DISCLAIMER: Thanks for reading this story, but we do not own any of the rights to these characters, and so we cannot take all the blame… I mean claim… all of these characters, settings, etc.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter may be confusing to you, so read on carefully (or reread if you didn't get it the first time) and we will hope for the best. During this chapter, the trial begins and ends, but you don't get to witness much of it at all. Also, we would like you to please hang in there, because this chapter is a bit frustrating. I hope you all get the answers that you were waiting for (at least to some degree) concerning Pettigrew, Quirrell, the Quidditch match, and others. This chapter is, again, rather short, but it contains quite a bit of information, if you choose to look for it. Sorry for the lack of action and length.
Please read on!
!PREVIOUS CHAPTER!
"If you're thinking about throwing yourself overboard, don't even try it. There are charms that prevent you from it."
Sirius turned around and scoffed, "I knew that. I was an Auror, remember? And anyways, why would I want to drown myself!"
At the puzzled look on the Auror's face, Sirius remedied his statement with a rather unconvincing sigh, "I've no reason to attempt escape or suicide."
Unsurprisingly, the Auror didn't reply.
Sirius turned back around to face the approaching land and sat quietly, thinking to James, until they arrived.
!REMUS LUPIN!
Remus held his head in one hand as he looked at Harry's unconscious figure. He desperately wished that he could do something to help, but the nurse was already tending to the young lad in the hospital wing.
Remus thought back to the counterjinx that Lily had used. After Lily got started, it had barely registered in his mind that he should have known that particular counterjinx. It had been covered in some class or other… Remus thought foggily, or perhaps it had been something he'd looked on his own?
Now he wasn't so sure… maybe he hadn't known that counterjinx at all.
Lily spoke up.
'What are you on about, Remus? You aren't making any sense at all.'
Remus wondered if he had been thinking loud enough for Lily to hear all of that. He hadn't thought so.
Remus mentally answered, 'I think I should have known that spell, but I just couldn't think of it.'
'Hmm…' said Lily, 'yeah, I was wondering that at the time. I know I'm not bad at that sort of thing, but you've always been our dictionary. I guess it surprised me that you wouldn't know.'
'I feel so useless!' Remus lamented, thinking back through the past few weeks.
!CORNELIUS FUDGE!
As he sat down at his desk to prepare for Black's re-sentencing, Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, was feeling very satisfied that the coming trial would be a cinch. He had taken special care to make sure there would be no one there to mess it up, like, perhaps Dumbledore or that idiot werewolf. No, the defense for Black was comprised of people who were intent on seeing a fair trial, but didn't really believe that the convict was innocent.
'Not that they will be able to present anything,' thought Cornelius jovially, 'as their only evidence has apparently vanished into thin air…'
It must have been some kind of illusion. The ministry had not even done any testing to make sure that it was indeed Pettigrew that had been brought to the ministry, and now he was gone. The only explanation was that it had been some spell, probably the responsibility of that bloody Lupin…
So Cornelius decided to have the trial before the intended date, just in case anyone tried something funny.
There would be no way anyone could interfere with justice this time… he had the whole ministry on his side.
He had even taken extra care to employ as few people, and dementors, as necessary. In fact, he'd had his men with connections to the head of the Law Enforcement, Auror Division send one of the less-well-known and quieter Aurors to pick up the conniving prisoner. He had been assured that this Auror was perfectly well equipped to handle one insane convict.
!SAM BROCKLEHURST!
Sam kept his wand trained on the prisoner as they climbed out of the small boat.
As the convict used his free hands to push himself up, Sam finally noticed and yelled "Freeze! Don't move a muscle!"
The prisoner, who was halfway out of the boat; still partially crouching, did freeze only to become unbalanced just as he did so. The man's foot had landed in a patch of wet sand which had sucked his foot under the boat.
Sam jumped out of the boat and fired a stunning spell at the prone man, startled into action, his Auror reflexes took over.
Surprisingly enough, the convict dodged out of the path of the spell and ended up completely in the water.
