To the person who left only the handle, "me": You've read 34 chapters of the thing so you must not be too lost. *grin*
To the reviewer Milee… I don't know which House you're in. I can't even remember if you've told me. Please e- me back and I'll add your points to the right House. THIS IS THE ONLY SORT OF CASE WHERE I WILL GO BACK AND ADD POINTS.
Gryffindor-60 Points- Caprice earns 10 Points for having a strong stomach.
Slytherin-140 Points- Bookofdays, is awarded 10 points for an impressive knowledge of nomenclature; RivanKnight is awarded 10 Points for doing homework in advance;
Ravenclaw- if you reviewed and I didn't count you tell me, or review this chapter and get some points for your House.
Huffelpuff- if you reviewed and I didn't count you tell me, or review this chapter and get some points for your House.
Chapter 35:
Harsh and slightly garbled voices called from the cover of the trees. The masks the Death Eaters wore filtered their voices, but Remus was able to tell where the voices were coming from. When Hagrid went down, he was faced with more than just an exposed flank. "Rubeus," Lupin shouted over the blood thundering in his ears. "We need to find some cover!"
Hagrid had trouble getting to his feet; Remus took a deep gash in his back while trying to help him. Even though Hagrid had been expelled from school well before graduation he had been able to learn, on his own, a few charms that protected against some of the more aggressive animals he had kept. He cast them as quickly as he could, and led the way into the clearing.
Together they established a mildly fortified position beside a few stacked boulders in the Leshy's clearing. (His favorite gaming table.) Side by side now, and able to work together, they fired at anything that moved.
Remus got a momentary glimpse of one of their attackers, a vague black flutter within the dark undergrowth of the forest. It was all he needed. Were reflexes came into play as he spoke a quick disarming spell. They were now down to three armed attackers.
An undeniably dark curse flared out, like a burst of deep purple light, and caught Hagrid in the stomach knocking him down. He writhed on the ground as his abdominal muscles tried to rip loose from the bones they were attached to. He couldn't breathe except in painful gasps while his diaphragm was between spasms.
Remus aimed his next few shots in the direction, from which the Dark curse had come, but failed to hit anything. The deep wound in his back was resealing rapidly, due to his Were healing factor. Another curse carved a path in the flesh of his lower back and side, as he cast a strong pain reducer on his friend. Without knowing what the spell had been, he could neither undo the curse nor stop it. The pain from the wounds Remus had received only served to heighten his Were-rage, and he managed to wound and disarm another of the Dark Wizards before they over powered him.
~
Wandless, Remus fought to draw breath but blood was filling his lungs. The two Dark Wizards he had disarmed had dragged Hagrid out of his line of vision. He couldn't even turn his head to follow. Remus' amber eyes went wide as a tall thin figure, in black silk, stepped from the shadows. 'One of the Fates.' The Order had nearly been defeated before they had developed a team they called the Alicorn Warriors, but aside from that little bit, Remus knew only that Avada would not come soon enough.
~
There were many vacant seats at the Head Table for breakfast.
Ron counted them off, to no one in particular. "The Headmaster, Mad Eye Moody, Professor Lupin, Hagrid…"
Hermione leaned in and whispered to her two friends, "Do you think they're all on business for the Order?" She was skeptical and so were Harry and Ron. "I think we need to have a meeting, but not the Corsairs." She glanced to where Aidan was telling some Second Year girls about the Quidditch practice he had helped with.
(Helping the star Seeker was also helping his own standing among the younger Gryffindors.)
Professors Snape and Moody came in late but actually made it to breakfast, at the same time, for the first time in over a week. Neville was the only one in the Dining Hall to notice that they both had, very dark, blue eyes.
Double Potions went as terribly as usual. In Defense Against the Dark Arts, many groans of certain doom were repressed as students filed in, to find that Professor Lupin was not teaching that day. Having Professor Moody instead, was more like having Snape twice.
A study hall was the first time Harry, Ron, and Hermione had the chance to talk. They met at the back of the library, in a corner Miss Pince rarely went to, to shush students.
