Disclaimer: I'm afraid that my limited brain capacity would never allow me to produce such a wonderful concept as Harry Potter, nor would my finances allow me to buy him. Therefore, I regretfully state that I own neither Harry Potter, nor any other characters that you may recognize. I'm not even sure if I own the plot.

Note: I'm assuming that you already know the basic story of Harry Potter from books 1 through 5.

'Italics' stand for thoughts/letters or text

Chapter Eighteen: Trial by Veritaserum

Day Eight, Afternoon:

The courtroom was packed. By now, everyone had heard about the defeat of Lord Voldemort and the subsequent arrest of the Boy-Who-Lived. People crowded the spectator's gallery so thickly that Aurors had to push them back and stand guard.

At the stroke of nine, the doors slammed, shutting out the unfortunates who had been too late to get a seat, and the Wizengamot entered, Fudge leading the way imperiously. Once they had seated themselves, the Minister motioned to some officials, who opened a side door. Harry was led in, chained and flanked by several guards.

"The court is in session!" Fudge declared pompously. "The trial of Harry James Potter shall now commence. Mr. Potter, you are accused of attempting to join the Death Eaters, which is treason against Britain. How do you plead?"

"Not guilty," Harry said defiantly.

"The court calls for the use of veritaserum," Fudge announced. One of the Aurors approached Harry with a vial of clear liquid and motioned for him to open his mouth, which he did after a moment's hesitation.

"What is your name?" the Auror asked.

"Harry James Potter."

"When were you born?"

"July 31, 1980."

"Where is your current place of residence?"

"Number Four Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey."

"The veritaserum is working," the Auror informed Fudge, who nodded and began the questioning.

"Mr. Potter, have you ever purposely sought out You-Know-Who?"

"No."

This unexpected reply made Fudge pause in confusion. "No?"

"No, I did not." In the back of his mind, Harry realized that Fudge didn't know about his dimension traveling, and as he had only seen the memory starting from after his arrival from the other universe, he truly thought that Harry couldn't escape his accusations. All of his claims had been carefully phrased to reflect that.

"Did you intend, at any point in the past week, to ask to be marked with the Dark Mark?"

"No."

Now beginning to look frantic, Fudge fumbled for another question. "Um…Mr. Potter, were you in the company of Death Eaters at any time during the past week?"

"Yes."

"And what were you doing? Were you talking with them?"

"No. I was fighting them."

"Er, did you ever ask You-Know-Who to mark you?"

"No."

"When asked if you were ready to be marked, what did you say?"

"Yes."

Relieved to have finally gotten an admission, Fudge smirked. "So you agreed to be marked?"

"Yes."

"There we go. Witches and wizards of the Wizengamot, we have heard the confession from the accused himself! You can clearly see that—"

"One moment, Minister!" a witch called sharply. "You accused the boy of attempting to join the Death Eaters, but he just said he never asked You-Know-Who to mark him!"

"Ah, but Madam Bones, when asked, he agreed to join the Death Eaters! That is treason!" Fudge pointed out smugly.

"Minister, perhaps some further questioning would shed more light on the matter," Dumbledore spoke up. "May I?"

"Dumbledore, you cannot interfere! You are a judge and you are supposed to be impartial!" Fudge yelled.

"In that case, I withdraw my vote," Dumbledore stated serenely. "I will stand for the defendant."

"Fine!"

"The defendant requests further questioning."

Glaring, Fudge tried to find a reason to deny Dumbledore, but failed. Reluctantly, he agreed. "The request is granted."

Turning to Harry, Dumbledore calmly inquired, "Mr. Potter, why did you agree to take the Dark Mark?"

"I was surrounded by Death Eaters and in front of Voldemort himself. I agreed in order to buy time to escape," Harry replied flatly. Upon hearing this, the audience began to murmur.

"Silence! Order in the court!" Fudge shouted, his face red with suppressed anger. "Is there any other evidence to present?" When no one came forward, he tapped his wand against his stand, making it shoot sparks. "The Wizengamot with withdraw and convene to pass judgment."

While the various witches and wizards debated in a sealed off room, Harry took the antidote to the veritaserum and sat waiting impatiently. Having spent the last three days in a Ministry holding cell, he was eager to leave. Glancing over at Dumbledore, he was pleasantly startled to see the Headmaster wink at him.

Suddenly, the far doors opened again, and the Wizengamot emerged, followed by a clearly outraged Fudge. "The Wizengamot finds the defendant Harry James Potter innocent of all charges," he spat sullenly.

Grinning broadly, Harry held out his hands so that his guard could unlock the chains before running across the courtroom to where Hermione and Ron had been watching. "Hey, guys!" he greeted them happily.

"Harry! How've you been?" Hermione queried anxiously. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Harry assured her. "Just a bit bored. I've done nothing but sit in a Ministry cell and stare at the wall for the past few days."

"It's good to see you again, ma— Blimey, look!" Ron exclaim, pointing to Fudge, who was charging towards them.

"I'll get you Potter!" he screamed. "I know you want my job, but you'll never get it, you hear! I'll put you away if it's the last thing I ever do! You lying, conniving, idiotic brat!"

"Minister!" Madam Bones shrieked indignantly. "Control yourself!"

But Fudge seemed to have gone insane. Completely ignoring the gaping spectators, he raised his wand and started sending curses at Harry, who hastily ducked. As he watched in bemusement, a squad of Aurors dragged the hysterical man away.

Author's Note: As I'm sure you've noticed, I don't know a thing about trials, criminal or otherwise. Therefore, I apologize for this rather…awkward scene.