Disclaimer: None of the recognizable characters and settings belong to me. They are all the intellectual property of J.K. Rowling. I'm just playing around with them for the fun of it…no monetary gain is sought.
This story is dedicated to scatteredlogic for her cherished friendship and all her invaluable help.
Chapter Forty Six: As the Worm Turns
All the people sitting in the main courtroom awaiting further developments straightened up and stared towards the front of the room as the door behind the bench opened, and those who'd disappeared within to deliberate returned to the main room once more. Gallagher and Weasley headed for their previous places as the three interrogators retook their seats on the bench, while Dumbledore and Irma Pince crossed to the table where Minerva waited impatiently for them. The fact that they both wore smiles on their faces was extremely heartening to her, but she still wanted to know exactly what had happened behind that closed door. Dumbledore took his former seat beside her and Irma went and stood nearby, watching with a happy gleam in her eyes.
The hum of speculation that swelled in the air died away as Madam Bones once more rapped her glowing marble ball sharply against its dish. Minerva, who'd leaned over to demand answers from her colleagues, sat back again discontentedly at the sound and resigned herself to having to wait a little bit longer to learn what she so desperately needed to know.
Madam Bones looked out over the mass of attentive faces and addressed the assembly in a firm voice.
"The evidence that Professor Dumbledore presented to the court is very compelling. Unfortunately, it would be inadvisable to expose it in open court at this time. Even after viewing this new evidence, there are still one or two points that the Tribunal needs to discuss informally." At this point in her speech, her eyes drifted across the courtroom to alight on the watching face of Ian Standish. His countenance went rather pale as she continued to speak while staring directly at him with thoughtfully narrowed eyes and slightly lowered brows.
"However, there's no need to hold the court open, while we further assess this evidence privately. Therefore, I am dismissing court for today. We will be back in session tomorrow at nine o'clock in the morning. At that time, closing remarks will be held, and a verdict in this case will be rendered. Court is dismissed." With that, she brought the marble down with a crash. Then she directed an encouraging smile at Minerva to the accompaniment of much speculation from the onlookers, got to her feet and, followed by her colleagues, left the room.
As the Tribunal made a stately exit, everyone stood up and respectfully watched them leave followed quickly by the Acting Minister of Magic and his clerk. Once the door had closed behind them all, two guards stepped forward to escort Minerva back to her cell. Before they could seize her arm and take her away, she turned quickly to Dumbledore and said, "Albus, what happened? I deserve to know. Amelia actually smiled at me. She's barely looked in my direction during the entire trial."
Dumbledore smiled and reached out to clasp her hand encouragingly. "You should take that as a good sign, Minerva. I'll be along shortly to explain everything, but I need to speak to Irma for a moment first. You won't have long to wait. This nightmare is almost over. Everything will be fine, I promise."
Her face lightened at the absolute certainty in his tone. "Really?" she whispered softly. Hardly daring to believe what he seemed to be telling her.
He nodded and smiled sincerely. "Yes, really."
At that point, Irma, who'd been hovering close by Dumbledore's elbow, stepped up and gave Minerva a big hug. "Everything's going to be fine, Minerva. We've proved you innocent. All that's left is a couple of little tests. Once those are done, the charges will be dropped. Mr. Gallagher promised."
Minerva's eyes began to sting with suppressed tears, but before she could ask any more questions, the guards interrupted, though a bit more gently than they had in the past.
"We need to take you back to your cell now, Ma'am," said the taller of the two.
Minerva glanced up at them and nodded. "All right." Then she turned back to Dumbledore as one of them took her arm and began to lead her out of the room. "Please, don't be long, Albus."
The old wizard smiled after her. "I won't. I promise."
As the door closed behind Minerva and the guards, Dumbledore turned back to Irma Pince.
"Thank you again for all your help, Irma. You and Severus have saved Minerva's life, you know."
Irma smiled and nodded tearfully. "Oh, I do hope so. I wanted to be positive for Minerva, but there is still a small chance that Minister Gallagher won't do as he says, isn't there? I know that Severus was very uncomplimentary of him, and I must say, that having met him myself now, I wasn't particularly impressed. He really wants to see Minerva die, doesn't he?"
