Chapter 7: Shakeups of Authority

Back at Hogwarts:

"Avada Kedavra!" Dumbledore screamed as Harry disappeared. "Damnit. Where the hell did he get a portkey from!"

Dumbledore called Severus to his office. Severus spends plenty of time with the boy. He better not have given him that portkey.

Severus walked in and saw the almost ruined wall that was obviously hit by a killing curse. 'Thank god he got away, but it must have been close. Too close.' "You wanted to see me headmaster?"

"Did you give Harry Potter an emergency portkey?" Dumbledore asked getting angry.

Now every good spy knows that when the dark lord gets angry you lie and grovel so that's just what Severus Snape did. "Of course not my lord. I don't know how he would have gotten one. I have never seen him friendly with any of the Slytherin students, but maybe one of them cornered him somehow and gave him a portkey?"

"And why would they do that Severus?"

"I don't know my lord, maybe they told him the truth about who you are?"

"I want to see every student that might possibly know the truth brought to my office immediately on waking in the morning. Maybe a bit of torture or seeing their friends die might loosen their tongues."

"Of course my lord. I will have them here first thing in the morning." Snape swept out of the office cursing to himself all the way.

He made it to his quarters and sent Tom an emergency not telling him what was about to happen to the children and asking what to do.

He received the reply a few hours later. He was obviously not getting any sleep tonight. \

\

Severus,

I understand why you gave the story you did and I don't think at this point there would have been any way to save those children. I knew this was a risk when I got Harry out of there, but I didn't really think it would happen. Tell them all to take their emergency portkeys with them and as soon as the first curse is thrown portkey out. They can't leave until then or Dumbledore will know you warned them. We can easily say that their parents gave them emergency portkeys for that type of situation. Just make sure every single one has one. We can't risk trying to piggyback if they get separated somehow. I trust you still have your stash of extra's? Be careful all of you.

Tom

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Earlier the same evening:

Harry followed Tom through his home and was amazed at the size of it. "This is actually one of Lucius' homes, but he has so many he allowed me to use this one. I could never afford anything this grand on my own. Being on the run isn't very conducive to earning money." Tom laughed. Harry decided he liked Tom and would make sure that he wasn't a burden so he wouldn't get sent away.

Tom led him into a room that he thought Harry would like. Harry looked around in awe. There was a huge four poster bed in the center with a large closet, a beautiful desk and a wall full of bookshelves surrounding it. The color scheme was deep blues and stunning silvers with dark oak for the furnishings.

"This...this is mine?" Harry stammered. Tom nodded and motioned to the doors off the sides of the room. Harry opened the first door to see a wonderful bathroom with a pool sized bathtub, shower in the corner, and any other bathroom amenity one could imagine. He opened the second door and found a sitting room much smaller than the one he arrived in, but spacious nonetheless.

"The sitting room here connects to my sitting room and the two can be merged if you like. They actually used to be, but I thought you would like some privacy so I separated them. If in a few weeks once we get to know each other better you would like to share it with me we can do that." Tom put his hand on Harry's shoulder and gave a bit of a squeeze. "Now, have you had any dreamless sleep potion recently?" When Harry said that he had some the night before Tom sighed. "Unfortunately that means you can't have any more tonight. Do you think you can sleep without it?"

Harry nodded and hoped he didn't have any nightmares tonight or that no one could hear him if he did. He didn't want Tom to think he was a freak or weak or anything and he never did manage to learn that silencing spell from Draco. Unfortunately for Harry, Tom was an abused child as well so could imagine what was going through Harry's head and cast a monitoring charm around Harry's bed so that he would know if Harry had any problems. Harry fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow and Tom crept out of the room quietly.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Amelia Bones finally had everything ready for the wizenagemot meeting that night. She had the recording and her people in place to prevent escape by Dumbledore or Fudge. She had the witnesses to the recording. If only she had the boy. She didn't know where he was or even how he got his information. That would make things go much smoother. Oh well. She shrugged on her robes. Dumbledore may be the head of the wizenagemot, but she was head of law enforcement. She could arrest him and Fudge both without anyone's approval. She only went through these channels since she knew that this body would be the ones to try him and they may just throw out the charges as ludicrus if the didn't see the evidence beforehand. 'Showtime' she thought to herself as she walked in the doors.

