HEY GUYS! We're soooooo sorry about the ridiculously long update hiatus. I'd give you an excuse, but really, we just didn't get around to writing this chap and the next till this month. But, we'll give you a double update in return for your astounding patience. :) Enjoy the continuation of the trial of a mad man.
Chapter Thirty-Two: Motivation
Dumbledore had just handed them the case. The motives and reasoning were very clear. Albus Dumbledore did not deny the actions: his entire plan of defense rested on his ability to convince the jury and this court of the motives behind his actions.
To the two young women who were sharing the seat with their consort or spouse depending on who you spoke to, it was almost an unreal world. Albus Dumbledore was arguing for trust and belief in him, but unfortunately for him, the jury and the judge were not people who had grown up in the shadow of his legend or in the training of Hogwarts. They would look at the case with unjaundiced eye – if he won this case, it would be because his argument was logical and made sense. Hermione almost shivered at the thought – when Albus Dumbledore wanted to be persuasive, he could be very persuasive and after all that had happened, she feared for Harry if Albus would again gain his freedom.
Alex sat back thinking of the opening statements. He hadn't believed that the old man would play the card of denying the actions he had taken. This was the Albus Dumbledore he suspected would appear. Sabastien and he looked at one another in the public gallery.
"Did you think he would try that tactic?" the French auror asked.
"Yes, I did."
"But why?"
"Albus Dumbledore is the ultimate true believer. He is a gifted orator; he believes somehow that no only will this court release him, but that this court will in turn release Harry back over to him on a serving tray – and he will take up the onerous burden to ensure that Mr. Wells is walking in the light."
"Why would he not stop now that the Dark Lord is gone?" Sebastien asked incredulously.
"Because he believes that a fragment of the Dark Lord still lives in Harry. He believed that Tom had to kill Harry; had to kill him by his own hand," Alex replied.
"That's a distinct problem," Sebastien said.
"How do you tell someone who refuses to believe anything outside of his own mind that the world he has constructed doesn't exist any more. I wish we could use that old British curse which was used to target captured Dark Lords and criminals to help them see the results of their actions and the pain they had casued,"
Sebastien sucked in his breath. "The Seal of Merlin? That is a dangerous curse, my friend."
"I wish we could use it on him," Alex replied. "The problem is that he is truly insane – he will die believing his own illusions and fantasies. And that is the greater tragedy – that a man who had given so much against an earlier Dark Lord would now, by his own unstable mind, become one himself."
"Let it be noted here," the presiding judge intoned, "That the defendant does not deny attempting to kidnap Harry Weils. Is that so, Mr. Dumbledore?"
"I do agree, your Honor, that I was attempting to escort young Mr. Potter off the grounds so that I could begin to share with him what he had lost and to help him regain his lost position last October," the old man replied.
"Then you do not dispute sending the Mirror of Erised to the home of Mr. Wells and Miss Granger-Potter," the judge continued.
"My expectation was that the two of them were in a magical community and they themselves would have not have been at risk. It would have brought Miss Granger back to her old school and brought Mr. Potter to the school where his parents would have wanted him to attend and where he would hopefully have found healing."
The judge stopped Dumbledore before he could begin a long peroration. "So you do not deny taking this particular action?"
"No, I do not," Dumbledore replied.
"Then may we also ask if you intend to dispute the action which …."
"No, my servant was my potions professor – when Severus Snape managed to pull the location of Mr. Potter's home from his mind, I immediately saw the potential of that information. It was my intention to force a confrontation between Mr. Potter and Tom Riddle because of a prophecy. It was this prophecy that not only foretold this confrontation, but indeed required it.
"The Dark Lord could not fall until every last fragment of his soul was removed and dealt with – including the fragment of soul which lives behind the scar currently on the forehead of Mr. Potter."
There was a definite tone of incredulity in the judge's voice now. "So you do not dispute any of the three charges on which you are arraigned before me today?"