Dumbledore sighed. "No, Irma. I don't think that Minister Gallagher particularly cares what happens to Minerva. I do think that he's linked himself to the outcome of this trial a bit more than will prove politically astute. I imagine that he'll try very hard to find a way to twist things around so that he can take credit for her being found innocent as much as he would have taken credit for her conviction if he could get it. He's a creature of opportunity, I'm afraid. However, I do believe that when the tests on the wands come back positive, he'll do as he said he would. Madam Bones would insist on it, and the ultimate power here is hers. She's already convinced. So there's no need for you to worry."
Irma smiled. "Yes, Headmaster."
"Now," Dumbledore added, "can you get yourself safely back to Hogwarts without your wand? Where's Severus? Didn't you come with him? He could take you back."
Both of them searched the dwindling crowd for the familiar figure in black to no avail. It was obvious that the Potions master was no longer in the courtroom.
Irma smiled up at Dumbledore in reassurance. "He must have headed back already. We didn't make any plans for after court was over. You need to go and tell Minerva what's going on. She's probably frantic with curiosity by now. Don't worry about me. They were offering Portkeys to anywhere in the community at the front entrance. I'm sure that I can get one back to Hogsmeade. I'll see you later tonight." With that she gave him a final triumphant smile and headed off.
Dumbledore stood and thoughtfully watched as Irma made her way out of the courtroom with the last of the straggling crowd. He couldn't help but wonder why Snape would have left so quickly without waiting to see how things had gone, but perhaps he assumed that he could learn more later at Hogwarts. Not an unreasonable assumption to make. Still…
With a frown on his face and a small shrug, Dumbledore turned and left the courtroom through the side door, dismissing his Potions master from his mind and hurrying off to explain things to his Deputy Headmistress.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Ian Standish sat straighter in his seat as the Tribunal came back into the room, balling his handkerchief up in his sweaty palm. Once they'd taken their seats and Madam Bones had begun her little speech, his heart sank right down into his shoes. As she frowned thoughtfully at him, he could just see the speculation in her eyes, and he feared that spelled disaster for his plans. When she actually smiled at Minerva as she dismissed everyone, he knew that he'd lost his gamble, and if he didn't move quickly, he'd lose his life as well.
Without bothering to stop and speak to anyone, though there were plenty of people who obviously wanted to speak to him, Standish got to his feet and plowed his way through the crowd as swiftly as he could manage. The blood was pulsing loudly through his dazed brain as he shoved people out of his path with little thought for politeness or propriety. All he could think about was that he had to get out of there as fast as he could. The clock in the back of his mind had suddenly begun to tick with a loud and somber tone. Most likely, he only had until tomorrow morning to make his plans for escape. If he was still within reach of the Dark Lord by then, nothing but disaster awaited him.
Voldemort had already been displeased over his failure to get Minerva's money by romancing her, something he'd been sure he could accomplish. Once that hadn't worked, Standish had then managed to convince him that he had the power and influence to obtain her estate after she'd been convicted and sentenced to death, something that should have been certain. Now it appeared to be anything but, and if he wanted to keep living himself, he had no choice but to run as far and as fast as he could. The Dark Lord would not be talked into believing him again.
Unnoticed in the crowded back of the courtroom, Severus Snape watched Standish with the cold, hooded eyes of a predator. When Madam Bones frowned at the man, a tight, satisfied smile crept stealthily across Snape's face. There was little doubt that she, at least, was satisfied as to the truth of the situation. When she smiled at Minerva as she stood to leave, he almost laughed aloud. Minerva would be all right now, but before he could see her again, there was something else that he had to do. Something important.
When Standish jumped to his feet and began to push his way out of the courtroom as if the hounds of hell nipped at his heels, Snape wrapped his cloak around himself and quietly followed the man from the room.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Standish burst into his private study and ran across the room to the credenza. With a shaking hand, he poured himself a stiff drink and tossed it down as if it was water. Then he poured another and after taking a large sip of that one, held it in his hand and stared into space trying to organize his thoughts.
