Lost and Found
Chapter Fourteen: Trying Days Part One
Authors note: If I owned Harry Potter, I would probably be at a spa getting a massage and steam treatment. Since I'm writing fan fiction, I'm obviously not at a spa. That means I don't own it.
MyLifeAsSlytherin: I'm glad you liked it. Much happy. Such smiles. Very squealing.
ValkyrieDefender: I'm happy I finally got to that part too. It was so much fun to write.
Mizzrazz: James being dead is a very good thing for Sirius too. If he put himself in Azkaban I would have to hit his doggy butt with a newspaper for ruining the story like that.
Shortly after Remus returned from the library with Canan, Sirius went to Malfoy Manor to pick up Harry and brought him to Hogwarts. Though Sirius was given his own set of quarters, it didn't seem to be working because of the boys. The first night Sirius tried getting Harry to sleep in their own quarters, but he didn't want to be apart from his brother after he heard what had happened. Likewise Canan didn't want to be apart from Severus. Each of them ended up in their parent's bed after a nightmare. The second night they tried having Harry spend the night in Canan's room with him, but both children ended up distressed without their perspective guardians and ended up in Severus's bed with Canan next to him and Harry next to Canan. It worked a bit better and Severus had managed to get them to sleep for a couple hours at least, but it still wasn't enough sleep for them and left them with a sour disposition. The third night Severus and Sirius tried to keep them in their quarters and allowed them to stay with them while they slept, but that didn't work either because even though they had their guardian Harry and Canan still were having a hard time being separated. The following morning they had Minerva put a door in joining their quarters, hoping that would help and tried the arrangement from the previous night. That didn't work either because Harry stayed with Sirius when he fell asleep, but sometime during the night he had a bad dream and stumbled through the door and into Severus' room and climbed in next to his brother. It gave Sirius quite a fright when he woke up and he ran to tell Severus, but ended up finding Harry in the process.
Harry had dreamt of Dumbledore hurting his big brother and never seeing him again and went to his brother because he was scared. After that scare Sirius and Severus had enough of the problem and on the fifth night, both Sirius and Severus needed their rest. The best possible solution they could come up with was to have them all stay in the same bed at night with the boys in between them until they were less shaken by the whole incident. They had made it clear that this would be temporary and they would have until after Dumbledore was sentenced to get used to the idea of sharing a room with each other, but they would not be allowed to co-sleep with Severus or Sirius every night. That night all four of them were able to sleep through the night. Or at least it seemed that way any way. While the other three were sleeping soundly by half nine, Sirius had laid awake much longer, watching them protectively.
As soon as he was able to, Sirius had filed a request to adopt Harry, who had taken to calling him Papa and in the process had come to view Canan as a son as well. And his budding relationship with Severus had made them sort of an unofficial family. He smiles and brushes a strand of hair out of Severus' face and smiles. His boyfriend's face was so much more relaxed in his sleep, void of his usual stern expression that he had learned to wear from such a young age. He would love to see such an unguarded expression on his beautiful face one day while they were awake. The words still sounded weird to him though. His boyfriend! He couldn't believe after everything that happened in Hogwarts, Severus even considered it. But after their talk the day of Dumbledore's arrest they could no longer deny it and made it official two days later. It almost made Severus laugh in front of the entire great hall when Sirius had childishly passed him a note that read, "Will you be my boyfriend? Check yes or no." Severus checked yes and passed it back with a note that said, "So much for Griffindor courage." Every staff member who passed the note along couldn't help but snicker a little as they passed the note back to its writer, causing Snape to scold them for being worse than the students. So despite how difficult the last few nights had been, Sirius was happy.
But he was also anxious about tomorrow. It was the day of Albus's trial, and both he and Severus were called as whiteness. What really worried him was the fact that Canan had been called too. He didn't think the child was ready to relive that experience and knew from experience that the Wizengamot could be ruthless. Wether or not they would be gentle with a nine year old child he had yet to see. He knew Lucius would object to anything that would be too difficult for Canan to handle, but wether or not the objection would be sustained was at the discretion of the Head Warlock. He was also worried about the public finding out who Canan's father was. The Wizengamot managed to keep it secret at his trial due to the fact that it had been appealed and taken to court within an hour. The media didn't have time to get wind of the notorious Sirius Black getting an appeal. But it had been five days since Albus had been arrested and the prophet had the public in a frenzy. As Harry snuggled up to Canan, he gave both children a kiss on the top of their heads.
