Chapter 6: The Black Trial

The press had a field day with the news that Peter Pettigrew was alive all this time. Minister Fudge made it quite clear it was his predecessor's fault. In exchange for being spared the Dementor's Kiss, Pettigrew pleaded guilty and accepted spending the rest of his life in Azkaban. Sirius Black, on the other hand, was something completely different. While he was revealed to be innocent of the charges that initially landed him in Azkaban, Sirius Black was facing two other charges: being an unregistered Animagus and assaulting a minor.

"The court is in session!" Minister of Magic Cornelius Oswald Fudge announced to the Wizengamot. "The defendant, Sirius Orion Black, has been brought here on charges of being an unregistered Dog Animagus and assaulting a minor. The defendant was also charged with being accessory to the murders of James and Lily Potter; the attempted murder of then baby Harry James Potter; and the murder of Peter Pettigrew and twelve muggles but these charges were dropped as Peter Pettigrew was revealed to be alive and the real culprit. Interrogators besides me are Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore; Senior Undersecretary of the Minister Dolores Jane Umbridge; Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement Amelia Bones and Lord Lucius Malfoy, father of the assaulted minor."

The Minister then allowed everyone to gasp.

"Sirius Black, are you a Dog Animagus?" Fudge asked.

"Yes." Sirius answered.

"How long have you been an Animagus?"

"Ever since my fifth year in Hogwarts." Everyone was surprised somebody became an Animagus at such a young age.

"Have you ever registered your animal form?"

"No."

"Didn't you know you broke the law by not registering your form?"

"Yes."

"Do you have any objection about being punished for this?"

"No."

"Then let's go to the second charge: did you viciously attack a student named Draco Malfoy without provocation at the day of the latest Gryffindor versus Slytherin Quidditch match?" Fudge asked.

"No."

"Bring in Madam Poppy Pomfrey!" The Minister ordered. Poppy then appeared. "Madam, please state your name and occupation!"

"My name is Poppy Pomfrey and I'm the mediwitch of Hogwarts."

"Madam Pomfrey, when you were asked to come here to testify, you were asked to bring Draco Malfoy's medical records from the day of the Gryffindor versus Slytherin Quidditch game and his parents signed papers authorizing you to do so. Have you brought these papers?"

"Yes."

"What did these records state?" Amelia Bones asked.

"The patient known as Draco Malfoy presented dog bite marks at his left arm."

"Sirius Black, do you deny those marks to be yours?" Fudge asked.

"No."

"Then how could you deny the charge about it?"

"Because the charge was about an unprovoked attack and what I did to the Malfoy boy was anything but."

"Hem hem." The Senior Undersecretary interrupted. "Are you suggesting a pureblood child, heir to one of our most prestigious houses, would do something to warrant dog bites?"

"I'm affirming it, Madam."

"Then what did he do to deserve being bitten?" Amelia Bones asked.

"He tried to make Harry fall off his broomstick." Sirius explained.

"Has anyone seen him doing it?" Lucius Malfoy angrily asked.

"Yes. I did."

"Has anybody else seen it?" Dolores Umbridge asked.

"Not to my knowledge, Madam Undersecretary."

"Then how can we be sure you're not just making this up to get away with assaulting the Malfoy heir?" She asked.

"I'd never attack a child."

"Mr. Black, isn't it truth that, back when you were a student of Hogwarts, you did something that would have got one of your then fellow students killed had James Potter not intervened and that it was something so horrible Professor Dumbledore asked all people involved not to disclose the details to anybody?" Lucius Malfoy asked.

"Yes, but…"

"See?" Cornelius Fudge asked with a malicious smile. "Even when he was just a student he was reckless enough to endanger other people's lives. Is there anything else somebody wants to say about this case?" As nobody said anything, Fudge called for the Wizengamot to deliver a verdict. Sirius Black was found guilty of assaulting a minor. Since he had already admitted being an unregistered Animagus, the Wizengamot didn't need to vote for this. "Sirius Black, you've admitted being an unregistered Animagus and were found guilty of assaulting a minor. For the first offence, you'll be sentenced to one year in Azkaban and required to pay a thousand-galleon fine. For the second one, you'll be sentenced to five more years in Azkaban and forced to give Draco Malfoy one thousand Galleons as compensation. In sum, you'll be sentenced to six years in Azkaban and a total of two thousand Galleons will be removed from your Gringotts vault."

"Wait!" Amelia Bones shouted. "The time the defendant waited for his trial while under Ministry custody legally counts as sentence time. Therefore, he technically finished serving his sentence in the First of November, 1987!"

Fudge and everybody else who wanted Sirius back in Azkaban tried (and failed) to recall anything in the law that could be used to counter-argue Amelia Bones' point. "Fine." The Minister conceded. "But he still has to pay the two Galleons."

"Actually, the defendant is entitled to one hundred Galleons as compensation for every month he was forced to stay in Azkaban longer than his sentence." She replied. "By the First of July, 1989, he was already entitled to enough money to pay his fine for being an unregistered Animagus and compensate Draco Malfoy. The time he stayed in Azkaban from then until the day he escaped will be calculated into months to establish how much the Ministry will deposit into Mr. Black's vault. Also, based on how my predecessor Bartemius Crouch mishandled Sirius Black's case, I hereby declare all cases regarding other accused Death Eaters sent to Azkaban during Mr. Crouch's tenure as Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement shall be reviewed. Mr. Black, you have five days to register your Animagus form. Failure to do so will result in a fine of one hundred Galleons for each extra day until you actually register yourself. You're free to go."

"Madam Bones, I'd also like to file for custody of my godson." Sirius Black announced.

Please review.