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Possession
Chapter XII - Trial
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"The court will come to order!"

"Objection!"

There was a murmur of surprise from the select Wizards and Witches who had been called to serve. The Court had only just been called and already the Defendant was objecting.

"What is it?" Chief Judge Gilamy Horton asked.

"I object to this being a secret session," Heprah said strenuously. "And I demand to know what I am accused of!"

Dumbledore rose. He was representing the Prosecution. He was wearing plain purple robes, the ornamentation that usually accompanied his attire absent and his eyes were unusually sombre. "I would request that this court remain a secret session because this will be a very sensitive case, Judge Horton. If at the end of this session you feel that I have been incorrect in my assessment, I will not object if you feel the need to revoke the secrecy clause retrospectively."

Judge Horton nodded at Dumbledore. The man had done so much for the Wizarding World but he couldn't make his decision based solely on that. He was meant to be impartial. However Dumbledore's suggestion was reasonable. It was impossible to reinstate secrecy once it was gone. "I don't see a problem with that."

Dumbledore smiled wanly before continuing, turning to Heprah. "I am levelling various charges against you on behalf of Mr Harry Potter."

Throughout the room the minor stirrings ceased as the Hogwarts Headmaster invoked the still legendary name. Even Judge Horton sat up straighter.

"Harry Potter?" Heprah scoffed. "I'm never met him! Why would he be accusing me of anything?"

Several of the judging committee nodded, wondering the same thing. This was a Wizarding Court. There was only the Accused, who in this case had chosen to defend himself, the Prosecution, this time represented by Dumbledore and five Judges who formed a Committee, headed by Horton and it was these five who would make the final decision. Witnesses could be called by both sides and all legal questioning techniques were permissible although Dumbledore didn't intend for there to be many questions. Once he was through, he fully expected that the Committee would condemn Heprah.

The Committee was comprised of several prominent members of the wider Wizarding Community so that whatever decision was made, it represented what the Wizarding World desired. Today, it had Horton, who was a Judge from the days of the First Voldemort Death Eater Trials, Lefrant Junra, a fellow trader in Magical Artefacts, Reika Nibbleby a free lance journalist - a secret court session would later entail secrecy charms on all concerned so there was no chance of Miss Nibbleby cashing in on her discoveries today, Bethany Salmato who was representing any Ministry concerns and Lucius Malfoy...

If it had been any other case, Dumbledore would have been worried but he knew Lucius would come to the right decision, despite his hatred for Mr Potter. Tom wouldn't have had time to instruct his followers on this and he wouldn't either, because he didn't want this issue to be general knowledge any more than Dumbledore did but Lucius was intelligent, he would work it out.

Dumbledore took a deep breath. "On Mr Potter's behalf I am levelling charges of spell casting on a minor without their consent with intent to pervert the course of justice, violation of the protective wards surrounding him and most seriously with child abuse."

"Child abuse?" Heprah laughed. "I told you, I know who he is, everyone does but I have never met him!"

"He has met you."

"Then let him make these accusations! I have full respect for the boy and what he's done for the Wizarding World but this is ridiculous!"

Dumbledore nodded. "Due to circumstances Harry is currently under several protection spells and is being accompanied by Guard Animals at all times. If the Court will permit the animals then I will summon Harry."

"The Court so agrees," Horton said formally.

With a flick of his wand Dumbledore summoned Harry. The boy was pale and had one hand on the large black dog that was at his side to calm the animal that was snarling at Heprah, hackles raised and teeth barred. Harry looked around with dull eyes, showing some slight curiosity. Since he had been rescued he had been consumed by his memories. Having had them blocked for several years was hitting him hard although occasionally his face would bear a secret soft smile. Hedwig, fully recovered from the malnutrition also accompanied him although the owl had changed. Her feathers no longer appeared to be the simple soft feathers of a snowy but instead seemed to be hard and she appeared sleek and dangerous. Her beak seemed to be long and sharp and her talons glistened as she gently gripped Harry's shoulder. She turned unblinking yellow eyes towards Heprah and hooted warningly.

"Harry," Dumbledore began calmly, for Harry's sake, ignoring the shocked looks he was getting from the Committee as they took in how pale their saviour was. "I know it's difficult but Heprah would like to know what you are accusing him of."

Harry nodded, stroking Snuffles as Hedwig nuzzled into him comfortingly. "He... He hurt me... Like the others... He hurt me," Harry began quietly.

"Harry, I'm sorry but you have to be more specific."

"He raped me," Harry wailed, burying his face in Snuffles' fur as he clung to the dog, looking more like a young child than a teenager of fifteen years.

"He what..?" The exclamation came from almost everywhere.

"I did not!" Heprah objected. "This is some sort of twisted joke."