He places a kiss on Severus' forehead as well and strokes his hair before lying back down. He was worried about his lover as well. Severus didn't take kindly to Canan being called as a witness, and the auror who issued the subpoena for that left with the compulsion to bark whenever she saw a cat. Severus ended up being fined for the jinx he put on the girl, but the ministry should have known better to mess with a mother, and especially one who went through a 9 year separation from his baby. He was worried Severus may be removed from the court room because he had been having a hard time controlling his magic when he was stressed out lately. He explained three days ago, although reluctantly as he was embarrassed, that once a wizard has a child, their body retains the womb the magic created and a couple times a year he got symptoms similar to premenstrual syndrome in females when his body and magic had synchronized enough for him to convince, but because of his magic being involved instead of only his body, accidental magic happened during the timeframe. There wasn't really a pattern to it like with a women, but he knew what to watch for. He asked Severus if he ever wanted more kids. The man said he hadn't after his son had been taken, but he was beginning to reconsider. He was worried about how Canan would handle not having his undivided attention though and said that he would have to make sure Canan understood that he still loved him but a baby needs more help than a child his age.
Sirius would love to have kids one day. He would love his own child just as much as Harry and Canan. Blood made no difference after all, but he couldn't get the image of him and Severus together with Canan and Harry in a couple years with a younger boy who looked about 3 and Severus holding a pink bundle. He wasn't sure when he drifted off, but he had dreams of a family that night until he heard knocking on the door of Severus' quarters. He grumpily rolls out of bed and trudges to the door to find Remus snacking on a chocolate bar.
"G'morning." He slurs, letting his best friend in. "Thanks for watching Harry." With that Sirius closed the portrait of Merlin behind them and goes to start on breakfast for everyone. "Have you had more than a chocolate bar?" Sirius demands, to which Lupin looked down at his candy longingly, yet slightly ashamed, straightened the wrapper and folded it over the sweet. "No I haven't." He admits. Sirius rolls his eyes and cracks another two eggs into the bowl and adds a bit more cheese and starts beating it together before he puts a large skillet on the stove along with the tea pot and a smaller skillet. After that he turned back to the fridge and took out bacon, sausage, mushrooms, and tomatoes. He threw the tomatoes and mushrooms onto a tray and set the oven to broil, then put the eggs in the larger skillet and the breakfast meats in the other. Then he grabbed a can of beans and opened them up and put them in a bowl and stuck them in the wonderful piece of muggle technology that Severus had introduced him to called a microwave. When he set the timer he grabs a loaf of bread and puts four pieces in the toaster.
"Since when did you learn how to cook?" Remus asked, obviously amused at the sight of a domestic Sirius. "I learned a thing or two from the house elf Severus had cooking for Harry and I. I mean it's only been a couple days but breakfast is hard to mess up." He explains, turning the sausages and bacon, then scrambling the eggs. He uses his wand to pull the tray out of the oven, grabs the beans from the microwave, and the toaster popped. He took the four slices of bread, buttered them, put them on a plate, and put three more slices in, knowing he and Remus would eat two slices, and Harry, Canan and Severus would each eat one. He stirred the eggs around again, checked the meat, found it done, drained it, and put it on a plate, put the mushrooms on another, tomatoes on a third one, and put the eggs in a bowl. As the tea kettle started to hiss he took it off the flame and put it on a pot holder on the table. He levitates 5 cups, glasses, plates, napkins and sets of silverware to the table, puts the eggs in a bowl, puts serving spoons in everything, butters the last piece of toast, sets out some pumpkin juice and turns to Remus. "Think this will impress Severus?" He asks.
"More than eating three kilograms of chocolate in a day." Says a voice from the door way, making Sirius jump and Remus pout in irritation. "It's only one kilo." Remus corrects. Severus snorts a bit and then smiles at Sirius. "Good job. Don't forget the jam and hot sauce." He says and casts a warming charm over everything. "You get ready and I'll wake the boys." Severus says, causing Sirius to notice that Severus was already dressed in professional looking dress robes and had shaved and showered already. He couldn't help but like his choice in dressy attire. The robe tapered down his back and had only buttoned down to the point where a muggle suit would, letting the sides billow around him as he walked. It was a black, of course, but the cuff links, lapels and pocket flaps were grey, the buttons were silver, and the vest underneath was a matching grey piece with silver buttons. His shirt was a button down in a lighter shade of grey and his tie was black. He lingered for q moment letting Sirius look him over with a smirk. After that he spun around and went back into the bedroom where Canan and Harry were still sleeping. He couldn't help but grin as he turned around. The cut of those robes looked very flattering to his boyfriend's rear end.
