Beginning Author's Note:

First things first, if you've read chapter 0 before this chapter was posted, I have added some things to my list.


Reviews:

JohnMonty:

You've got a long comment, so thank you for taking interest in my story. You ask why I have limited Transfiguration to not include changing states of matter. The reason I've done this is because doing such will be part of a magic that I will reinvent in the future. Ancient Runes are another magic I will be reinventing. Runes and Enchantments will be different.

My idea for Enchantments needing a ritual is because I don't like the idea of something being permanent just from casting a spell. There needs to be something that causes it to be permanent or it's just too easy. Take the Fidelius Charm for example, it's not really a ward and it's too strong to just be a casted spell, so there has to be something that allows it to stay active. The Enchantment rituals are just to make it so the Charm no longer uses the casters magic, but to make it sustain itself by drawing in ambient magic.

As for pairings, I don't want to give anything away, I want some of them to be a surprise. Though, I will tell you that Harry and Luna will definitely be a pairing. It's one of the reasons why I'm writing this, I hope to inspire more of this pairing to be written. I've already read or am currently reading almost all of the good ones and I'm starting to run out. It's kind of depressing. I don't really like reading fanfictions that don't have Harry/Luna. I absolutely despise Harry/Ginny and Hermione/Ron. Harry/Ginny, their canon relationship was so rushed and unnatural I just can't stand it. Ron/Hermione is just wrong in general, Hermione must be a fucking masochist to want to be with someone who insults her so often and she constantly argues with. Then there's Luna/Rolf, Rolf has no importance whatsoever and feels like he was added for the sole purpose that Luna doesn't end up alone because Harry was taken by a girl who has hero worship for him. J.K.Rowling and her damned wish fulfillment. Uggh just thinking about it makes me upset.

Also, this story starts after 1st year, as my summary mentions. So no, Harry will not be raised by Sirius, Andromeda. Unfortunately for him, Harry will have been raised by the Dursleys and is stuck with the Dursleys for quite a while. Just like with the pairings, I have plans for this and I don't want to give everything away.

Will there be lemons and gore? Gore is a yes, but for lemons, I'm still fiddling with the idea. Even if I do decide to write lemons, they will not be on this site, I don't want to take the chance of my story being deleted. I've seen it happen quite a few times. If I do write lemons I will either post them on another site like A03 or have a link on my profile to a Google Docs. file.

Lastly, again I have plans for Ron and Harry's friendship, whether it is destroyed or grows stronger than ever, you'll have to wait and find out.

Hyperion07e:

I'm glad to hear you like the info dump. I felt it necessary to let people know what is canon. It took quite a bit of research, so I'm glad you appreciate the effort.


Disclaimer:

I don't not own anything. J.K.Rowling does.

Now let's get on with the story!


Chapter 1: The Wizengamot has a Sirius Problem

Right or wrong is not always clearly defined or definite when someone is making a choice, but that single choice can change their life forever. They might not have realized they even made a choice… but they did, and they must bear the consequences.

This tale is about how Harry James Potter makes a different choice and how that single choice changes his entire story. For now, just know this… it's just the beginning and, later, anything can happen. Read well.


Friday - July 31st, 1992

The letter in Harry's hand was supposed to arrive 2 weeks ago, but a crazy, self-harming, House Elf has been stealing his mail. The elf, Dobby, is determined to stop Harry from going to Hogwarts this year because he claims that Harry will be in 'mortal danger' if he goes.

The reason why the letter was late is because Dobby thought it was a good idea to steal Harry's mail to make him feel unwanted, but it was moot. Dobby was never able to steal the letters from Hedwig for some reason. Dobby was only able to intercept 3 letters. It's a good thing Harry had the forethought to not keep Hedwig in her cage. If he had brought Hedwig to the Dursley's by cage, she'd never be allowed out of it. Instead he had her fly to the Dursley's from Hogwarts. She visits him at the window every night or whenever he writes a letter.

When Dobby realized that stealing his mail didn't work, he decided to get Harry in trouble with both the Ministry and the Dursleys. He used magic to levitate a large bowl of pudding off the counter and dropped it on the floor. That, plus an owl flying in through the window to drop off mail, right on their guest's head, did nothing to quell the situation. Vernon Dursley was not pleased his dinner party was ruined.

The contents of the letter, when he opened, it earlier was a warning from the ministry. The warning pertained to his usage of a hover charm outside of school and if it were to happen again, he could be expelled.

Harry looks over at the 3 letters that he managed to get back from Dobby. The first letter is from Ron, Dobby only got his hands on it because Ron sent it with his family owl. Ron thought that Errol lost the letter, but now it's apparent that it was stolen. The second letter is a birthday card from Hagrid and the third brings about the memory of his conversation with the headmaster a month ago.


*Flashback*

Monday - June 29, 1992

"Well… Voldemort said that he only killed my mum because she tried to stop him from killing me. Why does he want to kill me in the first place?" Harry asks, the bespectacled headmaster beside his hospital bed.

Dumbledore sighs deeply and rubs his nose, tickled by the antiseptic. "Alas, the first thing you ask me, I cannot tell you. Not today. Not now. You will know, one day… put it from your mind for now, Harry. When you are older… I know you hate to hear this… when you are ready, you will know."

The old wizard's words bring Harry greater irritation than he'd like to admit. He just got out of a life or death situation where the other party knows the reason why they want to kill him, and now the man in front of him is telling him he can't know? That's Ridiculous! "Shouldn't I know why he wants to kill me? He obviously knows the reason, so why am I the only one left in the dark?"

Dumbledore is slightly taken aback, not expecting Harry to question him, but it's completely reasonable for Harry to do so. "I apologize, Harry. The knowledge of which you wish to know… you are not ready to hear it."

"But why?" Harry persists as his gaze hardens, it's his life that's on the line. Why keep such a thing from him? "What makes me not ready?"

"You are far too young, as I've said, to be burdened by such things." Dumbledore's expression shows that he's carrying a burden he wishes to hold on his own, at least for now. "I want you to enjoy your childhood and not be shackled by such information."

"Childhood!?" Harry spits sarcastically, "How can I enjoy something I never had?" With everything the Dursley's have done to him, how could he have ever had a childhood. Just thinking about what they've done to him makes him flinch. He still has nightmares of everything. He feels as if his blood started boiling from the pure unadulterated rage that's building up within him.

Harry's blatant bitterness surprises Dumbledore. "I don't understand, can you explain?"

"Tell me, sir," Harry's gaze is like sharp ice, cold and penetrating. "How can I enjoy a childhood when, until I came to Hogwarts, I've never been happy?"

"You shouldn't jest about such things, Harry." Dumbledore lightly scolds him as he pats the boy's shoulder. "How could you have never been happy?"

Harry would normally never do what he's about to, but his anger pushes his pride out of the way to prove the old man wrong. He pulls up the back of his shirt and faces away from the older man. "My uncle has come closer to killing me than Voldemort." Harry's voice comes out cold and emotionless, but still sharper than any knife. "They do everything they possibly can to make my life miserable."

Harry's Uncle Vernon hates him more than almost anything and that's saying something. Vernon Dursley is man filled with hate: he hates anything that's not British, he hates people with different skin colors, he hates vegetarians, he hates homosexuals, he even hates cats. He hates anything he doesn't deem normal and normal is something Harry Potter is not. The only things that Vernon Dursley hates more than 'The Freak' and 'freakishness' are infomercials and people who don't use their turn signal.

Vernon hates magic, so much so, that he even hates those magicians that are hired for birthday parties. If you were to try to pull a rabbit from a hat in front of Vernon Dursley, he won't refrain from performing a magic trick of his own; he'll use his fists to remove your consciousness.

Albus Dumbledore is horrified by what he sees: a large cross has been branded onto Harry's back, an insulting word has been etched into his skin, spreading across the entirety of his lower back. There are many dozens of laceration scars from belts and ropes. Dotting Harrys back are other burn marks that look suspiciously like cigar and cigarette burns, as if Harry's back was used as an ashtray. Dumbledore looks down at his interlocked fingers as he whispers to himself. The horror of what he's put Harry through sinks deep into his consciousness. "How could I let it happen again?"

"Again?" Harry pulls his shirt back down and glares at the wizard sitting beside his hospital bed. "What do you mean?" Harrys words are just as bladed as his gaze. They would cause even the strongest of men to flinch.

Dumbledore happens to be one of the few who can resist flinching. "I'm sorry, Harry." Dumbledore slowly looks up and locks his eyes onto the emerald green ones of the boy in front of him with an expression of sorrow. "I'm terribly sorry." His sudden apology effectively dodges the question.

"Why are you apologizing?" Harry almost instantly regrets asking, he knows he's not going to like the answer. He clenches the white hospital bed sheets in anticipation.

Dumbledore takes a deep breath in an attempt to settle the chaotic emotions currently spreading through him. "I was the one who chose your residence."

