Hermione had never been to the Wizangamot before but she'd done as much research as she could in advance and Lord Nott, who held a seat, had told her exactly what to expect.
Of course, it was more than a little irregular that the chief warlock was one of the parties, so for the period of this trial precedent suggested that the Minister of Magic would be taking his position.
They had to wait in the darkened corridor outside whilst the volume beyond the doors grew increasingly louder. Lord Nott drummed his fingers against the sleeve of his impressive dress robes, emblazoned with his family crest whilst Hermione shifted uncomfortably in the muggle dress that Anneken had selected for her in an attempt to distance her from the dark wizard currently held imprisoned by the ring she was trying to claim. Harry looked even more uncomfortable in his dress robes and Anneken was attempting fruitlessly to smooth his hair somewhat with her wand.
'Your magic is not wild enough to warrant this hair.' The elder witch huffed irritably, drawing back as their opponent appeared at the end of the corridor.
Like Hermione and Harry, Professor Dumbledore had come accompanied as well. The wizard at his left held a briefcase embossed with the ICW logo and the one that trailed behind was a small, fidgety man who wore a muggle suit and tall top hat. There was also a ward breaker in Gringotts uniform and lumbering behind them all in his hairy suit came Hagrid. Compared to the very smart and traditional look of Hermione and Harry's party, Dumbledore's lot did look rather ramshackle.
The headmaster took his seat on the bench opposite them, his eyes lacking their twinkle as he looked them over. Lord Nott raised a single brow, combing his fingers through his beard, which rivalled Dumbledore's in length but was far superior in maintenance.
'Please enter.' A court clerk demanded, pushing open the large doors.
The room was crammed; every member of the wizangamot had appeared and the press section was packed with reporters, already scribbling away with their quills.
'Is our witness arranged?' Lord Nott demanded as they passed the clerk. The young witch, barely out of Hogwarts, nodded.
Hermione took her seat next to Harry on the wooden bench. She was sat facing the wizangamot, just to the left of centre. Dumbledore on the other side of the witness stand. She rested her hands on the polished wooden barrier that separated her from the sandy arena in the middle and looked up to see the Minister in the middle of the crowd of purple figures, his lime green hat standing out like a sore thumb. At his side stood Madam Bones.
The Minister called for silence, his voice barely heard over the excited whispering of everyone present.
'We are present today to settle the accusations of er...' Fudge began, then hesitated, pulling out a piece of parchment from his small lectern. 'The Lady Hermione Granger of Gorlois, Ward of House Grindelwald and Heir Harry Potter against Professor Albus Dumbledore, Order of Merlin, Headmaster of Hogwarts, Chief Warlock of the Wizangamot and Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards.'
The Minister paused whilst a scribe hastily jotted down his words.
'The accused is alleged to have illegal possession family rings of the House of Grindelwald and the House of Potter. The court shall address the House of Grindelwald first.'
Anneken stood up, her robes rustling gracefully as she made her way to the lectern.
'Lady Anneken Krum, Matriarch of House Lintzen, Ward and authorised by Lord Grindelwald as Locum Matriarch to speak on the behalf of his house.' She introduced herself smoothly, glancing at the scribe to make sure that he'd caught that. Behind her, the reporter's quills scribbled eagerly.
'Please tell the court why you believe Albus Dumbledore to be in possession of the Grindelwald seal.' Fudge instructed.
'The Lord Grindelwald informed me when I was visiting on the behalf of his ward that he surrendered his ring to Albus Dumbledore upon his defeat. He assumed that the laws regarding the rings of ancient families would be followed and that the ring would be used to dismantle the wards on his fortress and that the ring would be subsequently destroyed. However, on the 2nd of September he received a letter, sealed with his own crest to allow the messenger passage through the wards.'
Anneken pulled a very worn and grubby sheet of parchment from the pocket of her robes and held it up for observation. One of the court clerks hurried across the sand and took the letter from her, then bore it back across the arena and passed it up to the wizangamot. Interested mutters swept the room as it was passed around, occasionally being held up to the light for closer observation.
'The wizangamot recognises the seal of House Grindelwald and the sender of the letter to be Albus Dumbledore.' Madam Bones declared after several minutes. The letter was passed down the rows again, ending up on the scribe's desk.
'Thank you, Lady Krum. The Wizangamot will address Headmaster Dumbledore.'
Dumbledore stood, replacing Anneken in the raised stool as she made her way back down to sit beside Hermione.
'Headmaster Dumbledore, do you still possess the seal of House Grindelwald?' Fudge demanded sharply.
'I do.' Dumbledore confessed calmly. 'However, there were extenuating circumstances behind the decision not to destroy the ring.'
'Sure, your desire for power.' Lord Nott grumbled below his breath.