Dumbledore sighed. "I wish it was. I truly wish it was," he said solemnly. "But there is evidence to prove it."

"I think we need to hear this."

"Several days ago the reborn Lord Voldemort decided to come after Harry Potter and the Dark Lord tripped the Wards around Harry's house. Several Aurors, myself and a few members of the Order, scrambled and arrived in time to see Voldemort carry Harry and his relatives off. In an effort to determine where the Dark Lord had taken Harry I cast a 'Revisum' and discovered that Harry had been continually abused as a child."

"There were Muggles also involved but Heprah was also present in the spell."

"So why didn't we hear of this sooner?" Miss Nibbleby asked.

"Harry has been under an Obliviate since just before his eleventh birthday. Lord Voldemort broke it."

"And you expect us to believe the memories weren't planted?" Heprah asked.

Horton fixed him with an unimpressed stare. "Revisum does not rely on the memories of people, it relies on the memories of objects," he explained. "If you are strong enough, you can recall the memories of years past."

Heprah's eyes opened wide and Snuffles yipped in an almost happy tone.

"He's making it up!"

"I have several witnesses who will testify to what they saw in the Revisum charm," Dumbledore said before he sighed. "And, while this would be a last resort, Harry may testify if the court feels it is necessary."

"I would think it necessary!" Heprah snarled but cringed back as Snuffles and Hedwig glared at him, as if daring him to take one step towards their charge.

"Please call your first witness, Dumbledore," Horton invited.

"Thank you. I call the Auror Alastor Moody."

With a flash Alastor appeared standing in the witness box. He was dressed in plain black Auror robes with his wand strapped to his side. He nodded briefly before looking around the court.

"Thank you for coming, Alastor," Dumbledore greeted him.

Moody said nothing as he fixed his magical eye on Heprah and his natural eye on Horton.

"We understand that you were present when Albus Dumbledore cast the Revisum charm."

"I was."

"Could you tell the court what you saw?"

Alastor nodded as the 'Witness Field' extended itself around him. It was a simple concept causing no pain but giving a visual assessment of the truth. It glowed a pale yellow. If he lied it would change to red but if it detected no untruth it would remain the same. It greatly simplified the process of ensuring that witnesses were truthful.

"It was late that night when I received Dumbledore's call. I responded immediately and Apparated to Mr Potter's place of residence to find the Anti Apparition Wards down. Several other Order Members and Auror's were there and saw Lord Voldemort emerge from the house followed by two Death Eaters who had Harry's family confined before the Dark Lord and his followers Apparated away."

"Ha! So where was Mr Potter?" Heprah seemed triumphant.

"The Lord Voldemort had him but the Order of the Phoenix, as you can see, has since rescued him but Mr Potter's where-abouts is not in question. Since it was impossible at that particular time to pursue Voldemort we continued into the house to see what had happened. We discovered recent evidence of abuse on Harry carried out by his Muggle relatives, as well as evidence of several broken spells."

"What were these spells?"

"Apart from the broken Wards, an Obliviate Fractus had been cast which freed Mr Potter's memories. The Revisum charm was cast twice. The first was to ascertain that Lord Voldemort had not harmed Mr Potter and the second time was to see what Harry has had to endure for several years. It during this second time that the Accused was seen in the rooms memories in the company of the Vampire Xeoaph Casitial."

"I'm sorry to have to ask this but did you see the Accused with Mr Potter?"

"We saw many men with Harry and yes, the accused was one of them."

"Ridiculous!" Heprah scoffed but to the trained ear there was a note of panic in his tone.

Snuffles snarled again but was restrained by Harry.

"What was the accused doing with Mr Potter?" Horton asked, keeping his voice calm.

"He was engaged in sexual intercourse with Mr Potter," Moody kept his tone neutral.

"Preposterous!"

"Mr Yusia, you may take the stand if you'd like," Horton invited.

"Why should I have to defend myself from these absurd allegations?"

"Because they are not so absurd," Horton's voice was deathly quiet.

"Indeed..." Lucius spoke. "If you take the stand, that would be the quickest way of clearing this whole thing up." The man's grey eyes were bright.

"No!"

"Perhaps the court would allow a visual aide?"

"What do you propose, Dumbledore?"

"If Harry permits, I can, or in fact, you could cast a Visible Memory Charm which would allow the court to see Harry's memory. As I'm sure you are all aware, such a charm calls forth the truth, not what Harry may have believed happened but the true actions of the people in Harry's memory. Or perhaps, Mr Yusia will permit the charm to be cast upon him?"

"No!"

Dumbledore turned to the boy beside him. "Harry?"