Harry's anger flares and a chill runs through the room, even Madam Pomfrey feels the drop in temperatur and she's on the other side of the hospital wing. "You left me with those monsters!?"

"I had no other choice." Dumbledore's voice is filled with regret and slight alarm at the quite litteral temperature drop. "It was where I believed you would be safest."

"Why would you think I'd be safe there over anywhere else!?" Harry seethes through his clenched teeth. His fists are gripping the bed sheets so tightly that his knuckles are almost matching in color.

"Because of your mother's sacrifice." Harry's anger falters at the mention of his mother. "Your mother's loving sacrifice left a mark on you. Not a scar. No visible sign… a love so powerful that it protected you from Voldemort and destroyed his body. That protection is in your very blood."

"When I felt your mother's protection, I knew what I had to do. I performed the Bond of Blood Charm, this charm extends your mother's protection from a few hours to until you turn seventeen. The only drawback, you must live within the same house as your mother's closest blood relative. Her sister, Petunia."

Harry closes his eyes and with a monotone voice. "But it doesn't protect me from my uncle?" Hearing about his mother's protection pacifies a portion of his fury. "He's tried to kill me more times than Voldemort."

"No, it does not protect you from your uncle." Dumbledore sighs remorsefully, "It only protects you from the person she sacrificed herself to protect you from. Voldemort." Harry takes a large breath to further calm himself. "I'm sorry and no matter how much I wish to remove you from that home, I cannot in good consciousness do so. I still believe the outside threats are greater than the ones inside the home. You will need to go back and live with your family for the summer."

"Relatives." Harry shortly states convictiously, he'll never view those monsters as humans, much less family.

"I'm sorry?" Dumbledore asks confusedly.

"They might be related to me by blood, but those things are not my family." Harry spits out the word 'things' as if there's nothing more insulting than calling them as such. "They aren't my family… and they will never be."

Dumbledore sighs once more, "I see… whether or not you consider them family, you must return."

"...Fine," Harry snarkily responds, but if he doesn't get something out of it or he won't be satisfied. "but you need to answer some of my questions… and I want my vault key."

"Very well," Dumbledore slowly nods and places his hands on his knees, accepting the alternative. "I'll answer what I can and I'll have the key delivered to you once I go back to my office."

Harry looks away, he doesn't want to look at the old wizard right now. "Since Quirrell was possessed by Voldemort, was the protection the reason why it hurt him when I touched him?"

"Indeed." Dumbledore answers. "Because Quirrell was possessed by Voldemort, he bore the same weakness."

"Quirrell said Snape-"

"Professor Snape, Harry." Dumbledore interrupts by correcting him.

"If he's a professor, then shouldn't he actually teach us?" Harry has little to no positive thoughts of the man in question after having been belittled and harrassed by him all year. And Harry doesn't see that changing any time in the future either.

"Now, now, Harry, you should still be respectful to those who impart you with their knowledge." Dumbleedore softly admonishes.

Harry rolls his eyes and loses all interest in arguing any further. Surely people have complained before, but has anything been done to fix Snape's attitude? Nope. "Anyway, Quirrell said he hates me because he hated my father, is that true?"

Dumbledore shakes his head at the youth's lack of respect, but accepts the change in subject. "They did detest each other and then your father did something Severus could never forgive."

"What did he do?" Harry asks quickly, wondering what his dad could have done to Snape to make him hate him even more.

Dumbledore chuckles, "Your father saved his life."

"What?" Harry is dumbfounded by the unexpected answer, 'How could he hate my dad for saving his life?' 'Shouldn't he be thankful he's still alive?'

"Yes," Dumbledore's eyes sparkle as he chuckles some more, having now gotten into a better mood. "It's funny how the mind works. Professor Snape couldn't stand being in your father's debt. I do believe he worked so hard to protect you this year because he felt that would make him and your father even. Then he could go back to hating your father in peace."

'So, because he can't take out his frustration on my dad, he chooses to take it out on me instead. And he's supposed to be an adult.' Harry mentally scoffs before asking the question he initially wanted answered. "Why did they hate each other in the first place?"

"Your father was jealous of young Severus." Dumbledore states knowingly, "Your father was a prankster at heart, after combining his jealousy with his natural dislike of Slytherin, he and his friends would target Severus the most. Often those pranks went too far."

"Why would my dad be jealous of him?" Harry can't think of a reason for why anyone would be jealous of the greasy bat.

"Because Harry," Dumbledore chuckles some more as he's further drawn into the past. "Severus was close friends with the girl James was smitten with. A girl named Lily Evans, in other words… your mother."

"He and my mum were friends?" Harry asks. 'Why would my mum be friends with him of all people?'

"They were friends before they came to Hogwarts," Dumbledore sighs while slowly closing his eyes in dismay at Harry's continued attempt to avoid the potion master's name. "They later had a falling out, but that is not my story to tell." Harry nods reluctantly. "Any other questions?"

"A lot." Dumbledore's lips turn up briefly at the boy's answer. Curiosity is the foundation of youth after all. "Who were my dad's friends?"

"You don't know?" Seeing Harry's expression, Dumbledore remembers what Hagrid had told him last summer; Harry knows next to nothing about his parents, so how would he know anything about their friends? What Dumbledore doesn't know is that Harry had no idea what his parents' names were until Hagrid said them. "No… No, I suppose you wouldn't. Your father had four people that he spent the most time with: your mother obviously, Peter Pettigrew, Remus Lupin…" He pauses "and Sirius Black." Dumbledore's expression darkens when he mentions Sirius's name.

"What happened to them?" Harry asks quietly, not noticing the change in the headmaster's mood when naming the last person. "Why didn't they ever visit me?" He nervously picks at imaginary flecks of dust on the hospital bed sheets with his fingers.

"I'm sorry to say, but Sirius Black is in Azkaban and Peter Pettigrew is no longer with us." Dumbledore stares regretfully at the child in front of him. "As for Remus Lupin, I know not where he resides."

"What's Azkaban? What is Sirius doing there and how did Peter die?"

"The answer is one and the same for all three." Dumbledore mysteriously explains, "Azkaban is a prison for witches and wizards; Sirius Black is there because he killed Peter and 12 muggles."

"Weren't Sirius and Peter friends? Why would he kill him?" Harry can't understand what could make someone kill their friend.

"I suppose telling the story is of necessity." Harry avreingly, so Dumbledore starts by telling Harry about the Fidelius Charm. "I'll tell you first about the Fidelius Charm, as it is paramount to the story. The Fidelius Charm is a spell that hides a secret. What that secret is, is based on what the caster chooses it to be." He tells Harry about how he was the caster for the spell over the home his family was staying in.

"Once the spell is cast, everyone, except for the Secret Keeper, forgets the secret. I designated Sirius Black as the Secret Keeper. As the Secret Keeper, only Sirius Black could tell someone that 'The Potter family lives in their Godric's Hollow cottage'. Anyone who is told the secret cannot, in any form, tell it to another. They are forcibly compelled by magic to keep the secret and cannot, under any circumstances, reveal it."

Dumbledore goes on to tell the story of how Sirius had betrayed Harry's family as the Secret Keeper by telling Voldemort the secret. Then explained how Peter chased after him, only to be killed in an explosion that Sirius caused. "…After the explosion all that was left of Peter was a severed finger. 12 muggles were killed in the explosion and Sirius was soon arr-"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait." Harry interrupts, waving his hands in front of him. Things don't match up. There should be a lot more of Peter than just a finger and the description of it is weird. "Did you say that there was only a 'severed' finger?"

"I did," Dumbledore interlocks his fingers in thought, wondering why this specific fact got Harry's attention. His brow creases with even more wrinkles than there were before. "Is there something wrong with it being so?"

"It doesn't make sense." Harry states unsurely, thinking how the words 'severed' and 'explosion' don't really fit together.

"May I ask, why?" Dumbledore presses his curiosity on Harry's thoughts. Harry gathers his thoughts while he watches Madam Pomfrey clean used potion vials and put them into a box that's labeled 'For Severus'. Thus making Harry realize that Snape probably makes most, if not all, of the potions Madam Pomfrey gives to students.

"Because a severed finger would normally mean it was cut off, not blown off." Harry says with slightly more confidence, he's not sure why he wants to point things like this out, but in his mind it just doesn't add up correctly. Maybe pointing these peculiarities out to the wizened man in front of him can lead to figuring out why. "And I have a hard time believing the only thing left of Peter would be a finger."

"Ahh." Dumbledore's thoughts race at the implication of why the word 'severed' was chosen as the known description. "You make an excellent point. There should have been more… pieces, let's say, of Peter, than just a finger."

"Maybe there's a reason..." Harry trails off, deep in thought before shaking his head to move the topic on. "Do you know why Sirius betrayed us?"

"I'm afraid not." Dumbledore responds wearily. "I never would have expected Sirius to betray your family, especially you and your father."

Harry arches an eyebrow, "Why not?"

"Because, he and your father were brothers, in all, but blood." Dumbledore explains, effectively describing the close relationship between the two boys, "They were the closest of friends and did everything together."

