A/N: This is probably the last (or next to the last) chapter devoted strictly to the trial. We may see snatches of it later but it is going to be over pretty quickly. Frankly, it has gone on longer than I had envisioned since I had rather assumed I would only do one or two chapters on the trial. Oops.
An extra long chapter as a rather pathetic bid for forgiveness for my late posting. The holidays are always insane for me.
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Chapter 61Tallis and Severus stood outside the large doors to the courtroom in silence.
Tallis was terrified but he was hiding it admirably.
"Are you ready for this?" Severus asked softly, resting his hand on Tallis' shoulder.
Tallis gave a jerky nod and allowed his Father to open the door so that they could step inside the courtroom.
All eyes turned to him the second the door opened. He was relieved to notice that the audience was in fact quite small. The only people who had been admitted were Poppy, Remus, Hermione and the Weasleys.
He glanced to the right and saw a middle aged man with dark brown hair sitting in a space he could only assume was reserved for Dumbledore's legal counsel. Sitting slightly separately were two more men and a woman, no doubt the Dursleys' legal counsel. They were present in the event that his testimony would affect their clients although it was deemed unlikely that his testimony would affect anyone but Dumbledore, since it was he who had brought Tallis into the trial to begin with after his insane claims.
The trial was proceeding strangely, from a muggle's point of view. What appeared to be one enormous trial was actually four separate trials that were happening simultaneously. No one had to appear at multiple trials to deliver the same testimony since the Wizengamot simply compiled the sum total of the testimonies and evidence before delivering four separate verdicts for Dumbledore and the three Dursleys.
Each person on trial was facing completely different charges as well as different degrees of somewhat similar charges, such as the criminal neglect charge that had been slapped onto each of them.
Tallis didn't quite understand the Wizarding World legal system since it was so radically different from anything he had ever seen or experienced before but all he knew was that this format saved him from having to testify multiple times and so he was grateful for it.
Tallis turned his gaze up to the Wizengamot, able to barely make out their faces from where he stood. He knew that once he stood on the floor he would be unable to see them again. He also knew that they often fired questions off randomly so it was impossible to tell who had asked you the question out of the crowd of faceless shapes. He held back a shudder.
Two Aurors stepped up on either side of him and began to escort him on the long walk down to the floor. Severus slid into a seat next to Bill quickly, his eyes following his son's progress closely.
The door clicked shut after Tallis stepped onto the floor. He looked up to meet the gaze of the Wizengamot.
"Are you Tallis Snape?"
"I am," Tallis said confidently.
"Who are your parents?"
"Miranda Jurow and Severus Snape."
The Wizengamot shifted in place for a moment and conferred quietly.
"Apprentice Snape," the head examiner finally said, obviously uncomfortable with what she was going to ask. "Against my better judgement, my colleagues have requested that we skip the initial questioning and proceed immediately to the second round. This means that you would need to be dosed with a truth serum. It also means that a representative for Headmaster Dumbledore will be present to ask questions. Depending upon our findings, it may even be permissible for the other three counsels to question you as well."
Tallis swallowed convulsively. "If I did that then would I need to return and testify again?"
"We would try as hard as possible to avoid that Apprentice Snape," she said kindly. "You do not have to do this. It is entirely up to you."
Tallis stood quietly for a moment before making up his mind. If he waited until later to give his iron clad testimony under Veritaserum then it would only give Dumbledore more time to spread his gossip and could potentially damage him more. Not to mention, if he waited then he would only give Dumbledore's representative even more time to come up with difficult to answer questions. Best to get it over with.
"I will take the truth serum," Tallis said confidently.
"Very well Mr. Snape," she said, flicking her wand toward the floor.
Tallis looked around himself in amazement as everything changed faster than he could blink. The rails around the square of spelled floor disappeared and in their place a comfortable chair appeared behind him. Only intelligent, really, since Veritaserum often affected one's balance and strength.
He looked back up to the shadowy Wizengamot and blinked in surprise as he realized that he could see them all quite clearly.
