A/N - Hi there everyone. It's update time and I have here the second to last chapter of Lightning, Part 2. This is the second half of what was originally one chapter that combined the previous chapter and this one but it got too long so I split it in separate chapters. Actually this was a good thing because this chapter is pretty separate from the previous one and it wouldn't have been good to have had them as one chapter. I hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: The X-Men were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and belong to Marvel Comics. Harry Potter was created by and belongs to J.K. Rowling. I make no money from this and the only thing that's mine are the original parts of the story.
44) REVENGE AND REWARDS AT THE WIZENGAMOT
On the following Friday, June 16th, a special meeting of the Wizengamot was held. The main reason for it was to start the trials of Voldemort and the Death Eaters. That was not the only reason, however, as everyone would soon find out.
Lightning looked around the Wizengamot chamber after entering it with the rest of his team. He didn't know why they were here. All they had been told was that the X-Men had been asked to attend the meeting and it was important to the British wizarding government that they be here. It wasn't for anything bad though, that much they had been told by Dumbledore when he had informed Xavier about the invitation.
The Wizengamot chamber was big. This wasn't a surprise since it served the same function for the wizarding government as Parliament did for the mundane British government. The chamber was large and it had seating on all four sides. On the far side from the door was where the members of the Wizengamot sat. The rest of the seating was for visitors and press.
The X-Men were shown to seats in the gallery opposite the side where the main legislators sat. Lightning took a good look at the body of the Wizengamot. There were seats for about 50 people but nearly 20 of those seats were empty.
"Chances are those seats are held by Death Eaters or Death Eater supporters" said Mage in a low voice to Lightning when the younger X-Man mentioned it to his Godfather who was sitting in the seat to his left.
"I didn't realize there were so many of them in the government" said Lightning.
"Probably not so much after this" said Mage, "I know that Amelia intends to do a sweep of the ministry to find any supporters of Tom that weren't at the battle. Besides that there's a still a majority of sitting members here today. That's more than enough for a quorum so the trials can go forward. I think we may be seeing the beginning of a big shift in the balance of power in magical Britain. The Light side will likely be dominant after this."
"Unless the Death Eaters all get off again like so many of them did last time" said Lightning, "what was the defense they all used? That they'd all been imperiused to do what they did?"
"I doubt that will work this time" said Mage, "for a couple of reasons. First, many of them are facing the same charges from earlier. That makes them repeat offenders. Society isn't as lenient toward repeat offenders you know. Second, Voldemort himself is being tried. I highly doubt he'll say that his supporters were imperius victims. In fact I bet he'll probably bring down as many of them with him as he can. Third, a lot of the Death Eaters bribed their way out of trouble last time but that's unlikely to work this time because so many of the people whom they would have bribed to have their cases dismissed have themselves been arrested and are facing charges. The situation really isn't the same as it was in 1981 – I hope."
Lightning nodded but didn't say anything since Dumbledore had just entered the chamber and gone to the central lectern where he was preparing to address the chamber.
"I call this meeting of the Wizengamot to order" said Dumbledore, "today we will be commencing the trials of the Death Eaters and their leader Tom Marvolo Riddle who is known to the public as Voldemort."
There was a slight stir in the chamber as not many people knew Voldemort's real name before now.
"Before we begin" continued Dumbledore, "I must make the traditional opening request for anyone who is here to claim their family seat for the first time to please step forward and announce yourself."
Normally this statement was a formality. Most of the time when a family seat was changing hands the date of the transfer from one holder to the next was known in advance and was placed on the meeting's regular agenda. The opening request was meant to either 1) introduce a new family to the Wizengamot (a very rare event), 2) to introduce someone who was coming forward to claim a dormant seat (also a rare event), or 3) to introduce a previously unknown heir to a seat that was occupied by someone else in the family whose claim to the seat was inferior to that of the unknown heir. Such an event happened so rarely that it had been a couple of centuries since the last time it occurred. That would change today and Dumbledore was one of the only ones who knew it.
