Revert To Type
Disclaimer: I own little to nothing of what it is named/referred to and am making even less from it.
Chapter 24.
Molly Weasley loved her children. It was a statement of fact that she would never ever refute. No matter what kind of mistakes they made, how much they hurt her or the rest of the family no matter how much she wanted to be able to cut one of them out of her life, to distance herself from them, she simply could not stop loving them. However that said, she was fairly certain that she would shut the door in Percy's face if he ever tried to cross the threshold of the family home again. It had been insulting enough to have to find out what he was going to be doing from that bloody paper but to add insult to injury to have him send an owl once again trying to warn them that Arthur was going to make a mockery of himself representing a couple he had all but described as deviants. She was fairly certain that it was the latter part of the comment that had struck both Arthur and herself the most strongly. They had tried to raise their children to be open, understanding, tolerant and above all not to be judgemental. Molly was well aware that Severus Snape was likely not the most pleasant person she had ever had the privilege of spending time with, but she also knew that behind his rapier wit, was a towering intellect and most of all a good heart. She knew that both he and Remus had had to overcome huge obstacles to reach where they were now and knew how good they were for each other and in all honesty couldn't think of a couple who deserved all the chances they could get more than that pair. She had rarely been prouder of her husband than she was at present, to know that he was going to do anything he could to reach the end result she knew in her heart would be the best for all involved. Having been married for so long, and having raised their own children, to a point where two of them were married and having their own children, they didn't need to open their mouths to communicate what they felt but on Sunday, having had an interesting Sunday lunch with the twins at their flat, she had held his hand as they had made their way up to St Mungo's and kissed him briefly on the cheek before watching him walk the last few yards into the ward and towards the isolation room where the child was being held.
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The following morning found her eating breakfast alone. She sipped at her tea as she tried to imagine what it was that Arthur had seen that had managed to firm his resolve to win even further. In all the years she had known him she had rarely seen him as worked up as he had been the previous night when he had arrived back and she had felt helpless to do anything to ease his obvious anguish. But now it was her resolve that was turned to steel. There may have been nothing she could have done then, but she'd be damned if she didn't do everything she could to support all of them now, so having made her decision she sent her dishes to the sink with a flick of her wand and summoning her cloak, lit a fire in the empty grate. The atrium of the Ministry was heaving when she arrived, and the streams of wizards and witches arriving and leaving seemed to trace intricate unmarked pathways through the crowds. Molly rarely visited the building, in fact as a rule she avoided at all costs if she possibly could, but she knew enough of procedure to know that she would have to have her wand registered before she could do anything, so joining the queue in front of the welcome desk she waited to do just that. In the meantime she took the chance to read the notices that ran in a ribbon around the room. Eventually she saw the one that she had been looking for;
Department of Magical Law Enforcement and Department of
Social Responsibility hearing – case 246.01: Court room 1.
Using one of the interactive maps strategically located throughout the building it didn't take her long to find her way to court room one, and having arrived relatively early she managed to get a seat in the front row of the public gallery.
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Below the balcony where Molly was now seated was an area designated for the press, the vultures weren't in situe yet and she supposed they would want to be outside to see the important players arrive on the scene. Just as the final spaces on the benches around her were filled, the door behind the long table at the head of the room swung open and an official stepped out. Standing next to the doorway facing out towards the rest of the courtroom, the man banged his staff on the floor solidly three times before speaking.
"Attention." The short wizard called, waiting for the hushed silence that fell throughout the lofty room before continuing. "Represents and applicants." He called and the sound of another door opening beneath the balcony could be heard, followed by the sound of several sets of footsteps echoing in the silence. They were a motley crew when they did come into sight; Arthur and Percy walked side by side, the latter's demeanour and posture telling more about his attitude than Molly felt she wanted to know. His pinstriped robes looked as though they had been modelled on the Minister's own and she had never seen the briefcase he was carrying before. On the other hand, Arthur was carrying an armful of paperwork and seemed to have forgotten that he had a pencil tucked behind his left ear. Behind them were 'the applicants' and her heart went out to them. Remus looked dead on his feet, which was hardly surprising considering that the previous night had been a full moon, but Severus too was showing the strain, if only through the increased furrow in his brow. They took their places behind the two desks that stood in front of the railings that caged in the press and faced the long desk at the front of the room, Percy on the left and the other three on the right of the aisle they had just come down.
"All rise for the Hearing Panel." The official called and Molly stood along with those around her. "Mr Richard Underhill." He announced as a rather bemused looking figure appeared from the door next to him, and glancing around nervously at the room proceeded to scurry to the furthest seat to the left of the of the table. He was followed to that end of the table by a plump woman who rather reminded the mother of seven of herself, and whose name was announced as Margo Vale. An older woman was hot on Margo's heels, her face steely and an impatient air about her. After Edwina Barclay had taken the furthest seat on the right, Simon Finknottle, who had something of 'winner of Witch Weekly's most charming smile award' about him was announced and took the seat next to her. Molly came to the conclusion that these must be the members of the general public who had been called up to serve on the panel, primarily due to the fact the first two still looked a little like rabbits caught in headlights. Her thoughts were interrupted by another announcement.
