Hogwarts Year 3

Chapter 8

When sitting down to supper, McGonagall noticed that all five students were where they were supposed to be, but Dumbledore was absent – this was most unusual. Just as the meal was over the whole hall heard a loud siren, but could only tell it was coming from outside. Of course everyone went to see what it was, except for the five friends who just headed to the library as if nothing had happened. "Sounds like another Death Eater got too close to the wards" was Harry's comment. "Yea, but why haven't the aurors gotten to them yet, they're usually quicker than this" Neville replied. It did take a while before the siren quit and students started to come back inside. The problem had been the prisoner was inside the forest and nobody wanted to go in.

As the three Gryffindors headed to their dorm, McGonagall stopped them and told Harry the headmaster wanted to see him in his office. Harry just shrugged and followed his head of house to the entrance of Dumbledore's office and climbed the stairs. "Come in Harry, I was curious; would you know anything about the new wards that appeared in the Ministry over the Easter holidays? They seem to work much like the ones here at Hogwarts" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes, Sirius told me about them and how they seem to be working very well. It seems that the wards have caught around twenty or so marked Death Eaters working for the ministry. I find that rather disturbing that so many went unnoticed for this long" Harry replied.

Dumbledore got a disturbed look on his face, the twinkle was gone from his eyes as he said, "It would appear that I didn't do such a good job while I was head of the Wizengamot, if we missed so many marked individuals. I wonder if you would mind viewing a pensive memory with me since it relates to you. This is my memory of the day Sirius was freed and took over my place in the Wizengamot."

~o~o~

"Bring the prisoner in" Madame Bones said.

Sirius Black was escorted into the room and placed in a chair in the middle of the room and chains snaked out and bound him to the chair.

"You, Sirius Orion Black, have been hiding from the DMLE for several years and the MBI in America has seen fit to let you stay in the states and work for them. They have given us many pensive memories and statements as to your innocence of the charges against you. I understand that you willingly gave yourself up to the DMLE with the understanding that you would have a trial finally. This is that trial. You are charged with the betrayal of James and Lily Potter and as such you are partly to blame for their deaths. You are also charged with the murder of 13 people, muggles, the death of Peter Pettigrew, and the destruction of a large portion of a city street in London. A final charge of escape from Azkaban and flight to avoid prosecution. How do you plea?" Madame Bones asked.

"Not guilty" was Sirius' reply.

The first piece of evidence was presented by Dumbledore where he stated that Sirius Black was the secret keeper for James and Lily Potter and that Dumbledore had been the one to cast the Fidelius Charm making Sirius the secret keeper. Dumbledore stated that nobody should have been able to break that charm.

The next piece of evidence was somewhat of a surprise in that it was a pensive memory provided by the goblins. This memory showed an unknown wizard removing the Fidelius charm and recasting it with Pettigrew as the secret keeper. "This memory has been examined and determined to be accurate and unmodified. Can you explain why you were unaware of this Dumbledore?" Madame Bones asked. Dumbledore didn't have an answer.

Next several affidavits were introduced from the MBI that showed that underVeritaserum that Sirius stated that he was not the secret keeper, and then more pensive memories were introduced to show the actual questioning and the admission that Sirius was an unregistered animagus, as was Peter Pettigrew. Harry noticed that the Dumbledore in the memory face fell at seeing and hearing these pieces of evidence.

The next piece of evidence was the findings from the examination of Sirius' wand after the street incident, the results were that no spell had been cast capable of doing that much destruction. In fact the most powerful spell had been a full body bind.

The case was voted on and all but six members of the Wizengamot voted innocent, Sirius was released from the chains and proclaimed free. When one of the six nay sayers asked about the escape charge it was determined that if Sirius had been convicted then the charge would be valid but since he never had a trial and had been wrongly incarcerated then the charge had no value.

Sirius was told of the G5,000,000 fund that had been created for him to repay him for his lost time and wrongful imprisonment. Sirius was asked if he wanted to make a statement and he did, "I will hold no grudge against this panel but ask that the will of James and Lily be upheld. I Sirius Orion Black claim custody of Harry James Potter as outlined in that will and demand that Albus Dumbledore reveal the location of my godchild today. I also, as the last surviving member of the Noble and Ancient House of Black, claim the title of Lord Black."