Dumbledore sat up in his seat, seated alone before the judge with only the table of the prosecution beside him. "No, I do not dispute the actions, your Honor. What I do dispute are the motivations for those actions. There was no intent in my heart to put Mr. Potter at risk, to put non-magicals at risk – and I deeply mourn the loss of two American citizens, but I was seeking the end to the danger posed to the world by the existence of Mr. Riddle.
"Even now, I believe he is still among us and he will return unless Mr. Potter is returned to me where I can put him under observation and seek further insight into getting rid of what is behind his scar. Then Mr. Potter must remain with me, having been deprived of much of his magical education, I have failed him as a magical guardian and I seek to make restitution for that."
"I request the indulgence of the court for a short one hour recess," the magical district attorney rose and asked.
"Granted!" the judge said with a hint of exasperation. "This court will reconvene at 1:00 this afternoon." He rose and all rose with him. Then with a hurried buzz, the District Attorney pointed to the members of Triad, now retired DA Maxwell and Sebastien and Alex.
"Consultation now – in my office."
When everyone had taken a seat, DA Trenholm looked at each one and finally at Alex. "Do you know what he's up to?"
"I believe I do," the MFBI agent replied.
"Joe, any thoughts?" Trenholm asked his former colleague.
Joe whistled as he considered what had just transpired. "You have the perpetrator admitting to all of the acts, but it's the motivation behind it that will make or break the case.
"Has anybody done a psych evaluation on this guy?"
"We have," Alex admitted. "He's nuttier than a fruit cake. But the problem is that he has an enormous reputation – and he can weave a compelling tale of prophecies, dark magic, a long fight to deal with an unstoppable Dark Lord and finally, the light at the end of the tunnel with the promised boy who delivered his magical world once and only needs the wise guiding hand of this old leader of the light to finish the job.
"If we are not careful, he could woo and win the jury to support his actions."
"Then I suggest that we divide this case and his motivations and actions into chapters," Sebastien suggested. "The buttress of his argument is that he believes that Harry is possessed and that he believes in this prophecy. Dumbledore believes that once Harry is cured and has fulfilled this prophecy, then Harry must remain by his side and be trained by him. He believes that Harry is not free to choose his own destiny, but that he must follow the destiny as seen by the great Albus Dumbledore: that the greater good states that Harry has a greater responsibility to humanity."
Trenholm digested the comments of those around the table. He noted that Joe was quiet, but was nodding his head in approval at various points during the conversation.
"Joe, any thoughts?" he asked the retired DA.
Joe was silent for several seconds, then consulted a notepad at his side. He had obviously been taking notes.
"From everything you've been saying, it is clear to me that Dumbledore truly believes he is above the law – that he is a law to himself. From the comments he made during his admission of the crimes he committed, he believes his motivation gave him and still give him carte blanche to carry out his agenda 'for the greater good.'
"I've also heard from many around this table that he can be a very convincing speaker and that you run a risk if you give him free reign to speak without any limits to the jury.
"The issues are clear – just because someone believes that they have a greater vision or clearer view of events does not give them the right to run roughshod over the law.
"There is a fine line between someone with a clear vision and someone with an obsession. From all that I have seen and heard, I believe that Dumbledore is insane – one can only look at his actions and the impact of those actions to know that. The end does not justify the means.
Trenholm was thinking hard while Joe was summarizing his perspective from a non-magical legal point of view. "If we bring up the issue that he still should have worked through channels, he may claim that the Dark Lord could have had agents infiltrating everywhere that could have reported any actions back to him.
"The issue is that he is insane, truly insane, but that he is a very convincing person for someone who is insane."
"Not guilty by reason of insanity?" Harry asked. "How would a jury buy that?"
Joe slammed his hand on the table. "His crimes go beyond insanity. You can't let him get off on playing that card. The court, the judge, the jury – all of them must be brought to remember that two Americans are dead as a result of his actions; that a young boy was ripped away from his legal guardians because of his actions; that people were placed at risk of insanity or death as a result of his actions. People need to know that because of his actions, a known magical terrorist came to our shores, threatened our country, killed our citizens. Insanity is no defense for results like that."