"Can you tell me about him?" Harry's not sure why he wants to know about the person who got his parents killed. It might be because he wants to know what his parents' friends were like. Or it might be because he wants to figure out why he feels like something's not right. It feels like the whole story isn't there or something is wrong with it. Or maybe he wants to know what his parents' friends were like. Or both. "What was Sirius Black like?"

"Sirius was very loyal to his friends, especially James. He's a stereotypical Gryffindor: brave, reckless, chivalrous and at times… foolish." The wizened man's eyes are filled with many emotions, sparkling with mirthful rememberance.

"As I've said, he and your father got along very well, they were both known for being troublemakers and pranksters; much like the Weasley twins." The mirth in his eyes litterally come to life as his pupils sparkle with light behind his crescent moon shaped glasses. For Dumbledore, recollection of the past doesn't normally have a pleasant feeling, so when it does, he relishes in it.

"Sirius never got along with his family and one day he ran away from home." Dumbledore describes how the Black family was very much like the Malfoy family and that Sirius was the 'white sheep of the Black family'. "Running away from home, Sirius sought out James. James's parents happily took him into their home. He lived with them and your father until he was self-reliant enough to live on his own."

"If my family was so nice to him, why would he betray us?" This just confuses Harry more. He just can't wrap his head around Sirius betraying his parents, it doesn't make sense to him.

"That is precisely the reason why his betrayal was so shocking." Dumbledore exclaims in a quiet and sorrowful undertone. "No one expected it, but with the Black family's reputation, no one questioned it either."

"What about Peter, what was he like?" Harry asks, hoping to glean some kind of insight into why he feels everything's off kilter.

"I don't know much about Peter." Dumbledore admits woefully, recalling when he learned of the young boy's death. Then his gaze is drawn to Harry scar for the briefest of moments. "What I do know is that he idolized your father and Sirius, cheering them on in the background. He was a shy child. He probably didn't think much of himself."

Now that Harry knows a bit about the two of them, he feels it's more likely to be the other way around, that Peter would be more likely to betray his family. 'Is there something I'm missing?' Harry looks at Dumbledore and suddenly a thought crosses his mind. "Is there anything else a Secret Keeper can do?

"No, there… is," Dumbledore's eyes enlarge as he recollects the almost forgotten ability a Secret Keeper possesses. "They can pass the title to someone else."

"So… Sirius could have passed the title of Secret Keeper to someone else… like Peter?" Harry asks cautiously, this would make the most sense.

"I believe your hypothesis could very well be correct." Dumbledore takes a moment to think things through even further. "I have some things I'll need to look into, but first, I believe you still have more to ask?"

"Yes, sir." Harry had thought of other questions during the storytelling. "I've been on a flying motorcycle, broomsticks and the Hogwarts Express. What else is there for travel in this world?" This question is the one Harry wants to know the most, in case he needs to escape the Dursley's.

"There are several: travel through a magical fireplace called Floo travel. Portkeys which take you to a specific location. Apparition is a self-teleportation magic. There's the Knight Bus, although it's quick, it's a rather unpleasant and bumpy ride. Magic Carpet is another, but those are illegal in Britain and lastly, my personal favorite, travel by Phoenix Fire." Dumbledore smiles, feeling grateful that he's one of the sole few who can use that last method.

Harry thinks about the options and only feels that two are available to him. "When can I learn apparition?" Harry's hopeful he can learn soon, it would be an invaluable ability.

"You'll learn it during your 6th year, it's far too dangerous for a young child to learn, their magic is too unstable." Dumbledore warns him. There is a much higher chance of splinching with a child's chaotic magic.

"What about the night bus or does that only come at night?" Harry questions, a little disappointed he won't be able to teleport anytime soon.

Dumbledore chuckles, "Knight with a 'K', not the time of day." The rhyme is something like a joke that was specifically made for the Knight Bus. "To call the Knight Bus, you must first stand on the side of any road. Then all you need to do is raise your wand into the air and it will appear before you."

Harry's happy to know how he can get to Diagon Alley now, without his relatives or someone else having to take him. "Do you know who sent me the invisibility cloak?"

"Ah~, your father left it in my possession, I thought you might like it. And it's called 'The Cloak of Invisibility'. You may not know it now, but there is a difference." Dumbledore says mysteriously.

Harry tells himself to remember that before asking his next question, "How did I get the stone out of the mirror?"

"I'm glad you asked me that. It was one of my more brilliant ideas, and between you and me, that's saying something." Dumbledore's joking mannerism gets Harry to relax a little more in the man's presence.

"You see… only one who wanted to find the stone, find it, but not use it, would be able to get it. Otherwise they'd just see themselves making gold or drinking Elixir of Life. My brain surprises me sometimes…"

Harry depressingly realizes that there was no need for him to protect the stone. Voldemort wouldn't have been able to get it out of the mirror. 'Then again, he's a wizard that could escape death, so he might have been able to figure out another way to get the stone.'

Dumbledore motions with his eyes. "I think I may have overstayed my welcome..." Harry follows his line of sight to see Madam Pomphry glowering at the old man.

"One last thing." Harry says, "Do I have to stay with my relatives the whole summer?"

"Silly me, I have forgotten to mention that." Dumbledore playfully facepalms. Harry smirks at the man's eccentricity. "Now that you've turned eleven, you only have to stay there for 30 days a year. As long as you have someplace safe to go, you may leave on your birthday. Before you leave, you must send me a letter to tell me where you'll be staying."

Dumbledore's expression becomes hard, and for some reason Harry feels that there's something personal about it. "I'll also be speaking to your aunt and uncle about your… deplorable treatment. I should have checked up on you, I apologize for not doing so. I'll do everything I can to make up for it… with that settled, you should make a start on these sweets."

Dumbledore scans the tableside full of candy. "Ah! Bernie Bott's Every Flavor Beans! I was unfortunate enough in my youth to come across a vomit-flavored one, and since then I'm afraid I've rather lost my liking for them, but I think I'll be safe with a nice toffee, don't you?." Dumbledore smiles as he pops a golden-brown bean into his mouth and chokes "Alas! Earwax!" Dumbledore gives Harry a strained smile before leaving the infirmary.

'Obviously, whatever he wouldn't tell me is important and has to do with me and Voldemort.' Harry thinks to himself. 'From what Voldemort said, it sounds like he'll try to kill me no matter what. I can't continue like I have been. I need to get stronger before he finds a way to come back.' Determined to live, Harry has decided he needs to grow stronger and he might as well enjoy it too.

*End Flashback*


Friday - July 31st, 1992

Shaking himself out of his memory, Harry rereads the letter from Dumbledore.


Dear Harry,

I do hope your relatives have behaved more pleasantly. I felt it necessary to give them a visit while you were still on the train. After a bit of convincing they gave me their word that they wouldn't harm you any further. It baffles me that they could do such horrible things. And to a child no less. I once again sincerely apologize for not checking up on you. It's one of my greatest blunders to have never made sure you were doing well. I was wrong to think that, even with their detest and fear of magic, that they would not take their frustrations out on a child.

Anyways, the main reason I'm writing to you is to inform you that I have contacted The Head of the DMLE (Department of Magical Law Enforcement), Madam Amelia Bones, for a discussion on Sirius Black. To our befuddlement, when she went to look for his file, there was no record of him receiving a trial. The poor boy has been unlawfully imprisoned for more than a decade. I feel partially responsible, as I am the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. I should have made sure he had gotten his trial. It was a hectic time and I had assumed his trial was one of the several I was unable to attend. It's another thing I should have looked into it more.

On discovery of this plight, I personally went to Azkaban to relocate him to St. Mungo's hospital, to be treated for prolonged exposure to Dementors and malnutrition. It's remarkable that he is still sane, the damage to his mental health is much lower than normal and it won't take as much time for him to heal.

Sirius confirmed your hypothesis that he had indeed handed over the title of Secret Keeper to Peter Pettigrew. He informed me of what happened and that he sincerely regrets going after Peter instead of staying with you. He hopes you will find it in your heart to forgive him for his folly. Having left you with Hagrid, I believe he felt you were safe for the time being, but that's just my speculation. I hope you will forgive him, even the best of us make mistakes, I for one definitely have.

Amelia & myself have scheduled his trial to take place during the next Wizengamot meeting on Sunday, August 2nd. Sirius's trial is to begin around 10:00am. The trial will be held secret until the day of, we have reason to suspect that there are some who may try to delay or stop the trial from taking place. Only a few will know of the trial beforehand.

I will be at the Dursley's 2 hours before the trial, on the morning of, to take you to the ministry. I have also made arrangements with the parents of your friend, Ronald Weasley, for you to stay with them for the rest of the summer.

There is no need to respond to this letter, unless you do not wish to go or you do not want to stay with the Weasley family.

Yours sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore


Thoughts go through Harry's mind as he reads through each paragraph.

