Harry and Merope to the Rescue - Chapter 23
Disclaimer:
I don't own the HP universe, unfortunately.
Dumbledore almost shouted, but stopped himself just in time and said as calmly as he could, "That Will was sealed by the Wizengamot, by myself specifically, it cannot be used as evidence in this trial as it would reveal the caretakers of the Boy-Who-Lived, the son of the late James and Lily Potter."
"Yes, I assumed that would be your argument, Chief Warlock, but I'm glad you mentioned it. You see, neither you or the Wizengamot have the authority to seal the Will away from family, and I am most assuredly family. But, also, I only intend to display the relevant portions of the Will as it relates to our current case. At a later time, we'll discuss the location of my cousin Harry, who should have been released to my custody the moment you knew of my existence.
"What I find especially interesting is that you had to have read the Will in order to have it sealed, so you should have read the part where James and Lily Potter revealed who their true secret keeper was." Hushed whispers rose throughout the courtroom.
Dumbledore, in his bid to preserve his reputation stated, "There was no such thing stated in the Will that I saw, so it's quite obvious to me that the document you intend to reveal must be a fabricated document."
In response, Harry said, "Hmm. Well, it is a document that passed all of Gringotts' validity tests and it bears the Seal of Gringotts. Do you still say that I could have forged it?"
Dumbledore, realizing he had been outmatched just gestured for him to continue.
"Thank you, Chief Warlock," Harry said smoothly. "I would be more than happy to pass this document around for the members of the Wizengamot to read over and review, but I think that would take too long. Instead, I'm going to make a projection overhead that will allow everyone to read the relevant portions and blur the non-relevant portions."
At this point murmurs broke out and someone exclaimed, "Such a charm doesn't exist." To which Harry responded with a cheeky grin, "You would be surprised at the amount of impossible things I am capable of. My wife accuses me of enjoying being told it's not possible, just so I can go out and show that it is possible." A few members of the Wizengamot and the visitors' section laughed in amusement at that response.
After a moment, Harry proved to those present that he could indeed create the projection, which did, in fact, blur out the non-relevant information and showed only what was relevant to the trial proceedings. There were quite a few exclamations in awe at the complexity of the charm. Harry heard some murmurings about asking how it's done so they could use it for future trials.
This is the Last Will and Testament of James and Lily Potter of Godric's Hollow, being of sound mind and body, do hereby revoke any other Will made prior to October 1, 1981.
If you are reading this, then that means that our secret keeper betrayed us to Voldemort. We want to make sure that justice is served, and the authorities are made aware of the real secret keeper. We did inform Headmaster Dumbledore of the deception we were playing, but as he was behaving oddly, we wanted a backup plan in place to make sure that Sirius was not charged for something he didn't do.
Peter Pettigrew was our secret keeper, not Sirius Black. Sirius Black volunteered to pretend to be the secret keeper, because no one would have believed that we would choose Peter over Sirius. Obviously we made a bad judgment call, if you are now reading our Will.
Everyone stared wide eyed at Dumbledore when they finished reading the portion of the Will on display.
Dumbledore cleared his throat and said, "Okay, So you've proven that Sirius Black was not the secret keeper, but the fact still stands that he is accused of the murder of 12 muggles and Peter Pettigrew." He hoped that everyone would forget about the information related to himself by the end of the trial, but by the look on Potter's face, he didn't think the Wizengamot would be allowed to forget that information.
"Of course, Chief Warlock," Harry said politely. "I call to the stand Peter Pettigrew." It was completely silent for a moment while everyone gawked at him. Harry noticed Mad-Eye was even looking at him as if he was off his rocker. Harry just smiled and said, "I do suppose it would help you believe me if I were to pull him out of my pocket?" Everyone in the courtroom gave him a blank stare.
"I'll take that as a, yes," Harry said. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out an ordinary looking rat. Then Harry set up another projection so that everyone present could see clearly. "I know you all think me a bit touched in the head at the moment, but I promise that it will all make sense very shortly." The rat was starting to come out of its stunned state and squeaked in terror when he realized where he was and attempted to escape from Harry's grip, but soon gave up when Harry suspended him in midair and he found it to be impossible to escape.
"Let me give you a bit of background in order to put this into context. This is information I learned from speaking to Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. There were once four friends who called themselves The Marauders. They loved to play pranks and they enjoyed any reason to laugh."
A voice from the gallery declared in a bored voice, "I hope you actually have a point. Some of us were not fans of The Marauders."