Fortunately, he'd made provision for an escape before he'd even begun this venture, though never had he expected to actually need to use it. Why hadn't this worked? It should have. Minerva should have been charmed into his bed once more, and her estate should have been his again. It had seemed so simple. Obviously, he'd forgotten what a stubborn, willful, and independent creature she was. His eagerness to once more taste the delights she used to give him had blinded him to that rather considerable flaw in his plan.
Still, his backup plan should have worked. It had been foolproof! No one knew about that obscure spell. No one! There shouldn't have been any way that they could have found out about it. He'd slaved for decades to remove the sound from that pensieve before finally hitting on the necessary method. The plan had been perfect. Minerva should be on her way to the gallows now, but instead, he was the one facing a deadly danger.
Downing the rest of his drink with an angry snarl, he slammed the glass down onto the sideboard and turned away. It didn't really matter what went wrong. He might never know exactly how it all turned against him. What he had to concentrate on now was getting away from here before anything else could happen. He had until tomorrow. That should be more than enough time to make a clean escape.
With determined steps, he crossed to a nearby section of wall, grabbed a hanging tapestry with his hand and savagely yanked the thing down from its mooring. Discarding it impatiently, he slipped his wand out of his pocket and began the tedious task of removing the several layers of illusion spells that protected his private safe from discovery.
Once he had the door open, he reached inside, pulled out a large black satchel and began filling it up with the rest of the contents of the safe. There was enough money here to tide him over for quite a little while. Along with investments that couldn't be tied to him, and the deed to a bit of property that no one other than himself knew anything about, he should be able to hide out quite comfortably for some time. By this time tomorrow, he'd be sitting on the veranda of his secluded little villa and enjoying the services of his lovely and very talented personal maid.
As he was smiling at the thought of that one ray of sunshine just waiting for him in an otherwise cloud filled life, the door to the study opened, and his wife entered with an expression on her face that would stifle even the most determined sun.
"There you are, Ian. Delby told me you'd returned. Why didn't you come and tell me what happened?" she exclaimed as she walked in, quite obviously annoyed with him, but that was certainly nothing new. The tiresome woman was always annoyed about something.
When she realized that he was packing objects from a safe that she'd never seen before into a bag, she stopped dead in her tracks and simply stared at him.
"What are you doing?" she whispered hoarsely, though the implications of his actions weren't entirely lost on her. In fact, a chill stab of fear coursed through her when his only answer was a harsh laugh.
Standish closed his bag with a snap and setting it down on the nearby couch, he crossed to his wary wife with a nasty sneer on his face.
"I'm sure that even you can figure out what I'm doing if you think about it, Nelda. I'm packing. I need to take a little trip."
"Why? Where are you going? What happened at the trial? Wasn't Minerva convicted?" Her voice rose with fear as he approached her.
"No. And it doesn't look as if she will be," exclaimed Standish in disgust.
"She's going to go free? But why? That evidence you had… It was so clear and definite! She's guilty. She has to be..." A pleading note entered her tone.
Standish shrugged. "Actually, she isn't. They've found a way to counter the evidence. I imagine that she'll be freed tomorrow."
Nelda felt panic constrict her heart with horror and confusion. "She was innocent? Oh, my god. You're going back to her, aren't you? You're leaving me for that bitch and her land."
Standish laughed; god, the woman was thick. "Do you really think that Minerva would have me after I turned in that evidence against her? You really are a stupid cow."
"Then why are you leaving?" As Ian didn't answer, she raised her hand to her lips as the reality that she'd been avoiding forced itself on her. "Oh, my god. I didn't want to believe it of you. I've been telling myself that you wouldn't ever do something that hideous…but it's true, isn't it? That pensieve full of those horrible memories… Somehow you made all that up, didn't you? You wanted her land so much that you were willing to lie, to perjure yourself…to even see her die, if it meant that you'd get your hands on that land. Oh, Ian, how could you do something that horrid?"
