Chapter Six: The case of Harry J. Potter vs. the Wizarding World
Harry looked around the huge stone chamber as they stepped in.
It seemed to have been carved in one piece out of the stone.
In a circle rows of stone-pews lined the walls like a colosseum.
The circular space in the middle was taken in by a chair, fastened to the floor with iron manacles on the armrests and the front feet of the chair, as well as a small table with two regular chairs.
Straight across from the manacle-chair was a raised cubicle-like seat with the seal of the Wizengamot painted onto it.
From underneath the vaulted sealing floating orbs of light illuminated the room.
Harry then focused on the gathered people.
On the stone pews to the left and right of the recess sat about fifty people, all clad in identical plum-coloured robed with a silver 'W' on their left chest.
He spotted a couple of familiar faces.
Amos Diggory sat in the third row next to Obu Patil, Padma's and Parvati's father.
Victor Greengrass was also there, sitting in the front bottom row the left. He nodded at Harry but looked concerned.
He spotted Amelia Bones and Jason Abbot close to the recess.
Nevilles' Grandmother was easy to spot thanks to her vulture-hat. The guy sitting behind her didn't look thrilled judging by the was he kept leaning left and right all the time to try and see what was going on in front of him.
A surprise was the sight of Narcissa Malfoy on the far-right side.
Harry hadn't heard from her since she had saved him from fake Moody. Whenever he'd written her on their enchanted piece of parchment she never replied.
Now too she wasn't looking at him either, looking rather bored.
But he noticed that she had seated herself rather far away form the likes of Crab and Goyle Sr.
And sitting on the raised cubicle seat was the Minister himself.
The rest of the room, to Harrys annoyance, was taken in by curious onlookers and reporters.
Rita Skeeter's tell-tale blond worm-like hair moved around in his peripheral vision.
Almost all chattering ceased when the three of them entered.
Harry supressed the smirk at the sight of Fudges annoyed expression.
He had hoped the wouldn't show up. Or at least be late.
But thanks toe Grits insight they had arrived just in time.
"Presenting himself before the Wizengamot for his disciplinary hearing is Harry James Potter, heir apparent to the Houses Potter and Black." Grit announced loudly.
Fudge, suddenly aware that everybody was looking at him adjusted his expression to a more neutral one and nodded.
"He is recognized. Be seated and let's begin."
Harry stared at the chair and the manacles.
"It's alright Harry." Sirius whispered.
With a sigh Harry sat down but refused to put his arms on the armrests or anywhere near those chains.
The chair was hard and the back straight and Harry didn't like how it made him feel so small as all around him the grown ups stared down at him.
Sirius and Grit sat down at the small desk next to his chair.
Fudge banged his gavel twice and the room fell into complete silence.
"I hereby declare the court to be in session. Interrogators Cornelius Oswald Fudge Minister of Magic and Mafalda Hopkirk Head of the Department for the misuse of magic. Witness for the defence: Healer Pomona Pomfrey, Senior-Auror Kinsley Shacklebolt and Auror Nyphadora Tonks and Sirius Orion Black. Court scribe: Percival Ignatius Weasley."
That last name made Harry look up.
Percy had been a sore topic all summer and now Harry saw him for the first time since…well…since the third task really. He almost didn't recognize the third Weasley son in his robes and stoic expression as he scribbled away on a piece of parchment.
But he had no time to think about it anymore because Fudge continued.
In a tone that bordered hostility Fudge asked Grit: "And who might you be?"
Grit ignored Fudges tone and replied: "Representing the accused: Grit of the Goblin Nation. I ask you to add a few last-minute witnesses."
He handed Percy a scroll.
"And who might those extra witnesses be?" Fudge asked.
"In due time." Grit waved him off. "Please proceed Minister. What are the charges you accuse my client of?"
"I don't take orders from you" Fudge grumbled but proceeded to name the charges.
"The charged against the accused are as follows: that he did knowingly and in full awareness of the illegality of his actions produced a Patronus charm in the presence of a muggle. Aside from the obvious violation of the statue of secrecy, this is also Mr. Potters third offence and as such warrants not only his expulsion from Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry but also for his wand to be snapped immediately and his exclusion from our society."
Fudge smirked at Harry with self-satisfaction as around them whispers broke the silence in the room. The flashed of dozens of cameras behind him illuminated the room.
Harry tried to remain calm.
But inside he was already boiling with anger.