Trenholm nodded his agreement. "We need to allow some of his delusions to be fully explored – both the delusion and its results – at the risk of Dumbledore sounding rational, reasonable and caring.
'We need to allow Dumbledore to highlight some key points of his actions."
Harry bristled at these words. "Those highlights are my life you're talking about."
"Yes, Harry, it is. You are both the strongest tool in his defense and the foundation stone on which this prosecution is laid," Trenholm replied.
"So you're telling me that I may have to relive his whole obsession with me all over again in order to put him away and force him to leave me alone?"
Trenholm nodded sadly.
"Just do it without exposing my world. And make sure that he does not go free, that he doesn't wiggle off on a technicality. Because if he does go free, we all know that his obsession with me will force him to see me out again: only this time we would have no warning as to what method he would use or when he would strike."
"We know he had a stated objective – your death, Harry," Alex said. "Now that you may have had the portion of the Dark Lord living in you killed according to him, he would probably seek to force you into an apprenticeship with him – and even force a personality wipe to make you more 'malleable' to his suggestions."
Harry looked at Trenholm. "What are the key incidents you are going to focus on?"
Trenholm pursed his lips. "Definitely the events surrounding his illegal acts if I need to; the lack of his due process in regards to you."
Harry nodded, understanding showing clearly on his face.
"I want to portray him as so obsessed that he ignored any evidence to the contrary."
"So the fact he ignored my birth parents' will?"
"Not just ignored it, but sealed it and then appointed himself as your magical guardian with the connivance of the then British Minister of Magic and threw your legal guardian into Azkaban without a trial. But I doubt we can explore that far back as our legal standing on that issue would be shaky at best because that offense took place back in Britain and we can only prosecute him for the actions that occurred here.
"Still, while they may not be acted upon, I still want those events entered into the legal record. While Sirius Black is now dead, his death was at best a tragic mistake and at worst a criminal act – both the initial act of sending him to Azkaban without a trial and then Kissing him in 1994 while still not offering him a trial."
"Then what?"
"The first obvious action which took place here – the events of October 31, 1994 and his use of the blood summoning spell," Trenholm replied even as his legal instincts perked up. That was it - that was the incident to showcase both the delusion, the actions undertaken to support the delusion and the result of that delusion.
He had fallen silent as he thought about using that incident and he caught everyone's eyes upon him.
"I believe that the events of that day are a showcase of both his delusional motivation and the results of those delusions. If he believed that Harry was the boy who lived and the chosen one to face the Dark Lord once more, why would he use a dark spell like the blood summoning to locate Harry – a spell that has a proven track record of killing those who do not or cannot respond to its summons.
"That incident alone will poke a major hole in his motivation – if you are trying to protect the boy of prophecy, you don't use a dark spell to kill the very boy you are trying to protect."
"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, your Honor, members of the court," Trenholm began once the session had started again. "We thank Mr. Dumbledore for at least admitting his commission of the acts for which he has been charged.
"To understand Mr. Dumbledore and to ensure that we are giving him ample opportunity to explain his motivations for those acts, I would call him to the witness stand." While the buzz of conversation rose in the background as the old man rose slowly and made his way to the witness box, the magical DA felt more and more certain that the blood summoning was the key – the key to exposing Dumbledore's delusions for the fatally flawed vision that it was and the way to keep Dumbledore from using the witness stand as a bully platform to weave his verbal magic.
Once the magical oath to tell the truth had been given, the judge turned to the old headmaster. "You are not honor bound to answer any question that you feel will or can incriminate you," he began. "Here in the United States, we call it pleading the fifth – it is a means to ensure that no one is ever forced to self-incriminate."
