A/N- QLFC, Kenmare Kestrels, Chaser 1, Semi Finals
Main Prompt- It's the end of the world as we know it- Genre: Hard Science Fiction
Additional Prompts- [emotion] fear, [color] purple, [word] universe
Word Count: 2139
*Fade from black*
*Text on screen reads: November 14th, 2181*
*Courtroom sketches of court proceedings appear on screen*
Voiceover: "This clip is from the official court transcript of Azkaban inmate Sirius Orion Black two weeks following the deaths of one Mr. James Potter and Mrs. Lily Potter nee Evans during the incident known as Agent Voldemort. Please note that the dramatic reading that follows may not be suitable for young children and to proceed with caution."
Bailiff Dawlish: All rise for the honorable Judge Bones!
*long pause as the judge makes her way to her stand*
Judge Amelia Bones: You may be seated. Let us proceed with Case #XY390 in defense of Sirius Orion Black regarding the events of October 31st, 2181. Last we left things before our brief recess, Mister Shacklebolt called his first witness, Doctor Remus Lupin. Mister Crouch, you may begin your cross-examination.
Prosecution Attorney Barty Crouch Sr.: Thank you, Ma'am. Mister Lupin, can you please explain how you know the defendant?
Lupin: We went to university together. At Hogwarts. We were… we were all roommates.
Crouch: And when you say 'all', who are you referring to?
Lupin: James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and myself.
Crouch: And how did you know Lily Potter?
Lupin: Lily Potter— or Evans at the time, went to Hogwarts as well. We had a lot of the same classes together and eventually she started dating James, so we all hung out a lot.
Crouch: And what did you study at Hogwarts, Mister Lupin?
Lupin: Bio-engineering. We all did.
Crouch: It says here that Potter, Evans, Pettigrew, and Black all went on to work for Phoenix Aeronautics Administration after Hogwarts. Why didn't you join them?
Lupin: I went back to school for my medical degree. That field suited me better.
Crouch: I see, but you remained close to your former roommates?
Lupin: Yes. Yes, we were… we were friends.
Crouch: Interesting. Doctor Lupin, could you please tell me what... this is?
*Courtroom sketch of Crouch holding up a hologram of a vial full of purple liquid before a captive jury and a stoic Lupin appears on screen*
Lupin: I can. That is Biochemical Compound 62.442. Or as it's more commonly known today... Agent Voldemort.
Crouch: And can you tell me who developed Agent Voldemort?
Lupin: Sirius Black did.
Crouch: Can you tell me what it does?
Lupin: It was made for aerospace travel. It's a warp-speed fueling agent to enhance velocity. James, Lily, Peter, and Sirius worked for PAA as part of the research team dedicated to exploring more of the universe. C62.442 was Sirius's contribution to the R&D program.
Crouch: Thank you, Doctor Lupin. So, would you say Mister Black is an intelligent man?
Defense Attorney Kingsley Shacklebolt: Objection!
Crouch: On what grounds?!
Shacklebolt: Leading the witness.
Crouch: (In confusion) Leading him into stating that the defendant is intelligent? Sorry, Your Honor, but I don't see how that's a detriment to the defence's case. May I proceed?
Bones: You may. Shacklebolt, I will overrule your objection. Mister Crouch…
Crouch: Thank you. I will reiterate my question, Doctor Lupin. Would you say Mister Black is an intelligent man?
Lupin: I would. When he applies himself, I have seen him... work miracles.
Crouch: Miracles? Wow, he must be a genius.
Lupin: (light chuckling) I might have called him that once or twice, yes.
Crouch: Strange then how he managed to create a compound so unstable it killed two of his closest friends and left their child deformed—
Lupin: It was an accident—
Crouch: It was negligence at best, and murder at worst! And to have the audacity to track down and kill Pettigrew afterwards—
Shacklebolt: Objection! There are no grounds—
Crouch: To cover up his crimes—
Lupin: He would never—
Shacklebolt: How dare you—
Bones: (yelling over the chaos) Order! Order in the court! Mister Crouch, you are deeply out of line on this. I will only give this one warning! If I catch you out of line again I will have you thrown from my court. Do you understand?