After several additional moments of confusion, Sam had managed to wrench the sopping wet convict from the water. As soon as the man had gotten the water from his lungs, he held his hands out weakly and apologized.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean anything by it," the thin, gaunt man sputtered, looking at the Auror earnestly, "I was only getting out of the boat. I didn't remember that I was upposed to have my hands tied. Next time use a better spell, why don't you."
Sam frowned, running a hand across his temple, and shoved a black candlestick into the convict's outstretched hands.
!SIRIUS AND JAMES!
'You sound so stupid!' James laughed at Sirius.
'Well, I don't want him to think I was trying to escape,' Sirius retorted, nattily.
'But you sound so pathetic!'
'Shut up, James.'
'Yessir!'
Sirius felt a tug somewhere in his midriff and found himself looking around a marble hallway… from the floor.
'Sirius, you are on the ground,' James informed him, helpfully.
'I know that!'
Sirius struggled to his feet, realizing that the Auror had somehow managed to put a much better binding spell on him without his perceiving as much.
"Where are we?" Sirius asked, aloud.
"Ministry," the Auror answered, gruffly, pushing Sirius down the corridor.
"Well, that was quick, I must say," Sirius stated, vaguely.
The Auror seized Sirius's arm in what seemed to be an iron grip, apparently fearing that the prisoner might try to make a break for it, despite his insistence against the fact. Sirius immediately felt his arm beginning to go numb and swatted at the Auror, distractedly.
Sirius let himself be led past numerous other passageways and entrances until they reached an ominous looking door.
To the right of the door another Auror was standing. He looked slightly bored until Sirius's Auror shoved the convict almost right against the door.
"Is that the prisoner, Brocklehurst?" asked the door guard, with little interest in his voice, yet his posture still showing his exquisite training.
"Yeah," Brocklehurst replied.
"Well, take him in. The trial should be starting any time now,"
The Auror obliged.
!HARRY!
Harry awoke to find faces swimming in front of him. His vision was blurry and he felt a sharp pain coming from the back of his neck and from various other parts of his body.
He opened his mouth to inquire something, but his head pounded fiercely and he couldn't get a question out.
Someone forced something into Harry's mouth and he swallowed, unsure whether it was solid or liquid.
His vision blurred a bit more and he felt as if something strong was being swung against his head.
He let out a groan and saw blackness.
!PETER PETTIGREW!
Peter wasn't quite sure what to do now. He'd been found out, obviously, so he couldn't very well go diving back into regular wizarding society as a human or a rat. Luckily, it didn't seem that the fools at the Ministry really believed Lupin and Dumbledore.
He had been pondering the dilemma of his future for a bit. After living off the streets for a while, he was surprised at how easy it was to stay hidden and still get everything he needed (indeed, often more than he needed… including information).
Peter's nose twitched at the vile scent of exhaust from a car. That was perhaps the only downside to this new life… some of the smells were disgusting!
There really wasn't use in making a list of pros and cons, so Peter made a sudden and fairly firm (by his standards) decision to continue his life on the streets… stirring up trouble whenever possible.
He pondered where best to position himself, as there were two fine places.
He could stay in the London area, where there were plenty of wizards and witches to snatch news from and stir up, or he could head up north towards Hogsmede and Hogwarts, where he was more likely to be recognized and could likely do a fair bit less damage.
Peter's limp tail flicked to the side; this choice wasn't a hard one with those points in thought.
!HARRY!
When the light came back to Harry, he saw the world come partially into focus. He tried to sit up, but found a dozen hands pushing him back down.
"Mmuphuhgh?" Harry asked. His mouth felt like it was coated with wood shavings.
"You fell off your broom," said a familiar voice.
"Ungh…" Harry agreed, "Eeiowe?"
"Er, you landed on your head and you, er, gave us all a right scare," said another familiar voice, guessing vaguely at what Harry had asked
"Mmmach," Harry said, his voice finally forming what he was thinking, "Wha' 'baut 'eh mach?
"We won the match, of course, silly," said a female voice that Harry placed as Hermione's, seeing a mass of brown hair located to his side.