From where he was sitting Lightning was surprised when he saw Mortimer get up from one of the side galleries and step out onto the floor of the chamber. He didn't know that Mortimer would be here today and hadn't seen him when he came into the chamber. Now that Lightning did see Mortimer he sat back and waited to see what would happen. He knew that Mortimer was Lord Selwyn but wondered if anyone else here today besides Dumbledore and his teammates also knew it.
"I wish to claim my family seat as is my right as lord of my house" Mortimer proclaimed. Lightning looked around the chamber. No one seemed to know Mortimer at all. He looked over to where Madame Umbridge was. She didn't seem to know him either but she was looking at him with clear suspicion in her face.
"This will be good" Lightning whispered to Angel who was sitting on his right side. Angel nodded as they waited for the fireworks to start.
"And who are you who comes before this body to make your claim?" Dumbledore asked Mortimer who raised up his right hand and presented his ring to the chamber.
"I am Lord Selwyn" said Mortimer, "my full name is Mortimer Toynbee Umbridge Selwyn."
Mortimer had just barely finished saying his name when an earsplitting shriek rang out in the chamber.
"IMPOSSIBLE!" yelled Madame Umbridge, "my brother is dead! You're nothing but a fraud!"
A tremor ran through the room as everyone sat up and took notice of what Umbridge said. Almost no one knew she had a brother. Those who were hearing this information for the first time all wondered if it was true and could this claimant to the Selwyn lordship be him? If he was, where had he been all of these years as no one on the Wizengamot could remember ever seeing him before.
"Aurors!" yelled Umbridge now as she pointed at Mortimer, "arrest him and throw him in Azkaban at once!"
"Aurors stand down!" ordered Madame Bones before any of the aurors could move. She turned to address the undersecretary.
"Madame Umbridge" she declared, "I will remind that you have no power to order my aurors to do anything as you are not part of the DMLE."
Umbridge opened her mouth to reply but the minister beat her to it.
"She's right Dolores" said Minister Fudge, "and anyway you can't just arrest someone without any evidence." The minister looked at Mortimer.
"My undersecretary has accused you of fraud" he said, "what say you?"
"If I were a fraud" said Mortimer, "the Selwyn ring would never have accepted me."
"It's obviously a fake!" said Umbridge.
"It's not" said Mortimer sounding offended.
"That can be determined easily enough" said Dumbledore, "present your ring for the clerk's inspection. If it's a fake the magic of the room will tell him."
Mortimer stepped over to where the clerk of the Wizengamot was seated and held his hand out for him to inspect the ring. The clerk bent over the ring and examined it very closely before standing up again.
"The ring is authentic" said the clerk, "Lord Selwyn's claim is verified."
"That can't be" said Umbridge, "if you're really my younger brother then you're a squib. No squib can be lord of a house."
"So you do remember me" said Mortimer, "but I'm not squib and never was one." He pulled out his wand, held it up and said "lumos." A bright light came out of the wand for a moment before Mortimer ended the charm.
"Could a squib do that?" Mortimer asked his sister, "you know very well that I was never a squib, don't you dear sister?"
"I don't know what you're talking about" huffed Umbridge.
"Sure you don't" said Mortimer who now took a more commanding stance as he faced his sister, "as Lord Selwyn, head of your house, I command you by the family magic to speak the truth before this August body and tell everyone exactly what you did to me."
There was a hush in the chamber. Invoking family magic in such a situation was serious business. Everyone waited to see what would happen.
Dolores Umbridge felt herself being overcome by the family magic of the Selwyns and the Umbridges. Although as she tried to resist it was futile and soon she was confessing everything she had done to her brother.
It started with his birth. Dolores well knew that their father was the heir to the Selwyn lordship once the current lord died. She also knew about the strict inheritance laws of that family which barred her, as a woman, from inheriting the title outright. She could only be regent for the estate until a male heir came of age. That had been okay when she was growing up because other than her father there were no other heirs to the lordship. Once he died she would be the regent and, since she had no plans to marry any time soon, or ever, she would be able to enjoy the Selwyn fortune for a long time.