Crouch: Ma'am—
Sirius Black: (mumbling) It's my fault.
*an eerie silence settles over the proceedings*
Crouch: What did he just say?
Shacklebolt: (hissing) Do not say another word, Sirius—
Black: (a little louder than before) It's my fault. I did this.
Lupin: Padfoot—
Black: I did this. I did this. This is my fault. I did this.
Lupin: Kingsley, get him to stop!
Black: I did this, I did this, I did this!
Shacklebolt: Sirius, stop. Stop, mate, stop—
Black: Ha! I did this! Hahaha! It's me. I killed them! Ha, hahaha ha!
Crouch: He's confessing!
Lupin: He's not confessing. He's just scared! Please, Sirius, stop! Stop!
Black: I did this! I did this! I did this! Haaah hahahah! Haha haaah!
*Courtroom sketch of Sirius Black appears on screen. Strings of dark unwashed hair fall in front of his face and his silver eyes are wide and crazed. The maniacal laughter continues*
*Fade to black*
*Fade from black*
*A man in his mid-fifties with deep scars on his face and dark circles under his eyes appears on screen in front of a plain backdrop. The camera zooms in slightly and focuses as the man as he smiles sadly at someone behind the camera.*
*Text on bottom-left of screen reads: Doctor Remus Lupin, December 6th, 2201*
Interviewer from behind the camera: Can you tell me more about that day, Remus?
Lupin: It was… the worst day of my life.
Interviewer: And that's saying quite a lot, isn't it, sir?
*Lupin touches the scars on his cheeks which clearly bring to mind the alien attacks of 2174 for everyone watching at home*
Lupin: That's true.
Interviewer: How long was Sirius in Azkaban before his escape?
Lupin: Twelve years... Twelve long years…
Interviewer: Can you tell me about the events that led to his exoneration.
Lupin: (sadly) ...Sirius was never exonerated. He died before we could prove his innocence.
Interviewer: I'm so sorry.
Lupin: Yeah… yeah…
*Fade to black*
*Fade from black*
*A young man sits behind a desk in his office, his dark hair curling wildly around his head. He looks up and right into the lens of the documentary camera. His eyes are a bright purple.*
*Text on bottom-left of screen reads: Harry Potter, Captain of the SS: Gryffindor, First Class, May 1st, 2202"
Interviewer from behind the camera: Are you nervous?
Harry Potter: (chuckling) I'm always nervous. Perpetually nervous, even. But… It's like I was chosen to finish what my parents and godfather started, you know? It's like… I survived Pettigrew's explosion just to do this. So, forgive me if this seems unusually optimistic for such a dangerous task, but I have no doubts that the first-ever attempt at warp-speed travel will work tomorrow.
Interviewer: That does seem a tad presumptuous.
Potter: Well, I believe the universe put me here for a reason. And that reason is to explore more of its beauty and splendor... I think it wants me to do this.
Interviewer: Fate?
Potter: (nods) Fate.
Interviewer: So you think C62.442 has been fixed then?
Potter: (frowning) It was never broken.
Interviewer: Oh? Did Sirius show you that once he was able to escape prison?
Potter: Among other things.
Interviewer: Like how Sirius had put Peter Pettigrew in charge of the compound about a month before the incident? And how he tampered with the formula and then faked his own death?
Potter: (succinctly) Yes.
Interviewer: Can I ask, why would Pettigrew do that? Why would he kill his friends and fake his own death?
Potter: (glancing away from the camera, solemnly) He was insane. You should have seen him at the end. He kept saying that Agent Voldemort made him do it. We discovered later that Peter was probably an undiagnosed schizophrenic. He thought his arm was made of metal and that he could turn into a rat with the snap of a finger. He… he was terrified to go to space, so he tampered with the formula on orders from an imaginary voice that he thought came from the compound itself. It's possibly the most tragic story I've ever heard.
Interviewer: You say that as if you aren't part of the story. Like it's not also part of your story, Mister Potter.