Fudges blunt statement was supposed to taunt him into responding, he knew that. And boy, was he close to snapping already.
But Grit must have sensed it because he stepped in front of Harry and drew the attention of the room onto himself.
"Thank you Minister for this comprehensive summary. But not all of your statements were correct. Now, before we get the crux of the issue, I would like for Madam Hopkirk to clear those up. Madam?"
All eyes turned to the small thin woman sat just outside of Fudge's box.
Nervously she straightened eth papers in her lap.
"Ahm…yes, the Goblin is right. While Mr. Potter has indeed been summoned for the misuse of underage magic, this is technically his first offence. The previous two charges, one incident of a levitation charm being used and one of…ahm…enlarging his aunt, were dropped two years ago by the Minister of Magic Cornelius Oswald Fudge."
She held up a paper and then passed it down to her colleagues, who passed it along through their rows, reading the dismissal of the charges.
Once more a murmur went through the room.
Fudge blushed.
"And what is the usual procedure for first-time-offenders Madam Hopkirk?" Grit asked loudly.
"A private hearing in my office and an official warning. If there is the need for clean-up, such as obliviating mortals or fixing property damages, it will be provided against a fee of course."
Grit nodded.
"But then how come my client was summoned before the entire Wizengamot?"
Madam Hopkirk looked nervously at her boss.
"I don't know. I received note of the change just minutes before the hearing was set to begin."
Turning around to face the rest of the gathered members Grit continued: "Just like my client. Luckily, we arrived early. One can only wonder why…"
Fudge interrupted him.
"Because this is no ordinary case of an underage wizard using magic. This is Harry Potter after all." He said heatedly.
Grit narrowed his eyes.
"How does my clients identity change the nature of the offence. He is underage and he preformed magic outside of school. That is the definition of the crime you accuse him of."
"This is different, he used magic in front of a muggle. Our entire world was put at risk by him." Fudge reminded him loudly.
"So you say. But Mr. Potter is not the first underage wizard to have used magic in front of muggles and since we're all still here and the muggles are none the wiser that must mean the danger of exposing our world was minimal at best."
"Minimal? How can something like this be minimal?" Fudge growled.
"Would you like me to prove it?" Grit asked.
Fudged didn't say anything but Amelia Bones nodded and said: "Please do. I don't think many of us know what you are talking about."
Turning to Percy Grit said: "Please call in the first witness on the list."
With an uncertain look at his boss, Percy read out loud: "Calling Sabretooth of the Goblins to the witness stand."
The doors opened and a Goblin waddled in.
Grit motioned for Harry to go and sit next to Sirius while the Goblin took his seat.
"Please introduce yourself to the Wizengamot." Grit asked his fellow Goblin.
"The name's Sabretooth." Sabretooth grumbled.
"What is your position with our bank?"
"I keep records."
"What kinds of records?"
"All kinds."
"Do you keep records of the misuse of underage magic?"
"Yes."
"Could you please summon up the case of Montgomery vs. the Wizarding World?"
The Goblin sighed.
"Alright, so we had this apprentice a few decades ago. He was studied under the gold-smiths in our bank. Then one day, on a field trip in the muggle world with a few of his friends he was dared to revive a replica of a dinosaur in the British Museum. He did it. It was one of the greatest clean-up operations of the century. Over five-hundred muggles had to be obliviated and the property damage came to a total of thirteen thousand gallons, three sickles and 20 knuts."
"I remember that. It was a huge scandal." Call out Neville's grandmother. "I knew that boy" she continued "had horrible manners."
"Yes, and how old was Mr. Montgomery at the time of the crime?" Grit asked.
"Fifteen." Sabretooth said.
"The same age as Mr. Potter then." Grit observed.
Once more muttering could be heard.
"What about the case of O'Sullivan vs. the Wizarding World?" Grit continued.
"She was an apprentice healer under our bank and used magic to heal a little boy that had gotten run over in the street behind her family's home in Nottingham. Eighteen people had to be obliviated."
Grit nodded.
"And what about the case of Goodwill vs the Wizarding World?"
"I think we get the point!" Fudge called out red-face with anger.
"I don't think you do. Please proceed Sabretooth." Grit waved him aside.
"This has nothing to do with this case."
"If you would let my witness continue you would see it does." Grit sneered.
"I want to hear this." Came Victor Greengrasses voice, booming through the room.
There were several people nodding.
"Please continue." Grit told Sabretooth.