"He looked hot!" Sirius says with a grin, earning an eye roll from Remus, then heads for the bathroom where his own dress robes were hanging. After a quick shower, a curl taming potion, drying charm, shave and hair tie later, he was dressing in his own trial appropriate attire and charming it to repel liquid and food. That way ink, tea or food grease wouldn't cause any sort of problem. His dress robes were very sharp. Black with red pinstripes, a black vest, a white shirt and a red tie. Under the robes he had trousers that had matching pin stripes. He looked professional and respectable. He throws on his black leather shoes and heads back into the kitchen to find a very tired looking Harry and a very grumpy looking Canan.
Canan was wearing a cute set of dress robes that were black and green and his house tie. He was complaining, of course, that he didn't like them and Severus was trying to make his hair look somewhat controlled. Sirius puts a hand on Severus' shoulder and whispers, "I'll handle this. You start on your breakfast." Severus hands him the brush, gratefully taking his seat and letting Sirius deal with his hair. His hair has always been pin straight and he had no idea how to tame Canan's loose curls. Sirius had curly hair though so he knew exactly what to do. First he accioed the product he had just used on his hair and poured a bit into his hand. After running it through Canan's hair, he takes the brush and pulls it back into a noble looking ponytail. With his hair straight, his hair was a good five inches longer and rather than reaching his shoulders, it reached his mid back. After putting a green ribbon in the pony tail, he decides to tackle the robes problem. "Well fancy that. We have the same robes. Just mine are red and yours are green." He says and takes his seat.
Canan just huffs a bit but didn't make any further complaints as they tucked into breakfast. It was a bit of a rushed affair since they had to get to the ministry, and most of the conversation was Sirius telling Remus what Harry was and wasn't allowed to do or eat or play with and to make sure Harry did this or that, to make sure he had a snack between breakfast and lunch, one between lunch and dinner, to make sure his teeth has been spelled clean, and so on and so forth.
After breakfast had been eaten and their teeth spelled clean, the three of them floo to the Ministry of Magic to meet with Lucius. He was there as their personal lawyer, but he was also prosecuting the case. The defense that was assigned to Albus was that nasty wench in pink who had questioned him about his choices with Canan. He could already tell this wouldn't be fun. Apparently the women had changed departments. She was sending dirty looks at Severus and he sent a dirty look right back. Of all the insufferable, blithering, unprofessional, incorrigible, pretentious fucks they could have chosen, they had to put the pink toad in charge of the lemon sucking goat?
Severus sighed and took his seat in the row reserved for witnesses, pulled out a book for Canan, and a sketch book with a box of colored pencils. Sirius took a seat next to him, along with Moody, a couple other aurors, Minerva and the other teachers who had been present during the sting. Thankfully Canan was between him and Fillus, who would probably be able to help him entertain the child. He had taken a liking to Canan and the man was good with children, perhaps more so than any of the other teachers at the school.
After a minute Albus is brought forward and put in the chair and chained, then the head warlock takes his place at the head of the Wizengamot. Madam Bones calls everyone to their feet, much like a muggle court room. Severus was tempted to roll his eyes at the show of utmost respect for a wizard who probably didn't use his wand for more than shuffling around paperwork. He resisted though, if only to see Dumbledore being dragged away by dementors. Nobody pointed a wand at his baby and got away with it! After the head warlock sat down, everyone else did too. It's only once he's seated that Severus bothered to look up at who the head warlock was, and had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from rolling his eyes. Minister Fudge.
"We're all here today to bear witness to justice on this day at the trial of Albus Percival Brian Wulfric Dumbledore. The Prosecuting party is the Ministry of Magic of the United Kingdom. The charges brought forth are conspiracy to commit murder, successfully on 5 counts, unsuccessfully on 14 counts, bribery on two counts, conspiracy against the ministry, attempted assault of a minor on 2 counts, the creation of a horcrux on one account, murder on one count, the use of illegal dark magic on one count, bearing false witness on one count, and the taking of a hostage on one count. How do you plead?" Fudge opened, turning to Dumbledore. Severus was shocked at the list of charges. He knew about some of the things he had done, but a horcrux? When did that happen?
