August 1994, Dumbledore needs to consolidate his power in Magical Britain. He wanted the Tri-Wizard Tournament and the ministry was reluctant to provide the funds. So, he arranges a trial for Sirius. Harry is confined to the Burrow and comes into conflict with Molly who loses her temper. There are consequences.
SCENERY CHANGE / Sunday 21 August 1994There was startling and disturbing news in Magical Britain the third week of August 1994. Death Eaters appeared after the Quidditch World Cup tournament game and created a panic that spread through all of Britain. In the attack, multiple foreign visitors were killed or injured and the newspapers on the continent blasted the British Ministry of Magic for not properly dealing with the Death Eater Insurrection back in 1981.
There were shouts in the Wizengamot to oust Fudge and the minister was desperate to be seen doing something – anything to quell the fear – well anything except to address the real issue of Death Eaters at large in British society. With Lucius Malfoy recovering from an injury caused by misfired charm in his home, Fudge went to Dumbledore for advice. Actually, Lucius was hiding from the Aurors – he'd been injured by spell fire during the terrorist attack. He'd been among the terrorists and feared being revealed as a true Death Eater terrorist.
Albus Dumbledore had multiple concerns that August. With the reappearance of Death Eaters and the deaths at the World Cup, the ICW focused its attention on Britain which Albus dreaded. The Tri-Wizard Tournament was under threat of cancellation – the two foreign schools doubted Dumbledore's assurances that their students would be safe at Hogwarts.
Knowing he had to make some grand gesture to reassure Beauxbatons and Dramstrung, find some incident that would make Fudge look good while indebting the moron to him, Dumbledore set upon an outrageous idea. On the twentieth, he took an hour to locate and return to the castle with a mangy dog.
At 1:00, he opened the floo in his office, called the minister's office, and invited the man to visit – immediately. It being a Saturday, Fudge had no desire to work, but he was desperate to quell tensions. With his four Auror guards, Cornelius stepped through the flames into the headmaster's office.
There was a special edition of the Daily Prophet on Sunday, 21 August 1994. The mass murderer Sirius Black had been apprehended! The minister claimed the arrest was a joint operation between himself and Albus Dumbledore, but as the prisoner remained in Dumbledore's custody at Hogwarts many people doubted Fudge's story.
In a moment of unparalleled bravery (according to the story), Fudge summoned Amelia Bones, Director of the DMLE to Hogwarts and ordered her to question the suspect and prepare for trial the next day. After some negotiations (yelling), it was decided the trial would occur on Monday 22 August with the full Wizengamot present to hear testimony about the lack of a first trial and the evidence from 1981.
The Sunday edition of The Daily Prophet published a large, front-page article about the upcoming trial and expected Dementor's kiss for Sirius Black. The paper promised to include every moment of testimony from Monday's trial in Tuesday's edition.
In a preemptive move, Albus Dumbledore refused to even consider allowing Harry to attend the trial. The boy was imprisoned at the Weasley family home just as if he were still at Privet Drive. The fire in the floo was snuffed to prevent all calls, and the wards were raised to keep out intruders. The Burrow was isolated, and the newspaper was the only source of news. Arthur and Molly argued vehemently about letting the children see the newspaper – on Monday, Mrs. Weasley hid her husband's copy after he left for the ministry, but Hedwig delivered Harry's copy, and even Hermione read every line while Mrs. Weasley yelled and protested.
Ron was bored and didn't care that Harry's godfather had been captured and put on trial for his life. He threatened to hex the newspaper until George and Fred took turns playing chess with their brother for three hours. When Ron went flying, he demanded Harry fly too. The Boy-Who-Lived went with his friend to circle and dive over the orchard, but Ron discovered Harry wasn't interested in talking about the Cannons or other Quidditch teams.
When they returned to The Burrow, Mrs. Weasley declared, "Well now, Harry. I went through your trunk while you were gone and got rid of that newspaper! There's no reason for you to read that stuff."
"You went through my trunk?" asked Harry, his temper rising to the surface and lashing out. "What else did you steal? Ron always steals galleons and chocolate frogs when he goes through my trunk."
"Harry Potter! How dare you disrespect me!" Molly shouted.
"Did you look for my cloak? Did you think to steal it too? Ron always wants to borrow it and go peep at the girls in the Quidditch changing rooms when they shower."
"Mate! Don't tell 'em that!" shouted Ron before diving out the door to hide from his angry mother. There was much loud yelling in The Burrow that evening and Harry went to bed without supper as punishment for disrespecting Mrs. Weasley.