Madame Bones, and the panel agreed, but Dumbledore was unable to reveal the location of Harry since he had no idea where the boy was any longer. That was when Harry was escorted into the court room only to run and hug Sirius. "This court is in need of a Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and I would put Lord Black's name in for that position based on his work in the states and the fact that I find the G5,000,000 fund inadequate compensation for the wrongful imprisonment he had to endure. All in favor" Madame Bones said. The vote was the same as the one for Sirius' trial, six voted against the motion, Sirius was the new Chief Warlock.

Harry and Dumbledore came out of the pensive, "Harry, my boy, what are your thoughts on what you just saw? That whole day seemed preplanned, as if Madame Bones knew before hand how it would go." Dumbledore said.

"Headmaster, I can tell you now that it was preplanned, in as far as the trial went and Sirius taking control of me. You have kept secrets from me that were for me to decide, you illegally bypassed my parents wishes in their will. While I'm sure you thought you knew best, you even hid me from the ones who were intrusted with my safety. You put me in a house where I was treated less than a house-elf and you never thought to check on my well-being until your own position was threatened. If it hadn't been for my dad's friends in America I would have come to school not knowing anything about my parents and with my core bound so tightly that I would have never been able to do much magic at all. But, thanks to the return of the heirs the school is now on the road to a more modern trend and the students are being exposed to things they can use instead of being stuck in the 1700s. But, you asked for my impression of that memory and that day; I think it went excellently." Harry replied.

Harry left and returned to his dorm where Hermione and Neville were waiting for him. He briefly explained what had taken place and what he had said to Dumbledore. Hermione was shocked to hear what had been said, but agreed that it had to be. Neville said Harry showed a lot of backbone to Dumbledore. Harry begged off any extracurricular activities that night and said he just wanted to go to bed and think.

Harry went to bed, and after securing the curtains around his bed lay there and remembered the rest of that day. He and Sirius had gone to 12 Grimmauld and Sirius, who now had his wand back, once again claimed the position of Lord Black. The house had trembled slightly and they heard a loud pop from the kitchen area. It turned out that by Sirius claiming the house he had rejuvenated Kreacher. Kreacher now looked many years younger and his attitude was completely different. Sirius had sat down and offered Kreacher a choice, he could remain in the house, he could be sold, or he could elect to be freed. The choice was his, but Sirius hoped that he would remain and continue to serve the House of Black; which was what Kreacher choose to do. The first thing Sirius wanted done was for the house to be completely cleaned and all dark objects removed and stored safely. Sirius even offered Kreacher help in the form of extra elves, but Kreacher would be in charge of any other elves.

The next weekend was a Hogsmead weekend and all of the students who were allowed went, except Draco Malfoy since he had detention again with Ms. DuPrie. Hermione left with a couple of the girls to do some "girl" shopping and Harry, Neville, and oddly enough Ron were to meet them at the Three Broomsticks later. The boys were sitting there having a Butterbeer when they felt it, the sudden cold, the loss of happiness, the Dementors. Harry and Neville ran outside only to see a very large owl and a large eagle flying at the Dementors, they knew who those belonged to. But those two patroni wouldn't be enough as it appeared that there were almost a dozen Dementors. Harry and Neville didn't even think they just pulled out their staffs and cast their own Patronus. Several students were shocked to see a huge bear running down the street, but the appearance of a dragon Patronus going after the Dementors shocked everyone but the five. The dragon didn't play, it was destroying the Dementors as quick as it got to them.

By this time the two boys had reached the girls and saw that Hermione was starting to glow brightly, and she looked very upset. That was when they noticed a girl lying on the ground beside Hermione. Hermione had her staff out and she was casting rapidly, suddenly there was another Patronus in the air and it was about half the size of Harry's dragon. This Patronus was a Hippogriff and it too was tearing the Dementors apart. When it was all over Hermione collapsed. Susan reached Hermione first with an air of authority Susan announced that Hermione needed to be in the hospital as quickly as possible. Suddenly there was a phoenix beside Susan, Hermione, and the girl; when Susan grabbed both bodies the phoenix flashed all three away.