"Goodwill was an accountant trainee, Muggleborn, and during the holidays she went camping with friends and they were attacked by a werewolf on the night of a full moon. Goodwill fought the beast off but not before herself and one of her muggle friends were bitten. Five people had bee obliviated and the infected human died of his wounds three days later. Goodwill survived."
"Thank you, that will be all." Grit said, nodding as his fellow Goblin. Sabretooth nodded and left, sitting down to one side.
Grit handed out several files.
"These are copies of the official reports filed for each of these cases and the aftermaths of each, in case you want to read up on them." He explained as the files were passed around.
"Now, if you are wonder why I bring these old cases up, allow me to explain. The first case shows that even though a lot more muggles were exposed to magic, the situation was still handled and our secret remains safe to this day. So the statement, that Mr. Potter risked our exposure is, as I already said, minimal at best."
Harry looked around the room, seeing the people skim through the files while listening to Grit.
"The second and third case deal with the exceptions for the reasonable restriction on underage magic. In both cases magic was used to save lives. Now can we really condone such actions? Just like the two women in these cases, my client, Mr. Potter, acted out of self-defence, not just for his life but also for the life of an innocent bystander. His friend. So I really don't understand why my client is treated like a mass murderer in this chamber when should be congratulated on his quick thinking."
"Saving a life? Whatever from?" asked a woman to Fudge's left.
She looked like a massive toad and even from underneath her plum-coloured robe Harry could see eth collar of something atrociously pink.
"Well Madam Undersecretary, there is only one thing the Patronus defends against isn't there?" Grit asked sweetly.
"You want us to believe, that a dementor attacked the boy? In a muggle neighbourhood? Please, I've heard far more believable stories." The woman sneered.
Grit narrowed his eyes.
"I'm calling Harry James Potter to the witness stand. I think its time we hear his account of what happened that night."
Harry rose slowly and approached the chair and sat down once more.
"Mr. Potter, do you promise to speak the truth and nothing but the truth while in this chamber?" Grit asked.
"I do." Harry said firmly, glad that his voice sounded steady.
"Fasten the chains of truth." Fudge called out.
Almost immediately the shackles on the chair sprung to life, wrapping themselves tightly around Harrys arms, legs and chest.
Protests rose through the chamber, Sirius being the loudest.
"Minister, I remind you my client is a minor, you cannot simply bind him!" Grit shouted angrily.
"Why not, if your client has nothing to hide, he should have nothing to fear?" Fudge asked smugly.
"That is not the point, without parental consent this is a felony and could see you serving eight to twelve years in Azkaban." Grit hissed coldly.
"I'm the Minister of Magic." Fudge growled.
"That doesn't mean you are above the law." Grit reminded him. "Now get these chains of my client."
"No" Harry interrupted him loudly "The Minister wants the truth? If this is the only way He'll believe it then let it be."
Grit turned to him.
"Be advised Mr. Potter that if you lie while shackled, the bonds will tighten each time more and more and they are known to have squeezed criminals to death."
Harry swallowed but nodded. "I understand. But I have nothing to hide."
Grit hesitated for a second, then nodded.
"With the guardians' consent…" he said, looking at Sirius.
Harry looked ta his godfather.
Sirius had a murderous expression on his face.
But Harry nodded at him slightly, mouthing: 'I can take it.'
Sirius nodded abruptly. "I consent." Was all he said.
"Mr. Potter" Grit picked the conversation back up "please give us your recount of what happened that night."
Harry nodded.
"I was out in the park close to where we live. I was alone but then Gina found me."
"To clarify, Gina is who?" Grit asked.
"Gina is the muggle who witnessed my doing magic." Harry explained.
"Anyway, she sat down next to me and we talked for a bit when suddenly I got a bad feeling."
"Bad feeling?" Amelia Bones asked with a raised eyebrow.
Harry shrugged. "I don't know how else to describe it." He admitted and then continued:
"All of a sudden the weather changed. Clouds blocked out the sun and it started raining heavily. Since we were on a playground, Gina and I took shelter to wait out the worst of it. That's when I felt the familiar feeling of dread and cold. I immediately knew what it was. I told Gina to run but that's when the first Dementor attacked us."
"The first? As in more than one?" a fat wizard asked.
Harry nodded. "Yes. There were two in fact. The first one attacked Gina. I tried to help her but then the second appeared and latched onto me. They would have killed us but I managed to grab my wand and summon Prongs."