Those plans went out the window when Mortimer was born. Dolores was already out of Hogwarts and working in an entry level job at the ministry when she heard about his birth. She knew at once what his birth meant for her and she wasn't going to stand for it. She had to be careful though. She couldn't just kill him, even if she wanted to, as the risk of being found out was too great. Instead she made another plan. She waited for her opportunity to act and it came only a couple of months after her brother's birth. She was visiting her parents that day. Her father had to go in to work and her mother had to go shopping so Dolores volunteered to watch the baby while she was out.
As soon as she was alone with her brother Dolores bound his magic with the strongest bindings she could make. She wasn't a very a powerful witch but she had enough power to get the job done. After that things went as planned. Mortimer was eventually labeled a squib and therefore ineligible to inherit the lordship. After their parents passed away she could have killed him but, rather than dirty her hands with his blood, she placed him in an orphanage instead. She took great pleasure in doing so and made sure to visit him quite often just to rub his situation in his face along with a few hexes here and there when no one was looking. She also took great pains to ensure that no one adopted him. By doing so she knew that when he came of age he would have to leave the orphanage to try to make his own way in the world without support of any kind.
That's exactly what happened. Shortly after he turned 18 Mortimer left the orphanage and disappeared. Dolores never did find him – not that she tried very hard to do so. As far as she was concerned once he went out into the muggle world and got lost there he was dead. As the years passed and she had no word of him she began telling the few people who knew about him that he had died. Her plan was a success and it never occurred to her that Mortimer would one day break the bindings on his magic and come back. But he had and she realized that she was now in a lot of trouble.
There was a long, shocked silence in the Wizengamot chamber when Umbridge finished her confession. Interestingly enough no one seemed to have any sympathy for her. She had made a lot of enemies during her time at the ministry and now it looked like everything was coming home to roost.
"Minister Fudge" Mortimer said, "Chief Warlock Dumbledore, Director Bones, honored members of the Wizengamot, you have heard my older sister's words. What crimes would you say she is guilty of?"
"At the very least" said Bones, "illegally binding someone's magic. In addition, child abuse as well as attacking the heir apparent to a lordship."
"Would that qualify as line theft too?" asked Madame Longbottom after lighting her wand and receiving permission to speak."
"No" said Dumbledore, " as both the attacker and victim are siblings no line theft has occurred."
"What punishment shall she be subjected to?" asked Amos Diggory after also raising his wand. Umbridge spoke up before anyone else could answer the question.
"None of you will do anything to me!" she yelled, "you all know very well the power I have, the things I know. I'll ruin all of you if you dare to – "
"Silence!" yelled Mortimer and Umbridge immediately fell silent, "so dear sister you're a blackmailer too? There's more than one way to mete out justice. As the injured party and head of her house I reserve the right to punish her myself. Does anyone object?"
The silence was total.
"All right" said Mortimer turning to face his sister and pointing his wand at her, "Dolores Jane Umbridge, you are guilty of numerous crimes against your family. As your head of house I hereby disown you from both the Selwyn and Umbridge families and remove any and all family magic from you. Henceforth you are Dolores No Name and are lower than a squib. I cast you out! I cast you out! I cast you out! So mote it be!"
A yellow light surrounded Dolores for a moment and then she was on her knees screaming as the family magic deserted her.
"I leave her to your justice now" said Mortimer as everyone watched Dolores No Name be cut off from her family.
"Dolores No Name" began Director Bones, "I arrest you on charges of – "
"NO!" screamed Dolores as she jumped to her feet and pointed her wand at Mortimer, "Avada Kedavra!" A jet of green light shot out of her wand toward Mortimer but it never reached him. Instead it hit the shield that Lightning threw up in front of him to intercept the curse. Knowing that they were in crowded chamber the shield was only normal strength so the curse simply fizzled out when it hit the shield.
"Stupefy!" yelled an auror who was serving as security in the chamber and Dolores dropped to the floor.
"Get her out of here!" ordered the minister. Madame Bones nodded at the aurors who quickly removed the former Madame Umbridge from the chamber and took her to a ministry holding cell.
"She'll get life in Azkaban for that" one of the other wizards on the Wizengamot could be heard saying to his neighbor.
There was a short silence after that which the Chief Warlock eventually broke.
