The morning paper was one that had every witch and wizard reading it like it was a bestselling book. This was seen in one of the biggest concentration of the British magical population, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Everyone was in the hall early, a rarity for a Sunday, to see how the trial of Bartemius Crouch Sr. went, and they weren't disappointed. The headlines spook for themselves and had the student body reading with a fever most professors wished they did for homework.

Bartemius Crouch Sr. Found Guilty in Sirius Black Case!

Ministry Employee Frees Death Eater!

Bartemius Crouch Sr. Uses Imperious Curse on Son! What Other Unforgivable Has He Used?!

Bartemius Crouch Jr. Found in Family Home! How He Escaped!

Is Azkaban As Unescapable as Promised?!

Blaise had to whistle at the headlines and Theo even seemed to perk up when he saw them. Harry started reading the paper, forgetting his breakfast like most of the hall.

"Never thought I'd see the day that Crouch was convicted of a crime." Blaise said before biting into a muffin.

"Mother use to say that if his son wasn't named a Death Eater he might have become the Minister instead of Fudge. She always wondered why he didn't try again, but now we know. But that isn't what has us worried at the moment." Millicent peaked from her paper before hiding behind it again. Tracy seemed to be biting threw her lip before she caught herself and took a breath.

"You guys might want to turn to page 10. And Harry, I really think you should start eating before the rest of the student body gets to that page." The three boys shot her a look before turning the page. In blazing letters Theo, Blaise and Harry understood the girls' worry.

Albus Dumbledore Trial Today! Harry Potter to See His Tormentor Tried!

Dear readers, it is the day that we never thought we would see. Albus Dumbledore, the leader of the Light, on trial. Today, for all to see, Dumbledore will have to answer questions truthfully about his treatment of Harry Potter. I am sure that many of you remember an earlier article about Harry Potter's home life, and how he was starved, beaten, and denied his Wizarding rights by Mr. & Mrs. Dursley. On further investigation from the DML, it has been revealed the Lord and Lady Potter never wanted the Dursleys to be in charge of their son's care. Not only that, but Dumbledore was already aware of that since he was the witness for both wills.

That's right, everyone. Dumbledore knew that Lord and Lady Potter never wanted Harry Potter to go to his muggle relatives and if that wasn't heartbreaking already, but two of the people on their guardian list work for Dumbledore. That's right, two professors of Hogwarts Witchcraft and Wizardry could have been caring for our savior behind some of the strongest wards in history.

I won't reveal the two professors' names for safety reasons, but one question has to be asked. Why didn't he want his own employees watching out for Harry Potter? If Harry Potter's safety was his greatest priority, why place him with muggles who hated magic? Dumbledore could of have had assess to him and could have been teaching him. That is if Dumbledore really had Harry Potter's best intentions in mind.

Going against Lord and Lady Potter's wills says otherwise. It seems that as a witness, Dumbledore would have known the reasons why the Potters didn't want their son to go to blood relatives. Reasons that we have unfortunately seem to be well founded. Reasons that Dumbledore ignored for his own devises. We may not know why he went against the Potters' wills, but we will after his trial today.

If that wasn't bad enough readers, the Potter wills mentioned that Lord Sirius Black was not their Secret Keeper. That's right loyal readers, he knew that Lord Black wasn't the Secret Keeper, but still threw him in Azkaban. To a place that makes the most innocent shiver at the mere mention of its name, Dumbledore threw a brave and selfless man in there.

I know that many of you are repulsed by this, and so am I. Dumbledore has already received the mandatory sentences for the crimes he is already convicted of, but I ask you, is this enough? This man that looked over Britain's children, shaped our laws and represented Britain to the greater Wizarding World, has ruined at least two lives. In today's trial, we will learn who else he has wronged. And I hope that he will get the maximum sentence and not a slap on the wrist because of his past. We will see dear readers. And for those that can't, The Daily Profit will update you on the fall of Albus Dumbledore.

By Rita Skeeter

Harry had to read it a second time before tearing his eyes away. The article would definitely cause the people to revolt against Dumbledore, but it also put even more spotlight on Harry. He didn't even think the contents of the will reading would be in the paper this soon. Harry's eyes widen realizing that everything in the wills might be printed. There wasn't anything he could do if someone at the reading told Rita what was written. She probable already had an article in the works about that for tomorrow's paper.

"Mr. Potter." Harry jumped and turned to see his Head of House behind him. "I suggest grabbing something and coming with me to the Headmistress office. We should wait there until your guardian shows up." Harry looked unsure for a moment until his friends spoke up.

"Don't worry, Harry. We'll talk to you later."

"Yeah, and know that no matter what, we're with you." Everyone nodded and Harry couldn't help to smile in thanks.