"They're not all involved in helping Sirius get to his retrial," Hermione rolled her eyes in frustration at Ron's suggestion that they were all in on the plan. "What would they all do? There just aren't enough things that need doing. If Sirius is under the Fidelus charm then, technically, only one person would be needed."
"No," Harry finally stepped in, "I think Hermi's right. My godfather would not want more people at risk than needed to be. Like you said Ron, there are real risks involved. If one person could hold the Fidelus charm, then he would have had only one person help."
"Ok," Ron nodded, "then where's everyone else?"
Hermione checked her 'imitation Muggle' watch again, "Guys we need to actually study if we can. If they're not back by lunch we can go ask Professor McGonagall. It's the most practical thing to do."
@--'---,--------------------
The Monday morning inter-city Apparition traffic was heavy and the local Broom commuters were crowding the streets from about second to fourth-story levels. As Mad-Eye Moody pushed his way into the Ministry building that housed the Wizards' Council it was obvious that a larger than usual number were also headed in that direction.
Sirius chuckled softly at the bitter irony of the whole situation. It felt very strange, to be in a room crowded with men and women who wanted him more than dead, and to have none of them even look in his direction. 'I'm following Alastor Moody, into the Wizengamot. Again. Only this time I'm doing it of my own will.'
Alastor was walking with a deliberate slowness. He needed to allow Black time to dodge the people who would unknowingly walk right into him, and he needed to give the right impression. A retired Auror, coming to see if the only man he couldn't catch, would turn up for his retrial.
A tall Wizard in perfectly tailored deep green and black trimmed robes stepped in to their path. "Good morning Alastor." Lucius Malfoy's voice was polished, smooth as a scrying stone. "You wouldn't happen to be here to see the day's big event, would you?" He raised an amused, platinum blonde, brow.
Alastor kept walking, and Lucius had to step to the side to avoid being stepped on. "Yer quite a ways from your own department, Malfoy," he turned the statement into a challenge with a squint of his good eye. "I'm here to see that the bastard responsible for James and Lilly's deaths gets strung up with the rest of them damn Death Eatin' dogs."
Sirius glanced back at Lucius as they entered the same chamber where he had been sentenced before. "He looks tired," he murmured to Alastor. Sirius could not see it, but he was sure that Moody was checking behind them, and through several people, with his Magical eye.
Alastor merely nodded slightly, he couldn't afford to give away the fact that someone was there that could not be seen. Dementors would not be fooled by a Fidelus charm, if they knew Black was present. Judging by the chill and dread he was beginning to feel Dementors were going to be something they would need to deal with after all.
Sirius' throat was getting tight, "There are Dementors here." Again Alastor nodded, as though greeting someone. "I'm thinking this was a bad idea." He could tell he was starting to panic, but this was a good time to panic. The Dementors would be drawn to his suffering, Albus had said, but would not be able to pinpoint his location. All he could think of though, were the years of near insanity while in their keep.
Alastor had glanced back in time to see Lucius Malfoy take a slightly deeper than necessary be breath. 'An attempt at hiding a yawn,' Alastor smiled grimly. 'Spending too much time trying to keep up the appearance of a good and loyal Ministry official. He'll make a mistake soon, then we'll have 'em.' Now though, his attention was on Sirius Black. 'The man is cracking up if he thinks a Patronus will save him.' He quickly reached out and, in the same motion, batted Sirius' hand away from his wand and jabbed a red headed someone in the arm. "Arthur Weasley," he spoke louder than necessary. It was expected of him.
The startled man took a moment to stammer out a denial. "N-no s-sir. I'm-I'm-I-I'm ju'just a dis-distant relation, s-sir." He kept looking about nervously. "I-I'm actually ju-just a c-c-cous-cousin, s-sir. No-not Arthur at all."