'I will ask the Warden of Nurmengard, Edgar Flinch, to address the wizangamot.' Dumbledore continued, either ignoring or not hearing the Slytherin's words. Fudge agreed and a moment later the ICW wizard took his position.
'Gellert Grindelwald... Dark wizard, scourge of the early twentieth century. He decimated Europe and launched attacks all around the world. His actions nearly exposed the wizarding world and...'
'Relevance?' Lord Nott interrupted, his voice a cool drawl that cut through the pontification of the ICW wizard.
'Sustained. Please be concise, Warden Flinch.' Fudge agreed and Flinch blushed, glancing nervously down at Dumbledore. The Headmaster nodded for him to continue.
'Right... so... er, Grindelwald had already escaped from high security prisons many times in the past by the time he was defeated by Headmaster Dumbledore. In line with the laws concerning ancient family seals, we brought down the wards around his fortress and liberated the prisoners, discovering in the process that it was security unlike anything we'd seen before.'
'Why were the wards not transferred to a different seal at that point?' Madam Bones demanded.
'We couldn't, Ma'am. The wards on that prison are incredible, beyond anything we've ever seen. We don't even recognise most of the runes and power diagrams used in their construction, let alone how to reconstruct them around a new seal. The decision was made, in those circumstances, to not interfere with them but to just re-erect them with the Grindelwald seal.'
The warden opened his briefcase and pulled out several sheets of parchment.
'I have here several transcripts of the wardstone, copied as accurately as our best wardmaster could.' The ICW wizard was about to hand them down to the clerk when Hermione stood quickly. Her sudden movement drew the eye of everyone in the room.
'The wizangamot will hear Lady Grindelwald.' Fudge declared and Hermione made her way up to the podium. Her heart pounded in her chest as the quills scribbled behind her and she became incredibly conscious of how she walked and stood. She'd spoken in public before, but never without Gellert's comforting presence by her side. Several faces on the Wizangamot softened as the Minister asked her to speak.
'The House of Grindelwald understands the extenuating circumstances and requests to see the transcripts of the wardstone.' She glanced down at Dumbledore on her right. He was watching her mildly and she forced her lips not to twist into a scowl.
'Show her.' Fudge ordered and the clerk handed the sheaf of parchment back up to her. She leafed through, glancing over lines and letters that were etched permanently in her mind. The room was silent as she glanced them over.
'Does the House of Grindelwald have a comment?' Fudge asked after a long minute, as the audience began to stir restlessly.
'The House of Grindelwald believe they have a fair solution.' She declared, leaning down and passing the parchments to the clerk, who hurried across the arena to pass them to the Wizangamot.
'Continue.' Fudge said eagerly. Behind her, quills scratched.
'I am very familiar with these wards. I can transfer them to the control of the seal of the Supreme Mugwump and my family rings will be returned.'
The scratching intensified and a murmur of interest swept through the crowd.
'You're a second year, are you not, Miss Gorlois?' One of the Wizangamot demanded from his seat to the left.
'Third year this year.' She corrected.
'Preposterous.' The warden blustered, jumping up from his seat next to Dumbledore. 'Our best wardmasters do not understand these wards - a girl who had yet to even begin runes at school...'
'Sit down, Warden. The Wizangamot does not recognise you at this time.' Madam Bones snapped over the cacophony of shouting as everyone made their opinion on warding known.
Silence fell, finally.
'The wards are created using primarily Futhark and Ogham. They were designed originally to replace those that were destroyed in the only Grindelwald stronghold of Blau Berg.' Hermione informed the court.
'Does the House of Grindelwald have any proof of your ability?' Madam Bones demanded, leaning forwards on her bench. 'The Wizangamot reminds House Grindelwald that this concerns a top security prisoner.'
Lord Nott stood up then.
'The House of Nott stands as a witness.' He announced clearly and was quickly recognised, taking Hermione's place on the podium. 'Lady Gorlois had repaired the portal gates on the Nott property to allow travel between her properties and mine. As the Warden mentioned, I had never seen runework like it before she had me carve it onto the stones.'
'Very well, thank you, Lord Nott. The Wizangamot will decide.'
Voices exploded across the room and the Wizangamot became a field of wavering flowers as plum coloured heads bent together to discuss proceedings. Hermione used the opportunity to reach out for her bond with Mordred; he was idle, barely above being dormant in his sword but the distance growing between them had finally stopped, so his draw on her magic was now constant, although still significant.
'All in favour of the House of Grindelwald's suggestion to transfer the Nurmengard wards to the seal of the Supreme Mugwump.' Madam Bones demanded. Hands were raised almost unanimously across the wizangamot and Hermione took careful note of those who hadn't voted in her favour. Lucius Malfoy, his hair stark against his robes, a toadlike witch and a wizard with a hawk-like hooked nose. The most enthusiastic was an elderly lady, white hair straggling around her hat with enough length to suggest that she was traditional. She waved her hand around in the air, almost bowling over the wizard next to her.