"Well" said Dumbledore, "unless there are any other objections I suggest we welcome the new Lord Selwyn and have him take his seat." There were no objections and Mortimer was given the traditional Wizengamot Oath of Service and took his seat among the other lords and ladies of that body.
"Now then" said Dumbledore once Mortimer was seated in the Selwyn seat, "we have one more piece of business before we commence the trials. I yield the floor to Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge."
Fudge stood up and addressed the body.
"Thank you Chief Warlock" he said, "the matter I wish to lay before you all is a matter of honor. I'm sure many, if not all, of you have noticed that the X-Men are here today sitting in the visitors' gallery. I asked them to come here as I wish to pay the British Wizarding World's respects to this team. Three times within the last year and a half they have come to our aid and helped avert disaster from befalling us.
"First at the end of April of last year they came to Hogwarts and fought against Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants when they tried to seize Hogwarts.
"Second, on July 31st of last year they were present at the Quidditch World Cup and fought against the Death Eaters when they tried to cause chaos after the match. Without their aid on that occasion the damage caused by the Death Eaters would have been much worse.
"Finally six days ago they returned to Hogwarts to assist the staff and aurors against the Death Eaters when they attacked the school under the leadership of You-Know-Who. They were not the only ones who came to assist us that day. Their fellow American team The Avengers were also there as were Sorcerer Supreme Dr. Strange and his mentor the Ancient One.
"I wish to thank all of those who came to help us last week. They all played important parts in the battle. Indeed from what I have since learned that during the past two years Dr. Strange and the Ancient One did some things behind the scenes that made You-Know-Who vulnerable in ways that he wouldn't have been without their actions. What they did, however, has the highest classification. They have refused to say exactly what it was and they have refused all reward for it simply because, as Dr. Strange has said, "We were just doing our jobs." Nevertheless I thank them both.
"I also thank the Avengers for their aid. They had no connection to us but came to help us anyway because they have ties with the X-Men and came to Hogwarts to help their friends.
"However I want to make special mention of the X-Men as they faced You-Know-Who himself and beat him.
"For services rendered to Magical Britain which averted disaster on three separate occasions in such a short period of time I move that the X-Men be collectively awarded our highest honor: the Order of Merlin First Class."
"The motion is so made" said Dumbledore, "does anyone wish to second the motion?" Almost every wand in the chamber lit up.
"I see" said Dumbledore with his usual eye twinkle, "since so many wish to second the motion – a number that is almost unanimous from what I can see – we ought to consider it seconded and carried. However it is best to dot all of the i's and cross all of the t's just to be procedurally safe. All in favor of this award please light up your wands.
All of the wands lit up this time,
"Is there anyone opposed to this award?"
No wands lit up.
"Then by the unanimous consent of the Wizengamot" said Dumbledore, "the motion is passed. Will the X-Men please come down to the chamber floor?"
As the sound of applause filled the chamber the X-Men came down to the floor and stood before the Wizengamot. All seven of them were there. As he stepped down to the chamber floor Mage looked over to where his cousin Andromeda Tonks was sitting as proxy for the Black seat. He'd never told her that he was Mage and he wondered if she'd ever guessed it. From the look in her eyes she hadn't. She was smiling and applauding along with everyone else but she gave no sign that she knew anything beyond what the rest of the Wizengamot did.
The X-Men stood in front of the wizarding body. Minister Fudge came down onto the floor and was joined by the clerk of the chamber who was holding a box that contained eight medals. The minister took the first medal, approached Cyclops and hung it around his neck before shaking his hand. One by one he did the same for all of the X-Men: Iceman after Cyclops, then Angel, Lightning, Beast, Marvel Girl, and Mage last of all before he turned back to Cyclops again.
"I present to you this eighth medal for the one you call 'Professor X'" said Fudge, "as I am informed that he taught all of you and without him you wouldn't have been there for us. I'm sorry he couldn't come himself but we are grateful to him all the same both for that and for the work he has done with Senior Auror Alastor Moody in revamping how we train our own aurors."
"Thank you minister" said Cyclops as he took the medal from Fudge, "we'll see that he gets this and hears your praise."