Harry squinted at her and suddenly found his glasses in his hand.
"'Ank oo," he said quietly, slipping them on.
Someone handed him a glass of water with a cloth and he heard the nurse saying, "You've got some dirt in your mouth dear, you can rinse it out, if you like.
!SAM BROCKLEHURST!
As the door-guard whose name Sam couldn't quite recall waved the door open, Sam tightened his grip on the prisoner's arm and forced him forward.
Sam nodded to the guard as he walked past and the prisoner beamed audaciously and defiantly at Sam's fellow Auror.
Sam realized, as they worked their way in the direction of the prisoner's seat, that there was a dementor on either side of him and the convict. The Auror wondered why he had not noticed them before. Perhaps he had just been too focused on leaving the prison and watching the prisoner.
The enormous room held what seemed to be a strangely small number of people.
Glancing around the room without faltering in his step, Sam could find no one of any import in the area reserved for defense. The Auror took his place on the side, near the defendant's chair, and surveyed the room more closely. Everyone in the room was glaring at the prisoner. Sam looked back at the man that he had just brought there. He, too, had seen at the defense. It was feeble.
The prisoner's eyes had become deadened as they walked in the room, and this seemed to grow as he looked darkly around the room.
Sam waited until the prisoner's eyes fastened on him. Sam suddenly found himself almost pitying the man. There was no bright hope in the future of this captive.
!QUIRRELL!
Infuriated, Quirrell had a strong desire to scream in frustration. Unfortunately, that would have blown his cover, so he settled for looking over the side of the stands and pasting a worried expression on his face.
He had been trying to get that annoying Potter boy all year, and something always went wrong!
And that irritating little girl! She was way too smart for her own good. She had eyed Quirrell suspiciously on several occasions; obviously she had begun to notice something odd about him.
So he simply came up with a plan to get rid of her. It was as easy as sabotaging the werewolf's potion, giving the girl a quick jinx to lose track of time and miss curfew, and taking most of the spells off of the room the beast was in. But for some bloody reason, his simple plan had not worked, which only made Quirrell angrier at himself and the ridiculous girl.
And then she had decided to go and set fire to Snape's robes! It hadn't distracted Quirrell enough to stop him from jinxing Potter's broom, of course, but it was enough to let the boy steer his broom toward the ground, and now he was just fine! Bloody child.
But something else worried Quirrell as well. The werewolf had been chanting a counter curse! Even after Quirrell had added those ingredients to the creature's potion that should have caused him to become outrageously unhelpful in cases of trouble, he was able to counter this kind of jinx!
Quirrell would have been doomed for sure if the girl had spilled her suspicions to her adult friend whom Quirrell had known to be extremely good at defense against the dark arts, and had been a member of the forces against the Dark Lord.
So he had simply made sure that Lupin would not be able to help her or the stupid Potter boy, or anyone else, for that matter, in any emergency. That part of the potion should have lasted until December at least, but apparently that part of Quirrell's plan had not worked either! Oh, they would pay. Potter, the girl, and Remus Lupin would pay.
Suddenly something occurred to Quirrell. Why had the girl set fire to the Potions Master's robes, at any rate? Perhaps she had thought it had been he who was cursing the broom.
Thoughtfully, Quirrell began the return to his office. This was good, he thought savagely. The focus of her suspicion could be converted to the potions master! Everyone hated the chap, and he had been the one to prepare Lupin's wolfsbane potion that Quirrell had sabotaged! It was perfect! Perhaps there was something more he could do to frame that greasy-haired git. Quirrell wasn't quite sure whether Severus Snape had been a part of his master's army in the first war, but that made little difference, as he obviously wasn't searching for the Dark Lord at the moment… idiot.
The defense against the dark arts professor suppressed a cackle as he sat down in his desk and began to grade papers. This could work out for the better after all.
!SIRIUS BLACK!
"Sirius Black, we have heard the evidence against you. You stand accused of twelve accounts of third degree murder, one account of second degree murder,"
Sirius couldn't breathe. He looked over at the Auror who had been assigned to him and caught his eye desperately, knowing it would do no good. There was no one here who believed him.
