James Castle
Chapter 6: Black Monday
James steered the broom over forbidden forest headed back towards the castle, concentrating on flying as best he could with Hermione wrapped around him for dear life. He smiled as he finally settled to the ground outside the main gate to the school, stepping off the broom, but still supporting all of Hermione as she refused to let go or open her eyes. "You really need to get over the fear of flying there Hermione, people are starting to stare," he whispered into her ear.
Her eyes shot open and she released him, glad to be on her own two feet. She blushed at James while several underclassmen who were outside hooted and cheered. "I don't like flying, I hate it," she shuddered before James gave her a quick hug.
"Well you best get over it, or I'll take you flying every chance I get," he smiled at her shocked expression.
"You wouldn't dare," she glared back at him. "Yes you would," she groaned, resting her head on his shoulder. "Fine, you can teach me, but we're taking it slow," she poked him in the chest.
"Why Hermione, I'd never dream of taking things faster than you wanted," he smiled and looked down at her. His lips brushed hers for a minute before pulling away. "See, I can do slow," he muttered softly in her ear.
"James, we're out here in the courtyard, everyone can see us," she whispered back before hearing a voice that tore her away from James into a more presentable position.
"Ahh, Miss Granger and Mr. Castle, I was just looking for you," Dumbledore spoke loudly, giving them time to pull apart a bit. "I was most intrigued, I could have sworn I saw someone on a broom flying out of the Forbidden Forest from my office, you haven't seen anything like that by chance, have you?" he took off his glasses and cleaned them on his robes.
"Can't say that we have Headmaster," James replied. "You didn't see anything flying, did you Hermione?" he poked her in the side.
"Umm, not really, didn't see anyone flying," she responded, not lying since she hadn't opened her eyes the whole flight, but not telling the truth really.
"Ah, must have had something on my glasses, do keep an eye out for me, should a student be caught in or coming out of the forest, the punishments would be harsh," his eyes twinkled at them. "Besides the fact, they should count themselves lucky to make it from the forest without injury from its inhabitants," he said sternly.
"Yes Headmaster," they replied in unison.
"Good, now that we are done with that business, I must remind you Miss Granger, that the rules regarding affection between students pertains to you as well," he smiled as she blushed and turned her face into James's robes.
"We'll keep it toned down Headmaster," James replied as she patted Hermione on the back.
"Excellent. Sad to say, not all I have to tell you is good news," his face fell as he produced a parchment. "It seems that certain parties did not take kindly to you exploiting a loophole in the school charter James," he handed James the parchment. "The Board of Governors decided in an emergency meeting to amend the rule so that students may draw wands on each other, but unless a curse is thrown, no action can be taken," Dumbledore watched as Hermione took the paper from James and read over it.
"Just means I have to make him throw a hex at me before I can break his nose again," James smirked at Dumbledore.
"Figures, Malfoy's father is the first name signed at the bottom," Hermione frowned, giving the parchment back to Dumbledore.
"Sadly yes, I was against the rule change, but the Board is made up of some very old pureblood families and Lucius holds a sway with them," Dumbledore admitted. "Well, it is getting late, and I am famished, I shall see you at dinner," he bowed slightly before turning and heading inside.
"Bloody Malfoy," Hermione swore to herself.
"Leave him to me Hermione, come on, I'm hungry too," he held her hand as he led them into the castle.
They took their usual seats beside Ron who eyed them curiously as the three of them all started eating. Ginny got up from her seat after whispering with another girl and snuck beside Ron, whispering something to him. James eyed the boy as he ate much slower, laughing to himself.
"Something to say Ron?" James stared at him, getting his attention.
"Sorry, I just… too many broomstick jokes, I can't pick just one," he busted out laughing along with most of the Gryffindor table. Hermione's face burned red as she concentrated on her food.
"Get it all out now," James sighed. "Any more jokes after today and you'll regret it," he rubbed his head as the jokes and one lines started firing at the two of them.
Monday mornings were usually not a busy time for Gringotts Wizarding Bank. Today was not a usual Monday though, the Goblins inside had been busy making floo calls and contacting various Ministry officials for the past three hours in order to make sure the noon hearing they planned could happen.
A rather rare occurrence had transpired that morning before eight, a wizard entered the building dragging a bloodied and beaten man behind him, demanding asylum from the Goblin Nation. The man claimed to have been unjustly punished for crimes he did not commit and was never tried for in order to further the political agenda of the Ministry. The wizard was Sirius Black and the goblins were very motivated to help him, if for nothing else than payment from the Black family vaults.
Cornelius Fudge and a dozen Aurors and Ministry officials irately stormed into the front of Gringotts Bank. The Goblins had demand their presence, as per their right from the last Goblin treaty. "Well, who is it that has demanded asylum from you and dragged us away from our important business?" he glared at one of the senior goblins.