'Convinced? More like threatened, but it did help... well, until Dobby visited that is.' Harry found out how Dumbledore 'convinced' them during the drive to the Dursley's home from King's Cross. Dumbledore had implied that when Harry becomes an adult they'll be charged for child abuse and other such crimes no matter what. Harry can still remember the sheer whiteness of his Aunt's face, which had yet to go away between Dumbledore's visit and picking Harry up from the train station.

The convincing part of it depends on how they treat him from now on; they'd either go through muggle law or through wizard law. If their horrid treatment continued, they'd go through wizard law and there's absolutely no chance they will be found innocent. When, not if, they're found guilty in the Wizengamot, their minimum sentence will be life in Azkaban, that's only if they're lucky.

If their treatment of Harry improved, then they would be tried under muggle law. They were also advised to not run, any attempt to flee from the law would land them in Azkaban as well. To find them, all Dumbledore would have to do is send a letter by owl and follow it. Muggles have no defense against a mail owl's tracking capabilities. Not that Dumbledore doesn't have faster ways to find them, but they wouldn't have understood the other ways had he tried to explain them.

What Harry doesn't know is that the world of magic treats child abuse as a more heinous crime than premeditated murder. It's like this because the magical world is already small and the birth rates are currently at an all-time low (this will only make the already harsh punishment even worse). Children of magical families are the future of their house and anything that could harm the future of a house is treated like it's trying to kill off the whole family.

With Harry being the last Potter and since the Dursleys are muggles, if it got out that Harry was abused, the Wizengamot wouldn't be against adding occasional torture before giving them to the Dementors as food. Then add the fact Harry is treated as the savior of Magical Britain, the Dursley's punishment will become even harsher. There's a chance they could even become lab rats for experimentation in the Department of Mysteries.

If the Dursley were a magical family, then they would only be stripped of their assets and thrown into Azkaban to rot, but at least there wouldn't be added tortured or become human lab rats to sate the curious minds of the Unspeakables. Mind the fact that torture and becoming a test subject are 'added', so they'd receive all the same punishments a wizarding family would get too.

There are other reasons that abusing a magical child is such a harsh punishment, such as: the child becoming an obscurial, the child not understanding the concept of love, kindness, forgiveness, happiness and becomes evil or even the child growing up to abuse their own children; which happens often in muggle child abuse cases and lastly the child could be rendered infertile. But Harry doesn't know all of this, so the thought doesn't cross his mind.

'I should probably go to St. Mungo's too… no, nevermind, that's not a good idea. If people found out I was abused it would worsen the already bad view of muggles ever further. I'll have to see a private doctor or get Madam Pomfrey to give me a checkup when I go back in September.' Leave it to Harry to think of others over himself; it's a good trait to have, but that mindset is not always healthy.

Harry really does believe that Sirius is sorry, not that Harry thinks there's anything he should be forgiven for. 'If I was Sirius and just lost my best friend, I would have done the same thing… probably. I'd probably be thinking I'd be able to go back for the child afterwards. He also knew I was with Hagrid and that I was going to be okay for the time being.'

When Harry reads that he'll be going to stay with Ron and his family his anticipation for the trial grows. 'It'll be the best summer I've ever had. It'll be great to get out of this prison… hmmm… Azkaban… Dursleys… Durzkaban and the Durmentors… seems fitting.'

Harry sets the letter down on one of the storage boxes that take up most of the space in Dudley's 2nd bedroom.

The walls of the room are painted a dull yellow and the wooden floor is beaten up pretty badly. Harry distinctly remembers this room being referred to as Dudley's playroom until a few years ago, not that Harry was ever allowed in when it was a playroom.

The stacks and stacks of boxes were in the attic before, but because Harry is now staying in this room every summer, until he turns 17. They moved it all in here saying he didn't need the space and that they were renovating the attic into an office for his uncle. 'Yeah right, like that walrus could get up to the attic. He'd fall through the ceiling or, more likely, break the ladder on the way up.'

Harry starts packing away his small amount of belongings, well, the few things that aren't locked in the cupboard. Uncle Vernon had immediately thrown his trunk into the cupboard when they got to the house from the train station. At the time, Harry noticed that are six different types of locks on the cupboard door; which is one less than the amount of locks that are on the door of Dudley's 2nd bedroom. 'I'll have to get the things in the cupboard before I leave with Dumbledore.'

Harry was smart enough to hide his wand in his baggy clothes and lied about it being in his trunk. He only did that because he was planning to escape using the Knight Bus tomorrow and he needed his wand to call it, but it's no longer necessary.

After packing his few possessions, he lies down on the old and lumpy mattress to go to sleep. Harry's certain they picked it up from out of someone's garbage.


Saturday - August 1st, 1992

In the morning, as a late birthday present, Vernon Dursley pays a man to install bars over the window of Dudley's 2nd bedroom. They don't give Harry any food all day and he only gets a small can of cold soup the following morning. "At least they opened it this time." Harry mutters to himself before eating it. It doesn't placate his hunger much.


Sunday - August 2nd, 1992

The doorbell rings at 8:00am sharp and Harry can hear when Uncle Vernon opens the door because he starts shouting. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!? HE IS NOT GOING BACK TO THAT BLASTED SCHOOL FOR FREAKS!"

Harry faintly hears Headmaster Dumbledore's voice say "I see that you have not been informed of my due arrival." There's the slightest trace of loathing in Dumbledore's voice. "And you cannot keep him from attending Hogwarts."

"I'll do whatever I damn well please, you crackpot old fool!" Uncle Vernon rages with a face so red that it might just pop.

Dumbledore scowls at the purple faced walrus. "That is not something you can decide. I am here to release Harry from your hands; I hope I only mean it metaphorically."

Vernor doesn't take the verbal jab very well. "He's not going and that's final! He's already gotten in trouble for using that flapdoodle freakishness! And I'll not have any more of it!"

"I see… I do believe I must speak with him and I insist you let me in. From what I understand, you wouldn't want to stand out by having me at your door all day." Dumbledore says it all in a calm and collected manner. Harry nods, recognizing that Dumbledore's implication of the neighbors questioning their normalcy will make his uncle cave and let him in. Even if they decide not to let him in, Harry believes Dumbledore is stubborn enough, and patient enough, to just stand at their door all day.

"FINE!" Harry can picture the purple-faced scowl that's plastered on his uncle's face as he steps aside to let the old wizard in. "Take him and go! And we better not see the boy for the next 11 months!"

"You have my word that he will not return until next summer." Dumbledore claims as he starts up the stairs. The next thing Harry hears is the simultaneous clanking of the many locks on the door. "It's good to see you Harry, do you have everything packed and ready to depart?" The elderly man greets as he opens the door.

"Hello professor," Harry greets the older man. Dumbledore is dressed in purple robes with a fancy 'W' on its left breast. "I have everything except for what they locked in the cupboard, which is most of it."

"Good, then we shall be on our way." Harry follows him down the stairs and watches Dumbledore magically unlock the cupboard without his wand. Then Dumbledore shrinks everything for Harry to put in his pocket. Then they file out of the house without speaking to the glaring Dursleys.

"How will we be getting to the ministry?" Harry asks as they walk down the street. "And won't people find it weird that you're dressed like this in the muggle world?"

"We will be going by Floo, the travel by magical fireplace, that I told you of." Dumbledore calmly replies. "As for my attire, these robes are magically charmed to look like a business suit to muggles." Harry almost laughs at the image of Dumbledore in a business suit, it would look ridiculous with his long white hair and beard.

"What is this I heard about getting in trouble for using magic?" Dumbledore curiously questions as they walk down the road, "You know you're not supposed to use magic outside of school."

"It wasn't me," Harry replies awkwardly, "a House Elf came into the house and used magic to try and get me in trouble, so I wouldn't be allowed to go back to Hogwarts." Seeing that the headmaster is intrigued, Harry continues. "The House Elf, 'Dobby', said 'Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts', he said there's a plot and that I'll be in 'mortal danger' if I go back."

Dumbledore is silent for a few moments. "Whoever this Dobby's master is must be the one plotting something; as for who it is… I have a few guesses, but I cannot act without proof. I will do what I can to prevent whatever this 'mortal danger' is from happening. But without any idea of what that danger is, I fear I may not be able to stop it." There's a bit of worry in his voice, he hopes that whatever it is won't be too bad, but he's got a feeling it won't go how he wishes. "I will try to do something about the notice you received from the ministry. I'll try to have it stricken from your record."

Harry sighs in relief, "Thank you, sir," Harry waits a moment before he asks if the danger will keep him from going to Hogwarts this year.

"That depends… do you still wish to attend even with the possible danger?" Harry nods. "Then there is no need to put any more thought into it. I will do everything within my power to protect you and my other students."

Relief floods through him, he's no longer afraid he won't be able to go to back to the castle. He had already resolved himself to work harder and study more to increase his, and his friend's, chances of survival if… no, when Voldemort returns. It would have put a huge boulder in his path if he couldn't go to Hogwarts.

