Chapter 5: The Trail
Cameras flashed and reporters murmured at the declaration of an abrupt trial held immediately after a reading of the Will, "The charges are as followed," Bagnold called, "One, Illegally administering of potions to students under your care while serving as Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Two, Knowingly blocking the reading of the Late Potter's will using your position as Chief Warlock to seal the Ministry copy. Three, Obstruction of Justice when you did not come forward with the information on who the Potter Family Secret Keeper was. Four, One count of Line Theft due to your choice to allow Sirius Black to take the fall for Pettigrew's actions you had Heir Black thrown in Azkaban without ever holding a trial in doing so you unwittingly prevented Heir Black from taking up his role as Head of the Black family thus costing the Black family their heir. Five, One count of child endangerment. Six, multiple counts of illegal use of Obliviations. Seven, Conspiracy to plot the death of the late Lord and Lady Potter."
Bagnold placed the list she had just read to the side and looked out over the crowd, "Presiding over this Session, I, Millicent Bagnold, will be acting as Chief Warlock. Amelia Bones will be acting as the Wizengamot's Head Prosecutor." The Minister looked to Albus Dumbledore, "Defendant, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, will you be requiring a lawyer?"
Albus face was clearly that of panic. He looked to Ted Tonks, who glared at him in response. Albus sighed, "I will represent myself Minister Bagnold." He said.
"Very well, we will now bring this court in session." Bagnold looked to Amelia, "Madam Bones Proceed with your Opening statement."
Amelia walked forward and turned to face the audience, "Lords and Ladies of the Wizengamot, Esteemed members of the Press, and all invited guests. You all heard the reading of the Late Lord and Lady Potter. Their deaths appeared to be well planned out. Not by Voldemort, but by the very man we all trusted, Albus Dumbledore. This revelation is astounding to us all since Dumbledore gave himself the moniker 'Leader of Light', but I ask you. Would a so called 'Leader of Light' go so far as to not only plan the death of his allies, but also blame their deaths on their sworn friend. Would a true 'Leader of Light' potion his trusting allies just so they would agree with all his plans. I'm here to tell you today, Albus Dumbledore is NOT the so called 'Leader of Light'. He is just another Dark Lord disguised as a kind old man who will stop at nothing to see his own plans succeed. That is all."
Amelia turned and walked back over to the Prosecution table taking a seat. Bagnold looked to Albus, "Albus Dumbledore do you have an opening statement?"
Albus rose slowly, "The accusations against me are all mere speculation. The Will read before you all was clearly a fabricated letter as James and Lily did not leave a Last Will and Testament. The insinuation that I am a Dark Lord is preposterous and I will not stand for such slander. I will prove my innocence and put an end to this charade. Thank you." He sat down quickly as he tried to come up with away to silence that Will.
Bagnold held back a laugh, "The prosecution may proceed." She called.
Amelia stood, "First, as you all just heard Albus Dumbledore is claiming the late Lord and Lady Potter had not processed a will. He would have you believe the entirety of the Will we just heard was false, but I will counter that argument." She turns to the left side of the Wizengamot stands, "Castor Greengrass," she called eyeing the blond man, "Would you mind standing and answering a question for me."
The man stood with a proud look on his face, "Of course Madam Bones."
"You are the Lord of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Greengrass. Tell me during the previous war did you ever pen a Will."
"I did." The man replied.
"Why?" she asked eyeing him.
"Because, if anything were to happen to me in the midst of the war and I did not have a Will penned my House would fall. There would be nothing keeping others from laying claim to my fortune and assets thereby leaving my wife and daughter to fight random people who wish to lay claim to what is rightfully my wife's and daughters." The man said.
"Now please give me your opinion on this matter," Amelia said, "As the heads of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter, do you believe Lord and Lady Potter would be foolish enough to not pen a will when they knew the most powerful Dark Wizard since Grindelwald was after them and their son."
Castor Greengrass looked down from his seat, "I met Lord and Lady Potter numerous times during the war…they did not strike me as the type who were not aware of what could happen by the end of this war."
"Thank you Lord Greengrass." Amelia says as the man returns to his seat. Amelia turns to face the entire court once again, "The Prosecution now calls Ragnok Battleborn the Sixth!"