The Auror gave him a slightly sympathetic look, turning back to the man standing tall in the stands above them.
"You are further accused of two accounts of accessory to murder, and one account of accessory to attempted murder. You supported and helped He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in the murdering and injuring of countless others and planned to help him to gain more power in years to come."
The man towering above continued, glancing to his right and left, looking at the witches and wizards around him, "I now ask the Jury to decide what should be done."
Sirius felt himself go cold. None of the faces above him had looked remotely interested in his side of the argument… not that there had been much. No one had come to support the defense… not even Remus or Dumbledore, but Sirius was inclined to believe that the fault of their absence did not stand with them alone.
"Those in favor of clearing the witness?"
Sirius couldn't breathe and could hardly see. The room seemed to have frozen. There was no movement.
"And those who believe that this Sirius Black deserves a sentence of exposure to a Dementor's Kiss?"
There was an enormous surge of hands.
Sirius tried to say something, but his throat was blocked.
"This court finds you guilty of the afore mentioned charges and the sentencing is that of contact with a dementor's kiss that will be carried out as soon as this jury is dismissed."
The man turned to the Auror to Sirius's left, "Take him away!"
!AUTHORS!
Don't hurt us!
We haven't finished with our story, yet, and it is classified as humor as well as, well, whatever we have it classified as (but the story is humorous as well as angsty, so bear with us!)
We haven't sucked out Sirius's soul, yet, so you can still hope (for all the good it will do, as we've already decided how this will pan out).
Just believe us when we say that this is not the end, quite yet.
-sigh- alright, here are the replies to reviews.
!REVIEWS!
Time and Fate: Quirrell was the one tampering with the broom.
Marguerida: I know this probably wasn't what you were expecting as far as a trial, but hang in there, please.
SongOfStars: See, see! We weren't months between updates, this time! Huzzah :-)
Cool-chan: I know, I'm sorry that the chapters are so short, but we have issues when it comes to updating, and I think that you would all prefer that we update sooner rather than longer (at least I hope). I'm super-glad you like my story so much –blushes- thanks! And now only 15 days till Half-Blood Prince! Woot!
LoveYa: Thanks so much, -blushes- I'm glad you like it.
Raiast: hehehe!
starrynight1013: No problem. I actually just got my own Latin dictionary from my Pa, so now I don't have to borrow his! I'm glad you don't hate Sam… we were so afraid that some of our readers would abandon us… I suppose that our fears were unfounded. I hope this chapter also explained about Quirrell. I'm sorry about the trial, if you are unhappy with the outcome, but hang in there, we'll try to update soon!
dweem-angel: I'm glad you liked our OC!
I-want-to-fly: It seems to me that you understand the story better than some (my friends keep scratching their heads wondering what on earth I am talking about), and I'm glad that my sister and I are making some semblance of sense.
VampireCat: I'm glad you kept reading!
VampireKat22: Well, here's an update (you're not the same person, are you? Strange similarity in names…)
crazy-lil-nae-nae: I'm glad you like the story, and I hope you will bear with us while we try to type up the next bit.
PadawanCassy: Yeah, I agree in that the puddle thing is strange, but fun… and I am fairly sure that it hasn't been done before :-)
crazy4thesun: I'm just glad that there are characters like Sirius and James that we (as writers) are allowed to play with! -grins-
Harrypfan001 TEACHERLADY: An update! I hope it was to your satisfaction…
Thanatos Nemesis: I'm quite glad that you like it! I hope you keep reading!
!AUTHORS AGAIN!
So, thanks again everyone for reading. I hope you all liked (and are planning on reviewing) this chapter, because we have been lamenting about these few chapters around this time in the story ever since my sister and I started this fanfiction.
We both earnestly hope that this was acceptable to everyone (or at least to some of you)! And that you won't leave us here, as we aren't planning on quitting this story, quite yet.
Signing out, as usual,
Kiwi Jeanne
&
Sqwerty Jeanne