The meeting was called to order and she spoke first. "I have a piece of evidence here that implicates some very important men in our society in some very illegal business. I and a squadron of my aurors witnessed this recording as it was happening and can verify it's authenticity at both ends. I ask that this body view this evidence and authorize the arrest and questioning under Veritaserum for these individuals."

Dumbledore sat looking smug. He had let leak some information about Lucius Malfoy and just knew that he was this important person. He was glad his plan had finally come to fruition. He had been trying to get rid of Malfoy for years. "I think that is a wonderful idea Madam Bones and I thank you for bringing to this body first. It is very important to nip these sorts of situations in the bud. Let's call for a vote."

The vote was overwhealmingly in favor and at that point Amelia couldn't help a satisfied smile. She presented the recording. The silence in the room was deafening as everyone watched and listened to the evil scene taking place. Dumbledore could be seen trying to think of a way out of this and the look on his face was priceless. As soon as Dumbledore finished shouting "Avada Kedavra!" the entire court gasped. When they heard Harry after that they all let out a sigh of relief and then burst into noise.

"Quiet!" Dumbledore shouted. After the room heeded his order he began to speak. "Madam Bones, I must congratulate you on that well thought out attempt to overthrow my leadership of this party as well as minister Fudge's leadership of wizarding britan. You can't honestly believe anyone here will fall for it though? It could be anyone under polyjuice pretending to be me. I think your own loyalties should be questioned here not mine." There was a murmur of agreement throughout the room from many, but some seemed very skeptical. It is difficult to get the sight of a community leader attempting to murder a helpless child out of your mind after all.

"And how, dear Dumbledore were we to have infiltrated your office? You could clearly see the portraits of the previous headmaster's in the background and that cannot be faked or found anywhere else? I would be happy to admit under Veritaserum that there is no plot to overthrow you, however you must also remember the voting that just took place. Yourself and Minister Fudge must be questioned under it as well." The majority of the crowd just seemed skeptical at this point and unwilling to take sides. Dumbledore and Fudge however looked ready to spit nails.

"That would be imposible Madam. We both know entirely too much top secret information to allow ourselves to submit to that."

Someone else in the room spoke up at that point. Jefferson Zabini, who happened to be a friend of Tom and knew exactly what the veritaserum would do had a solution to that problem. "Might I suggest to the court; We could make up a very specific list of questions limited at this point to the same questions the child asked in the recording. That will be enough to prove our esteemed leader's innocence and get rid of this ridiculous claim once and for all."

There was complete agreement from the room with the obvious exception of Dumbledore and Fudge and the two people in the body that were aware of the truth and sided with them. "I must protest this completely insane procedure! There is obviously no truth to these claims!"

"Then you have nothing to worry about with the Veritaserum." someone called out. Dumbledore looked at Fudge with pain in his face. There was no way out of this. He would have to take the drug and pretend to go along quietly and then as soon as they were out of the room he could escape. That was the only way. He still had Minerva to carry on his plans at the school.

The Veritaserum was administered to the aged headmaster and the questions began.

"Were you the wizard known as Grindelwald?"

"Yes" A huge gasp sounded throughout the room. Obviously no one believed the claims until this point.

"Are you the wizard known as Voldemort?

"Yes"

"Who is Tom Riddle?"

"A very powerful student that I had."

"Why did you frame him as Lord Voldemort?"

"He had no family, plenty of power, and was a member of Slytherin house. He was perfect." The Slytherins in the room looked offended.

"Did you kill Lily and James Potter and attempt to kill their son?"

"Yes"

"Who knows of your true identity as Lord Voldemort?"