Dumbledore nodded and turned to face Trenholm as the magical DA began speaking. "To begin, Mr. Dumbledore, I would like to explore with you the events and thoughts that led you to take the decision you made on October 31, 1994 to perform the Sanguio Vocatio or Blood Call spell during the drawing of names at the Tri Wizard Tournament at Hogwarts. Do you recall this?"
The old man started. Why would he bring that up? He knew it had been a bad decision after making it, but he had felt such a strong need to find Harry at the time that he was prepared to take any step, desperate though it might be, to find his missing protégé.
Wordlessly he nodded his head, wondering where the DA was taking this conversation.
"Now I need to point out that the Sanguio Vocatio spell is considered one of the darker spells by your own Ministry of Magic because of its relation to blood magic and because of its possible effects. Is this correct?"
Dumbledore again nodded.
"May I ask you what is the purpose and the effect of this spell?"
The old man hesitated for several seconds, undoubtedly aware that what he was about to say could hurt him. But the magical oath, while not acting like veritaserum, still compelled him to tell the truth and to answer the question, and so he replied slowly. "If you are desperately trying to found someone important and you do not know if they are live or if they are dead, then the use of this spell allows the magical user who has a magical interest in that person and a sample of his blood to place a geas on the magical core of the person being sought to compel them to come to the person summoning them.
"Wherever this person is, he or she will be compelled by magic to appear."
"Is there a geographical range beyond which this spell will not work?"
"Magic has not recorded one."
"What is the furthest range that this spell has been known to touch someone?"
"A distance of approximately 1,000 miles."
"I see," said Trenholm. "So, in the case of Mr. Wells, your purpose was…?"
"Harry had been absent and declared missing for some years by 1994. He was to have started at Hogwarts in the fall of 1991, however he had disappeared from his family's care in early June 1990. His family was immediately concerned," Dumbledore answered.
"But if I recall my notes on this case correctly, Mr. Dumbledore, there did not appear to have been any calls by Mr. Wells' 'family' for a police search after his 'disappearance.''
"They were a shy family, not comfortable with media attention and they were engaged in their own search efforts," the old man said.
"Which involved, according to our own conversation with them, a one-day search of his school by the school's headmaster and nothing further. Am I not correct?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "I did not query them at any length."
Trenholm appeared to nod in understanding. "So Mr. Wells had not appeared by September 1st, 1991. What were the impact to both Hogwarts and the British Wizarding World at large of the fact that Harry Potter was not a student at Hogwarts?"
Dumbledore appeared to struggle with the answer before the oath's power won out. "There was a certain degree of panic. The Minister of Magic himself threatened to intervene in the affairs of the school. I did all I could to ensure that this was not done. The Ministry had to keep their noes out of Hogwarts. As well, I believed the young boy had run away as young people are apt to do and perhaps he was living on the streets.
"I personally searched for him along with some of my old associates when he failed to appear for either his second or third year.
"I was getting desperate by the beginning of the 1994 school year as there were signs that the Dark Lord was beginning to reemerge and get stronger."
Time to lob a Dumbledore grenade, Trenholm decided. "Because of the horcruxes?"
The old Headmaster jerked forward in surprise and alarm. "I would ask you not to…," he began.
"It is a matter of legal and historical record, is it not?" Trenholm replied. "We all in law enforcement and the legal system know now that the Dark Lord used horcruxes, soul anchors, to stay alive."
Dumbledore let out a strangled "Yes" in response, hoping that this impertinent attorney would stop.
"So you were getting concerned in 1994 – your pet Death Eater Severus Snape was reporting to you that his dark mark was getting darker?"
"Yes…." Dumbledore repeated again, even as he winced internally at the mention of Snape's name. How did this man know so many details, he wondered.
"What would you have done had Harry Potter suddenly and magically appeared in front of you that day in 1994? I suspect you would have entered him in the TriWizard Tournament, the tasks of which included, if my notes are correct, among others: rescuing a golden egg from a nesting mother dragon; recovering a person from the depths of Black Lake in February and entering a maze to retrieve the Goblet of Fire – a maze full of dangerous magical creatures," Trenholm continued in a matter of fact tone.
