August Summer 1997- Four Months after Hogwarts fell
"...And he called the dementors to him when he took the real death-eaters out in glory. They're out of Azkaban. The ministry guards and hit men are in chaos over there. Voldemort knows what I am, what I've been doing, I barely escaped with my life. But they were on their way to the Ministry."
We were in the new infirmary of Hogwarts- one of the first wings to be repaired. Snape made the last of his report. Madame Pomfry and Carly were still bandaging his many wounds. The death eaters had found a new torture curse one that shattered small bones into even smaller fragments. Every bone in his hands and feet needed removed and regrown.
How he managed to crawl to the fire in the house and perform the charm to allow him to speak through the flame to Dumbledore, I'll never know.
Voldemort had allowed his 'servant' to return, only to feed him false information. To get Snape maneuvered into a trap of his own. He'd been missing for over two months from a mission trying to find Harry. Many on Dumbledore's league feared Snape dead, or worse.
Then in the middle of the evening's war briefing, his head appeared in the flames begging for help. We were blocked from just pulling him through, but not from going to his side. Harold was able to apparate more then one person, and I went to provide cover fire. The grounds of Hogwarts weren't a safe place to leave him, so we'd be moving him as soon as he could travel.
November 1997He took the message from the waiting owl, reading it silently. Dumbledore made eye contact with me across the room. He nodded slightly, his eyes glinting not needing to say anything.
It was time.
The war was not going well for our side. The paranoia of Crouch and Fudge had put too many of our supporters into Azkaban and left them there to rot with the actual criminals. The new plan was to change that. I still couldn't believe I'd lived to see the day when we had a Head Minister more interested in justice then the implied power of the office.
Fudge had been displaced when his inaction allowed the Dark Lord to gain enough power and new followers to successfully destroy Hogwarts. All the ministry departments voted, and Dumbledore was offered the job of Head Minister in the interim while Hogwarts was being rebuilt. To nearly everyone's amazement, he turned it down but made recommendations for replacements.
A contemporary of Professor McGonnagals graduating class was chosen. She had been working diligently at the Ministry for many years, as the Vice Minister, assisting the various Head Ministers. One of the first tasks she undertook as head minister was a complete personnel review. While this was going on, she also ordered a total review of the interments of Azkaban. When she found out the large number of innocents, she ordered the retrials. Before the ink was dry on that edict, Voldermort had attacked the island and freed many of the real death-eaters, and turned the dementors loose.
I turned and nodded to Harold, Carly, and Amos Diggory. Who followed me quietly out of the room to where our packs were waiting; we'd been waiting for the orders to depart for a week.
I still had reservations about working with Amos. The death of his son seemed to have unbalanced him. He only came to work for Dumbledore when Harry Potter was taken, and from remarks he made it was on the insistence of his wife. I remember reading his file at the ministry; he was once a great auror and Dumbledore assigned him to my team.
We mounted the brooms, flying north as quickly as they would take us.
We finally reached Azkaban about 16 hours later. We had stopped once to change into our formal Ministry robes, winter cloaks, and put our badges and paperwork in order. We landed openly in the cold courtyard.
Hit-wizards ran out to meet us wands at the ready. I stepped forward away from my broom one pace and stood with my hands clasped formally in front of me. When the wizard was in easy speaking distance, I saluted him and handed our papers to him.
The papers were formal orders for us from the Head Minister to organize retrials for every prisoner living in Azkaban. Cell by cell, floor by floor. The trial evidence, if there was any, was stored in an archive room here at the prison. Other evidence from the Ministry hit-wizard, auror, and investigator archives would be brought as soon as we set up an office and trial room.
"I am Agent Lory Finnigan from the Ministry of Magic, I need to speak to the Wizards in charge here." I looked around at the ministry wizard-guards here. This job had a high turn around rate because of the Dementors. Apparently this shift hadn't been under their influence long before Voldemort's attack.
They seemed relatively wary and alert.
"That would be me, Agent Finnigan." A wizard half my age with red hair wearing formal work robes stepped forward. He carried himself the way I remember Crouch doing, straight backed, and formal, and that the world was to be looked down upon for it's lawlessness.