Standish grabbed her roughly by the arm and pulled her closer as he placed a threatening hand against her throat. "How I could I afford not to? That land was mine! Mine! And it should have remained mine no matter what, but no, I had to give it up in exchange for you and your puling brat! An exchange so egregious and inequitable that my blood boils every time I think of it. This whole mess is your fault, Nelda, and you may be sure that I intend to make you pay for it."
Savagely, he rammed his fist into her shocked face and watched in satisfaction as she fell to the floor, blood spurting from her split lip.
Before she could gather herself together enough to move away from him, he drew back his foot and kicked her viciously in the stomach, shoulders, and face again and again until she moaned weakly and subsided into unconsciousness, her blood pooling in vivid splotches on the lush oriental rug.
Standish laughed down at the now insensate figure of his wife and grabbed up his bag from the couch. "I don't have the time to stay and deal with you properly, my dear wife, but you'd better watch your back because when you least expect it, I'll have my revenge."
Leaving her bloody and battered body behind him in his study, Standish headed for the door to his house. There were more things that he needed to collect from his office in the stables. Then once he had them, he could make his escape. Let Nelda stay here and deal with the creditors when they came knocking. Their bank vault was already emptied of everything of value; all she had now was a houseful of trash and a large assortment of debts.
Pausing to wipe the smears of blood and gore from his boot on the runner by the door, Standish left the manor and crossed the courtyard behind the house, heading for the stables that loomed across a small expanse of snow covered lawn.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Minerva paced worriedly back and forth in her cell waiting for Dumbledore to come and explain what had gone on in court. He and Irma seemed so certain that it was over, that she'd be acquitted, but how? Why were they suddenly so sure that she'd be freed? What was in this mysterious spellbook that Irma had brought to the trial? Minerva kicked the edge of her cot in aggravation as she stalked past. How much longer was she to be expected to wait? It was her life that hung in the balance here. She deserved to know what was going to happen to it.
The sudden sound of a key grating in the lock brought her to a halt as she stared eagerly at the door waiting for it to open and give her answers. Moments later, it swung open to admit Albus Dumbledore to the room. The guard with the key closed the door behind him and locked it once more, but Minerva barely noticed his leaving as she crossed the room to stand before her friend and demand an explanation.
"It's about time," she declared hotly before he could even give her a greeting. "What took you so long, Albus? I've been going out of my mind with questions. What happened? What is this spell that you and Irma are so sure will free me?"
Dumbledore stepped forward to enfold her in his arms. As he dropped a kiss on the top of her head, he smiled. "Let's sit down, and I'll tell you everything."
She smiled uncertainly up into his eyes. "All right, you'd better."
Releasing her from his embrace, the Headmaster took her arm and led her over to the cot where they both sat down.
Minerva raised an eyebrow and folded her hands carefully in her lap, trying to keep a better hold on her impatience as she waited for him to finally explain everything.
With a sigh, Dumbledore began to speak. "The spell in the spellbook that Irma and Severus found is a very old and virtually forgotten spell. It explains everything we've been wondering about. It's a spell of substitution. With this spell, someone can alter the spells cast by another. When you stood in that stable all those years ago and faced Henry Grant, you did cast a spell on him, but it wasn't the killing curse. My guess would be that it was a binding spell or a stunning spell. I imagine that you'd gone after him because you'd been told he'd stolen money from you and would be attempting to leave. Either spell would be logical under the circumstances."
"Yes, I'm sure you're right," Minerva agreed readily. "But…I don't…"
Dumbledore held up a hand. "When you cast that spell on Grant, someone else cast a spell on you. That spell substituted the killing curse for the one you'd intended to cast."
Minerva's jaw dropped. "Such a thing isn't possible," she whispered.
"Oh, but I'm afraid it is. When I went inside the pensieve of memories and watched you cast your spell on Grant, I could see by the look on your face that you were shocked by what you'd done. You never intended to kill anyone, but that was the result despite your intentions. The killing curse requires that you intend to kill, Minerva. Clearly since you didn't intend to kill, whatever it might have looked like, you couldn't have cast the killing curse. I could also see that which Severus had already noticed."
