Chapter 5: At Last
"Why, he betrayed your family." Dumbledore said like James should have known that already.
"What're you talking about, Headmaster?" Lily asked.
"He told Voldemort where you and James were hidden, Lily." Dumbledore "reminded" them.
"No!" James protested. "He couldn't have done that!"
"As the Secret-Keeper, he's the only one who could have revealed your location." Dumbledore explained.
"That's the point." Lily said. "Sirius Black wasn't the Secret-Keeper! Peter Pettigrew was!"
"What?" Dumbledore asked. "Why didn't you say so?"
"We thought there'd be no need." James commented. "Even if Pettigrew turned out to have betrayed us, Sirius would be able to tell the truth during his trial and, if necessary to convince people, he'd confirm it with Veritaserum. By the way, why do you talk like you never heard about Sirius denouncing Pettigrew as the real traitor during questioning?"
Unwilling to admit he and the Ministry wouldn't even give Sirius a chance to say anything on his defense, Dumbledore tried to dodge the subject. "Even if he's innocent of that, Sirius Black still has to pay for killing Peter Pettigrew and those innocent muggles."
"Sirius Black killed muggles?" James asked in surprise.
"Peter Pettigrew is dead?" Lily asked.
"I won't dare to claim to know how the Land of the Dead works but I'd think you both already knew that." Dumbledore commented. "Aside from Xenophilius and those who believe his theory, everyone knows Peter is dead."
"Headmaster, I suggest you use that stone to call for the rat." James said.
Meanwhile, Professor Snape was angrier than ever. Any joy he ever felt at the notion that Sirius Black would rot in Azkaban was destroyed by Lovegood's theories and everyone who believed them. 'Peter Pettigrew being alive?' Snape thought. 'Preposterous.' He then saw two students reading copies of the Quibbler.
"Do you think Sirius Black may be innocent?"
"After what happened to Morfin Gaunt, I'm ready to believe anything."
"Fifty points from Ravenclaw for spreading Lovegood's stupidity!" Snape said. "Now leave before I assign detentions for the both of you!"
Later on, at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Bartemius Crouch received a visitor. "Headmaster Dumbledore, I'm glad you're here." Crouch commented. "The new development regarding Morfin Gaunt is increasing the number of people doubting Sirius Black is really a Death Eater. How do we prevent him from having a trial?"
"We don't." Dumbledore's response shocked Crouch. "Currently, I'd say allowing Black a trial will be less of a waste of time than trying to convince the Wizarding World to condone the decision to deny him one."
"Headmaster, can't you just reassure them that you're certain of Black's guilt?" Crouch asked.
"Not anymore, Bartemius." Dumbledore sadly replied. After Crouch complied, Dumbledore went to his own office in the Ministry, where he reminisced about how he had to try to use the stone three times before finally accepting that Peter Pettigrew wasn't really dead. 'I hope Sirius forgives me.' He thought. 'Well, that's a problem for later.'
The trial day finally arrived and Sirius Black was glad to be out of Azkaban. He wasn't sure he could stand even one of Morfin Gaunt's many years there. He was then chained to a seat.
"The court is in session." Minister Bagnold declared. "The defendant, Sirius Orion Black, is being charged with accessory to the murders of James and Lily Potter; accessory to the attempted murder of Harry Potter; and the mass murder of Peter Pettigrew and several muggles. How do you plead?"
"Innocent." Sirius replied and some people at the audience could be heard whispering things like 'absurd' or 'how dare he'.
"Sirius Orion Black, didn't you, knowing it'd lead to the deaths of James and Lily Potter and believing it'd lead to the death of Harry Potter, tell You-Know-Who where they were hidden?" Minister Bagnold asked.
"No." Sirius answered.
"Then how do you explain the sworn statements saying they were hidden under the Fidelius Charm and you were the Secret-Keeper?" Minister Bagnold asked.
"Albus Dumbledore wasn't informed of the change of plans and Peter Pettigrew deliberately mislead the other witnesses so he wouldn't be exposed as the real Secret-Keeper." Sirius explained.
"It took some time until all the shouts of outrage ended. Chief Warlock Dumbledore then asked a question. "How do you know Peter Pettigrew was the real Secret-Keeper instead of someone who believed you to be the Secret-Keeper?"
"I was there when Lily cast the charm." Sirius answered.
"What do you have to say about the deaths of Peter Pettigrew and those muggles?" Minister Bagnold asked.
"Peter Pettigrew didn't die." Sirius answered. "He caused that explosion and left that finger to fake his death."
"Why should I believe that pack of lies?" Minister Bagnold asked.
"Why did you believe Lucius Malfoy was under the Imperius?" Sirius asked.
"You don't ask questions here, Black." Bagnold replied while Crouch chuckled. 'Serves her right for letting Malfoy off that easy without even having to plead his case to the Wizengamot.'
"Now answer mine." She demanded.
"I'm willing to answer questions under Veritaserum." He answered.
A few questions later, Sirius Black was released. "Not so fast." Bagnold demanded. "Sirius Black is an unregistered animagus and…"
"And Bartemius Crouch granted amnesty to all Aurors regarding that so they could better spy on Death Eaters." Dumbledore stated. "Upon being deemed completely recovered, he'll have 30 days to either resume his Auror duties or register his form."
Sirius was then escorted to St. Mungo's to check for lasting damages of his exposure to dementors.
End chapter.
Author's Note: When I ended the previous chapter, I thought I'd completely skip the part about James and Lily telling Dumbledore that Sirius is innocent. I also thought I'd end the fic here but I'll also write an epilogue chapter.