"I'll talk to you all later. And can someone tell Hedwig what's going on?"

"Sure, Harry. We'll even give Hedwig her daily bacon."

"Good idea. Thanks guys, and girls." Tracy gave him a satisfied nod and Millicent even managed to grin. Harry grabbed some fruit and a bagel before following his Head of House out of the Great Hall.

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Severus sat in his seat looking over the Great Hall. Looking over the full hall had him holding in a wince. Never in all his years here, student or teacher, has the entire student body willing show up this early for breakfast, or be this quiet, on a Sunday morning. Everyone was reading the paper and talking barely above a whisper. It was a hush that Severus was sure most of the Wizarding World was sharing before all hell broke loose. And considering that Dumbledore's trial was today, they wouldn't have to wait long.

Turning back to his newspaper, he was glad that he, and a number of his fellow teachers, were fast readers. The stories past the front page headlines were just as salacious. The one on page ten made him actually curl his lip before he could control it. The only way that Skeeter could know anything about the wills was if someone told her. The list of people who would do that was low, so he might be able to find out.

"I see that you started on the story on page ten, Severus." Flitwick said while glancing at the students again. "It looks like the students haven't made it that far yet."

"Not surprising since the front page alone has enough drama to hold their attention longer than five minutes." Severus said while taking a look around as well. He was surprised to see Harry, Theo and Blaise walking in this late before remembering that this was the regular time for at least two of them. Seeing the papers and coffee passed, he needed to talk to Theo about that, he returned his attention back to Flitwick. He was sure that Harry was fine for another fifteen minutes, hopefully.

"True, but I'm sure that the students are going to have a lot of questions for the next week, and unfortunately, most will ask Mr. Potter instead of us." Severus winced at that. He was thankful that everyone was focused on their newspapers instead of the teachers' table.

"We will probably have to talk to our houses to curb it."

"True, it won't stop the questions completely, but talking to the children should keep them from cornering Mr. Potter too much. How is he doing anyway, Severus?" Minervia asked, her voice colored by her worry she tried to hide.

"It is hard to tell with him without reading his mind. Don't look at me like that, Flitwick, I haven't done anything of the sort. I'm just saying that he internalizes his emotions. The only time I could get a clear idea of him was at the will readings and only because it probably overwhelmed him." Flitwick had to sigh at that. Looking at Harry, he couldn't help but remember Lily glowing with happiness while presenting her son.

Flitwick had visited them at the hospital and remembered her happy face. Lily was joking about just missing James and the others, since she kicked them out to get something to eat. Harry was awake and seemingly alert for someone not even a week old. Spending a half-hour with them was a welcome light during those dark times and reminded him why they fought so hard against Voldemort.

It saddened Flitwick that such an innocent child was then thrown to the wolves after freeing them from those times and could possibly understood why Severus said that Harry was overwhelmed after hearing the wills. Looking at him now, a part of him wanted to hunt down the people who thought it was alright to hurt a child, magical or not. Taking a breath, Flitwick relaxed his body. Now was not the time to lose control.

"Severus, I would suggest getting Mr. Potter to my office until Mr. Tombs comes to get him. It seems that some of the students are getting to the middle of the paper and Mr. Potter has enough to worry about at the moment." Severus looked around and saw that she had a point.

"Thank you, Headmistress. Is it okay if he brings some food up there? It looks like he hasn't even started eating yet."

"Of course. If need be call an elf to get him something. We don't want him taking his potions on an empty stomach." Severus nodded in agreement before retrieving his snake. He couldn't help but think that the usual craziness of a boarding school would be a nice reprieve from this. He might even hold his usual complaints. Maybe. After the first two weeks. Who was he kidding, he was a snarky git on a good day.

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Albus Dumbledore sat in his cell wondering how it came to this. It's not like he was teaching the students any dark or dangerous magic. Thinking of all the trouble he got into when they were teaching it when he was a student, Dumbledore made sure that no one made the same mistakes as him.

Sure, Tom was a mistake, but the ability to talk to snakes was dangerous. Parselmagic was known to be one of the strongest branch of magic there was. Dumbledore couldn't let that power come to pass. It may not have worked out as planned, but at least Tom didn't learn more about Parselmagic than he did.

But that wasn't the reason he was on trial today. Today his treatment of another orphaned boy was on display. Harry Potter was supposed to be the Chosen One that helped him defeat Tom. But it seemed the only person Harry was taking down was himself. And the wizarding world was sure to follow. For Tom was sure to come back and start up his war as Voldemort. And if the last war was anything to go by, the only thing that Tom was afraid of was himself.

Albus thought about that for a moment. Maybe that was the key to getting out of this. Not many people really knew the levels of darkness Tom delved into for power. If he told the courtroom, then they could see that everything he's done was for The Greater Good. Albus didn't like the thought of revealing some of the things he knew, but it was something that had to be done. He was still needed to guide the Wizarding World into the utopia that he saw.