As he walked up the stairs, Harry said out loud, "Just like my relatives. You're no different than the muggles."
Hermione worried about Harry's words and the look on his face. Mrs. Weasley fussed the entire time the family was at the table about how insulted she was to be compared to a muggle and wondered where she'd failed Harry. Mr. Weasley looked constipated and unwilling to talk (yell) with his wife.
SCENERY CHANGE Tuesday, 23 August 1994Harry was late to breakfast the next morning, and Hedwig never appeared to deliver the Daily Prophet. Molly asked about the newspaper, but Harry pretended he didn't hear the question. Leaving The Burrow to sit in the August morning sunshine, Harry pulled the shrunken Daily Prophet from a pocket and read it from front to back.
Harry read every word from the trial of Sirius Black that detailed the events of Halloween 1981 and proved his godfather was innocent. A cousin, Healer Andromeda Tonks testified that Sirius had command of his mind and with a regimen of potions, the man could recover fully in just a few weeks. However, Lucius Malfoy (risen from his sick bed) and Albus Dumbledore managed to convince the Wizengamot that the new Lord Black was unhinged from his exposure to the dementors and pushed through the recommendation to confine him to the Janus Thackery Ward in Saint Mungos.
After the trial, Dumbledore and a disfigured Lucius Malfoy argued over who should control the Black family vaults – the true prize of the day. Unfortunately for Lucius, the glamor charm cast over the hideous left side of his face flickered on and off regularly, leaving Fudge nauseated at the hideous features. This allowed Dumbledore to capture the minister's attention to lean in favor of awarding the vaults – uh – granting him guardianship over the Black family vaults. However, Lucius controlled enough votes to hold up any decision, and the two wizards postured and fussed in front of the Wizengamot. In a moment of inspiration, Minister Cornelius Fudge issued a ministry order to seize the vast wealth for his government's benefit.
This illegal order violated enough treaties between the wizards and goblins to give the bankers the opportunity to 'rebel' financially, if not with wands and knives. Before the end of the day that Monday, Gringotts sealed all of the Black vaults. Worse (for wizards in Magical Britain) the vaults would remain closed until Gringotts had the opportunity to examine Lord Black (or a presumptive Lord Black) and assure themselves the wizard was sane and capable of making rational decisions regarding his great wealth. The closures affected the family vault (supporting all homes of Black family members including Grimmauld Place, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, and a few cousins in other countries), the investment vault (Gringotts Tooth), personal vaults (Narcissa Malfoy's jewelry and cash vault). If anyone had paid attention, they would have found it strange that Draco Malfoy's school vault was not affected by the order to seal the vaults connected to the Black family.
The final Black vault sealed contained millions of galleons kept in sacks and bags for quick business loans. This largest vault in the Black portfolio was the source of the galleons that Gringotts used to provide short-term loans to businesses in Magical Britain to meet payroll, pay taxes, etc., while the business collected the money owed them by customers. Reasonable fees were collected for each business loan that kept the economy moving in Magical Britain and made the Black family even wealthier.
Beginning Tuesday, 23 August 1994, Gringotts would not make any new business loans at the cheap rate provided by the Black family, though all old loans were still due and would be collected by the goblin accountants. The Daily Profit, the economic supplement included in the Daily Prophet when warranted, predicted the collapse of the Magical Stock Market (Goblin Tooth) within a month and the shutdown of the ministry before Halloween.
Harry read all the articles and mourned the end of being part of a family with his godfather who might be in the hospital for months if not years.
'Who is Andromeda Tonks? Is she Sirius's cousin? How can I reach out to her?' wondered Harry.
Harry was fascinated by the stock market run by the goblins and wondered why the goblins limited themselves to Magical Britain for investments when the London Footsie, German DAX, and New York Stock Exchange were easily available these days for investment. After an hour of Harry's nose being stuck in the newspaper, Ron complained and returned to the house in a huff.
Almost immediately, Molly stormed out of the house and demanded that Harry give the paper to her. She shouted, "There's nothing for you to read there! It's not appropriate for children to read."
"Mrs. Weasley, I need the newspaper," Harry attempted to explain. "My godfather…"
"Not in my house you don't! My children don't read that trash. Now hand it over or I'll take my wand to your backside until you can't sit down."
"Better hand it over mate," Ron said from the sidelines. "She's got a mighty mean welt hex."
Harry glared at Ron and then turned to Mrs. Weasley and said, "No."
END SCENE