The rest of the walk is short and silent, only until they arrive at their destination does Harry get another question. "Why are we at Mrs. Figg's house?"

"To use her fireplace of course," Dumbledore's eyes twinkle.

"Mrs. Figg is a witch!?" Harry's shocked, wondering why she never told him he was a wizard.

"Sadly, she is not." Dumbledore sighs sadly, "She's a squib."

"Squib?" Harry hasn't heard that term before. "What's a squib?"

"I keep forgetting you grew up not knowing about magic and wouldn't know such things." Dumbledore scoldingly reminds himself, "A squib is a person without the ability to use magic, but was born from magical parents."

Harry stays silent. 'It must be a horrible feeling to know about the magical world, but you're unable to use it even though you were born in a magical family. That still doesn't explain why she never told me about magic though.'

"Unfortunately Arabella is not home, but I received permission to use her floo while she's away." Dumbledore wandlessly unlocks the front door to her house. Once inside, their nostrils are assaulted by smell of cats, but it's not unbearable. "Now I believe it would be a good idea to fix up your outfit." Dumbledore says as he waves his wand.

Harry's oversized hand-me-downs reform into black silk robes with a metallic red trim. Harry's rather surprised that the robes were not eccentric. Dumbledore chuckles, seeming to know what Harry's thinking. "I do understand that not everyone shares my fashion sense." Harry looks away, slightly embarrassed for having his thoughts read so easily.

The headmaster explains how to use the floo and once done he tells Harry to do exactly as he does. Dumbledore grabs some green powder from the pouch handing off the mantle, which he told Harry is called 'Floo Powder', and walks inside of the large fireplace. "Ministry of Magic!" Dumbledore shouts as he throws the floo powder at his feet. A column of bright green fire erupts from beneath him. When the fire goes out, the headmaster is nowhere to be seen.

Harry shakes himself out of his daze, pinches some Floo Powder and cautiously walks into the fireplace. He throws the floo powder down as he shouts "Ministry of Magic!"

Harry flinches reflexively as he's enveloped in the pillar of green fire. He feels like he's being sucked down a drain while spinning rapidly like a dreidel during Hanukkah. He can see a green light through his eyelids, which are tightly closed.

The roar of the fire is deafening, but he doesn't move to cover his ears, Dumbledore warned him 'not to move and stay still', so he does exactly that. Then everything stops and he's sent sprawling out of a different fireplace and lands face first on the polished stone floor.

Harry groans as he picks himself up off the floor. "You'll get the hang of it eventually, it takes everyone a few tries to be able to land on their feet." Dumbledore reassures him.

Harry takes a look around and he sees he's inside a long tunnel that's lined with fireplaces on each side. Looking behind him down the hall, it's a dead end. While in the opposite direction, it opens up to a plaza-like area. "This way Harry, we'll need to take the stairs down to the courtroom."

Harry follows behind Dumbledore to a security desk where they have to put their wand on a small wooden contraption and give their name. A ruckus occurs when Harry names himself, but he tries his best to ignore the people around him. It doesn't work very well, since a lot of the crowd races up to him and tries to shake his hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Potter!"

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic, Mr. Potter!"

"Are you here for the Wizengamot meeting!?"

"Is it true that you lived with muggles!?"

"When do you plan to take your seat on the Wizengamot Mr. Potter!?"

"Mr. Potter, will you marry my daughter!?"

"Isn't he a bit short?"

Harry mentally swears at the guy who points this out. 'That's just bloody rude! It's not my fault I've been underfed for 10 years! And who the bloody hell just asks someone, they've never met before, to marry their daughter!? There's something wrong with that guy!'

Dumbledore is eventually able to get himself and Harry to the staircase by wading through the crowd of people that surrounds them. They descend down to the bottom of the stairs and head towards an area labeled 'Courtrooms'. Only one of the dozen plus doors lining the long hallway has 2 guards flanking each side of it.

"It appears we're going to have session in courtroom 7. This is a good sign, 7 is symbolic as a powerful magic number, not to mention lucky." Dumbledore exclaims with slight enthusiasm. "Once inside I'll have to take my position, while you will need to go through the door on the left-hand side. You'll be joined shortly by Arthur Weasley, your friend Ronald's father. He'll be taking you back to his dwelling after Sirius's trial. I'd take you myself, but the Wizengamot meeting will continue long beyond the trial."

They enter the courtroom and see that it's styled like a smaller version of the Roman colosseum. The only difference is that rather than entering from below the seating area they enter from the top. After a quick glance around Harry does as he was told and goes through the one door on the left-hand side. The room is empty except for several chairs arranged in 3 rows of 10. There is a large window that looks out into the courtroom, but the weird thing is that on the other side of the door there was no window; it's a solid wall that you can't see through. If you were to compare it to anything, it would be a one-way window, except instead of a mirror on one side, it's a wall. Magic can do wondrous and strange things.

Harry takes a seat in the front row and waits for Ron's dad to show up. Now that he's alone and the with the trial getting closer, his thoughts turn depressing; asking himself questions that he doesn't want to hear, but are running through his mind anyways. 'What if this is pointless? What if he isn't freed? What if he hates me because Voldemort killed my parents because he wanted to kill me and not them?' Many such questions flood his mind as people start walking in.

The first two people to enter the room after him is a man with blonde hair that reaches his shoulders. He's wearing bright yellow robes and holding a quill and notepad. For some reason the man seems to be very excited to be here. He has this 'crazy but free' kind of look in his dull gray eyes, more crazy than free.

The second person catches Harry's eyes more, it's a cute young girl with pale white skin and stringy dirty blonde hair that reaches past her lower back. She appears to be 1-2 years younger than Harry and is on the short side, like him. Her eyes are a startling silvery-blue, but it's a little sad her cheerful and excited smile doesn't completely reach them. Her robes are a rainbow of colors, like splotches of paint that somehow never overlap. She separates herself from the man, who he assumes is her father and walks up to him. "Hello Harry Potter."

"Um, hello" Harry awkwardly greets back. "Have we met before?" He asks, holding out his hand for a handshake.

The girl ignores his hand and steps closer and gives him a hug, catching Harry completely off guard. Normally he'd stiffen up and try to escape when someone touches him, but because the action comes so far out of left field he can't comprehend it and is unable to react. "No, we've never met." She confirms after releasing him from the hug. "I'm Luna Lovegood."

Previously, he has only ever been hugged by 3 people, but only remembers one of them, Hermione. Now, this girl comes out of nowhere and hugs him, making her the 4th person to ever do so. He knows his parents hugged him when they were alive, but sadly, it was too long ago and he was too young to remember it.

After registering what just happened he asks, "How did you know who I was if we never met before?" Right after asking he remembers that he's famous and people will recognize him by seeing his scar. He just had a run in with his fame upstairs, maybe he pushed it so far from his mind, that he forgot he was famous, but wait... she never even looked at his forehead. After finding out he was famous, he became very sensitive of someones gaze.

"Because you have the same eyes as your mother." Harry did not expect that answer and how would she know what his mother's eyes looked like? "Green eyes are rare among witches and wizards, especially emerald green, which you got from your mother."

"How do you know what my mum's eyes look like?"

She tilts her head to the side as if he asked her the strangest question in the world. "Because my mummy has some unmoving color pictures of them together in her photo album. Until I saw those, I didn't know pictures could be in color." Her gaze falls to the floor, "I never got a chance to ask mummy about why they have color or why they don't move."

Harry blinks slowly, not really knowing what to say to her. "Well… uh… it's nice to meet you, Luna. Um… can I ask why you hugged me?"

"It's nice to meet you too, Harry Potter and of course you can ask me." She replies, but doesn't answer his question. They are both silent for a few seconds before Harry asks her why she didn't answer his question. She looks at him confusedly, "But you never asked."

He gives her a weird look, that response would normally annoy someone because they'd think she's teasing or messing with them; except... she doesn't give the slightest impression that she's doing so. He sighs and asks the question he asked if he could ask her. "Why did you hug me?"

"You looked like you were in need of one." She says softly and with a comforting undertone. "Are you here for Stubby Boardman's trial too?"

"Thank you… I guess?" He scrunches his eyebrows in confusion, not knowing how he should respond. "Who's Stubby Boardman?"

"You're welcome, Harry Potter." She gives him a smile before answering his question. "Stubby Boardman is the lead singer of the band called the Hobgoblins." She plops herself down onto the seat next to him.

Harry shakes his head in denial, "I'm not here for Stubby Boardman, I'm here for Sirius Black's trial."

"But Sirius Black is Stubby Boardman." She says confidently, "Sirius Black is his fake name that he uses when he doesn't want attention."

"I don't think that's right." Harry states as his confusion grows stronger. 'Where is she getting this from? And how does she know about the trial? Didn't Professor Dumbledore say it was supposed to be a secret?'

Luna cocks her head to the side again and brings a hand up to her chin. "But it was in The Quibbler. All the facts lineup and everything."