Neville and Luna took charge and told everyone to return to Hogwarts immediately, a few thought to argue but when both kids started to glow they changed their minds and all the students quickly returned to the school. Later it was noted that the dragon and the Hippogriff were still flying overhead, patrolling the area around Hogwarts and Hogsmead. Up in the hospital Madame Pomfrey was startled when three students flashed into the hospital ward. As soon as they were on the floor Susan levitated both girls to a bed and told the nurse what had happened. That was when Madame Pomfrey noticed Harry standing over Hermione doing diagnostic spells on Hermione. The other girl was checked and it was determined that she would live but it would be a while before she would recover as she had been partially kissed by a Dementor. Hermione would be okay as she was just exhausted magically.

Susan looked at Harry and said she hoped nobody tried to pick up Hermione's staff. Harry just raised his hand and the staff flew into it. "No problem" was all Harry said. Neville and Luna came into the room and suggested Harry cancel his Patronus as it was scaring the staff and the students. Outside the dragon flared and disappeared, but the Hippogriff was still there. Harry said he couldn't do anything about it. The Hippogriff landed outside the castle and seemed to be looking for more Dementors to attack. McGonagall came in to check on the students and was told their condition.

McGonagall asked Harry if he could do anything about the Hippogriff and he replied no, it was Hermione's Patronus and he had no control over it. "But now you see why we never upset Hermione, the last person to upset her got the shock of their life" Harry continued. Up in Dumbledore's office he was having a very bad day, if the Dementor attack wasn't bad enough the spirit of Hogwarts was there again and she was very upset and demanding that the Minister be called to Hogwarts as she wanted to have a few words with him.

In the DMLE alarms were sounding all over the building, alarms that indicated that Hogwarts was being attacked. Amelia, Sirius, and approximately 15 aurors showed up outside the Hogwarts gates and were met with the sight of a Hippogriff Patronus sitting there. "Amelia, I think we may have a problem. I've never heard of a Patronus that large and I only know one person who might have cast it, Harry" Sirius said as the Patronus moved aside to let them pass. Up in the headmaster's office the minister had appeared and was receiving a tongue lashing from Hogwarts herself. The Minister made the mistake of trying to dismiss her. The attempted dismissal resulted in his being put out of the window and being held upside down above the ground, at least he was wearing pants under his robes.

The whole school heard what Hogwarts had to say next, "This will end now! Whoever the idiot was who ordered those foul creatures here had better never come within my reach. One of those evil creatures attacked one of my students and that is not allowed!" The minister was released and he fell almost all the way to the ground before someone thought to stop him with their wand. Once on the ground nobody would approach the minister as he smelled badly, very badly. Amelia and Sirius were escorted to the hospital and found the five plus McGonagall waiting there; everything was explained and Amelia became even more angry than before. Amelia knew ,exactly, who ordered the Dementors to Hogwarts and she was going to have a serious discussion with him, if he survived the trip back to the ministry.

It was Susan who told everyone there the full story, the girls were on their way to meet the boys when the Dementors started to attack. One of the Dementors attempted to kiss the young girl and Hermione went off like a Roman candle. Hermione had her staff out in a second and cast her Patronus, the large owl, and that was followed by Luna's eagle. Then the dragon appeared and Hermione seemed to get even madder and cast a second Patronus, the Hippogriff. Sirius looked at Hermione and shivered, then he looked at Harry and got a nod of the head. That head nod settled it for Sirius, Harry had cast the dragon Patronus.

Harry approached Amelia and told her the ministry had better find other guards for Azkaban as he intended to remove all the Dementors he could find. Everyone was surprised when Hermione said quietly, "Not without me you're not". Harry rushed back to Hermione's side and took her hand as she passed back out. McGonagall told Amelia and Sirius that the dragon and the Hippogriff had not just chased the Dementors away, but had destroyed them completely. This caused some concern in Amelia and Sirius' minds.

Two days later Hermione was released from the hospital just in time for supper. Hermione walked into the Great Hall under her own power and every student, except for a few Slytherins, started clapping. Most of the staff joined in and this embarrassed Hermione even more. When Hermione finally sat down, Dumbledore stood and awarded Hermione 100 points for coming to the aid of another student, then awarded Luna and Neville 30 points each for their part in the matter. Harry wasn't awarded any points, but that was not important to him, Hermione's safety was much more important. But for some reason the Gryffindor total went up another 100 points and Hufflepuff went up 50. it was later determined that these points came from Hogwarts.

A/N: Wow, like Harry said don't make Hermione mad. I know this is short; but there will probably only be one, maybe two chapters in this book. I still need to deal with LeStrange.

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