"Prongs?" Grit asked.
Harry blushed slightly.
"My Patronus takes the form of a stag, just like my fathers." He explained softly.
Silence rang through the room.
Clearing his throat awkwardly Harry continued: "So…ahm…Prongs fended the Dementors off and I checked up on Gina. She hadn't been kissed, thank Merlin, but she was really out of it, only semi-conscious. I knew I had to get her help."
Grit turned back to Fudge.
"This is where I call in Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nyphadora Tonks. If you would please unshackle my client?"
Fudge waved his hand and the shackles fell away. Relieved Harry took a deep breath and re-joined Sirius at the desk, who promptly put an arm around his shoulder, pulling him close.
Tonks and Shacklebolt approached the witness stand.
The chair widened so they both could sit down.
"Do both of you tell the truth and nothing but the truth?" Grit asked.
Both said yes.
"Do you consent to the chains of truth?" Fudge asked.
"We do." The two of them said.
The chains sprung to live once more and coiled around the two Aurors.
For a second Harry was worried. What about the secrets, the Order and all that? But then he told himself that the two would never have consented if they weren't prepared for that.
"Ms. Tonks, you were present when Mr. Potter arrived home with his unconscious friend. Please tell us what happened afterwards."
Tonks nodded. "Harry appeared in the living room with Gina, who was more or less unconscious. Both were shaking and were deathly pale. Harry managed to tell us what had happened. Knowing that time was of the essence I fire-called Madam Pomfrey."
"Why her?" Grit asked.
"Well, Madam Pomfrey is the only healer I know with enough expertise to handle something like this."
"I would like to know why the two of you were with Black in the first place?" Fudge interrupted them.
Tonks shrugged. "Sirius is my cousin. I visit him all the time." She said. The chains remained where they were.
"And you Shacklebolt?"
"Sirius is an old friend. I trained him before he was wrongfully imprisoned. We've been catching up since he got free and have become good friends. I too was visiting that day. It was a coincidence Tonks was there too."
The chains remained calm.
Harry frowned.
Technically it was correct what they were saying but that's not what had happened that night…
As if reading his thought Sirius whispered in his ear: "The chains are not fool-proof. They are only sensitized to really big lies. But these technical truths are beyond it. That's why is not really a reliable interrogation method but good for intimidation and stuff like that."
Harry nodded and focused back on the conversation at hand.
"So then what?" Fudge asked impatiently.
"Madam Pomfrey arrived and took care of Harry and Gina. She replaced the memories of the attack with a new one and Shacklebolt and I took Gina home." Tonks explained.
"Why didn't you report to the Office of Misuse of Magic?" Bones asked.
"To be honest there was so much going on and then the letter with Harry's expulsion from Hogwarts came and that somehow took precedence. We should have reported it but that the time it was just the last thing on our mind." Shacklebolt finished.
"Are there anymore questions for the witnesses?" Grit asked.
"What do you mean Mr. Potter appeared?" the toad like woman asked.
"Exactly what it means. One second he wasn't there, the next he was." Tonks said impatiently, crossing her arms.
All eyes turned back to Harry.
"So another act of illegal magic?" the toad-woman asked in her disgustingly sweet high pitched voice.
"No other acts of underage magic were registered, except for the Patronus." Grit reminded her.
"Then how did Mr. Potter just appear out of thin air? Illegal apparation?" toad-woman asked.
"No such activities were recorded." Madam Hopkirk said, handing her a piece of parchment which the toad didn't take.
Eyes turned back to Harry.
"Can you please clarify how you got from the playground to your home?" Grit asked Harry.
Harry hesitated.
"Not really" he began and quickly added when muttering rose up "Because it was accidental magic and I don't really know what I did. I just really wanted to get to Sirius so I could help Gina. I guess I could have apparated but I never learned how to so I don't know…"
"Nobody your age still experiences accidental magic Mr. Potter." Fudge sneered. "Clearly these are all lies to…"
"Actually children Mr. Potters age and older can experience bursts of accidental magic in cases of severe trauma or fear for example. Emotional turmoil can upset our magical core and enable it to act on our behalf as a survival mechanism. Apparation, flight or teleportation are a from of flight in case of emergencies." Grit interrupted the Minister.
"If there are no more questions, I would like to call Madam Pomfrey to the witness stand."
There weren't and Madam Pomfrey sat down in the chair.