A world where muggles and wizards would be able to work and live together in harmony. The muggles would wonder at wizarding power and beg for our help. And being gracious beings, wizards would help them and make their lives easier. In return, the muggles would want to help whatever way they could to show their love and appreciation. No more will there be wars and hunger with wizards helping the muggles lead productive and happy lives.

With a smile, Albus sat up straighter, assured that he was doing the right thing. Sure, he may have overlooked a few things, but everyone would know that he was doing the right thing after today. Albus may not like revealing everything he knows, but it was a price to pay for the Greater Good and being the Leader of the Light. He was needed for when Tom came back to take up the mantel of Dark Lord once again. Maybe then Fawkes would come back to him again.

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Tombs was getting ready to head out to retrieve Harry from Hogwarts with the extra guards. Three other curse breakers from his old team were in town and happily took the job. They were in-between jobs and didn't feel like sitting around, or completing paperwork. Thankfully the goblins agreed with him in taking extra precautions.

It wasn't hard considering the trial yesterday. Bartemius Crouch Sr. breaking out the son he sent to Azkaban created a flurry that is still being straightened out today. If someone who was considered an uptight, but morally sound, prick like Crouch could do such a thing, then what other crimes could Dumbledore have committed?

Not to mention that the crimes Dumbledore were against the Boy-Who-Lived and the Man-Who-Was-To-Raise-The-Boy-Who-Lived. Tombs never understood why wizards like hyphenating people instead of using their names. At least it would be something funny to tell Harry after the circus that was about to happen.

"Hey, Tombs, we're ready to leave when you are." Charles Binley said standing next to Claire Willings and Brian Lest.

"Good. We are going to Floo to Hogwarts to pick Harry up. We then are going to Floo directly to the Ministry. That is when we are going to be on point. Not only do we have to make sure the reporters don't crowd him too much, we also have to protect him from Dumbledore's supporters. There will be those that will be angry with him about Dumbledore, no matter how much the old man is in the wrong." The other three nodded at that. They never totally agreed with Dumbledore, but never thought that he would do something that he was accused of. If they had trouble with accepting Dumbledore's guilt, they could only guess at the reactions of Dumbledore's fanatics.

"Are the Aurors helping us with this? It sounds like a lot of work for just four people. The reporters alone would be an issue if they press their luck too much. Add in fanatics, for Potter or Dumbledore, and we have a possible riot on our hands." Charles said with a scowl. When Tombs told them about a protection job with good pay, he didn't think he would be protecting Harry Potter. If they hadn't read the file on him and Tombs' account of the first meeting, Charles would have thought Tombs and the goblins were over reacting. But reading what he went through, he realized that it would take a battalion, or two, of goblin warriors to pull this off.

"Yeah, Madam Bones loaned us a squad of Aurors to us. They will be by the fireplaces and clear an area for us. They will escort us to the courtroom. Thankfully, only those with passes will be able to get into the courtroom. So we will leave that part to them and worry about covering Harry while in the courtroom."

"Are the Aurors going to only be situated outside of the courtroom or inside it as well?" Claire said with a bland face. She was one of those women that could turn heads with her looks, but she was quick with a hex if you thought she was a dumb blond. Tombs was glad she was available. Not only was she a great witch, she was also an even greater mother. Tombs hoped that would help ease Harry with everything that was going on.

"The Aurors will be in the courtroom as well, but they will be more focused on keeping the peace than protecting Harry. So be on your toes. There are too many factors going on today. After the trail, we'll escort Harry to the Floo. Us going the second the trial is over or waiting until it the crowd thins out will depend on how everything goes and what the situation is like. Are there any questions before we do this?" Charles, Claire and Brian looked at each other before Charles spoke again.

"Just two. Is Potter giving testimony during the trial? And is he going or doing anything else after the trial?"

"I'm not sure about the testimony unfortunately. Madam Bones couldn't give me a direct answer since they may need Harry for part of the trial. On the other hand, Harry is going from Hogwarts to the Ministry and back. There isn't going to be any other stops before or afterwards. Thankfully, the goblins don't need him again, but know that if they do, I might call on one or more of you again until everything blows over." Everyone nodded at this before they started moving towards the fireplace. They were arriving twenty minutes early, just to make sure that everything was alright and to introduce Harry to his extra guards before leaving. Taking one last soothing sigh Tombs lead his team to a job he knew was going to be draining.

