.
Vernon looked at Sirius Black and backed away from them. "If he is your new guardian, then you don't need to live here anymore. Get out of here then, you bloody stinkin' wizard!"
An angry growl was heard as Sirius glared murderously at Vernon. "No one calls my godson a bloody stinkin' wizard without paying for it!!"
Sirius held up his wand and started to cast a spell as Vernon looked horrified. He wetted himself as he backed away from them and scurried out of the room to where they heard the backdoor swing open and then slam shut.
"I love using that fake spell on people like him!" Sirius broke out into a loud cackle. He turned to Harry and asked, "Want to go home, Harry?"
"Sure, Sirius. This been quite interesting day. A very interesting school year. I thought you were the one who betrayed my mum and dad." said Harry as he took hold of Sirius's hand.
"I would have died before I betrayed them, Harry." said Sirius, as he looked down onto the face of his godson. "James was like a brother to me. He was my best friend and I would never betray him to Lord Voldemort for anything."
"I know. Come on, we got to get back to the house as the furniture should be there soon." Harry said, looking at him.
"Okay, Harry. I'm going to have to teach you how to Apparate." smiled Sirius.
"Illegally or legally?" asked Harry.
The laughter that came from Sirius was broken off by them vanishing from sight. Harry and Sirius appeared in front of their home and watched as the lorry appeared carrying their newly bought furnishing for their home.
"Hi Hermione, what brings you here?" asked Sirius, seeing her walking up the walkway.
"Well, I made this plaque this morning and since you got a new home I think this might be perfect for you two." said Hermione, as she handed the wrapped present to Sirius.
He looked at the wrapping and pulled it off to find a photo of him and Harry right after they had gotten Sirius cleaned up from his years of looking so dirty. "Hermione, thank you for this present,"
"Well, Ron has one for you too." said Hermione, blushing gently.
Ron came rushing up the path breathing hard. "Sorry, I'm a little late. I had to get away from Snape. Here's my present. Hope you like it."
Sirius unwrapped it to reveal a sign 'Home, Sweet, Home'. "Ron, did you make this?" asked Sirius, as he passed it over to Harry to look at it.
"Um, yeah, I did. You, like?" asked Ron, his ears turning red.
"Yes, I do. But I got you something when I was in town earlier today. Hope you approve of it?" asked Sirius, as he made a covered cage appeared before Ron.
Ron carefully lifted the cover off the cage to find a small minute owl sitting on the perch. "He's an owl!"
"I am the reason why you don't have a rat now, Ron. Is that a suitable replacement?" asked Sirius, looking at him as Ron pulled the little owl out of the cage and held him up so he could have a better look at him.
"Yeah, this is perfect. I love the little owl. Thanks Sirius." said Ron, beaming big as he looked at Sirius.
"Good, now I need to hang this up somewhere." said Sirius, as they entered the house and looked at the wall that was bare of any photos. Sirius looked at one spot near the front door and hung the sign up there and then took the photo of Sirius and Harry up next to it. He turned to Harry who smiled a very happy smile.
"Hey Harry, we go to get back to school! We're going to be late for class! Lunch period is nearly over!" yelled Hermione, as they started to race down the street towards school.
Sirius smiled as he watched them race down the street towards school with the little owl flying behind Ron. Sirius turned back to his currently empty house and started to think about the night that he was captured. Remus had forgotten to take his potion and transformed. Sirius realized that he might still be in the forest or maybe he managed to get himself into the Shrieking Shack. He quickly pulled on his robe and rushed down the street towards the shack, hoping beyond hope that Remus was okay. Sirius lunged into the room yelling, "Remus! Remus, are you here?"
Remus heard the voice from the entrance of the room. He knew it was Sirius but he couldn't be seen during the day as he's a wanted criminal and here he was half naked in tattered robes. He didn't even get the chance last night to remove his robes before the transformation struck him. 'Are the kids all right? Did I bite any of them? Oh, Merlin! Please let them be safe!'