The head examiner smiled down at him, understanding the cause for his surprise. "We feel it is only fair to allow someone who is willingly undergoing a truth serum and is not charged with a crime to see who exactly is questioning him."
Tallis nodded his understanding.
He glanced over to the side where the shadowy forms of the jury sat but he still could not make out any faces. It was no doubt for their own protection so that they could retain their anonymity.
He sat down carefully on the chair and looked up sharply as an Auror stepped in closely. He eyed the vial of Veritaserum warily before willingly opening his mouth to accept the three drops.
Once the Auror had stepped away he turned back to the Wizengamot.
"What is your name?"
"Tallis Anthony Snape."
"Are you Harry Potter?"
"No."
"Who are your birth parents?"
"Severus Snape and Miranda Jurow."
"How did your mother die?"
"Voldemort murdered her. He had been chasing her down for quite a while and had entered into hiding. Voldemort found her anyhow."
"Does your Father serve He Who Must Not Be Named?"
"No. He has been a spy for the light since around six months before I was born."
"Is he still?"
"No. Voldemort discovered that he was a spy at the very end of the last school year."
The Wizengamot paused for a moment, seemingly trying to decide what questions to ask next. As far as they were concerned they were finished with this. The boy had said that he was Tallis Snape while under the effects of Veritaserum. Case closed.
They knew that the Legal Wizards for Dumbledore and the Dursleys would not accept that though. "Where did you go to school?"
"Veyle Academy."
"Why did you not attend Hogwarts?"
"My Father did not trust Dumbledore and was scared that if Voldemort knew that he had a son then he would demand my service. He was equally concerned that Dumbledore would push me into being a spy as well if he knew that Voldemort wanted me to be a Death Eater. He didn't want that life for me."
"Are you Harry James Potter?" they repeated, this time careful enough to use the full name.
Unfortunately for them, that didn't have any effect on Tallis.
"No."
That seemed to be enough to satisfy the Head Examiner as she sat back and motioned to Dumbledore's legal counsel to begin his questions. She found the whole thing to be a farce anyway.
He stepped forward, armed with a thick tablet of notes that he had taken from his client in regards to this young man. He was rather inclined to believe the old man to be mad but it was his job to push the witness as hard as he could. Who knew—perhaps the young man really was Harry Potter.
"Have you ever been known by the name Harry Potter?"
Tallis' eye twitched imperceptibly. "No."
The legal wizard sighed. Well, there went his wish for en easy witness. He had hoped to have this whole mess over in a single question. Looks like he was going to have to use the old man's information after all to try to crack him.
"Was Lily Potter your mother?"
"No."
"Was Lily Evans Potter your mother?"
"No." Tallis was insanely grateful that his Father had decided to confide in him some of his more private information about his mother. He knew it had been hard for his Father but it was his salvation to know that his Father had called Lily 'Grace.' Evidently she had been about as graceful as Tallis was, particularly when she had to floo or use a portkey.
"Why did your Father keep your existence a secret for so long?"
"He didn't, really. He merely kept it quiet. I attended Cousin Rianna's school when I turned 13 and did so until last year. The students there knew who I was but they also knew the importance of keeping the information quiet. Voldemort wanted to kill every last Jurow and thought he had done so with the murder of my mother. We did not wish to inform him otherwise."
"Where have you been living?"
"At Snape Manor," Tallis said reasonably.
The Wizengamot stifled laughter.
"Have you lived there your entire life?"
"Yes, aside from the time I have spent at school and now at Hogwarts as an apprentice."
"And where did you go to school?"
"Veyle Academy," Tallis said easily for the second time.
"Have you ever met Vernon, Petunia or Dudley Dursley?"
"Yes," Tallis said. The whispers this sparked were quelled almost immediately. "I saw them briefly when my Father and I returned Harry to their house this summer after we met while shopping."
The Legal Wizard deflated. Damn it. He stifled a deeper sigh. He had been furious when he found out what Dumbledore wanted him to do to this poor boy and so he had tried to avoid it at all costs. He had organized the questions he had been told to ask into levels based on how rudely invasive they were. He needed to move on to the next level. He hated doing it to this kid who seemed to be very nice and was no doubt merely suffering from a crazed man's whims.