"Thank you" said Fudge, "we name you honorary citizens of the British Magical World. Please be sure to come back and visit us any time you wish." The cheering in the chamber was loud at that and the X-Men all acknowledged the cheering before returning to their seats.
After Lightning sat down again he looked at his medal in amazement. As the prophesied "chosen one" to defeat Voldemort he'd wondered now and then how the wizarding world might reward him if / when his mission was fulfilled. That he might win the Order of Merlin was something that he'd fantasized about a little. Now it was here and he'd received it for exactly the reason he was supposed to get it. Only he wasn't getting it as Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, but as Lightning the X-Man. As far as he knew no one in the Wizengamot except for Dumbledore knew the truth. The headmaster was the only one who knew that the prophecy had been fulfilled (without the dying part thankfully). Helped by his friends and allies Harry Potter had beaten Voldemort – and almost no one knew it. That was fine with Lightning. Maybe someday, decades from now, or even after his own death, the truth would come out but for now Lightning was happy to leave things as they were.
"Are we staying for the trials?" Iceman asked Cyclops.
"Yes if Riddle is tried first" was the answer, "Lightning asked to be here for it if possible."
"That's right" said Lightning from his seat, "just want to be sure, you know?"
"I know" said Iceman.
Dumbledore was speaking again. He announced the beginning of the trials and called for defendant Thomas Marvolo Riddle, the self-styled Lord Voldemort to be brought in.
Voldemort was brought into the room and placed in a chair that had chains hanging off of it. Immediately the chains glowed and wrapped themselves around him.
Lightning looked at Voldemort. If anything he looked worse than he did when he'd last seen him at the end of the battle. Not worse as in a "his health is deteriorating" way but simply as in an "he looks uglier than ever" sort of way. The fallen Dark Lord looked around the room with unveiled hostility and contempt but Dumbledore didn't waste any time. The Chief Warlock formally started the trial and had Voldemort given Veritaserum.
Once the truth potion was confirmed to be working the questioning began. It quickly became clear that one session in front of the Wizengamot would not be enough to cover everything that Voldemort had done in his career. No, this trial would take several days. However certain critical facts were established that would affect all of the subsequent trials.
The most important thing that came out during this session was that it was impossible to be imperiused to take the dark mark. Anyone receiving Voldemort's mark had to be in full control of their mental faculties when they were marked or the magic wouldn't work. This isn't to say you couldn't be coerced to take it – i.e. you could be blackmailed or threatened into taking it for example and some people were – but you couldn't take it while under any sort of magical compulsion. This simple statement from Voldemort would badly damage the cases of many of the defendants who had planned to plead that they were imperiused to become Death Eaters and do what they did.
The X-Men didn't stay for the whole day at the Wizengamot. At the first trial recess they went up to Dumbledore and said their goodbyes.
"We'll follow the trials in the newspapers from now on" said Cyclops, "you know where to find us if you need us."
"That's true" said Dumbledore, "thank you all for coming. See you soon."
The X-Men portkeyed back to the X-Mansion and were called into the office by the professor. They told him everything and Cyclops handed him his Order of Merlin.
"Thank you" said Xavier, "I imagine we'll hear all about the trials in the Daily Prophet."
"That and probably every other periodical in magical Britain" said Mage, "we'll see what tomorrow's paper says when it comes."
"Good" said Xavier, "Lightning you still have a week to prepare for the third task. Use it well."
"I will professor" said Lightning, "and I'll be glad that it will be just the task itself and not any extra attacks like Riddle originally planned."
Everyone agreed and they all split up. It was time to try to get back to regular life – or as regular as it could be when you were members of the Uncanny X-Men.'
(To Be Concluded)
A/N - That's that. All that's left now is the Second Intermission which will make up the last chapter. It probably won't be very long and after that I might have a bonus chapter following it that I'm still thinking about. That wouldn't be part of the main story but would be a chapter of outtakes or omakes or stuff like that. I'll you know whether or not to expect that installment when I post the ending of this story.
As usual please take a moment to leave me some feedback. Constructive comments are always welcome but no flames or trolls please. As always stay safe and well everyone and I'll see you all in the next chapter.