The Wizengamot gasped, normally a goblin would never get involved in a case involving wand carriers. The goblin stood from his seat near Sirius and walked out to the floor standing on a conjured stand so all could see him. Amelia steps forward, "Sir Ragnok, normally goblins avoid getting involved with our judicial system so we do not have a proper way to swear you in…"
"If it would please the court," Ragnok began, "I will be happy to make a Blood Oath to speak only the truth."
The room was filled with gasps. Every member of the Wizengamot knew goblin magic and contracts was usually done through Blood Magic which was powerful and would result in the offender of the blood magic either losing their magic or worse, their life. "Very well please proceed." Amelia told him.
Ragnok used one of his sharp claws to cut across his palm before raising his bleeding palm above his head, "I, Ragnok Battleborn the Sixth, do hereby swear under a Blood Oath to speak the truth and nothing but the truth so mote it be." Their was a rush of magic flowing throughout the room. The blood on the goblin's hand began to glow before vanishing leaving his palm bare and free of the cut that was once there.
"Thank you sir," Amelia said smiling, "Now Sir Ragnok, please tell the court your profession."
"I am an account manager for Gringotts. I have served as the Potter family account manager for the last fifty years." The goblin said.
"So you knew the late Lord and Lady Potter well?" Amelia asked.
"Indeed, I had know Lord Potter since he was a boy, and later met Lady Potter after they had wed shortly after graduating Hogwarts." The goblin explained.
"Sir Ragnok," she said pulling out the copy of the will he had just read, "Can you tell me about this?"
"That is the Last Will and Testament which I penned myself at their request on October 24th, 1981." Ragnok said.
"I have one concern Sir Ragnok." Amelia said, "This Will states that Albus Dumbledore was the witness to the Will. However what you just read to the court had very damning accusations against that very man. Why on earth would he chose to witness this Will when the late Lord and Lady Potter gave such damning accusations against him."
Ragnok smiled, "As many of the Lords and Ladies of this body are aware when a Will is penned through Gringotts the witness portion is just to state that someone other than the one enacting the Will is aware the will is being penned. The witness will sign on the witness line then be ask to leave the room while the Will creators discuss the provisions of the said Will. So Albus Dumbledore was present when James and Lily Potter came to pen their will, and after he signed the witness line he was escorted from the room so he was not aware of anything that was written inside."
"Fascinating," Amelia said, "And what do you say about Albus Dumbledore's claim that this Will," She holds out the Will in front of him, "is fabricated."
"A ludicrous accusation," Ragnok said, "Look at the last page of that Will at the bottom and tell me what you see." He said.
Amelia flipped to the final page as told and looked down to the bottom, "I see the wax seal of not only the Potter Family but also Gringotts." She said before turning and showing the court the two wax seals at the bottom of the last page.
"Precisely," Ragnok said, "As everyone in the magical community knows NO ONE has the right to use the Gringotts seal except the goblins of Gringotts." He said, "That alone proves the authenticity of that document."
"Thank you very much Sir Ragnok," Amelia says, "As proof you have up held your Blood Oath can you please perform a mild form or magic to prove you still have access to your magic." The goblin lifted his hand and waved it. Suddenly multiple orbs of golden light floated around the room, "Thank you. No further questions." She looked up to Bagnold.
"Albus Dumbledore would you like to cross examine the witness." She asked.
Albus face was red with a scowl of anger. Amelia had effectively disproved his previous statement that the Will was a fabrication. "I do not." He said coldly.
"Let the record show Albus Dumbledore has declined to cross examine the Witness, Sir Goblin you may step down." She says. The podium lowers its self letting the short goblin step down. "The Prosecution may call their next witness."
Amelia stood, "The Prosecution calls, Sirius Orion Black to the stand."
The entire room was quiet as Sirius stood, still chained, and made his way over to stand. He stood on the stand as Amelia walked over to him, "Sirius Black as you are currently a prisoner of Azkaban we can not allow you a wand to make a Oath. Instead we ask for your consent to be administered Veritaserum."
"I agree." Sirius croaked out.
"Auror Shacklebolt will now administer the serum." Amelia said nodding to the man who had accompanied Sirius to the stand. The tall black man tilted the small phial to Sirius lips, who readily gulped it down. Once done, Sirius stood there with a blank expression on his face. "Sirius Black," Amelia called, "I will now ask you a few questions to insure to potion has taken effect. First, please state your full name and occupation before your incarceration in Azkaban."