"I don't know what those 'facts' are, but my dad was friends with Sirius Black in Hogwarts and his name is Sirius Black. I'm pretty sure Stubby Boardman and Sirius Black are different people." Harry reasons to the now disappointed little blonde girl.

"We'll just have to ask him if we get the chance." Luna says, not wanting to give up on the theory.

"I'll be meeting him after the trial, if he's found innocent, so I can ask for you... if you want me too." Harry suggests, wanting to make it up to her for causing her disappointment.

"You'll ask him for me!?" Luna gaspingly asks and she hugs him again after he agrees, "Thank you Harry Potter!"

Harry stiffens at the sudden physical contact, but quickly relaxes knowing it's just a young girl and she more than likely won't try to hurt him. "You're welcome Luna and you can just call me Harry."

Ok, Harry," she responds, still hugging him. "You can call me Luna, although you already have been. When you find out, can tell me his answer? After you get settled at The Burrow."

"The Burrow?" Harry's never heard of the place before. "Where's that and why would I stay there?"

She loosens her grip slightly and looks up at him. "Ginny was bragging about you staying at her house for half of the summer." Luna answers. "Are you not staying there?"

Hearing Ginny's name he determines that she's talking about the Weasleys. 'They named their house? Why?'

"No, no, you're right, I'll be staying with the Weasley's. I just didn't know they named their house 'The Burrow'. Is that something common in the magical world, naming your house?"

She nods in confirmation after releasing him from the hug, "It's what you would shout if you wanted to floo to their house. People often use their floo address as a name for their home, like mine and daddy's house is 'The Rookery'."

"Ahh, I think I get it… Sooo, you know the Weasleys?" Harry asks awkwardly, he's never been very good with keeping a conversation. Until Hogwarts, he never really talked to anyone because anyone who talked to him would be used as a punching bag by his cousin and his gang of delinquent friends.

"Yep, we are neighbors, I grew up with Ginny." She starts bouncing in her seat, causing her long hair to bounce along with her. She seems to be enjoying the conversation, despite Harry's awkwardness.

"Then you'll probably be able to meet Sirius yourself; as long as he's found innocent." Harry tells the bouncing blonde girl. "He'll probably visit me at 'The Burrow'."

She turns her head forward to stare out the window, still smiling. With a soft and quiet voice she says "I don't feel like I'm welcome at the Burrow anymore…". Her smile is no longer genuine. Harry knows that look, he sees it whenever he looks in a mirror. He can see that she is holding on to a lot of unexpressed sorrow.

"But… isn't Ginny your friend?" He asks as nicely as can, trying not to upset her further.

"She used to be?…" Luna's answer makes it sound like she isn't sure if that's true either. "I wanted to be her friend, but I don't think she's ever thought of me as one."

"But you still talk, don't you? I mean, you did say she told you I was going to be staying at their house." He says, implying that they aren't on bad terms.

"I think she just wanted someone to tell; it's the first time she's talked to me in over a year." Luna's voice has gotten so quiet that he can barely hear her. "But it's not like I tried either."

"What happened?" She doesn't answer and continues to stare out the window.

Harry follows her gaze that's watching people file into the courtroom and take their seats. By now half of the visible seats have been taken and several people have entered the side room they are in.

He turns back to look at Luna and sees her smile still plastered there, unmoving. Her visage shows happiness, but Harry can see that her silvery-blue eyes are clouded in a suppressed wistfulness.

Then Luna's voice resounds through his mind. 'You looked like you were in need of one.' Harry shifts in his seat uneasily before he channels his inner Gryffindor.

He does something he can't remember ever doing before; he extends his arm and grips her far shoulder. Then slowly pulls her to his chest. She stiffens at the sudden contact, but after the shock fades she slowly relaxes into his embrace. She wraps her arms around him and hugs him back. She rests her head against his chest and curls herself into a ball.

Harry can't believe the situation he's in. When he got up this morning he never would have thought he'd be hugging someone, much less, hugging someone he met for the first time that day. Initiating a hug is foreign to him and he feels awkward are embarrassed with their current position, but he doesn't push her away. Strangely enough, he's already developing a fondness for the girl, even though she confuses the hell out of him. But that's not a bad thing, right?

Harry silently debates with himself on what he can possibly say to cheer her up, but in the back of his mind he already knows nothing he says will work. 'She's probably just as messed up as I am. It's like she's never been comforted for whatever happened that made her like this.'

Harry looks for her father and finds him in the back row looking over his notepad, he hasn't even noticed she left his side, much less noticing that she's hugging a boy she just met for the first time. The man looks a bit crazed with how overly excited he is. His inattentiveness to his own daughter and so absorbed in whatever he's doing gives Harry an idea of what happened.He then recalls that when she mentioned her home, she only called it her's and her dad's home, not her mother's. 'Whatever it is that messed Luna up, probably messed him up too; I'm willing to bet it has something to do with her mum.'

They're like this for several minutes before a tall man with balding red hair and glasses enters the room. He's wearing pale brown robes that have seen better days and scuffed up black dress shoes. Having seen Dumbledore behind the Chief Warlock's podium, the man knows Harry is here too.

The man's eyes scan the almost full room until they land on the only children with in it. He's really surprised that he recognizes both of them, but even more so seeing Harry comforting Luna. Harry hasn't noticed him yet and he doesn't want to interrupt, so he silently takes an open seat behind them. He'll introduce himself when the Wizengamot session starts.

Several minutes later several runes light up around the large window and Dumbledore's voice rolls out through the courtroom. "Welcome to the August Session of the 1992 Wizengamot…"

As Dumbledore continues the opening address, Harry feels someone tap on his shoulder. Looking over said shoulder, he sees Arthor Weasley for the first time. "Hello Harry, it's a pleasure to meet you." He whispers as he holds out his hand over that same shoulder for a handshake. "I didn't want to interrupt the two of you, but I just wanted to let you know I'm here." Harry's face tints red at the acknowledgment of their current position.

"It's nice to meet you too Mr. Weasley." Harry greets back as he shakes the man's hand. The handshake is awkwardly positioned; Harry only has one free hand and Mr. Weasley's hand is over his shoulder. So, yes, it was a very awkward handshake. Luna doesn't stir at the sound or movement; Harry correctly assumes she fallen asleep.

"You can just call me Arthur, I'll be taking you to The Burrow after you meet with Sirius. I still can't believe he never got a trial; even Belletrix LaStrange got one. Heads will roll if he's really innocent, which I believe he is." Arthur doesn't comment on Harry and Luna's embrace, it's not his business.

Harry agrees that being imprisoned for 10 year without a trial sounds like it would be a big deal. He doesn't realize that his idea of 'big deal' isn't nearly large enough and that when Mr. Weasley said 'heads will roll'… he didn't mean only figuratively.

The first hour of the Wizengamot session is just going over the agenda, so Harry doesn't pay much attention to it. Once the agenda is complete Dumbledore moves the session on to the trials. "With the agenda for the August session of the 1992 Wizengamot being in order, we shall commence the trial portion. We have several trials today, so, Madam Bones, Head of the DMLE, I pass the floor over to you."

"Thank you, Chief Warlock," A tall woman on the opposite side of the arena says. She has short grey streaked red hair and is wearing a monocle over her right eye. "Our first trial of this session is one that should have taken place 10 and a half years ago. This man has been incarcerated in Azkaban for this entire time without due process; which is a violation of the law and the ones responsible have already been arrested and will have their trial later today." The second she pauses, the Wizengamot is swallowed in chaos. People start shouting in outrage over such a large malfeasance. A minute passes by and they still haven't settled down, much to Madam Bones's irritation.

*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*

The loud cannon blast-like sounds erupt from her wand, which now has a stream of smoke coming from the tip. The chaos ceases and she begins speaking once more. "Normally in such a situation the accused would be exonerated of all crimes." Murmurs spread through the crowd, some of disapproval and some of agreement. Madam Bones slams the gavel to quiet them.

*Bang!* *Bang!*

"Silence!" Madam Bones commands as her glare scans the entire courtroom, "As I was saying, normally they'd be exonerated, but the accused refused exoneration and demanded a trial to prove their innocence." Gasps and shouts of surprise escape from many people throughout the courtroom. No one except an innocent person would refuse exoneration. "Aurors! Bring in the accused!"

From another room two Aurors escort a man into the center of the room, where everyone can look down on the accused. The escorted man has on faded black robes and his wrists are bound with magic binding handcuffs. The Aurors lead him to a chair with chains attached, which was not there when Harry last looked. Several people scream in recognition of the man, while others look on curiously and/or confused at why the others screamed.

A man in the front row rises to his feet and shouts in a controlled anger "What is this farce!? There's no chance this man is innocent! You should have just let him rot in Azkaban! There's no reason for this trial!" The man has long gray hair and a gray goatee. He is a relatively short man and his hunched shoulders make him look even smaller. There are several people that yell out in agreement throughout the courtroom, most of them come from people behind him.