"I'm Warden Percy Weatherby, how may I assist you?" I remembered Percy from the last few years in the Ministry. He must have annoyed someone a lot to get shunted out here. But it was also a post that suited his nature, as he seemed relatively unaffected by the place.
He was still not using his family name. I often wonder how his father felt about that. His Mother being the more vocal of the two.
"These are our orders, sir. We are to objectively retry every criminal here, based on the all the evidence from the time they were captured. It has been brought to the Head Ministers attention that there are criminals that have been placed here without trial, and may be wrongfully imprisoned."
"For those that are, we are to release them immediately, and provide transport to the apparition point for port keys where they will be taken to a transition point for refitting by the ministry by way of apology." I handed him the scroll. He read it, looking for any flaws in what I had reported. He was scowling by the time he finished reading.
"Very well. Proceed minister. These guards will show you where some empty offices are available for you to use and we have created spaces in the barracks. We were advised of your orders in time to get places ready for you."
"Be aware, not all the dementors left with Voldemort, keep your wands on you at all times. Welcome to Azkaban."
With that he turned on his heal, and marched back into the building. The two guards he indicated relaxed marginally once Percy was out of sight. They indicated for us to follow them into the building. They led us down the main corridor to a side hallway where four offices were empty. Across the hallway was an easy access to the records archive, as well as a smaller trial room.
One thing that was agreed on by all of us was that these trials would be closed. Only immediate family of the accused would be present if they wished. One or two reporters with full ministry clearance, and the ministry historian would be on hand. Harold would be acting as judge, I would be standing as the attorney and Amos would be the prosecutor. Carly would be checking each prisoner over for medical problems including malnourishment. The ministry is over-stretched right now, or the team would have been larger.
After a brief tour, we retuned to our offices to start getting everything set up. After 20 years, we could finally find closure to these cases. Although Amos couldn't understand why, I was smiling when I finally transported my old filing cabinet and files to my new office.
When we weren't doing trials on the occupants, we were also to spend time in trials for the deceased for the sake of the effected families. It took awhile for the records transfer from the ministry to be completed. Carly agreed to share my office so we could set up one entire room for our own records.
We would start tomorrow.
"I call to trial Remus Lupin."
One dementor led him in then left the courtroom.
After the first three trials, we began to notice that the presence of the dementor was affecting everyone in the small room and we ordered it to leave before our judgements were affected. Lupin looked half starved, and had badly healed scratches and scars covering his face, neck, and hands. I've never seen him looking worse, even after being poisoned with veriteserum.
"What are the crimes that this man stands accused of?"
"Remis Lupin is accused of conspiring with the enemy, caught in the act of aiding and abetting a known wanted and dangerous criminal and of being a dark creature."
"How plead you, Remis Lupin." Lupin looked at Harold with disbelief. Whether it was at the question, or the use of his proper name, I was unsure. Harold repeated himself.
"Not-Guilty, your honor." Lupin finally replied. He sounded like he hadn't spoken in months. Many of the prisoners we'd tried already hadn't been able to speak due to permanent damage to their vocal cords from screaming. Each evening I would visit the ones who were to be put on trial the next day. There were three I'd found dead in their cells. We tried them anyway, two were found indisputably guilty for their crimes. One was innocent.
"What evidence have you to present for this case, defendant." He looked to me.
"Your honor, while we cannot dispute that he is in fact a werewolf, I can admit into evidence that he has never attacked anyone in his other form from the first year since he was bitten as a child. I enter into evidence his school records, statements from his parents, and a work reference from Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts school."
I had to take several deep breaths before continuing. Despite the seriousness of the situation, the look on Lupin's face was indescribable. It had also occurred to me that he didn't recognize me after being here for nearly two years.
"Your honor, the next charge- of aiding and abetting a known criminal, cannot be answered until the true guilt or innocence of that criminal has been ascertained. I would like to request a recess on this case until after Sirius Black had been brought to account."
"Prosecutor, do you concur."