"Has Vernon Dursley ever hit you?"
"No."
"Has he ever abused you in any way?"
"No."
The Legal Wizard bit back another sigh. Now on to an even more insane batch of questions. He could only imagine the Wizengamot's reaction when he started in on these.
"Do you have any glamours on right now?"
"No."
"Have you had any on in the past year?"
"Yes," Tallis said, sparking a small rustle of interest in those in the courtroom. "I use one to cover my tattoos upon occasion."
The rustle quieted down as people realized that wasn't terribly interesting or surprising. Definitely no admission that he was truly Harry Potter.
"Why do you have so many tattoos?" The Legal Wizard didn't really understand why he was forced to ask this question. Dumbledore had raved about some sort of tattoo that produced electricity but he stopped listening after a bare moment or two. It was quite clear that the old man was losing it.
"I like tattoos. My Father expressed no objection so long as they were all tastefully done and I agreed to use a glamour to cover them, should he ever ask it of me—which he hasn't. I had no reason to stop getting them."
"Do your tattoos ever electrocute people?"
Tallis opened his mouth to answer when a man from the Wizengamot spoke up.
"I object! What the hell kind of question is that? What does that have to do with proving that this young man is not Harry Potter?"
The Legal Wizard stepped closer to the stand to explain. "My client wished for me to ask some specific questions. I do not entirely understand the purpose of them but I could not, in good faith, refuse to ask them if it was within my power to do so."
"The question will be admitted," the Head Examiner decided. "Please answer the question, Mr. Snape."
"No sir, they do not electrocute people."
The Legal Wizard looked back at his tablet and bit back another sigh. Honestly, how invasive was this going to get? "Why are you so short?" he asked, his voice making it evident that he was humiliated to even ask such a ludicrous question.
"Are we just going to allow him to ask any intimate detail he wishes of young Snape? He took the truth serum willingly, and we betray him by allowing this unnecessary invasion into his private life?" a woman asked indignantly.
"I cite my earlier point. Headmaster Dumbledore asked me to put this specific question to the witness."
The Head Examiner nodded her head for him to continue.
Tallis nodded and began to formulate his answer. "Do you know what happens to children who are too close to potentially toxic potion fumes at too early an age?"
The Legal Wizard shook his head.
Tallis nearly grinned but he bit it back. No one knew if this could do anything because no one would ever believe that any parent would be stupid enough to allow their five year old children to brew poisons. No one, that is, except for a potions master who expected his son to follow in his footsteps who was known to have Dark leanings. The world was always quick to condemn Severus, they might as well capitalize on it.
Tallis had objected to this story at first, citing that he did not wish to paint his Father as a bad parent but his friends and Father had persevered and won that battle. The story would be used.
"Children do not generally begin brewing potions—any potions—until they are eleven. This is done for a reason, as we have discovered. I started brewing potions nearly as soon as I could walk. My Father was a young, single parent attempting to raise a child in secrecy, therefore making it impossible for him to hire competent help. He had to rear me entirely on his own without the consultation of more experienced parents. He taught me and entertained in his lab from infancy on. We can only assume that the potion fumes affected me adversely."
"I see," the Legal Wizard said. Merlin, he felt like an idiot. He stared down at his tablet and realized that he was on the last page…the page that he had been praying that he could avoid. He had no business asking such questions of the young man, especially after he had made it so clear that there was no way that he was Harry Potter.
He turned away from Tallis for a moment, trying to collect himself. He turned back, setting the tablet down on his table. "May I run a medical scan on you to detect any scarring or broken bones?"
"If you feel the need to," Tallis said, making it clear that he wouldn't argue with it but he was not pleased.
These scans essentially revealed your entire medical history of any major traumas or injuries within seconds. In a court setting the information would be revealed to everyone sitting in the room. It was incredibly invasive and highly personal information.
