Chapter 4: Guilt Challenged
Albus Dumbledore couldn't believe the developments that took place while he was questioning Morfin Gaunt. Two Death Eaters who cheated justice decided to verify Xenophilius Lovegood's stories by entering the Gaunt Shack to look for Morfin's ring and, believing it to be the Resurrection Stone, tried to use it to bring Voldemort back. Unfortunately, for the Death Eater who put the ring on, it contained a curse so strong they desperately sought Severus Snape's help.
Snape was able to temporarily delay the curse but, unable to completely comprehend it, took the ring to Headmaster Dumbledore, who figured out the stone was indeed the Resurrection Stone and also that Voldemort turned it into a Horcrux. Unable to obtain basilisk venom, Dumbledore saw himself with no choice but to risk his life using Fiendfyre to destroy the Horcrux as soon as he found a safe place where no one else could get hurt. 'I just hope Severus manages to keep Mr. Crabbe alive until then.' He thought.
After managing to destroy the Horcrux and finding out, to his relief, that he still could use the stone to meet his deceased family before his own next great adventure. Once that was dealt with, Dumbledore decided to view Morfin's memory. What he found out terrified him. The memory had clear signs of it being edited to make Morfin believe he killed Voldemort's muggle family. With no clue at the moment to the location of other Horcruxes, Dumbledore decided to clear Morfin. That the last member of an ancient family, even a disgraced one like the Gaunts, would have a murder conviction challenged after so many decades caused a stir that all newspapers in Wizarding Britain would feed on. Dumbledore's only comfort was the fact only the Quibbler mentioned Sirius Black.
GAUNT GUILT CHALLENGED
By Xenophilius Lovegood
Morfin Gaunt, the last of the Gaunt line, has been in Azkaban for the murder of a muggle family ever since 1943. Recently, Chief Warlock Dumbledore visited him to notify Gaunt of his nephew Tom Marvolo Riddle's death and, for some reason, requested a memory of the last time Uncle and nephew met. Upon viewing the memory, Dumbledore realized the memory was edited. The Chief Warlock now believes Riddle stole Morfin's wand, used it to kill the muggles, who happened to be his father and his paternal grandparents but abandoned his mother once she revealed herself to be a witch (there were also rumors that she was so ugly she needed a love potion to make his father marry her), and memory-charmed Gaunt into believing he's the real killer. If even Morfin Gaunt turns out to be innocent, Sirius Black's chances are even greater than initially assumed. Gaunt was taken to St. Mungo's for medical help to ensure he'll have the mental competency to stand trial. With the confirmation of this meeting and the fact Morfin Gaunt started missing his ring right after that, it's more likely that it was Riddle, and not a Grindelwald supporter, who stole the Resurrection Stone.
The stone. Albus Dumbledore still couldn't believe that, after all those years ever since he gave up on finding the Deathly Hallows and using them to subject the muggle world to magical rule under his and Gellert's command, he actually had all of them. The cloak that legally belonged to Harry Potter, the stone that was stolen from Morfin Gaunt, and the wand Dumbledore won by defeating Gellert Grindelwald.
The memories would normally be good enough for the Ministry to release Morfin Gaunt with nothing but a formal questioning held in private but, because of the decades and the controversy, Gaunt was questioned in public. "Morfin Gaunt, did you kill your nephew's muggle father and grandparents?" Minister Bagnold asked.
"No." He answered. He was so exhausted he couldn't add 'unfortunately'.
"Then how do you explain the traces that your wand was the one the killing curses came from?" Bartemius Crouch asked. He'd rather use Veritaserum but, besides the usual obstacles that prevented him from using it on accused criminals, Gaunt's healers stated he's too weakened from his decades in Azkaban to withstand the serum's side effects.
"My nephew stole my wand and my father's ring." He answered.
"Why do you insist on calling the ring your father's instead of yours?" Crouch asked. "He was already long dead by the time your nephew stole it."
"I've only kept the ring for what it meant to my father." He answered.
Minister Bagnold wanted to end this soon. "Mr. Gaunt, your healer-certified memories of your nephew stealing the wand already confirmed your innocence upon my eyes, Chief Warlock Dumbledore's, and Director Crouch's." The Wizengamot members were surprised at this. If a hard-on-crime character as Bartemius Crouch Senior was convinced that Morfin Gaunt was innocent, it was good enough for most of them. Morfin Gaunt was acquitted.
Back at his office, Headmaster Dumbledore was using the stone for a last talk to his parents and his sister before returning it to Morfin. After the conversation, Severus Snape entered his office. "How did you know my password, Severus?" Dumbledore asked.
"By guessing names of sweets until I got the correct one, Headmaster." Snape answered.
"So, what do I owe this visit?" Dumbledore asked.
"Headmaster, if the stone is the real deal, I'd like to…"
"Talk to Lily?" Dumbledore asked. "Do you really believe the Resurrection Stone is real?"
"Uh, never mind." Snape replied and left.
Inspired by Snape's suggestion, Dumbledore decided to talk to James and Lily. "Headmaster, what's going on?" James asked upon finding himself and Lily at Dumbledore's office.
"I'm using the Resurrection Stone to meet the both of you, James." Dumbledore explained.
"It's real?" Both James and Lily asked.
"Yes." Dumbledore said.
"How's Harry?" Lily asked. "Is Sirius taking good care of him?"
"Lily, you don't really think I'd allow him anywhere near Harry after what he did?" Dumbledore asked in confusion.
"What did he do?" James asked.
End chapter.
Author's Note: Before anyone challenges the notion that the Resurrection Stone can survive Fiendfyre, I want to remind everyone that nobody knows what it's made of.