"That would be the just and efficient thing to do." Amos responded stiffly. These past few weeks have had a profound effect on him as we have tried innocent person, after innocent person. He was convinced there would only be a few isolated cases, not the caseload we have found here.
"This case is in recess."
Lupin was escorted to the observer stands with the other criminals. Still looking utterly confused and flabbergasted at what had just occurred. He wasn't the first who had looked so incredulous, just the most obvious. I wondered if justice had been in that short of supply with these men and women for so long it was a source of cynicism for them.
I turned my attention to the door where two human guards brought in the files and evidence for the Black case.
"I posthumously call to trial Sirius Black." Then Lupin spoke up, his voice strong glaring at Harold.
"Why bother, minister. So you can prove to the world that you're not a complete group of doddering idiots?" Harold seemed taken aback by the show of defiance from Lupin. We all should have expected this from him at this point. Harold managed to respond calmly with a gesture at the guards to stand down.
"We are here to ascertain your guilt or innocence under fair and just proceedings according to the laws of wizardry that have been denied you and the other prisoners these past many years."
"A fair trial? From this ministry? Where are your spectators, your honor? Where are the wailing women? Where..." The sarcastic tirade was cut short from another voice from the audience.
"Where is your sense of self preservation? These people are trying to help us all, now shut up and let them proceed." Lupin stared down the stand while murmurs of agreement came from Mundingus Fletcher and the other prisoners sitting with him. Lupin startled sat down quickly enough I think his legs gave out beneath him.
"What are the crimes that Sirius stands accused of?"
"This man stands accused of being a death-eater and spy for Voldemort. The murder of 12 muggles, the murder of 1 wizard, practicing magic in view of muggles, escaping and evading justice, conspiring to murder a Hogwarts student, freeing a condemned hippogriff, aiding and abetting a dark creature, corruption of innocent minds, and resistance of arrest."
"How plead you in his stead defendant?"
"Not guilty on all counts, sir."
"What evidence do you have to present for this case?" He looked to me. Lupin looked at me confused.
"My first piece of evidence, to the charge of him being a death-eater. It has been made known to us that all initiated death-eaters are branded with a mark on the inside of their arms. Pictures taken at the time of autopsy shows Sirius bore no such mark." It took a team of experts on the curtained room to acquire these photos details how have never been explained to me.
"To the charge of abetting the enemy, I submit into evidence statements from Albus Dumbledore, detailing Sirius' every move and the missions he was on during those years preceding Voldemort's initial downfall for the Order of the Phoenix."
"Have you reviewed this evidence, prosecutor?"
"I have, your honor."
"Do you find it satisfactory."
"I do, your honor."
"On the charge of being a spy for Voldemort, this court finds him not guilty."
"Next charge, defendant."
"To the charge of the 13 murders, including the murder of Peter Petticrew- I present this audio interview from about three months after he was captured. I do affirm that it will be my own voice you hear questioning him. And that he was again under the influence of veriterserum when questioned." I placed the old black box on the table and tapped it with my wand to play the interview.
"Sirius Black, please state your side of what happened the day of the murders you stand accused of. Remember, you are committed to honesty in your own defense." I remember he looked at me like I was trying to trap him in some way. Like my interview with Lupin, I'd had to sign for special clearance to speak with him.
"When I learned of the Potters murder and that Hagrid was taking my Godson to live with his relatives, I went looking for Peter Pettigrew, the Potters secret-keeper."
"But it was known that you were the secret-keeper." I had made the statement a question.
"We switched at the last minute. Dumbledore had made us aware there was a traitor in the ranks. James and I hoped that by doing the switch, we could lure him or her out to me. We were unaware that Peter was the traitor until the Potters were murdered."
"Then what happened?"
"I went hunting for Peter. I was enraged. I found him in the heart of muggle London. He looked scared and horrified, but walked to the middle of the street. He yelled out "Lily and James, Sirius, how could you!" He cast a hex at me as I tried to ready my wand, I couldn't make it out but I started laughing uncontrolably. I heard him yell Avada kadavra. The street was blown apart. When I came to, still laughing, I was surrounded by hit wizards and Peter was gone."