Sirius yelled out again. He remembered what happened last night and knew Remus might be worried about the kids and their safety. "Remus, it is okay! They're okay! You didn't bite them! They're okay!"
Remus rose from behind the bed, where he made a place that would hide him till night fall, when he would then head back to Hogwarts to get clothes that were not shredded like the ones he wore. "How did . . . ?"
"I'll explain everything after I get you home and in some cleaner clothes, my friend," Sirius stated, as he removed his robe and wrapped it around Remus.
"But it's day, you'll be caught!" Remus exclaimed, noticing how bright it was outside.
"It's okay, I won't be. I have been freed, Remus. They cleared my name last night. Peter Pettigrew is dead. They kissed him last night." Sirius stated as he walked Remus towards the door.
"But how did they catch that little rat?" asked Remus.
Sirius laughed. "I'll explain everything. I'll also send an owl to Dumbledore to let him know you're okay and you will be back in the morning after you sleep off your exhaustion."
"I should quit. I could have bitten any one of the kids last night or even you or Severus. I couldn't live with myself knowing that I gave my curse of being a werewolf to one of them," Remus whispered softly.
"You are one of the best teachers they got beyond Snape. I told him the truth about the prank that nearly killed him back in our school days. I think he believes me but I doubt it," Sirius stated, as they walked through town towards his home and walked inside.
"But how did you get this house?" Remus asked, as he looked at the sign that Hermione made for Sirius.
"The Ministry did for thirteen years of false imprisonment. Come on, let's get you to your bed so you can get some sleep, Moony," Sirius said, as he helped Remus up to one of the rooms they had.
"That's a big relief, Padfoot," Remus spoke, as he removed the robe that Sirius loaned him and once the warm robe was off, Remus shivered.
"I'll go get some more blankets for your bed, Remus. Be right back." Sirius stepped from the room to allow Remus to undress and climb under the covers as sleep came quick to him.
Remus was sound asleep when Sirius stepped back into the room to see him sound asleep not even completely covered in the blanket. "It's good to know I have your friendship again, Remus. Now I need to go see Dumbledore about making sure that you still got your job at Hogwarts."
When Remus woke that afternoon, he saw Ron, Harry, Hermione, Sirius and Dumbledore standing in his room. "I'm resigning first thing in the morning,"
"No, I had Owled the parents of the students and explained everything to them and then I told them that if they want you removed just say so. They told me not to even fire you even for what you did, hiding what you are. I explained to them that this curse was not what you wanted nor did you go looking for the werewolf when you were a child, Remus. They are starting to believe that maybe not all 'dark creatures' are evil, just misunderstood," Dumbledore stated, calmly.
Ron spoke up, "You are by far, the best teacher we had to date! Don't you even think about resigning! I think we all can handle one or two days with Snape as the substitute Teacher when you are in your wolf stage, Professor."
"He's right, you know. We think you are the best Professor we had to date." Hermione stated.
"Well, alright, but if there is a chance that I may bite any student in my wolf stage or the beginning part of my transformation, I will resign immediately you hear me?" Remus stated, looking at them all.
"I'll have Severus brew more Wolfsbane potion for you, Remus." Dumbledore said, with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Thank you, headmaster, I'm sorry to have put everyone in jeopardy last night. I didn't take the potion," Remus replied.
"Do not put undue sorrow onto yourself, Remus. It's all right," Dumbledore smiled towards him. "Next time, I do want you to drink the potion immediately."
"Yes, Professor," Remus whined.
"I'll let you be. I do want to see you in the morning at school. We need to discuss a subject dealing with the dark creatures," Dumbledore said before he walked out of the room.
"Yes, headmaster," Remus said, as he wondered how would he handle that subject with the students.
"You will pull it off, Remus, you are a very smart Professor," Harry said.
"I don't know about that, I did do a stupid thing and not drank the potion when I should have. I could have killed all of you," Remus said, as he climbed out of the bed.
Sirius smiled and stated, "You will do alright, Remus, just believe in yourself. You have always been the strong one."
Remus just smiled.
This ends this story, please review this story if you liked it.