'Very well. Albus Dumbledore, the wizangamot orders the return of the Grindelwald family ring within the month.' Fudge announced. 'We will move on to the matter of the House of Potter now.'
Lord Nott stood again quickly, moving to the podium. Frantic scribbling by the reporters met his announcement that he would be representing Harry because he was underage. Dumbledore scowled, as did several other members of the Wizangamot but their reaction was directly countered by the obvious interest of several more.
'Very well, Lord Nott. Does the House of Potter have any proof that Albus Dumbledore is in possession of his rings?' Fudge demanded. Lord Nott smirked.
'The House of Potter calls Lord Sirius Black.'
The ensuing uproar almost entirely disguised the grating of the heavy doors and the heavy clanking of Sirius Black's manacles as he was forced at wandpoint to take the chair which ground up through the sand. As soon as he sat, chains wrapped around his wrists. Sirius, barely cleaner than he had been when Hermione had last seen him, tugged at the chains experimentally and twisted in his chair to look at them in the boxes.
Hermione winked at him.
'The House of Potter presents as evidence a copy of the will of Lord James Potter.' Lord Nott called over the cacophony, 'which names Sirius Orion Black as the godfather and magical guardian of Harry James Potter in the event of the untimely deaths of both Lord and Lady Potter.'
Any words that might have been said at that point were lost to the uproar in the stands. Fudge called for silence no less that seven times but was entirely ignored. Hermione coudn't resist a glance over at Dumbledore to see that he had gone very, very pale. Finally, Madam Bones pointed her wand up into the air and released a thundering round of fireworks and only then did silence fall.
'Thank you, Madam Bones.' Fudge huffed, flustered and turning rapidly pink. 'Mister... Er... Lord Black. Please tell us why you believe Albus Dumbledore to be in possession of the rings?'
'I was one of the first to get to the house after the attack. My vows as Harry's godfather told me that he was in danger. I pulled him out of the wreckage and went to take him to a safe house, but Hagrid arrived and told me that Dumbledore already had something arranged. I agreed, and gave him to Hagrid so that I could chase after Pettigrew. I found the ring - James never wore his, he said it made him feel stuffy. I was arrested a couple of days later. Dumbledore told me that he'd make sure Remus got it, so I gave it to him.' Sirius finished speaking, his voice hoarse from disuse.
More scratching of quills met his words but control of the room was not lost again.
The small man beside Dumbledore stood and was called up to take the podium beside Hermione. He was quickly introduced as Elphias Doge.
'Remus Lupin is a werewolf, is he not?' Doge asked. Sirius snarled which did nothing to help him look sane, but eventually nodded. 'So Remus Lupin is not eligible to hold the Locum Patriarchy of a house. According to the will, Peter Pettigrew was the next recipient, but you murdered him did you not?'
'No.' Black snarled. Instant uproar hit the court again.
'Mister Black, you have already been convicted of the murder of Peter Pettigrew.' Doge reminded him harshly, shouting over the cacophony much as Lord Nott had done earlier.
'I did not.'
'Mister Black has also been convicted of betraying the Potters to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.' Doge continued, not allowing Sirius a word as Madam Bones used her want to regain control again. 'With no obvious options, Headmaster Dumbledore held onto the ring as magical guardian and passed on Mr. Potter to the care of his Aunt and Uncle.'
'The wizangamot recognises Lord Nott.' Fudge announced as Thoros stood again.
'The law dictates that Lady Malfoy was the rightful carer of Mr. Potter, and as we have seen only minutes ago, imprisonment does not effect magical guardianship. Lord Grindelwald is still patriarch of House Grindelwald, and he dictates matters of his house. Unless Lord Black named Albus Dumbledore as Locum Patriarch, he did not have the authority to make these decisions.'
'Did you, Black?' Fudge demanded, flustered beyond the point of formality.
'No. I expressly forbade Harry being put into the care of Vernon and Petunia Dursley and the rings were to be given to Remus.'
'Thank you, Lord Black. As the Wizangamot has heard, Albus Dumbledore has no right to the rings or to make decisions for Harry Potter. Sirius Black is the magical guardian of Harry Potter, and he named Remus Lupin as Locum Patriarch; a position he is legally permitted to hold despite his condition.' Lord Nott declared.
'Thank you, Lord Nott. The wizangamot recognises Elphias Doge.'
'Thank you.' Doge looked flustered as he took the stand.
'He's a halfblood - married into an old family to get his seat. He might have more knowledge of family law than most of Dumbledore's cronies, but he can't compete with us Purebloods.' Lord Nott informed them all under his breath.