An older woman, that Harry recognizes as Neville's grandmother, stands up in opposition. "Lord Nott, your making a fool of yourself, your outburst is unwarranted and filled with hypocrisy. I can't believe you, of all people, are trying to keep a pureblood imprisoned without due process. You had your trial, so don't try to keep someone else from having theirs."

The short man identified as Lord Nott hunches his shoulders a little lower, seemingly cowed by Neville's grandmother. "You misunderstand Regent Longbottom, I just feel that his guilt is obvious and that a trial is pointless."

"Ha!" She spits in contempt. "Since you're saying he's guilty, then it's obvious that he's innocent." Murmurs of agreement spread throughout the courtroom. "You shouldn't speak before you think, but you've never been all that bright, have you? You only ever knew how to follow orders, like a kicked puppy." Nott is fuming, but his fear of the older woman overcomes his fury. He cringes as he takes his seat.

Harry looks behind Nott and sees another man who's completely expressionless. This person looks like an older Draco Malfoy with unusually long hair for a man; it makes him look more feminine than he realizes.

The long blonde hair, although it's a different shade, reminds Harry of the girl sleeping on his lap. Looking down, he sees that she's awake. 'How long has she been awake? And why hasn't she gotten up, isn't it uncomfortable to sit like that?' Although he thinks that, he doesn't push her away, nor does he realize that his arm is still around her.

*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*

Madam Bones slams her gavel again. "Order!" She glares at the two people. "I don't want to see anyone else making a scene! Using my authority, I claim Lord Nott as biased and am stripping his privilege to vote for this trial! Regent Longbottom, as you didn't show bias towards the accused, but instead for another member of the Wizengamot I am only giving you a warning." Neville's gran looks relatively pleased with the outcome, while Nott lets out an angry huff.

Madam Bones turns her attention to the man in handcuffs. "May the accused take a seat and state their name for the record."

"Sirius Orion Black." His voice is a bit raspy, but it's probably a lot better than it was, since he's had time to heal before the trial. More gasps and screams ring out after learning his identity, but no one else makes a scene. They quickly stifle themselves fearing Madam Bones's wrath. When the chains rattle as he takes a seat on the chair, but don't do anything beyond that. Harry's not sure why the chains are even there if they don't do anything other than move slightly when someone sits down.

Madam bones holds up a scroll and reads off his criminal charges "Sirius Orion Black, you are accused of twelve counts of manslaughter, one count of second degree murder, two counts of accessory to murder and one count of accessory to attempted murder." She turns her attention back to Sirius and asks, "How do you plead?"

"Not guilty."

"As you have asked to be tried under Veritaserum, I am required to ask you if you have any training in Occlumency. If you do, statements made under Veritaserum will not be admissible in this court. Also, to prove you do not have any mental defense you must allow the Chief Warlock to use Legilimency on you." Madam Bones asks. Harry's wondering what she's talking about. 'Occlumency? Veritaserum?'

"I don't have any Occlumency training and I agree to allow the Chief Warlock to use Legilimency on me."

"Very well," her gaze travels to the Dumbledore. "Chief Warlock, can you please confirm that he does not have any Occlumency training?"

"As you wish, Madam Bones." Dumbledore responds and then turns to address Sirius. "Mr. Black, can you face in my direction and stare into my eyes. I will be using Legilimency to confirm your claim of no Occlumency training." Sirius does as asked and after a few short moments he allows Sirius to turn back around. "I have confirmed that he has no training in Occlumency; the only guard within his mind is to protect Black family magic." Harry is very lost on all of this and decides he'll ask someone later if he remembers.

"Thank you, Chief Warlock." Madam Bones says, getting everyone's attention again.

"Let the record show that the accused has granted consent to the use of Veritaserum and that it's keyed solely to me. Aurors, you have permission to apply three drops of Veritaserum to the accused." Following Madam Bones's order, one of the aurors takes out a vial from his pocket as Sirius sticks out his tongue and leans his head back. The auror quickly applys three drops on his tongue and then waits 30 seconds before telling him to close his mouth.

"Accused, state your name." Madam Bones calls out.

"Sirius Orion Black." This time when his voice comes out, it's in complete monotone.

"State your date of birth."

"November 3rd 1959."

Harry turns his head to Mr. Weasley. "What's Veritaserum and what does she mean by it being keyed to her?"

"Veritaserum is a potion that makes you speak the truth and keyed means that it will only force him to answer a question if she's the one who asked it." Arthur answers in a whisper, not wanting to anger anyone nearby by speaking too loudly. "It can only be applicable in court if the one taking it doesn't have any Occlumency training."

"What about Occlumency?"

"I'll explain it later." Arthur answers quickly and they turn their attention back to the trial.

"Well then, there you go Luna, Sirius Black is his real name, not a fake one." Harry tells her, slightly amused by her pouting face. "But I'll still ask him if Stubby Boardman was his alias and not the other way around."

She turns her head to look up at him. "That must be the case!" She says it with so much conviction that Harry wants her to be right, just so she's not disappointed, but he has the feeling the chance is almost null.

Harry turns his attention back to the trial. Madam Bones had already asked him if he caused the explosion that killed Peter Pettigrew and 12 muggles, to which he responded with a simple 'no'.

"Did you kill Peter Pettigrew?"

"No."

"If not you, then who caused the explosion that killed Peter Pettigrew and the 12 muggles?" Madam Bones inquires.

Shocked gasps escape the throats of several people because the answer Sirius gives is completely unexpected. "Peter Pettigrew."

"Were you the Potter family's Secret Keeper?"

"I was." Cries of outrage spill forth from the members of the Wizengamot, forcing Madam Bones to shoot off cannon blast sounds from her wand again.

*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*

The wizengamot quickly quiets down, but you can still hear some scattered angry murmurs.

To some of the members of the Wizengamot's surprise after Dumbledore addresses Madam Bones. "Madam Bones, I suggest asking a different and more specific question."

"What do you suggest, Chief Warlock?" She replies curiously. "He clearly just confessed to being the Secret Keeper."

"Yes, he was indeed their Secret Keeper at one point…" he pauses for dramatic effect and to make sure he has their undivided attention, since what he is about to reveal is crucial to the case. "But, he may not have been the one to tell Voldemort the secret."

Everyone in the courtroom looks at Dumbledore in confusion after cringing and/or screaming in fright at the name, even Madam Bones flinches; to which, Dumbledore sighs sadly at their reactions to the Dark Lord's name. As for their confusion, it's because common knowledge states that no one other than the Secret Keeper can tell the secret to those who don't know it.

"Not many people know this," Dumbledore continues, "but a Secret Keeper has a second power… the power to pass the Secret Keeper title to someone else. That is why I suggest asking Mr. Black if he was the Secret Keeper that supplied Voldemort with the secret." Dumbledore sigh's again at the screams of terror when he says the name.

Instead of copying the Chief Warlock's question, she revises it. "Who was the Secret Keeper that told He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named the secret?"

"Peter Pettigrew." Once more, gasps of shock and yells of anger erupt from the listening audience, forcing Madam Bones to raise her wand again. Their outrage stems from the fact that Pettigrew was hailed as a hero. He was given an Order of Merlin, 3rd class posthumously, for his bravery in attempting to catch Sirius Black. What Sirius has just revealed is throwing everything into their faces; they praised the traitor and left the hero to rot in prison.

*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*

"If another outburst like this happens again, I will clear the courtroom of all those who cannot KEEP THEIR MOUTHS SHUT!". The threat works very well and throughout the rest of this trial only gasps of shock can be heard.

"Did you pass the title of Secret Keeper to Peter Pettigrew?" It's easy to tell she's holding back a lot of her annoyance as it's leaking into the questioning.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I thought it was too obvious for me to be the Secret Keeper, so I convinced James and Lily to let me give the title to Peter, while I acted as a decoy." Even though he's speaking in monotone due to the Veritaserum, Harry can still hear the sorrow and regret within it.

"To verify, is your previous statement the complete truth, without leaving anything out?" She nods when she gets a positive reply. She only asks because Veritaserum works best with short answers. There are some people who can leave information out or manipulate their words even when under the truth serum when their answers are longer than a few words.

"Why was it reported that you said 'I killed them' multiple times while you were being arrested?"

"I feel I am to blame for the deaths of my friends because I gave the Secret Keeper title to Peter. This never would have happened if I didn't transfer the title to him, so it's my fault." Harry doesn't know what to think, he doesn't blame Sirius for what happened, but hearing him say it's his fault and still believing that for 10 years and had no one to comfort him. It's not a pleasant thought. Then add Dementors into the mix and Harry's not sure if he'd be able to stay sane from the immense guilt. He's not exactly sure what Dementors are, but the few things he's heard about them tells him they aren't pleasant to be around.

"To verify, is your previous statement the complete truth, without leaving anything out?" Madam Bones repeats, it's mandatory to ask after long answers.

"Yes."

"Tell us what happened the day you were arrested." She asks, wanting to get a clear picture of what transpired.