"Harold Fusby, Head of the Department for Social Responsibility." She recognised the willowy rather stuffy looking man from her own dealings with the department, but she certainly didn't think him a bad man based on her own experience, despite his being as straight-laced and old-fashioned as they came. When the next panel member was announced though, all other thoughts left her mind and her blood turned to ice.
"Representing other departments with interests in this case and the office of Minister of Magic, the Chief Undersecretary and primary advisor to the to the Minister, Dolores Umbridge."
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Molly couldn't be certain that it wasn't just her, but she felt a sudden change in the atmosphere in the room, as if everything had been thrust into slow motion for that instant. It was as if no one breathed for several moments before a flurry of chatter and activity broke out amongst the room's occupants. As the former High Inquisitor shuffled along and took the seat just to the left of the central raised one, Molly watched Severus and Remus both turn towards Arthur, but she already knew from what he had told her about proceedings, that there was nothing they could do about the representatives, they were simply going to deal with it. This however didn't change the fact that this was not good news. She was still lost in these thoughts when Amelia Bones entered the room and took the central position at the table.
"…Head of Magical Law Enforcement and Chairman of the Panel."
"Alright, good morning everyone, let's get this show on the road shall we." She said arranging the papers in front of her. "We've all had a chance to read over Professors' Snape and Lupin's statement and their references already. And not forgetting that we will have a chance to speak not only to the two professors but to their two character witnesses also, is there anything any of you would like to ask at present?" She said glancing to either side of her. There was yet another silence, but this time it was broken by the Undersecretary herself with what Molly supposed was intended to be a cough.
"Ahem, ahem." She said, her simpering smile almost as sickly as the pink cardigan she wore. Molly was pleased to note the tone of the Chairman's voice was of barely restrained irritation already.
"Yes, Dolores?"
"I was just going to enquire as to why it doesn't seem that we're to have a chance to hear from 246.01. I would have thought she should be brought before the panel at some point in proceedings." The witch said all this as though it was the most natural thing in the world and Molly had to bite her own lip to stop her from calling out in frustration.
"Madame Chairman," Arthur said rising to his feet, "if it would please you, I think that many of the issues this question raises will be addressed in the opening remarks. Perhaps it would be better if the issue were to be addressed after that stage."
"That makes sense to me Mr Weasley. Does anyone else have any objections?" No one on the panel appeared to have an issue with this suggestion so a coin was flipped and it was decided that Arthur would be allowed to take the floor first.
"Ladies and Gentlemen," he began, having stood and moved out from behind his desk to meander back and forth across the floor in front of the panel. "I think the one fact that we need to keep in our minds throughout this affair is that the individual that had been labelled 246.01, is in fact a child. A child, like any other child, who as far as the medical professionals are able to tell, is no more than three years old. A child who woke up one morning less than four weeks ago in a place she didn't know, surrounded by people she had never met before. As far as we can tell, this child had up until that point been raised by her father in an isolated highland croft, where they spoke gaelic and she was unlikely to meet more than two people at a time. But despite this fact, she showed how resilient children can be, she found someone she felt she could trust in the midst of all this upheaval in her life.
"Perhaps it was because Professor Snape reminded her of her father we'll never know but after Poppy Pomfrey, the Hogwarts' medi-witch, had verified her identity and it had been established that she was quite well, the Professor took her into his care. While her colleagues and her former colleagues at the DOMA worked tirelessly to find a way to return her to her original state, the child, who became known as Anna, naturally formed relationships with those around her. Remus Lupin, as the Professor Snape's long term partner was naturally a part of that life, and when he was asked to fill in Minerva McGonagall's role in the transfiguration classroom he accepted a good deal of responsibility in relation to Anna as well. It wasn't smooth running, after all, this child was still in shock to a certain extent, and she spoke and understood no english at all. But with the help of dictionaries, and language guides, and the talent young children have to pick up languages, they made some progress and they formed bonds. This incredibly inquisitive, intelligent and charming child came out of her shell. She began to communicate with people and after two weeks had formed strong bonds with the two men responsible for her primary care.
"Later in proceedings I propose that we hear from some of the staff who have been looking after Anna since she was removed from these two men's care and having spent time with the child myself, I can see that the situation in which she is now has had nothing but a negative effect. The nurses are unable get a word out of her and she has withdrawn into herself almost entirely. Surely this change says something important about how safe and secure she felt before and how the removal of the two main carers in her life has affected her.
"No man who claims to be perfect can be being entirely honest, can have no faults or have made no mistake in their past, but surely some things are more important. A child cannot survive and grow when fed on bread and water alone. They need love.
These two men are good, hardworking people, who care for Anna enough to stand before you all now, to bare their flaws and put their hearts on show because they want what's best for her. They love her. And after all, shouldn't that be by far the most important thing?"
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Molly had heard his speech before, if not this exact version, and yet, she felt she had never heard him speak with such conviction as he did now. She knew that her husband believed passionately in many things but this was obviously an issue close to his heart. Looking towards the panel she tried to guess what was going through their minds but for the most part it was a futile exercise. For the time being she would just have to hope that there was a chance of successes. For the sake of everyone involved.
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A/N: Right, well this took me a while and I expect that the next chapter might well do also. I was working on getting to the trial for so long and now I've discovered that it's going to be harder to word than I thought.
None the less I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Thanks to all those who reviewed the last and once more I'd be glad to hear what you think.
xLx