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Harry was finishing the extra food brought, after Professor Snape explained what a house elf was and why most enjoyed being bound to places and people, and now waiting for Tombs to show up. Yesterday he got a letter from Tombs telling him when he was going to show up and the number of people accompanying them. Harry was glad about that part. The amount of fans both he and Dumbledore has worried Harry. The thought of either group swarming him made a shiver run down his spine. Professor Snape's brought him back to the present.

"Are you worried about the trial today? Or is the room too cold for you?" Severus smirked, showing Harry that the last question was a joke.

"It's not about the trial, not really. It's about the people." Severus eyebrow came up in a silent question. Harry felt a little braver and continued on.

"The people there, they're already going to have an opinion of the situation. They are either going to be the people who are fans of mine and think of me as this child that needs to be hugged and kissed and wrapped in wool to protect me from the horrors of the world."

"You don't look too thrilled about all the hugs and kisses." Harry couldn't help to snort at that.

"I accidently shocked Blaise the other day because I didn't know he was right behind me while coming around a corner and he is naturally quiet. I apologized of course, but if I react to someone being behind me like that, then how would I react when someone tried to hug me?" Severus was silent for a moment before responding. He looked at Harry, seeming to search for something, before coming to a decision.

"I think that it's more than that. I have had a similar childhood as you. My mother never told my father that she was magical before they married. By the time he found out, it was too late and he was angered. It wasn't until I was born and started showing signs of being magical at a young age that he finally took his anger at my mother, and frustrations about his life in general, out on us physically. My mother never had the strength to stand up to him or to even leave him. By the time I was able to make friends, the thought of someone touching me made me cringe. Even today, a gentle hand sometimes makes me uncomfortable because of the heavy hand my father liked to use.

"There are only a small amount of people that I accept that kind of closeness from. In time, and with the right help, human contact will become easier for you. I have a feeling that Theo and Blaise understand this already. But down the line, and when you become closer to other people ,and they make you uncomfortable about hugging you or anything else, say something. If they are really your friend, the person will understand and respect the need to at least warn you when they have the urge to hug you. Believe me, there will be times when it is unavoidable. I would also suggest seeing a Mind Healer at some point. When the school physical begins, you can ask the Healer to recommend one for you." Harry thought about everything he just learned about his Head of House, and for some reason, it made him feel a little better and eased some of his worries. Harry couldn't help the smile that came across his face.

"I'm glad that I was able to help in that regard, but I have a feeling that wasn't your only issue for the day." Harry nodded before speaking again.

"I may be uncomfortable about the people who seem to be fans of mine, but I'm more worried about the fans of Dumbledore. I'm sure that there are those that blame me about him going to Azkaban and about spreading lies about him even though it's the truth." Severus couldn't help to narrow his eyes at Harry. The way he said that had Severus thinking that some of the students already started harassing Harry.

"Has anyone at Hogwarts said that to you?" Harry gulped before lowering his head to look at his hands. Before Severus could investigate further, the fireplace came to life with green flames. Tombs and three other people came out and dusted themselves off from the Floo. Severus stood up to great them, but not before throwing a look at Harry letting him know that the conversation wasn't over yet.

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Minister Fudge and Amelia were in the side chamber of the courtroom going over last minute plans for the day. The trail and then the closed Wizengamot session right afterwards, it was going to be a long day for the both of them with little rest. Fudge was glad that they went over the questions and how they were going to be asked over the last three days. He was sure they would have forgotten something if they didn't have everything written down.

"Amelia, is there any possibility that Veritaserum won't work with his Occlumency skills?"

"He may be strong with Occlumency, but not to the effect that he would be completely resistant to it. The thing that we would have to look out for is him giving half answers or the Veritaserum wearing off earlier than usual. We will have to watch closely and adjust our questioning if either problems comes to pass." Fudge sighed but nodded in understanding. He looked over the questions again, making sure that they didn't miss anything.

"Minister, are you sure you want to call a closed session after the trail? Today will be difficult already, we could easily schedule the session for tomorrow."

"As much as I would like to do that, I have a feeling that we would be more successful if we did the Wizengamot session right after Dumbledore's trial. Hopefully, Dumbledore won't try to grandstand too much and we can get this day over with before dinner." The look Amelia gave told Cornelius he was being optimistic. A knock on the door interrupted Cornelius from responding.

"Minister, I set the courtroom up for you and everything is ready to go at your convenience." Dolores Umbridge simpered. She completely ignored Amelia, who was silently grateful. Amelia Bones may be a woman of law, but she still had the urge to hex the overgrown, pink toad on a good day.

"Thank you, Dolores. Amelia and I will be out shortly." Dolores was slightly disappointed that she didn't get a bigger reaction, but brushed it away. She was sure after the trial today she would be rewarded like usual. Closing the door, Dolores walked back into the courtroom and into her assigned seat. She looked over the courtroom at everyone below her and smiled. In her mind, this is where someone of her stature should always be.