"Not guilty." He says in a sickly grandfatherly tone. Severus bit the inside of his cheek again and Sirius squeezed his knee comfortingly, causing him to relax. "Will the defense make their opening arguments?" Minister Fudge asks, and in response the women who has a remarkable resemblance to a toad stood up.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the Wizengamot, I stand before you today in defense of an innocent man. The evidence and testimonies given to you today will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the crimes of which he stands accused of are acts which simply couldn't have been carried out by him, and to say that they were would be utterly foolish. In fact..." She drones on and on in a condescending voice so belittling he wouldn't even talk to first year Hufflepuffs that way. Severus had to tone her out in order to prevent himself from developing a migraine of monumental proportions and distracted himself by reading over Canan's shoulder about Capricorns. "Cold, blunt, sarcastic and to the point. Has a tendency to be easily irritated, especially by those who display less than stellar judgement or have a tendency to insinuate that their foolish." The book said. He glanced up at Delores Umbridge, then back at the book, and then thought, "Sounds about right."
When she was finally done, Severus yawned and Minister Fudge says, "I would like to call the Prosecution to make their opening arguments." With that Lucius stood up, leaning on his cane as he took his place at the stand. Severus couldn't help but notice Canan watching him, and how he still looked dignified even with it. He couldn't help but frown, knowing Canan was probably wondering wether Lucius' legs were different lengths as well. That train of thought was lost when Lucius cleared his throat and began speaking.
"Ladies, gentlemen, and Minister Fudge, I come before you asking you to do your civic duty. Convict this man before you if the crimes that he has committed against the wizzarding community of the United Kingdom. The evidence that you will be shown today is overwhelming, and can only point to his guilt. As intelligent individuals, I don't need to make any arguments. I only need to present to you the evidence. I have every confidence in you to interpret the facts correctly. I don't believe you to be fools, and I know you don't have to be spoon fed a conclusion. Intelligent individuals such as yourselves did not make your post by being blithering fools. Hard work and good judgement is what brought you to the seats you sit in today, and I have confidence that you will use that same judgement today. The facts will show you that Albus Dumbledore has payed bribes to The Dark Lord on the nights of death eater raids, which have left 5 people that we know of dead, two driven mad, and 11 more injured. I have plenty of witnesses to testify to the fact that he attempted to turn his wand on children, at least one of whom would be dead were it not for the heroic actions of a man whom was falsely imprisoned because of Albus Dumbledore. A man you freed earlier in the year, making it a fact that this man before you cannot be innocent if Sirius Black is. And there's no doubt in my mind that you believe that. There's the undeniable evidence of a horcrux, which will be brought before you. The very existence of such an artifact is irrefutable evidence that this man had personally committed murder. It is my hope that in these proceedings his motives for the unspeakable will be uncovered, but even without a reason, there's enough evidence of his crimes to prove his guilt to ten different courts. I would like to thank you for your commitment to justice and for your dedication to keeping the Wizards and Witches of the United Kingdom safe. Convict this man." He ended his speech by gesturing to the defendant.
"Now that we've heard the opening arguments let's move on to the physical evidence. If the prosecution would present their evidence now, the defense will have their chance to cross examine after each exhibit. Lucius, if you would please begin?" The minister says.
Lucius nods. "Minister, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to present to you exhibit A." He says as a ministry clerk brought out the Evans family tree. "This family tree is the family tree of the Evans line. One of the victims of the murderers that had been committed was Lilly Evans Potter. The rightful heir of the Evans vaults. But on closer inspection of the family tree, it was discovered that Lilly's three times great aunt had married a man, and they later became the grand parents to this individual here." He says and points to a name, walking up to the head podium and showing it to the minister, then around the block where the Wizengamot was seated. "Albus Percival Brian Wulfric Dumbledore. Until Lilly started displaying signs of magic and began her education at Hogwarts, Albus' older brother, Aberforth, would have rightfully held the Evans vaults and seat on the Wizengamot. As you know, ladies and gentlemen, after Aberforth's wife passed away, he transferred his seats on the Wizengamot and holdings of the vaults to the defendant."
At this point a shrill voice cut above the Lucius', the speaker jumping to her feet. "Objection! My lord, saying that Aberforth passed his seats and holdings without substantial evidence is hearsay!" Minister Fudge turned to Umbridge. "Over ruled. Sit down Delores. Everyone in this courtroom knows Aberforth transferred everything to the defendant. We were his coworkers, and as such bore witness to the event. He's merely elaborating on what everyone in this court room, yourself included, already knows. Lucius, please continue."
Lucius nods and continues. "As we can see," at this point he points to a date below the name of Aberforth's wife, "Sara Felicity Dumbledore, née Parkinson, passed away on the 4th of January, 1964. It would have been shortly thereafter that the defendant took control of the vaults. This establishes the fact that well before any of the dates that this man's crimes occurred, he was in control of these vaults."