"Sirius Orion Black, Senior Auror First class." He responded flatly.
"What are the properties of the wand you used before it was confiscated?" Amelia asked.
"Dogwood and Unicorn hair, thirteen and a quarter inches." Sirius answered again flatly.
"Lastly, please tell the court a secret few know of." Amelia said.
"I am an unregistered animagus with the form of a Grim." Sirius said flatly.
There were gasps across the room. Minerva looked to Remus who nodded in response. Amelia jotted that down before asking her next question, "Sirius, is it true you are Harry Potter's godfather by Godfather ritual?"
"Yes." Sirius said.
"When was the Ritual performed?" Amelia asked.
"Three days after Harry was born at Potter Manor." He replied again.
Amelia turned to the courtroom, "For those of you who do not know a Godparent ritual is a ancient form of magic that prevents the Godparent from ever betraying the child or the parents. Doing so would result in the Godparent in question to immediately fall dead where he or she stands." She turned back to Sirius, "Sirius, were you the Potter's Secret Keeper?"
"No." he said
"Who was?" Amelia asked.
"Peter Pettigrew." Sirius said. The crowd gasped as Sirius, under a truth serum, confirmed what the Will had said before.
"And where is Pettigrew now?" Amelia asks.
"I don't know." Sirius said.
"You don't know? But, didn't you kill him on the morning of November 1st? Amelia asked.
"I did not." Sirius said the entire courtroom gasped.
"Please tell the court EXACTLY what happened the morning of November 1st." Amelia said calmly.
"After leaving the destroyed cottage in Godric's Hollow I went in search of Peter cause I knew he must have betrayed us. I showed up on the street where his flat was, and made my first mistake of that encounter: I began screaming for him. This caused the nearby muggles to come out into the street to investigate." Sirius explained, "Peter suddenly appeared and began screaming I betrayed James and Lily. Then I made my next mistake: I was so shocked and angry by his claims I did not watch his hand. Before I could react he cut off one of his fingers and cast a blasting curse into the straight into the street. The next thing I saw was Peter grinning at me as he transformed while the muggles around me were screaming terrified."
"Your saying Peter is the one who cast the curse?" she asked.
"Yes." Sirius replied.
"You said he transformed…elaborate on that." Amelia said.
"Peter, like myself, is an unregistered animagus. His form is a common garden rat." Sirius said blankly.
"So your saying Peter Pettigrew is alive and well?" Amelia asked.
"Alive, missing a finger, but alive." Sirius said. The entire courtroom began whispering.
"How do you know Pettigrew is an animagus?" Amelia asks.
"Because myself and James Potter helped him become one." Sirius said.
"Why?" Amelia asked
"In our second year at Hogwarts we learned our close friend Remus Lupin was a werewolf. Myself and James began researching how to become animagi so we could comfort our friend during his monthly transformations. Peter decided he wanted to join us. By the time we were in fifth year all three of us had successfully mastered our transformations. I got the Grim animagus, Peter the Rat animagus, and James' was a Stag."
"So you're telling me three fifth year students successfully became animagi without any of the professors catching on?" Amelia said.
"Yes…" Sirius said, "We were almost caught once when Peter attempted to jump ahead of us and flopped his transformation. Ending up with rat ears and a tail, but we passed it off at a prank. We were very angry with him and pondered cutting Peter from our group, but the next day it was like all our anger toward him had vanished." He explained his expression still blank.
"As if someone compelled you to forgive him?" Amelia asked.
"Yes." Sirius said.
Remus glanced over to Minerva who was clenching her fist, "He must have compelled you boys. That bastard." She mumbled.
"Minerva calm yourself remember." He looked down in her empty lap.
Minerva followed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Thank you Remus." She regained her composure and looked ahead as the trial continued.
A/N: With everything thats coming out, Dumbledork doesn't even have a chance to defend himself Amelia has thought this through! As a concerned reader has pointed out. It would appear that James and Lily were fully aware of Dumbledore's plan and seemingly did nothing. I'd like to point out the the two didn't know who they could trust. They had no idea who Dumbledore had influenced to doing his bidding so the only thing they could do was prepare for the worst.
Up Next: Minerva shows Dumbledore who has her true alligence. Dumbledore sentence is delivered.