It made Harry angry to see this kind woman chained to the chair.
"What happened after you arrived at the scene?"
"The Muggle girl was in a bedroom, unconscious. Mr. Potter was there with her. I examined her and found symptoms compatible with a dementor attack. Low pulse and blood pressure, slow brain activity, cold clammy skin, short rapid breathing and such. I did what I could for her and then per Mr. Potters request I changed her memories. Once the new memories had settled in correctly and were accepted by the brain, I gave the okay for her to be moved."
"What was the new memory you implanted in her mind?" Bones asked.
"Would you like me to show it?" Pomfrey asked.
Bones nodded and Madam Pomfrey waved her wand.
The lights in the chamber diminished and the silvery wisp of a memory rose onto the air and expended into a scene.
It showed the insides of their living room. It showed Harry and Gina sitting on the huge couch, their faces illuminated by the movie on the screen of the tiny TV Gina had brought over to watch one of her favourite movies.
On the table in front of them stood snacks and drinks.
Gina was laughing and they were talking while the movie played on the background.
"Okay, never have I ever had siblings." Memory-Harry say.
"Not fair Harry, you're an only child!" Memory-Gina complains but picks up a bottle of beer and takes a long sip.
Memory-Harry laughs. "Okay, next one." He says grinning brightly.
"Isn't it my turn?" Memory-Gina asks. "Not if you had to drink." Memory-Harry smirks.
Memory-Gina rolls her eyes.
"Never have I ever had to change diapers." Memory-Harry continues.
"I should never have taught you this game." Memory-Gina grumbles before drowning the rest of the bottle.
The memory stopped.
"It continues like that for a while. Then Mr. Potter takes her home and that's it. Her next memories will be of her waking up in her own bed. While she might experience the odd nightmare every now and then the muggle has been properly obliviated. She knows nothing." Madam Pomfrey explained.
She left the witness stand and sat down on the pews next to Kingsley and Tonks.
Grit took the floor once more.
"Let's go over everything we've learned so far. My client, in an act of self-defence, summoned a Patronus to defend himself and his friend from two Dementors. He then proceeded to get his friend the help she needed and also took care of any magic she might have witnessed. As I see it my client has not committed a serious crime. In my eyes this investigation should have rather concentrated as to why two dementors were so far away from Azkaban and why the attacked without permission. But now, instead resources and the valuable time of the Wizengamot it used to settle a small case of underage magic. Why? Why did you try to exclude my client from his hearing by changing time and place of his hearing? Why are so keen on brandishing him a liar? Why did you think his identity should have been put into consideration in his sentencing? Why Minister?"
Silence all over again.
"These are nothing but wild accusation." Fudge fumbles.
"Are they? It is no secret that there is a certain animosity between your administration and my client at the moment. You were letting your personal feelings cloud your judgement. You were hoping to present my client as a criminal to you peers so that you might sentence him to a harsh punishment."
"You have no proof of that."
"I have this entire trial as my proof. I move that we get to the sentencing part." Grit hisses.
Fudge doesn't move but Harry cans see from the reaction of the gathered audience as well as the Wizengamot members that what Grit said finds agreement with them.
Madam Bones rises to her feet.
"All those In favour of sentencing the accused may raise their hand now."
Harry swallows as hand after hand goes up, among them Fudge, toad-woman, Crab and Goyle Sr., Lord Nott, several others and Narcissa Malfoy.
Madam Bones counts the voices.
"All those in favour of dropping all charges and re-admitting Mr. Potter back to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry my raised their hands."
Hand after hand goes up.
Victor Greengrass, Amos Diggory, Augusta Longbottom, Madam Bones herself, Madam Hopkirk, and many many others.
Pretty quickly it was clear to see that there were more in favour of him than not.
"All those withholding their votes?"
Only three people haven't voted.
Madam Bones nodded.
"Alright them. The motion carries. Mr. Potter, you are freed of all charges. You may leave."
There was no applause or anything.
It was clear the audience wasn't sure what to make of this.
Harry nodded and got up.
With Sirius by his side and Grit behind him he walked towards the courtroom doors.
He knew he probably shouldn't but he couldn't help it.
At the door he turned around and eyed the gathered people.
All were watching him leave.
There were only a few low murmurs.
He shouldn't be he was still angry.
"Makes you think what else I might have been telling the truth about. You can keep trying to shut me down but it won't work. Today was a prime example."
Then, without another word he turned and together they left.