Minister Fudge, Severus Snape, Minerva Mcgonagal, Arthur Weasley, and Delores Umbridge

At this point the Veritaserum began to wear off and the crowd was buzzing with the information.

"That is enough for now. Any further questions can wait until trial. Aurors will be dispatched to pick up those named that are not present in this room. Minister Fudge if you would come to the floor"

At this point Fudge was in tears. His career was over. He had no doubt that Dumbledore could get him out of prison, but he had no more influence. It was over. His interrogation consisted of only three questions at this point.

"Did you know Dumbledore was Voldemort?"

"Yes"

"Did you support and follow him in his actions as such?"

"Yes"

"Who else knows of Dumbledore's true identity?"

He confirmed the same names as Dumbledore stated and was let go in tears. Luckily for the community, Madam Bones had a good idea what the men were planning and before leading them out put some special cuffs on them both. These cuffs could only be removed by the person putting them on, were impervious to magic, had anti-apparition, anti-portkey, and anti-animagus wards, and even dampened all magic coming from the person they were placed on. Upon explaining all of this to the men Dumbledore lost the smug look on his face and burst into tears as Fudge fainted. Both were then stunned for the trip to Azkaban.

Before the night was out Jefferson Zabini was voted the new head of the Wizenagamot and Amelia Bones was chosen as interim minister of magic until a formal vote could be taken. She then went to her new office to think. Among the questions running through her head were how to get Tom Riddle vindicated and where he has been all these years, where Harry Potter was and if he was safe, and how to round up the remaining death eaters. She would have to interrogate Albus Dumbledore personally again to get their names. The first priority was finding his inner circle and getting them under veritaserum. This was going to be a long night.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Ten aurors showed up at Hogwarts within minutes of the naming of Severus Snape and Minerva Mcgonagal as conspirators and followers of Lord Voldemort. Snape came quietly knowing that he would be vindicated, but Mcgonagal screamed injustices and that she was framed as she was dragged out. Both were placed in holding cells for the night at the ministry.

At the same time a group of aurors arrived at the Weasley home and took Arthur. He was completely silent, but his wife was screaming that he could never do something like that and how could they even think that.

Delores Umbridge was taken in her office before she even knew what was going on. That was by far the easiest arrest in history as she had fallen asleep at her desk.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Tom Riddle woke up hearing screams echoing through the manor. He cursed himself for making the monitoring charm so loud. Of course, at the time he wasn't sure if Harry had whimpering nightmares or screaming ones so he wouldn't know how loud to make it. He jumped out of bed and grabbed his dressing robe as he ran across the hall to Harry's room.

He sat at the side of the bed and placed his hand on Harry's shoulder and called for him to wake up. He sat straight up in bed and looked around in terror and confusion. Then he saw Tom. "I'm so sorry sir. I didn't mean to wake you. I'll be quiet. I promise."

"Hush child. Don't apologize. After all that you have been through I expected you to have nightmares. You shouldn't have to deal with them alone. Do you want to talk about it?"

Harry looked at Tom like he had grown another head. "I'm fine sir." He mumbled hoping that Tom wouldn't be angry at him for waking him. He said he wasn't, but it had to be a trick. No one wanted to be woken up dealing with a sniveling child. He had to go and screw up the only chance he had to have a home. Where would he go now? He was beginning to hyperventilate.

Tom scooted next to Harry and began to rub his back and instructing him to breathe. Once he had his breathing somewhat under control Tom began to speak again. "You know I grew up in an orphanage. The people there were horrible. They beat me and called me names. I never had clothes that fit, never got to play with any toys. I was always ridiculed because I was different, but you know what? All I ever wanted was someone to care. I used to have nightmares too, but no one was ever there for me. I swore that if I ever found a child that was hurt or afraid that I would help him. You see. I'm not upset about being woken up. I'm glad that I finally have a chance to keep that promise I made to myself and help you."

Harry looked at Tom in awe. Sure he knew some of his life from his journal, but this was so much more information. Could it be that he really cared? Maybe it wouldn't hurt to talk about it if it would make Tom feel better.