Harry recognized that voice as Severus Snape, so he turned and smiled and said, "No, I don't suppose you would have liked them very much, Mr. Snape, I'm told they could be cruel with their pranks before they finally matured and understood better."
"How do you know who I am?" Snape couldn't help but to ask curiously.
Dumbledore interrupted, "While I'm sure we would all be most fascinated to hear the answer to that question, we are conducting a trial."
"Of course, my apologies," replied Snape, gesturing to Harry to continue.
Harry inclined his head in response and continued his story. "The four boys were the best of friends and their names were James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. They were really close friends, these Marauders. So close, in fact, that they all noticed very quickly when one of them was always sick or missing at the same time every month." The audience began exchanging looks at that information.
"Yes, after a few months, they realized that one of them was a werewolf." Harry had to pause a moment because of the exclamations and gasps and chatter that began. Once it was quiet again, Harry resumed. "The three remaining friends were determined to confront the third friend, but not so that they could reject him. They wanted to find out why he felt he needed to keep it a secret from them. They were his friends. He should have trusted in their friendship that they would not reject him for it. Finally they got through to him and he explained his story to them."
Harry drew a breath and resumed, "He was bitten by Fenrir Greyback when he was four years old in revenge for something his father said that Greyback didn't like." Harry watched as the different facial expressions varied from person to person, many were horrified, some were disgusted, some kept their faces neutral. Harry saw Remus trying to pretend he wasn't bothered, because he understood where Harry was going with the story, but he still didn't like feeling so exposed. Harry made brief eye contact with him and gave him a look of encouragement.
"While we're not here to argue about the rights of werewolves and why one would have been allowed to attend Hogwarts, I will say that the peaceful werewolves have my support. I have even warded a special island where they will be invited to take shelter during nights of the full moon, so that they may run free and without fear of infecting anyone." This caused many people to whisper in shock and surprise, and the majority of those present were silently impressed.
"Now that the four friends were all in on the secret, the other three Mauraders were able to help with cover stories to explain away the injuries or the days of the month he was missing. The other three Marauders also began to make plans of their own. After years of study and determination, the three friends were finally able to turn into animagi in their fifth year, that way they could run around with him during the full moon and keep him company. It also kept him from injuring himself, too." Harry paused while there was more chatter and whispers.
After everyone settled back down again, Harry smiled and said, "Yes, I was most impressed when I found out that wizards so young were able to achieve such an amazing accomplishment." Harry turned his attention back to the rat that he had suspended in midair looking at it thoughtfully. Then he returned his attention back to his audience and asked, "Would anyone care to know what their forms were?"
There was a collective nod from everyone in the room, and Harry smiled and said, "They became a stag, a dog, and a rat." He said the last while looking at the rat significantly. The rat in question had begun struggling to escape again in earnest. There was a hushed murmur that began to rise a moment before Harry started to speak again. "I want to draw your attention to this rat's front right paw." He hit the rat with a freezing charm and then zoomed in the projection so the audience could see the paw in question better. "I want you to notice how he is missing a toe. What was the only thing found at the scene where Peter Pettigrew supposedly was killed? A finger." Harry paused while he waited for the whispers and murmurs to quiet back down again. He absently noticed how Dumbledore was trying to pretend to be fascinated, but Harry was still able to tell that he was fighting his temper.
"Auror Shacklebolt," Harry called. Shacklebolt came over, looking at Harry curiously. Harry asked, "Will you please cast a reversal spell, so we can determine whether or not this rat is really just a rat or an animagi?"
"Certainly, Mr. Potter," Shacklebolt said. When he cast the spell, there was a blue and white flash and suddenly there was a man suspended in midair in place of the rat that had been there. Pandemonium broke out in the courtroom and Shacklebolt immediately bound Peter Pettigrew with an incarcerous in order to prevent any attempts to escape while the courtroom descended into chaos. Harry was thankful that Shacklebolt was alert enough to do such, but he knew that his suspension charm was not going to break.
Finally, after Dumbledore shot sparks out of his wand, everyone settled back down. Then Dumbledore looked over the rim of his glasses at Harry and asked, "Am I to understand that you believe this man to be Peter Pettigrew?"
Harry looked sternly back and said, "Chief Warlock, I believe that the entire courtroom now believes this man to be Peter Pettigrew, but yes, I know him to be Peter Pettigrew, as I've had his identity verified."
Dumbledore tilted his head to the side and asked, "Why did you wait until the trial to present the fact that Peter Pettigrew was alive?"