The Legal Wizard said the incantation which brought the results up onto a large screen. Two toes on his left foot had been broke, a minor concussion and a cracked clavicle were the only things that showed up. Nothing that a remotely normal, Quidditch-playing, healthy young man wouldn't have suffered by his 18th birthday.
"Is this farce nearly complete?" a man asked, clearly irritated when it became clear through the scan that there was no way that this could be Harry Potter.
"I am nearly finished," the Legal Wizard said, his throat dry in apprehension. He knew there was little point in asking his last question but Dumbledore had been quite adamant that he ask it. He took in a shaky breath.
Fuck. He was going to have his license to practice Legal Magic revoked. "Have you ever been raped?"
Tallis turned pale, terrified of answering.
The Head Examiner cut in. "That is enough of this! That is a completely inappropriate question. Auror Jones, remove Apprentice Snape from the courtroom immediately while he waits for the Veritaserum to wear off. I will go to the chamber shortly to apply the secrecy spells to Apprentice Snape for his protection."
Tallis gratefully allowed himself to be pulled up and assisted out of the courtroom, even more thankful when he realized that Bill was following him. The Auror helped him to sit at a table in a small, spare room and then turned to force Bill out of the room.
"Please let me sit with him," Bill asked softly. "He's my lover, I just want to take care of him."
The Auror turned to Tallis. "Apprentice Snape? Do you want this man to stay with you?" He was not allowed to truly ask any questions of anyone still under the influence of Veritaserum but he knew that one like this would be safe.
"Yes, please sir," Tallis said, smiling softly at Bill.
The Auror nodded and stepped out of the room, closing and warding the door behind him as he stood guard outside.
Severus, Remus and the Weasleys remained in the courtroom, unable to leave before everything was truly finished.
The Head Examiner was still livid. "How dare you ask such a question of someone who had shown absolutely no signs of confirming Dumbledore's mad claims? Such personal information is privileged and is completely outside the bounds of what is appropriate to ask that young man."
"Both he and his Father are potions masters—you've seen the boy's scores in the Prophet from his NEWTs. It is possible that they have made a way to lie through Veritaserum," the Legal Wizard argued, although his heart was not in it.
"Bloody idiot," a man muttered.
"You can't lie with Veritaserum," anther man said firmly. "There is no potion that would allow it. People have tried to invent such potions for years and no one has even come close."
An elderly woman glared icily at the Legal Wizard. "Even assuming your wild claims were true and that he had created some magnificent potion that allowed him to lie through Veritaserum," she said sarcastically, "would reason not tell you that Apprentice Snape could have lied to you about that as well if he had already lied about the other questions? If he were, in fact, so wonderfully proficient at potions that he had achieved the impossible, do you not believe that he would have been able to lie about that too?"
The Head Examiner spoke up again. "You were already quite certain, beyond any doubt, that Apprentice Snape was not and had never been Harry Potter. Beyond the simple fact that he was able to answer each question easily under Veritaserum, you were also provided with the ample evidence of his medical scan. Your last question was inappropriate and malicious to ask of someone who has absolutely no connection to this trial."
Her glare ratcheted up a notch as she continued. "You stand on very shaky ground right now. Another slip such as this and you will be removed from this case and obliviated and in danger of having your license to practice Legal Magic revoked. Am I perfectly clear?"
He nodded, clearly shaken. "Forgive me, madam. I did not mean to offend. I was merely trying to fulfil the request of my client. I will be more careful in future."
"See that you are." She looked around to the other members of the Wizengamot. "Did any of you have any further doubts on this matter?"
As one the shook their heads.
"So be it. Tallis Snape is officially cleared of any charges and is free to leave at his leisure. Since he was willing to undergo the Veritaserum at his initial questioning as a sign of good faith," she said, glaring once more at Dumbledore's Legal Wizard, "he is excused from the restrictions placed upon the other witches and wizards who have testified. He is free to travel as needed and will not be called back to testify again, unless new information should come to light."
Severus exchanged a quick, triumphal glance with Remus and the others before hurrying out to find his son.