'Sirius Black was arrested for the murder of James and Lily Potter, Harry Potter's parents.' Doge gestured at Harry. 'Considering his role in the death of Harry's parents, it's hardly appropriate that he is Harry's magical guardian. Albus Dumbledore it a respectable member of wizarding society with no relation to any who would do him harm and was a close friend of the Potters. He stepped into the role of Harry's magical guardian because Black is unsuitable.'
'The wizangamot recognises Lord Nott.' Fudge gritted. Angry mutters were rising in the crowd again, steadily growing in volume.
'Unfortunately, the law stated that Harry's magical guardian is Black, regardless of Dumbeldore's feelings on the matter. The House of Potter submits that Dumbledore has failed in his assumed duty in any case. I have here a copy of the Hogwarts letter addressed to Heir Potter in the cupboard under the stairs.'
Uproar met his words and Lord Nott returned to his seat beside Hermione, a smug smirk painting his features. Black strained furiously against his chains in the arena, spitting furious venom at Dumbledore whilst the court continued to cry in outrage.
'Silence!' Madam Bones bellowed. 'If I have to call one more time, the media will be removed and the wizangamot will reconvene under charms.'
Order reined again.
'The wizengamot will order an inquiry into the magical custody of Heir Potter, with regards to the situation presented by Mr. Doge. Return Black to Azkaban and we will discuss the matter presented.'
Sirius was led out of the room by Aurors at wandpoint. Under Madam Bones' most recent threat, conversation between the members of the Wizangamot was muted.
'Please offer to look after Harry for the rest of the holiday.' Hermione instructed Lord Nott urgently. Mordred began to pull heavily on the Sect's magic and she gave him everything. It channelled through the bonds and into him, leaving her slightly breathless. The patriarch nodded quickly, agreeing easily.
'Silence!' Fudge called, and was instantly obeyed. 'The letter of the law is clear. The heir ring belongs to Harry Potter and the head's ring to Remus Lupin. They must be returned to their rightful owners immediately. Should Albus Dumbledore have an objection, he must raise the issue in the custody case. All in favour of the rings being returned immediately...' There was only a brief pause. 'Excellent. Anything else? Yes, Lord Nott?'
'I'm sure the court was as horrified as I was to hear of the abuse suffered by Heir Potter.' Lord Nott began smoothly. 'Heir Potter is close friends with my son in school, and I would be more than happy to look after him until Black can give further instructions.'
'Very well. Granted. Anything else?' Minister Fudge was clearly keen to finish but Hermione had one more thing to say.
'Just one thing, Minister.' Hermione stood up, smoothing her skirts 'It's hardly related, but I'd like to invite everyone to a ball at the Gorlois property of Avalon on the fifth of August. I would very much like to celebrate the reopening of the remarkable island and the return of my family to British wizarding society.'
She smiled brightly up at the press, then sat back down again to a wave of interested mutters. Mordred stopped drawing magic and returned to his usual pull on her reserves. She crossed her fingers surreptitiously on her lap.
'Now is that all? Right, dismissed.'
The clatter of movement that met his words and Hermione stood up, straightening her robes and sweeping out with Lord Nott at her back and Harry just in front of her. She was too nervous to stop and wait to organise a date to change over the wards or to get Harry's ring back. They would owl Dumbledore later perhaps; first she needed to get back to Nott Manor and find out if Mordred's mission had been a success.
Lord Nott understood her urgency, muttering that he would finalise matters and holding Harry back to do that same whilst Anneken pushed their way through the press. They paused briefly to request that they were owled for interviews about the ball, then finally made it to the freedom of the elevators. Once they emerged into the lobby, both witches could fade into the relative anonymity of the rush of employees.
The flooed back to the manor and Hermione ran immediately outside, bursting through the door before a Nott elf could even take her cloak.
She could feel Mordred barreling closer through their bond, the amount of magic he was drawing to remain corporeal diminishing as he approached.
'He succeeded.' Anneken insisted, having left the house at a much more sedate pace. 'But he has over a hundred miles to fly. He'll be another thirty minutes at least.'
Hermione knew that but she couldn't help pacing impatiently by the gates until the silvery speck became visible in the late afternoon sky.
Katana was flying high - so high that we would have been impossible to make out if she hadn't been looking for the distinctive flicker of his dark-scarred wings. He flew so fast that she barely had to wait another five minutes before he cleared the wards and dropped towards them. The larger of the two figures on his back almost fell as soon as Katana's hoover hit the ground, but the shorted remained seated, his hands on the reins to prevent the beast from dashing over to greet his witch.
'Bloody brilliant!' Sirius Black grinned, picking himself up from the grass. 'That was bloody brilliant.'