Potter: (shrugging) Sometimes it doesn't feel like it is part of me. Most days I feel completely normal, like I'm just like everyone else. Most days when I look in the mirror I don't notice the unnatural hue of my eyes or the lighting scar beneath my fringe. I feel like I've always had them… because, well, I kind of have. I so very rarely wonder about the color of my eyes before I'd been infected with Agent Voldemort.
Interviewer: They were green, yes?
Potter: (smiling) Like my mother's.
Interviewer: Well, I am glad to hear you don't feel stifled by your history. It sounds like you've gathered some pretty good people around you, Mister Potter.
Potter: (still smiling) Yeah… yeah…
*Fade to black*
*Fade from black*
*A girl with large frizzy hair and a tall red-headed boy appear on screen. They sit in front of a window overlooking space.*
*Text on bottom-left of screen reads: Lte. Hermione Granger and Lte. Ronald Weasley, Dumbledore Space Station, May 2nd, 2202: The day of first launch*
Interviewer from behind the camera: What about you guys? Are either of you afraid?
Hermione Granger: Of another Agent Voldemort explosion? No.
Ronald Weasley: Of spiders? Yes, absolutely. It's half the reason I wanted to be an astronaut. There are no spiders in space, thank Space-God.
Granger: (slapping Weasley on the arm) Take this seriously, Ronald.
Weasley: (laughing) I am. Calm down, Hermione.
Interviewer: So you believe this mission will be a success, then?
Granger: Of course I do. Harry's a genius.
Weasley: (unable to look away from Granger) Hermione is also a genius. So, I think this will be the most successful mission in the history of the universe, actually.
Interviewer: High praise.
Granger: (now blushing and staring back at Weasley) Well, no one can map the stars like you can, Ron.
Weasley: Marry me.
*Camera zooms in as the lieutenants stare at each other for a long moment in silence*
Granger: (nods) When we return.
Weasley: (grinning from ear to ear) Yeah?
Granger: Yeah.
*Fade to black*
*Fade from black*
*Camera shot through a window of the Dumbledore Space Station as SS: Gryffindor undocks and prepares for launch. The camera pans across the window as it follows the space shuttle leaving the space station's orbit. There is no sound as a timer on the screen counts down from 20.*
20, 19, 18, 17…
*Text appears on screen: On May 2nd, 2202, Captain Harry Potter and the crew of the SS: Gryffindor made history.*
16, 15, 14, 13...
*Text appears on screen: A daring journey into the unknown that started twenty years ago with a dream, two deaths, a betrayal, and an incarceration has finally come to this.*
12, 11, 10, 9…
*Text appears on screen: A deadly compound once rumored to be the end of civilization as we knew it, would in just twelve seconds become the biggest commodity in Earth's most recent history.*
8, 7, 6, 5…
*Text appears on screen: Humanity has shown time and time again that it has the capacity for great tragedy...*
4, 3, 2, 1…
*Text appears on screen: ...And great hope.*
0.
*Text appears on screen: This film is dedicated to Sirius Black, a single star in the vast universe.*
*Fade to black*
*Fade from black*
*A handheld camera pans around a small laboratory as the person behind it sidles up to a workbench with a single occupant: a man with long, dark hair pulled into a loose bun on top of his head and eyes of silver. The man looks up and smiles at the person behind the camera.*
Black: Heya. What are you doing up, Prongs? It's the middle of the night.
James Potter from behind the camera: Harry woke me and I couldn't go back to bed. What about you?
Black: (excitement shining in his eyes) I think I figured it out. Look!
*Black holds up a vial of purple liquid for the camera*
Potter: Is that really it?
Black: I really think so…
*Camera stays on the vial for a very long time, until the color doesn't even look real anymore*
Potter: (with awe in his voice) What are you going to call it?
Black: Call it?
Potter: Come on. You have a name for everything, Padfoot.
Black: (smirking) Fine. I'm calling it… Voldemort.
Potter: What?
Black: It's french… for 'Flight from death'.
Potter: (scoffing) Poetic, mate. That's real poetic.
*Black looks up into the camera, and then past the camera. He looks at us.*
Fin.