Dumbledore was finding Trenholm's rapid shift of topics confusing. This was very unlike the traditions of British magical courts – the prosecutors here appeared to be very well informed, perhaps too well informed. He had to break this line of questioning as he failed to see how it related to his greater good.
"Your honor, I object to this line of questioning," he began, turning to the judge. "I fail to see how questioning me regarding my search for the missing Harry Potter in 1994 relates to the charges and motivations for my actions over the past few months."
The judge turned to Trenholm. "District Attorney?"
Trenholm smiled at Dumbledore and then turned to the judge. "Your honor, my questions will highlight how Mr. Dumbledore's motivations in regards to Mr. Wells played a critical role in his actions in regards to Mr. Wells back in 1994, circumstances very similar to his motivations and actions taken over the past several months now. I will prove that connection if the court will continue to allow me to develop further this line of questioning."
The judge considered and then nodded. "Overruled. Please continue, Mr. Trenholm."
Trenholm turned back to Dumbledore. "If Harry Potter had appeared before you, drawn by this dark magical spell, what would you have done with him? You yourself know that if his name had come out of the goblet that most of your country and your Ministry would have argued that he would have been honor bound to compete – and had he appeared there and then, he would have been ill prepared to for magic because at the age of 14 he did not know about magic at all.
"But then this would have been the case if he had survived the magical journey occasioned by the spell in the first place. However, one is led to ask – was this the way to ensure the survival of the child of prophecy?"
Dumbledore rose from his seat, bristling in indignation. "I would have ensured that help would have been provided," he began.
"I see," Trenholm replied. "Mr. Dumbledore, what are the consequences for failing to answer the blood call?"
It was clear to both the jury and the audience that Dumbledore was not comfortable with this question. Again, however, the magic of the oath forced him to comply.
"Magic exacts a price for failure to comply or obey, depending upon the resistance of the individual – up to and including death."
"And you knew this?"
"….Yes…"
"So let me recap for this court. You called to yourself, by use of a dark ritual spell which causes death for those who do not obey the summons, the boy who lived for whom you were desperately searching – the same boy whom you believe was fated to meet the Dark Lord again. You called him, using this blood ritual, knowing that there is a high probability that he could be killed for resisting the call?
"Let me ask you, Mr. Dumbledore. Did these consequences not enter into your thoughts?"
"He needed to be with me," Dumbledore replied. "I was the one to whom the prophecy was given. I was the one to understand it. I knew that he would not die from my use of the blood summoning.
"The boy who lived had to be found, had to be made ready."
"And how pray tell would you have made him ready? Would you have trained him to face the Dark Lord?"
"No! The prophecy said the Boy who Lived had to die. I hoped against hope to find Harry before his fourth year. I had suspected how Tom would have returned – bone of the father, flesh of the servant, blood of the enemy. I wanted so much to have Tom see Harry as that enemy. Tom had always been one who went for the bright stone, the prize possession, or the famous object.
"If given a choice between an ordinary wizard and Harry Potter, Tom would risk all to have Harry there, believing there would be something magical in his blood that had allowed him to survive his earlier attack in 1981.
"Mr. Potter's blood would have been drawn. I already had the wand for Harry. He would have stood up to Tom and should he have survived, Tom would have reconstituted himself using Harry's blood, thus allowing Tom to become Harry's horcrux.
"Then when it was time, when all Tom's other horcruxes were gone, Mr. Potter would be guided into a final confrontation with Tom – there he would die at Tom's hand, but then….he would be allowed to come back to life.
"Then and only then could Tom himself be taken down."
With that, he sat back in his seat, his hands neatly folded and a beatific smile on his face. Now he could finally unveil the information and the plans he had kept to himself for over twenty years until now: now all could see and appreciate the wisdom of the man who was the wisest man since Merlin himself.
But only silence greeted the old headmaster.