Harry had been warned that this was a possibility but he wasn't scared. It would reveal the truth to the Judging Committee and while that would mean more people who knew, they couldn't speak about this trial. It was one of the acts of the secrecy clause. They would be able to verify that they made the decision but they would not be able to reveal anything else from the trial. He nodded.

"In the interests of impartiality Mr Potter, I will cast the spell," Horton stepped forward with his wand at the ready.

Harry nodded again and the spell was cast. It materialized as a cloud behind him and he painfully forced himself to recall at time with Heprah. Usually all the men had blurred together for him but Heprah had 'insisted' that he respond to his advances and if he didn't he'd hurt him worse than anything. Harry knew now it was the Crucio curse but at the time it had been enough to get his compliance and he had learnt how to pleasure Heprah.

He didn't look at the image but he knew Heprah had just punished him for some indiscretion. His bones ached with the memory. And now the wizard was kissing his younger self to make up for causing him pain, running his hands over Harry's body, massaging him gently as if to remove the residual pain of the curse. He covered his ears, trying to block his screams but in his memory it was still there and there was nothing he could do.

After a few moments more Horton broke the spell, turning to look at the Wizard with disgust and contempt warring on his features. He spared a thought for Harry who had to live with this and hoped that Dumbledore was up to protecting him. "How could you?" He spat. "How could you to any child?" He turned towards his fellow judges. "Do you need to see any more?"

All four of them shook their heads. "Azkaban!" Bethany snarled.

Lefrant shook his head, "The Kiss!"

Reika nodded her agreement and Horton turned to Lucius. "The Kiss," the older Malfoy agreed quietly.

"It's official then," Horton said, his eyes burning. "You shall be taken to Azkaban where the Dementor's shall administer their Kiss. This is the ruling of the court."

A blaze of light appeared around Heprah, restraining him before lesser lights surrounded everyone else, seeping into them as the secrecy clause took effect. Dumbledore placed one hand on Harry, sending him back to the Shrieking Shack from whence Sirius would take him back to Hogwarts.

The Headmaster hid a grim smile. Court was over. Now perhaps Harry could heal.

---

Lucius sat back in his chair as he watched the fire. He narrowed his eyes as he thought...

It had been an interesting day and the revelations had explained so much that was puzzling about his Lord's behaviour.

Lucius had been surprised when he had been asked to serve on the Judging Committee for a case involving Harry Potter. He had been with his Lord when they had captured the boy so how had Dumbledore gotten the boy back so quickly? Voldemort is growing weaker...

The fixation on Harry Potter was not normal... The boy had been troublesome certainly but a quick Avada Kedrava would have solved the problem but it appeared Voldemort's fixation had progressed... Lucius frowned... Harry Potter had been attacked by Heprah but also by Muggles... Ah... It became clear... That was why Lord Voldemort wanted those Muggles. He was going to extract vengeance.

Weakness... The boy was nothing but trouble.

He is no longer fit to lead us... The thought was not new... Change was coming...

"Father!"

"Draco," Lucius greeted his son, eyes still narrowed.

"How did the trial go?"

Lucius raised one eyebrow. "It was a Secret Session. You know I can't tell you."

"What I know is that you have ways around that," Draco said in a strictly business like manner.

Lucius smiled. "Very good, my son. You correct... But I may not reveal all... Not so late in the game." Lucius half closed his eyes as he considered. "You will not get the Mark, my son."

"What? But I want to serve our Lord," Draco objected.

"And so you shall but the Dark Lord you serve will not be him. He had become weak with his rebirth. You will be my Heir." Lucius sat back as he watched his son consider the information.

Draco gulped. "Is he... Is he really that weak?" He asked uncertainly.

"He is," Lucius confirmed. "He seeks Harry Potter but not to kill... Instead he now wastes his and our time by seeking revenge for Harry." Lucius shook his head. "It's better this way," he said slowly. "History will remember him as a great Dark Lord who was cut down in his prime but from the ashes of his rule rose another Lord, Lucius Malfoy."

Draco nodded, a sly smile forming on his pale features. "What do I do?"

"For the moment, nothing... Nothing has changed... However I have some information for you which I trust you will put to good use when the time comes?"

Draco nodded.

"At this very moment, Dumbledore has Mr Potter at Hogwarts where the Headmaster is attempting to heal Harry of his wounds."

"Potter's wounded?" Draco's eyes were alight.

"Emotionally, my son, emotionally. It appears his Muggle relatives abused him extensively. He was raped many times and has only now come into possession of that information when the Dark Lord broke the Obliviate on him."

Draco's eyes narrowed. "So..." he said slowly. "He's useless... If he's suffering that much then he wouldn't be able to fight anyone!"

"Exactly," Lucius smiled again. "I trust you will make the appropriate arrangements to keep him that way."

Draco smiled back at his father. "Of course, My Lord."

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