"Would the defense like a chance to examine the evidence?" Minister Fudge asks as he turned to the horror in pink. She nodded her head and stood, walking in front of the podium and standing in front of Lucius. "Under what circumstances did you acquire this evidence Mr. Malfoy? I was always under the impression that any genealogies were kept in the vaults of the family until an heir who would be the head of that family claimed the title." Her tone was condescending and accusatory, and the look on her face was smug and made her look even more like a toad.
"The family tree was acquired after Gringotts was served a subpoena to search the vaults and transactions records of the defendants vaults." Says Lucius. The toad frowned a little and says, "So your saying that not only was the family tree acquired legally, but with the cooperation of the goblins?" Lucius nods and shoots her a smirk. "Unless there's some sort of law that makes the creatures you've made a point to pose harsh laws against that somehow makes them immune to said laws, Ms. Umbridge, you seem to have the facts entirely straight." He says, stepping closer to her, looking down at her with a sneer. She steps closer and leers right back at him.
"Ahhh. I see. I have to say, I'm surprised. It's unlike the goblins to cooperate with wizards. It makes me wonder, how exactly were they convinced to cooperate with the investigation. Perhaps they were aware that a Malfoy would be handling the case?" She says, circling around Lucius, who was beginning to grow agitated. "Wether or not they knew that I would be handling the case isn't a fact I'm aware of, nor would that information be relevant to this case." He returns.
She stops, yet again in front of him. "I think it's entirely relevant, Mr. Malfoy. I specifically stated that the goblins aren't known to cooperate with wizards." Lucius glares at her waiting for her to continue. "Your not entirely a wizard though Malfoy. Your mother was a veela. Your a half breed. I think the evidence that was acquired was given due to a bias in favor of your subhuman genealogy." She says, looking at him square in the face. Lucius turns red with anger. Sub human! The nerve!
"Objection your honor! My heritage doesn't have anything to do with wether or not this evidence was lawfully acquired, nor does it make the evidence irrelevant. I would also like to voice my disgust to the discrimination based on magical heritage. There are children present. Can you at least maintain some presence of civility in this court room?" The blonde spat, giving Delores a look that could make even The Dark Lord's blood run cold. It was a glare Severus was proud of.
Fudge nods at Lucius. "Sustained. I'll not have personal attacks in my court room. If you've no further questions Ms. Umbridge, take your seat." The specified amphibian's mouth fell open in a disgustingly dainty gasp as though she were the one who had been personally insulted and degraded in front of the Wizengamot and the press. She turns on her heels and walks back to her seat, nose in the air and head held high.
The exchange set the tone for the rest of the trial. Lucius presented the family tree of Lord Voldemort, showing effectively that he was the holder of the Gaunt line, and one of the five last living heirs of Salzar Slytherin. The other heirs were all seated in the court room. The grandfather of Albus Dumbledore's mother was a member of the Gaunt family. Albus' great grandmother had a brother though, who had a son, and his son had a daughter who gave birth to the son of a muggle. The half blooded child was none other than the dark lord himself, who also happened to be Albus Dumbledore's great nephew.
Lucius also showed the financial records of the vaults. He showed large transfers of money on the Halloween of 1981, only an hour before one of the most famous raids. The night Lilly and James were killed. He reiterated the point that the holders of vaults the money was transferred between were the Headmaster and the Dark Lord. He showed the records from the Gaunt vaults, to the Lestrange vaults. The same Lestranges that tortured Alice and Frank Longbottom to insanity. He showed the records from the attack on Grimmuald Place. He showed the money transfers that took prior to the attack on that same day. Aurors testified about what they found at the crime scene. Lucius asked what the witnesses said under Vertiserum. They made it very clear that all the surviving members of the order hadn't sold out the location. Several order members testified that Albus was the only member who wasn't there at the time of the attack. That he had said he was running late. The Auror who had interviewed them under Vertiserum testified that none of them had revealed the location of Grimmuald Place. That left only one secret keeper that could have revealed the location. It was the next piece of physical evidence everyone had been waiting for though. None other than Fawkes, Dumbledore's familiar.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Lucius begins, holding the bird on his arm, "I would like to present to you Albus Dumbledore's horcrux. Minister Fudge, there is a spell that can be used to detect the presence of a horcrux and reveal its creator. Perhaps you would like to do the honors?" He asks, bringing him the bird. The minister points his wand at the Phenoix. "Mihi qui hace scripsit horcrux!" He says, the spell ordering the magic to reveal the author of the horcrux. A red glow of dark magic surrounded the miserable looking bird and branches out to Albus, where the red glow surrounds him.