"Well, Chief Warlock," Harry said, "frankly, when I put together the evidence and it became clear to me that someone or multiple someones were doing everything they could to prevent my client from having a fair trial, or even a tria at all. So I most certainly wasn't going to give up the best evidence I had to make sure that Sirius Black was freed, I had no guarantees that someone wouldn't quietly and conveniently make the evidence disappear."
Dumbledore looked back at him in shock and asked, "Surely, you wouldn't believe the Ministry of Magic incapable of seeing justice done?" He raised his hands partway, as if that would make him appear more innocent.
Harry looked at Dumbledore sternly and without blinking and said, "After seeing the evidence I had gathered and the lack of a common sense approach to Sirius Black's arrest and trial refusal, yes, I thought that. It would have been foolish of me to not think something like that could happen, given the circumstances." He noticed Mad-Eye nodding in approval from the corner of his eye.
Dumbledore appeared to be opening his mouth but Harry interrupted him instead and said, "I believe we can move forward with the vote to find Sirius Black not guilty. I do believe I have indulged your questions for long enough." And noticing that he had everyone's complete attention he added, "And don't think I have forgotten that we wouldn't even be here to start with, if you hadn't sealed James and Lily Potter's Will, which plainly spelled out who the secret keeper was. At the very least, if Sirius Black had been questioned, then everyone would have known to be on the lookout for a rat with a missing toe.
"Based on the results of my investigations, I have come to some disturbing conclusions, but as you are not the one on trial at this time, I will keep the conclusions that I reached to myself at this time. Although, I'm very willing to speak with the aurors as to my findings, after I have set up the freelance investigations service that I intend to start.
"Now, we have rested our case and I don't believe closing arguments are even needed to convenience the Wizengamot what the verdict of the trial should be, unless Mr. Crouch believes he still needs to make closing arguments."
"Oh, no," Mr. Crouch said, "I believe you have more than made your point and we should just skip the formalities and allow the Wizengamot to make their ruling.
Dumbledore sighed and said, "All who believe Sirius Orion Black to be guilty of the charges, light your wand." He looked around the room and saw not one light lit. He sighed and said, "All who believe Sirius Orion Black to be not guilty, light your wand." The courtroom was filled with light, even from the visitor's section.
"Very well." Dumbledore said, trying to pretend cheerfulness, "Sirius Orion Black, you have been found not guilty on the charges and you are free to go. It seems that your wand was snapped, so the Ministry will pay for you to purchase a new wand."
Sirius stood up and bowed to the crowd, as they cheered. Then he settled his gaze on Dumbledore and said loud enough to be heard over the cheering, "I hear you lost my godson, Old Man." The crowd was immediately silent and hanging on Sirius' every word. "You had better hope to Merlin that he is still alive, because if he was harmed in anyway while you were busy moving chess pieces around, you're going to have more to worry about than just an irate godfather, who would have had custody of said child had you not interfered where you had no business."
One brave person from the crowd asked, "Mr. Black, who is your godson?"
Sirius replied, "Harry James Potter, the one you all have been calling the Boy-Who-Lived."
Everyone gasped in shock and then pandemonium broke out once again. Suddenly Dumbledore was bombarded as the masses descended on him and he had to surround himself with a shield spell, just to keep the crowd off of him. He was looking desperate enough to call Fawkes for help, but was only refraining from doing so because it would make him look like a coward.
Mad-Eye came over to Harry and shook his hand in congratulations, watching Dumbledore with his magical eye. "You and Sirius sure know how to ruffle some feathers, Harry," Moody said.
Harry smiled and said, "This is only the beginning Moody. Dumbledore has a lot to account for and a lot of schemes that need to be revealed, but all in due time."
Before Moody could respond, Sirius approached them and said chuckling, "Well, that's done. He'll be roasted for a while." He looked around and said, "I see my mother waiting for me, so I'm going to go home with her now and try to get to know her better. She's been visiting with me every day, but it's hard to visit with bars between us, no matter how much nicer the accommodations were compared to Azkaban." Then he reached out and hugged Harry and said, "Thank you for what you've done for me." Then he whispered, "I expect you to come pick me up tomorrow so I can see my godson, well, my youngest godson."
Harry patted him on the back and said, "Of course, Sirius." Knowing Sirius would understand it was in answer to both of his last statements. Then he looked at Sirius sternly and said, "Just remember what I told you about Kreacher."
Sirius sighed and said, "Yes, I understand. And since I'm making amends with my mother, it shouldn't be too hard to try to make amends with the grumpy old elf." Then Sirius shook hands with Mad-Eye and left to meet his mother, so they could go home and try to figure out how being a family actually worked.