"I'm standing in Dumbledore's office and he is throwing the killing curse at me and I activate my portkey, but it doesn't bring me here. It takes me to my parent's home when I was a baby and I see the curse hit my mother. Then he throws the curse at me and I portkey away again and then I'm in my cupboard screaming and my uncle comes in and starts beating my and calling my a crybaby and talking about teaching me a lesson for waking him in the middle of the night, then you came in and woke me up."

All through his telling of his nightmare Tom sat next to him rubbing his back in small circles to calm him. "No one can get you here Harry. I have been hiding here for longer than you have been alive and no one has ever found me who I didn't want to find me. You're safe and you can stay here as long as you'd like. No matter what happens I will never send you away, understand? I know how it feels to want a home and wouldn't take it away from anyone."

Harry nodded and began to cry again, this time from relief and happiness that he finally had someone who cared. Sure Professor Snape cared, but that was different. He was a teacher and kept his distance for the most part. Tom understood and pulled Harry close to him and held him until he cried himself to sleep. Then he settled himself in the chair next to the bed and dozed off himself.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Interim Minister Bones woke very early the next morning and went to the ministry for the interrogations. She wanted to clear the Hogwarts staff out first so she could actively begin recruiting for those positions. She started with Mcgonagal as the Deputy Headmistress. After being asked the same questions at Fudge she was taken to Azkaban to await trial. When she got to Severus Snape, however, she got a surprise.

"Were you aware of Dumbledore's true identity as Lord Voldemort"

"Yes"

"Did you support him and follow his actions as such?"

"No" she looked at him appraisingly.

"Did you agree with his actions?"

"Never"

"Why did you never turn him in?"

"No one would believe me and Tom needed me to keep an eye on him so that I could warn him if they were getting close to finding him and save anyone who needed saving from him" The wheels began working in her head.

"Did you save Harry Potter from the headmaster's office?"

"Yes"

"How?"

"Emergency portkey. The headmaster was planning to either turn him or kill him and he was unable to keep pretending to be on his side. The recording was orchestrated so that hopefully someone would know and if not my position would not be blown and the child was able to get away without Dumbledore asking too many questions." This was the perfect chance to help clear Tom Riddle's name she thought.

"Is Harry Potter with Tom Riddle?"

"Yes"

"Where?"

"The location is under Fidelus Charm."

"Who is the secret keeper?"

"Tom Riddle"

"Is Harry Potter safe with Mr. Riddle?"

"Completely"

The veritaserum began to wear off at that point so she left him for a few moments to finish interrogating the other two prisoners and after answering the questions the same way as Fudge and Mcgonagal were sent off to Azkaban. She then returned to the room with Snape. He looked up as she entered. "I assume I am free to go?"

"I would like if I could speak with you for a few moments before you leave. Without the drugs that is."

"Speak about what?"

"I am contacting the newspapers about Dumbledore and his plans and identity today and also attempting to clear Mr. Riddle's name. Since he has official warrants for his arrest I would have to pardon him, but I would feel more comfortable speaking with him before I do so."

"For what reason?" Snape raised an eyebrow.

"I understand that he is not nor has ever been Lord Voldemort, but I would prefer to question him under veritaserum to ensure that he has not committed any crimes at all. You see, once he is officially pardoned any crime he committed up to that moment is nonpunishable, so I would just like to make sure."

"I would need to speak with him and if he agrees I can give you a secure portkey to his location. He may have other concerns with this to protect himself from being arrested if this is a trap and if so I will let you know what his wishes are regarding his safety and we can go from there. Is there anything else?"

"Yes there is actually. Hogwarts no longer has a Headmaster or Deputy Headmistress. I would like to support you for the Headmaster position with the School Governors if you would like the position. I cannot be sure of anyone else on the staff as you are the only one who has come up clean under interrogation."

"I would be interested in the position if the governors agree. I appreciate your faith in me and if appointed will do my best not to let you down madame minister." With that he swept out of the room and once outside the ministry portkeyed to Tom's place.