Sirius starts explaining everything, how he chased after Peter, but Peter caught him off guard by yelling at him for betraying James, Lily & Harry. Then he continues with how Peter accused him of being the traitor and then proceeded to blow up the street, cut off part of his finger, turned into a rat. Where he then proceeded to escape into the sewer." Madam Bones repeats the confirmation again and receives the same answer.

"So you believe Peter Pettigrew is still alive?" This question gets a lot attention from any

"Yes."

"And you're saying Peter Pettigrew is an animagus?" This is news to her, Dumbledore didn't tell her about Peter being an animagus. The surprise in Dumbledore's expression shows them that he too didn't know.

"Yes."

"Can you describe his animagus form?"

"He's a patchy gray rat, with black eyes and it should be missing a toe from it's front right paw, since he cut off his right pointer finger."

For some reason when Harry hears the description it sounds familiar. It takes Harry a moment to realize why. 'Wait... isn't Scabbers missing a toe?' His eyes widen in alarm and he slowly turns his head to look behind him, whispering to his friend's dad. "Uhh… Mr. Weasley?"

"Yes, Harry?" It looks like Mr. Weasley hasn't put two and two together yet.

"Doesn't Peter's rat form… sound an awful lot like…" His whisper trails off as he watches Arthur's eyes almost bulge out of his skull.

"… yeah… yeah it does" Arthur Weasley blanches as he does everything he can to not freak out. Any father would freak out over the fact that a 30 year old man had been sleeping in the same bed as his 3rd oldest child. And is now doing the same with his youngest son. Then with the fact his daughter has been left alone in the house with the rat before, his control over his panic is praiseworthy. "We'll have to deal with that when we get to The Burrow. We'll need to inform an auror right away too."

Luna's has been listening in on their whispers, not purposely, but because of proximity. She sits up straight and turns to face the two of them, "Are you talking about Scabbers?" Her eyes are red and puffy with dry tear trails run down to her chin.

The two males nod their heads slowly and take in the fact she had silently cried herself to sleep earlier. She gives them a strategy to capture Pettigrew. She tells Arthur to fire call his wife and have her spell the cage to be unbreakable while pretending to clean it. Then she would have Ron put the rat in his cage and then Molly would bring the rat to the ministry, where they can have Sirius confirm their suspicion.

They both wonder how she came up with an effective plan so quickly and they have newfound respect for the little girl. "It wouldn't be a good idea to alert Peter, he might escape." She says, giving them both a smile.

"That… is exactly what I'll do." Arthur stands up hastily. "Thank you for the plan, Luna."

Luna uses her sleeves to try and remove the tear trails from her face before smiling up at the red-haired man. Arthur all but runs out of the room, speeding out of the courtroom to fire call his wife.

"Luna, you're brilliant!" Harry says as he bumps her shoulder with his own.

Luna smiles radiantly at the praise. "It helps that I haven't had a bad Wackaspurt infestation for a while and you helped prevent the most recent one."

Harry raises an eyebrow. "What's a Wackaspurt?"

"They're tiny invisible creatures that fly in and out your ears and make your head feel all fuzzy." Her misty eyes are no longer hiding any sadness, for now at least. "Comforting me helped me get rid of some of my sadness, which was attracting the Wackaspurts."

Harry presses his lips together before shyly smiling, "Glad I could help, but I must have a pretty bad infestation myself, and for most of my life." Where most would normally dismiss Wackaspurts as nonsense, the thought doesn't even cross his mind; he's still new to the magical world.

"Would you like help getting rid of them?" Luna asks him, wanting to return the favor. Harry humors her and asks how she's going to help him. Luna takes a few minutes to think about it. Then her eyes flash confidently, but her cheeks pinken in protest when she gets her idea. "Would seeing me naked help?"

Harry's jaw drops to the floor and his eyes widen to the size of dinner plates. "W-w-what did you say?" He asks, hoping he somehow heard her wrong and doing his best to keep his voice low. If he heard her right, he definitely doesn't want to attract anyones attention.

"Would seeing me naked help?" She repeats herself, contemplating whether or not he has trouble hearing like he does with seeing.

Harry's cheeks heat up and he looks away from her, so as not to try and picture it. "H-how would that help?" He whispers sharply in embarrassment.

She cocks her head to the side as she answers, "Some of daddy's magazines have naked women in them. When I asked why he had them, he said 'because naked women make men happy'." Harry hides his face in his hands so fast he practically slaps himself. "Although I'm not a woman yet, but since I'm closer to your age, I thought if you saw me naked it would make you happy."

Harry can't completely deny that it would make him happy because in some ways it would, but he can't actually say that. "I-I'm not s-so sure that that's a good idea."

"You don't want to see me naked?" Luna pouts, she thought it was a good idea. "Is it because I don't have boobies yet?"

"Yes!… wait, No!… I don't…" Harry can't come to grips of what he's being asked right now. Harry's glad that she's keeping her voice low like he is. He wouldn't know what to do if someone overheard what she's saying. "Please don't ask me this."

"Oh, ok." She sounds disappointed for some reason. "But if you ever do want to see me naked, the offer is still on the table." After saying this, she turns her attention back to the trial.

It seems only Harry can feel the awkwardness surounding them, because she's softly humming tune as she rocks her head and torso side to side. The awkwardness doesn't start going away until he hears Madam Bones finish her questioning and commanding the Aurors to administer the Veritaserum antidote.

"It is time to put this up for a vote, gather your thoughts for the next few minutes to decide on how you'll vote." She lets them debate between themselves for the next few minutes, but it doesn't seem like they have much to debate on.

*Bang!* *Bang!*

Madam Bones lightly slams her gavel again to get everyone's attention and starts the voting process. She goes through each and every charge against Sirius asking for the Wizengamot members to light their wands. Red for guilty and green for innocent. Lord Nott tries to vote guilty, but Madam Bones chews him out about his removed voting privilege. As punishment, for trying to vote when he had the right stripped from him, he now has no voting power for any of the following trials. She also says that if he tries it again he'll be held in contempt of court, effectively humiliating him.

Each vote is a landslide for innocent, but Harry notices that a particularly large group around Nott don't vote. Harry comes to the conclusion that Neville's grandmother is right about Nott because only he and 2 others, in the group around him, are the only ones that try to vote guilty. Those two others in that group look a lot like Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, so he assumes that these two men are their fathers or close relatives. He's now able to discern where Vincent and Gregory get their pea sized brains from. Out of all the others in their section, only one man votes innocent. Harry blinks rapidly in shock, the man, who he believes is Draco Malfoy's father, is the one who votes innocent.

"I hereby declare that Sirius Orion Black is innocent of all charges. We will now discuss compensation for his unlawful imprisonment." Madam Bones exclaims and turns her attention back to Sirius. "Mr. Sirius Black, do you have any suggestions on this topic?"

Sirius takes a moment to think about it as the Aurors remove the magic sealing handcuffs. He cracks a smile, like he's going to say something no one would expect and is eager to see everyone's reaction. "I'd like to gain custody and magical guardianship over my godson." This surprises quite a few people, including Harry, no one knew the man had a godson. His request gathers the interest of many people within the courtroom, wondering who his godson is.

"That can be arranged as long as you have the best claim over your godson and after you've been cleared by the St. Mungo's healers." She looks up to address the members of the Wizengamot. "All those in favor?" Many wands light up in agreement, but Harry takes particular interest in the fact Dumbledore didn't light up his.

"The motion has passed." Madam Bones declares to Sirius's great amusement, his large and wide grin threatens to fall off his face. It's the type of grin of someone who successfully tricked someone in a playful manner. "And for the record, who is your godson?"

"Oh you know…" He trails off and claps his hands together to build suspense. "One, Harry James Potter."

Harry's jaw drops and the Wizengamot is eerily silent while Sirius repeatedly claps his hands while barking in laughter. 'Sirius is my godfather? I… I still have family?' A wave of intense and indescribably powerful emotions crash into the sturdy walls built around Harry's heart. His eyes start blurring, but he doesn't even attempt to stop the tears from falling. Harry's lips part and spread into the largest smile he's ever had.

Luna is slightly disappointed that she couldn't return the favor of assisting in the removal of his wackaspurts, but she's still very happy for him.


Ending Author's Note:

And there it is, the end of the 1st chapter. Every chapter will be at least 10,000 words, which means the length of time between posting each chapter will be long. I'll strive for a posting a chapter once every 2 weeks. That doesn't mean I'm on a schedule, I will post when I want to.

I encourage harsh constructive criticism. Tell me where I can improve. Tell me where I made grammatical errors. Tell me if you think the characters are unreasonably out of character (I already know that in later chapters Harry is a bit out of character; I have several already written and I just need to edit them).

Don't get me wrong, there is a difference between harsh criticism and insulting the way I write. I don't take insults well, I will retaliate in kind. You've been warned.

If there are any people interested, I'll make a or something to where you can motivate me to write more. I won't make one until I've seen there's an interest and not until I've convinced myself that I'll actually keep writing. I'm a rather lazy person.