A half remembered conversation snapped back into place and Alastor smiled, "Ah-ha, you'd be the family Squib then eh?" The man became even more flustered, which only worked to Alastor's advantage. "No-no," he sternly cut into the increasingly long and repetitive stuttering, "I just meant that yer in the wrong section. Folks without regular Magic levels have special seating." He took the Not-Arthur-Weasley by the arm and started to drag him along. "Protective shields and stuff like that." His mangled face twisted into a hideous (meant to be pleasant) smile, "Things can get a bit heated some times, what with all the stuffed robes wandering about." He laughed like he had told an amazingly funny joke. The unease his peculiar laugh caused in the crowd they were passing through, allowed him to get two seats on the aisle without difficulty. No one wanted to sit next to Mad-Eye Moody. (Even if Sirius Black were going to show up.)
The specially designated, Low Magic seating was right up in the front of the spectators' section. If you are going to have shielding then it is only smart to put the shielding as close to the source of the potential incoming Hexes as possible. So Sirius Black found himself standing in the aisle within an arm's reach of the Minister of Magic and Muggle trade. And across the aisle from the newly promoted Head of the Department for International Cooperation, a very proud, Percy Weasley.
The Wizengamot was called to order and Sirius sweated his way through several long and boring speeches about things as pointless as "An amendment to the regulations regarding the mandatory safety specifications for children's Training Brooms." The vote was heavy in favor of the amendment.
Throughout the Hall unobtrusive House Elves carrying silver trays discreetly handed out chocolates.
Eventually Fudge opened the topic of Witness testimonies. Murmurs and vague calls for the head of Sirius Black were quickly silenced. There were a few cases, one involving a Wizard accused of breeding Acromantulas and selling them to exotic big game hunting parks.
A case of homicide where the mother was being accused of drowning her children (the children had all been squibs.)
The cases were all difficult to discern the right or wrong of. (Viritaserum works only to tell what the person who has taken it perceives as the truth.) All of the cases were eventually decided by the testimony of the Witness that had sifted through the accused's mind and created a Witness Orb based upon what they found.
Reaching into a pocket in his robe, Sirius wrapped his fingers around the Witness Orb that Cardigan had made for him. 'First time to the Raven, first time to UnderNewYork, first time I believed that I could actually be free…' His thoughts were spiraling down to the place he had tried to survive for so many years. The place he had found where there was no hope but there was nothing else either, the place where he hid and the Dementors had not been able to torture him as they did the others. His breathing was becoming irregular, sweat was beginning to collect on his upper lip and palms. Heart beating faster, it was like he was cooling off after a workout, except he hadn't been moving. 'They're coming for me.'
Fudge checked his Wizard's watch again, just to be sure, and smiled thinly. "I believe that we are joined by so many concerned citizens this day, because of one specific event that we have been led to believe will happen." It was exactly three minutes to eleven o'clock. Unless Black suddenly appeared in the Wizengamot Hall, then he would miss his hearing and automatically be ineligible for future stunts of this sort. Albus Dumbledore was mixed up in it somewhere, but unproveably so, and that irked Fudge no end.
For no apparent reason, Alastor Moody rose to his feet and began to walk toward the defendant's platform. It caused quite a stir. As casually as possible Alastor brought one hand around behind his back and an instant later Sirius relinquished the Orb into his care. "Fudge," he gave the Minister a nasty grin. Seemingly from nowhere he brought forth the Witness Orb and placed it in the three-pronged cradle that would allow the recording within, to be viewed by all present.
Fudge was taken aback by the strange behavior and actions of the former Auror. He gaped for a few moments before realizing what it all meant. "You have him," he whispered hoarsely. Fudge's already beady eyes narrowed further, "You have him and now you're trying to prove we were wrong. I'll have you imprisoned for tampering with a Witness's testimony Moody, I'll see you and Dumbledore sent to Azkaban for this." Trying to regain some of his authoritative air, he stepped back and announced, "We seem to have only half of the required articles present." Straightening his bolo tie (his latest fashion crime) he activated a panic button in the slide. Dementors burst in through every door and began to drift toward the central platform where Sirius stood, unnoticeably, beside Alastor Moody and Cornelius Fudge.