"Gone, dead in the blast?"
"No, I think he's still out there."
"How could have he got away?"
"He was a rat." Sirius said definitively.
I turned off the interview tape.
"Prosecutor, what evidence do you have to present?"
"Here are the statements of the muggles, and what the hit-wizards found that day. By all accounts, Sirius was found guilty." Harold spoke quickly following Amos' remark, noticing Lupin about to go off on another rant.
"Defence, what evidence do you have to present?" Lupin was caught with his mouth open, as the looked again to me gaping like a fish.
"I first present these studies that what eye-witnesses see and remember are often distorted to fill gaps in memory details. These details are often what one expects to see, rather then what one did see. This is especially true when dealing with muggles facing magic. I enter into evidence a statement from the ministry expert on muggles, Aurther Weasley, that it is commonly known that muggles will go out of their way to convince themselves they didn't see anything out of their ordinary realm of experience."
"My second piece of evidence is that the blast did, indeed, hit a gas main to the city block. We can only speculate that this wasn't a coincidence. I enter into account, a diagram of the blasted area from that day." This had been saved in my personal file for all these years and was yellowing with age. "All the red dots are where we found the muggles. I was the ministry photographer at the scene and was the one who found the finger. Frank Longbottom was the wizard who corroborated that a finger found over 10 yards away near a sewer drain was a part of the scene and belonging to Peter Pettigrew. Your honor, I offer into comparison this photo evidence from the scene. The bodies we found close to the blast radius were all mangled. The finger we found near the sewer was clearly severed. Also I enter the experts statements from the time that the wound was self-inflicted."
"Lastly, I enter into evidence statements from Remus Lupin, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, and Ronald Weasley that Peter Petticrew was seen alive and relatively well in the spring of 1994."
"This casts reasonable doubt that Peter was not murdered, but left the scene of his own free will during the confusion. Perhaps casting a shrinking charm on himself after severing his own finger."
"Have you reviewed this evidance, prosecuter?"
"I have, your honor."
"Do you find it satisfactory."
"I do, your honor. There is sufficient evidence that there is reasonable doubt Peter Pettigrew was murdered."
"Defence, what say you about the murder of the muggles?"
"I enter Sirius and Peters school records into account. Both students tested at the top of their class in terms of sheer Talent. But the focus of that talent varied widely. Peter was reported as being 'merely average' at charms, but excellent at muggle studies. Sirius was reported as 'dismal' at muggle studeies, but was a near champion duelist after he left Hogwarts. Peter was shown to have a facination with muggle building and groundwork, as well as wizarding plumbing. In fact, this was the topic of a final project for his advanced muggle studies class at Hogwarts. The Avada Kadavra curse is a curse of both power and intent. And both the wizards on the scene had both. However, if can be assumed that Peter had the opportunity of first strike."
"Can you explain further?"
"Profile. If we use the premise that Peter Pettigrew was indeed guiltly, Peter knew when it was found out the Potters were dead, everyone was going to assume that Sirius was the traitor, except for Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. He also knew with that high of a profile murder, the Ministry Hit-wizards would be out in force looking for friends of the Potters and questioning them under truth serum. He knew he had little time to escape his former friends and the ministry. One easy way for a wizard to escape the wizards is in the muggle part of London where most wizards will stand out like a sore-thumb and seek transportation from there."
"Based on the evidence at hand, Peter knew enough about muggles to blend in. Sirius did not. Muggles would see Sirius as the crazier of the two, hence more likely to be the one committing a crime. Peter knew about muggle sewers and what a gas line was, and where they were placed. He knew it would create an explosion large enough to cover any tracks he made leaving the scene. Peter also knew he would have to strike first and fast to keep Sirius occupied, and used a pre-OWL level cheering charm before the laughing hex, then used Avada on the street. I also submit documentation that what always prevented Sirius from being a full champion duelist at the time was a weakness in fast-casting. Finally, the muggle accounts show that less then a few minutes had passed between the time he arrived on the scene and the explosion."
"Based on these facts, I believe we have a reasonable doubt that Sirius was not the Wizard who blew the street apart. Nor did he cast magic in front of the muggles. He didn't have a chance."