"Severus?" she exclaimed. "What did he notice?"
"Severus figured out what had been bothering him about that pensieve copy of Ian's. He'd noticed that in the memories the flash from your wand wasn't the emerald green of the Avada Kadavra at all, but was instead a faded flash of bluish green. Now, the popular thought was that the color had simply dimmed over time, as the sound in the pensieve had disappeared due to a malfunction of the mechanism. But that wasn't the case. We were simply misinterpreting what was placed in front of us, as was no doubt intended all along.
"In his youth, Severus remembered hearing about a spell that substituted one spell for another and had a bluish green flash, but he'd never run across any proof of its existence. So he and Irma set out to find it. The two of them searched the entire collection of the library looking for the right spell."
"And they found it?" Minerva gasped. "In the library at Hogwarts?"
"No. They didn't find it there, and were quite despondent when they didn't. Fortunately, Irma remembered the cache of spellbooks that we'd hidden away in the Green tower. I should have thought of them myself, but with all I had to be thinking about, I'm ashamed to say that their existence slipped my mind."
"Oh, my goodness, " Minerva murmured softly. "I always hated having those things in the school. The spells they contained were so dangerous. It seemed like such an unnecessary risk to take, having them around, and now you're telling me that I owe my life to their existence?"
Dumbledore smiled.
"You owe your life to Severus and Irma's hard work, but yes, those books were where the spell was finally found. Magic is magic, my dear. It's only truly dark if you choose to use it for evil purposes."
Minerva covered her mouth and stared off into space for a moment before shaking her head incredulously. "This is so difficult to believe. Did you and Irma demonstrate this spell to the Tribunal?"
"Yes, and it worked exactly as it was meant to. There's no doubt in my mind that this spell was used on you. The flash was identical to that shown in the pensieve memories. It explained why the pensieve had to be silenced, too. The sound had to be removed so that no one could hear what spell you really cast."
"It makes sense, but it's still not really proof. If they'd accepted it without question, then I'd already be free. What if they don't accept this? What if, in the final analysis, they just can't believe it and convict me anyway?" Fear clutched at her heart once more.
Dumbledore shook his head. "No, I watched Amelia's face when we demonstrated the spell for her. It answers every question we had. She's convinced. I'm certain of it. You saw her smile at you when she dismissed the court. She wouldn't have done that if she didn't believe in your innocence."
"All right." Minerva chose to accept that rationalization and nodded. "Then why do we have to wait until tomorrow? Irma mentioned some tests?"
"Yes. The spellbook includes a test that can be done on a wand to determine whether or not this spell was cast on it. When one uses Priori Incantatem to look at the spells that a wand has cast, the image of any spell that was a substitution would be a bit fuzzier than normal. I noticed when I examined your wand that that was true of the killing curse. I have no doubt that when they perform this test they'll get confirmation that this spell was used on your wand. If so, that's absolute proof that you're innocent."
"So someone else used me to kill Grant," she exclaimed in horror.
"Yes." Dumbledore nodded soberly.
Minerva turned towards him with fire in her eyes. "It had to be Ian! There's no one else it could be! It had to be him."
"Yes, I imagine that's true," Dumbledore agreed.
"That bastard!" she exclaimed hotly as she sprang to her feet and began to pace around the cell once more. "He used me to kill that man. Somehow, he got me to place my memories in a pensieve and obliviated all memory of the incident from my mind! Then he deliberately hid the evidence for years! Years! Until he could find a way to make use of it. My god, Albus, he's even more despicable than I ever dreamed he was."
Dumbledore nodded in agreement once more but didn't comment.
Minerva whirled around to face her friend again. "He's going to get away with it, isn't he? There's no proof that can tie him to any of this. It's so obvious that he has to be guilty, but he's covered his tracks so well that there's no way, after all this time, to prove that he ever had anything to do with Grant's death. Damn the man!"
"I'm not so sure that Ian will get away with this in the end. If you aren't guilty of this crime, then he really is the only remaining suspect. Once we dig a bit deeper, we may find that he wasn't quite as clever as he's seemed so far." He hesitated before adding, "Though it might not come to that."