Quills start scribbling on parchment, gasps echo through the room, and the press began shouting questions. Cornelius bangs his gavel. "Everyone take your seats. I will have order!" He shouts over the noise, causing the crowd to fall silent. "There will be a separate trial later in the week to determine what to do about the horcrux in the Phenoix. If the bailiff would please remove the bird to a secure location, we will move on with the trial. Lucius, I believe you have a few more testimonial evidence exhibits. Once your witnesses have testified the Wizengamot will determine wether or not we have sufficient evidence to use Vertiserum. Lucius, please call forward your next witness."
Lucius nods and says, "I would like to call Severus Snape to the stand." Severus stands and takes his seat at the witness stand, hoping that this would be over quickly. Umbridge stood up as Severus looked around uncomfortably. "Minister I would like to put forth a motion for Vertiserum." She says. "The witness is a Slytherin." Severus roles his eyes at the sentiment. "I'll consent to it, though it's ludicrous for this to be based upon my Hogwarts house. If only because if I don't it will be assumed I'm lying." Severus says, the roll of his eyes and annoyance in his voice undisguised.
The potion was brought forth and administered, and afterward Lucius began his questioning. "State your name and occupation." The blonde began, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible. How anyone could actually still believe Dumbledore was innocent after seeing his horcrux was beyond him.
"Severus Tobias Snape. Potions master and Head of Slytherin at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Ministry of Magic, department of child welfare correspondent." He answers. Everyone in the court room knew about his teaching and supervisory jobs at Hogwarts, but him working with the ministry surprised most people.
"And can you briefly describe each position?" Lucius asks. Severus nods. "As the Potions master I obviously teach potions, as Head of Slytherin, I oversee the education of students sorted into my house as well as seeing to their welfare and being available for them to come to with any needs they may have. As a correspondent with the department of child welfare I make sure the school is safe for students and report any policy, procedure, or class that could harm the students. In addition, I also watch students for signs of distress that could be caused by a poor home life, an older or more powerful student, be that magic or physically, or by members of staff at the school. I report these observations as well. These reports are usually investigated and the ministry will intervene into the welfare of the children." He explains. Lucius nodded and then says, "Would you clarify what you meant when you said usually." Severus spoke again. "I mean that when I reported any suspicions of Albus Dumbledore, there were no serious investigations and there never have been, even when it was a fact that he was endangering children."
"Can you name a few occasions where this occurred?" Lucius asks. "I can." Severus responds. "One of the most negligent things I have ever seen is Albus Dumbledore placing Harry Potter in the care of his Aunt and Uncle, who had clearly and proudly displayed their contempt for all things magic and discrimination against Lilly. This action resulted in the child having been abused. Another instance was when I was reunited with the son whom had been abducted from the hospital as an infant. He had been adopted by muggles who held extremely religious beliefs and thought that his accidental magic was the result of demonic activity. This lead to him being abused and neglected and the ministry took custody of him so that he could attend Hogwarts. It was when he injured himself in potions class and the reaction between his blood that had dripped in the cauldron and the other ingredients that it was figured out that he's the son who had been taken from me. After discovering this, I wanted to take him to live in my personal quarters so that I could help him recover. No parent wants to see their child, someone they love dearly, be in emotional distress. But Albus didn't want my son with me, even though he was in a dangerous state of mind. I was forced to go hunting through policy to ensure he would remain with me. Another set of incidents I can name was against myself when I was a student attending Hogwarts. Though I wasn't the correspondent at that time the position has been filled during all terms for the last 500 years."
"Please elaborate on those incidences where you were personally involved." Lucius instructs and Severus nods his head, but before that her royal pinkness stands up and shouts "Objection! This has nothing to do with the current case!" Lucius rolls his eyes. "I know your new to this Delores but if you'll look in the documentation, Severus is a character witness and event witness. There may be some overlap between the two lines of questioning, but how what happened in Severus' past had been handled in the past shows much about his character." Lucius argues, the two of them shouting at the same time. At the arguing, Cornelius bangs his gavel. "Stop the childish squabbling. Objection overruled. If the witness will answer the question?" He bellowed. Lucius and Delores fell silent and allowed Severus to continue. And it was quite the tale Severus had to tell...
Note from the rodent: Please review. This was an insanely difficult chapter.