"Have you reviewed this evidence, prosecutor?"
"I have, your honor."
"Do you find it satisfactory?" There was a long pause, while Amos looked at the photos in his hands, the diagrams, and then at me.
"Prosecutor, do you find it satisfactory?"
"I do, your honor. There is enough evidence to provide for reasonable doubt that Sirius black committed the crime for which he was imprisoned. I also find no evidence that they tested his wand before they snapped it to discover the last spell cast."
"On the charges of being a murder of 13 counts, this court finds Sirius Black not guilty." Lupin had been looking stunned throughout my recitation. But now he slumped forward with relief realizing what was to come next.
"And on the charge of conspiring to murder a Hogwarts student?"
"We have statements from Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, Severus Snape, and Remus Lupin that he stated of his own free will he was after Peter Pettigrew. At the time this happened, Peter was not a Hogwarts student. I recommend that this charge be dropped."
"Have you reviewed this evidence, prosecutor?"
"I have, your honor."
"Do you find it dropping this charge satisfactory?"
"I do your honor."
"And the charge of freeing the condemned hippogriff."
"We have a full eye-witness statement from Albus Dumbledore, that he saw Harry Potter free the hippogriff acting on his own conscience. This hippogriff was scheduled for wrongful execution by the disposal of magical creatures. Harry Potter then flew the Hippogriff to the window where Sirius was being held to save his Godfathers life. The hippogriff was cleared of suspicion last week."
"Have you reviewed this evidence, prosecutor?"
"I have, your honor."
"Do you find it dropping this charge satisfactory?"
"I do your honor. And in the interests of finishing up these proceedings and breaking for lunch, the prosecution drops all charges for escaping and evasion, and resisting arrest. I also concurrently move to drop all charges against Remus Lupin as he wasn't aiding a criminal; he was aiding a man known to be one of his best friends. While he is a werewolf, he has spent many years in service to Albus Dumbledore, has worked to minimize the threat he is to others during the full moon, and by all reports was one of the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers at Hogwarts seen in nearly 25 years."
"Defense, do you agree?"
"In the interest of justice and finding lunch, I do agree."
"Remis Lupin, please rise." He stood.
"Sir, this court finds you not-guilty of the crimes for which you were imprisoned. By the power vested in me, I release you now from Azkaban. The Daily Profit reporter will present an article with the evidence of yours, and Sirius Black's innocence, as well a full public and formal apology from the ministry for the years stolen from you. Before you are transported off the island, your belongings that were stripped from you will be returned. In the event your wand was snapped upon capture, you will receive a certificate of purchase for a new wand from Olivanders. You are to be escorted to transportation to the Ministy where you will receive a stipend, a full re-outfitting, as well as a letter of reference of your innocence so you might find work in the field of your choosing."
"Do you feel that justice has been found and won on this day?"
"I do, your honor, thank you."
"This session is adjurned. You can all relax now, the worst is over." Amos and I shook hands, I watched Remus walk over to me rather then following the guard out of the courtroom to his belongings and transportation.
"Is there some way I can help you further?" I asked when he came into an easy talking distance.
"Minister Finnigan, have you found him yet?"
"Peter? No. He's still at large."
"No, Harry Potter. I saw dementors leading him in during the attack. Have you found him yet?"
"Harry Potter is here? At Azkaban?" I motioned for Harold, Carly, and Percy to come over and had Lupin repeat what he just said.
"We need an all points search of every cell in this prison, especially the ones with Dementors still outside the doors. Harry Potter may still be here." Warden Weasley ordered a guard to get diagrams of the entire prison, and ordered all the off-duty guard staff to meet us at the large trial room.
I led Remus to the storage room and his box of belongings. I tossed his wand at him and he continued to follow in my wake to the large trial room.
Harry Potter was found on the third day of the search. The guards brought him immediately to the infirmary and Carly. His vocal cords and windpipe were severely damaged from screaming and he had nearly starved to death. As soon as he was stable enough to move, we decided to take him to my island as a safe place to recover from the ordeal.