"What do you mean?" Minerva's brows drew together in a frown.
"Ian has disappointed Tom for a second time. That's never a smart thing to do."
She gasped. "You think Voldemort might kill Ian?"
Dumbledore shrugged. "I imagine that the possibility must be running through Ian's mind at the moment."
Minerva's expression hardened, and she came back to sink down onto the cot next to Dumbledore. "I should be appalled at that thought, I suppose, but I really can't summon up any sympathy. He was quite ready to see me executed for a crime that he committed."
They sat in silence for a moment, and then Minerva ventured a further question in a soft shaky voice, "How could he have persuaded me to transfigure that man's body into a log and burn it?"
"We don't know that you did burn it."
She looked down at her hands. "That doesn't really matter, though, does it? Something happened to it and no one knows what. I did transform him. That's so wrong! Why would I have done that?"
"Could you have been pregnant at the time?" Dumbledore's quiet voice brought her eyes up to his once more.
"Pregnant?" she whispered. "I don't know. I don't remember that time all that clearly. I suppose I might have been. I so often was to no effect…"
"You'd have done anything to protect your child. Even hidden a death…"
Minerva shook her head reluctantly and gazed up at her friend with pain in her eyes. "I might have been persuaded, but I couldn't have kept that hidden forever. I'd have confessed eventually. I simply couldn't keep a man's death a secret…no matter the cost." She ran her hands across her abdomen and then brought them up to hug herself tightly.
"No. I know you wouldn't, and Ian would have known that too. Which is why he obliviated you."
The anger returned to her expression. "Yes. He played me perfectly, didn't he? I really hate that man…more than I thought I could ever hate anyone." She paused and a troubled expression spread over her face. "If this evidence can't be made public, and I agree that such a spell can't be allowed to become public knowledge, then there will be those who won't believe it if I'm acquitted, you know. They'll think that you simply used your influence or found some loophole to get me off when I was really guilty of murder."
"I'm sorry. There is that danger. But there's little that can be done to change the minds of those who wish to believe ill of others. All we can do is hope that Amelia is very firm in her belief in your innocence in her dismissal speech. You've faced worse than a few doubts in the general populace, Minerva. You can face up to any questions that are left; I know you can."
"If the doubters are widespread, they may object to my teaching their children, you know." How horrid it would be to go through all this and lose what really made her life worthwhile, even though she'd been shown to be innocent.
"I don't believe it will become a problem, but if it does, we'll face it together. I promise," he said reassuringly.
With a soft sigh, she turned a kinder expression on the Headmaster. "Thank you so much for everything you've done, Albus. I'd be facing my death now instead of an acquittal if it wasn't for your help. I was wrong to have thought I could manage alone."
"I'm not the one whom you should thank, Minerva. Irma and Severus are the ones who've been working day and night to find this spell and clear your name."
She nodded. "Yes. I intend to thank them as soon as I have the chance."
Dumbledore reached out and took her hand gently in his. "Severus has been a man possessed ever since you were arrested, you know. He simply wouldn't stop, even for a moment, until he found a way to free you. He loves you very much."
A shiver ran through her at his quiet words, and she turned a doubtful face to her dear friend and searched his expression earnestly. "Oh…I don't…" Her soft voice faded away. She just didn't know how to respond to that. She swallowed hard and looked away again.
Severus had shown such consideration and care for her when he'd visited her in her cell, but did that really mean that his feelings were as strong as hers were? Could he actually love her? There wasn't anything she wanted to believe more, but her heart just wouldn't let her unless she heard it directly from Severus himself, and somehow she didn't really believe she ever would. Even if he actually felt such feelings, he wasn't likely to share them, even with her.
Dumbledore smiled and, putting an arm around her shoulders, pulled her against him, squeezing her gently. "The two of you are going to have to confront your feelings for each other sooner or later, my dear."
She smiled hesitantly and patted his arm companionably before hugging him back. "Well, at least now it looks as if we might have that chance."