"This way Minister Fudge, we are preparing to commence the trial of Sirius Black," the goblin smiled a toothy grin as Fudge and his cronies stopped in shock.
"Black is a convicted murderer, he needs to be turned over to the Aurors immediately," a large black Auror ordered after recovering.
"Auror Shacklebolt is it?" the goblin asked as it continued leading them. "While everything the Ministry says about him paints him as a convicted murderer, there are no records of him ever having a trial, he was thrown directly into Azkaban," the goblin smirked as several officials paled. "And as we keep copies of all Ministry records, we are quite sure that there is no mistake," the goblin opened a door and ushered them into a conference room.
"Hello there Minister Fudge," Sirius flippantly greeted the man from across the room. He had received a rough shave and haircut from the goblins an hour ago, but wasn't complaining. Between the robes from the family vault, the goblin 'barber', who he realized was actually a butcher, and the freezing waterfalls they considered a shower for when they actually bathed, he figured he was doing pretty well so far. He reclined in his chair, feet up on the large conference table that was in the center of the room.
"Arrest him right now!" Fudge screamed as the Aurors all drew wands and moved towards Sirius. They were each roughly stopped and shoved back towards the Minister by large security goblins. "What are you doing, as Minister of Magic, I order you to turn that murderer over to us right now!" he shouted at the goblins.
"They don't listen to you Fudge, you should learn the law better," Sirius taunted. "This is all perfectly legal, since you lot never gave me a trial, and the Goblin Nation accepted my generous payment for the use of their facilities and time in return for political asylum," he glared across the table giving the Minster the finger.
"Enough, any wizard that raises a wand will be removed from this courtroom," an older goblin at the head of the table grumbled. "I, Judge Graniteblood of the Goblin Nation, call to order this trial for wizard Sirius Black, under the convention of political asylum set forth in the goblin-wizard treaty of 1873," the goblin read from a parchment in front of him. "Our records show that the accused never received a trial for the multiple murder of muggles, the murder of Peter Pettigrew, being a Death Eater, and conspiracy to commit the murder of James and Lily Potter," he listed the offenses. "The Ministry's response?" the goblin's head turned to Fudge.
"There was such evidence and an admission at the time, that we decided a trial was not necessary," Fudge replied coldly.
"You had ample time to properly try him after the fall of the Dark Lord, keep in mind, we have all your records," the goblin stressed all. "In the aforementioned crimes, how do you, Sirius Black, plead?" Graniteblood turned to look at the wizard.
"Innocent on all counts," Sirius smiled at Fudge, ignoring the goblin.
"You have our records, this is a waste of time!" one of Fudge's advisors screamed across the table. "He was the secret keeper for the Potters, he admitted to Rubeus Haggrid that it was his fault the Potters were dead, and we had dozens of witnesses when he killed Pettigrew and the muggles!" the many glared at Sirius.
"Nice to see you again Barty," Sirius smiled before a goblin that was advising him grumbled something.
"Control your outbursts or you will both be removed," Graniteblood threatened them both. "We are well aware of the evidence against the accused and will now give him time to present his defense," the Judge gestured towards Sirius.
"My apologies Judge Graniteblood," Sirius bowed deep to the goblin. "My defense is simple and blunt, I was set up, Peter was the secret keeper not me, he faked his own death," Sirius motioned to a guard who pulled a curtain away from a free standing prisoner cell. "And wouldn't you know it, I have the traitorous bastard here to back up my story," he glared through the bars at the barely conscious Pettigrew.
"Pettigrew…impossible," Fudge stammered.
"This is the transcript we had made while the subject was under Veritaserum earlier today," Graniteblood slid a parchment to Fudge. "He was nearly dead when Black brought him to us, we did our best to patch him up," the goblin grinned. "You may have one of your Aurors examine him," he pointed at Kingsley, the tallest of the bunch.
Kingsley cautiously walked around the table, keeping one eye on Black, the other on the body in the cage. He cast several Finites and other revealing spells to ensure it was not a disguise, but Pettigrew did not stir. He looked closely, seeing the blood seeping from wounds in the man's knees, and various cuts and bruises across his body. "It's him, it looks like he's been tortured though," Kingsley shouted back to the Minister.
"I wasn't sure I was going to turn him in even, so I didn't pay much attention to his well being," Black joked at the Auror. "He's been hiding as Ron Weasley's pet rat; he's an animagus like me. I was never after that bloody redhead," he glared at Fudge. "It was all because of the paper you left me after taunting me that one day Fudge, the one with their family winning a sweepstakes, I recognized him in it," he explained.
"This…interrogation has been verified? Can we question him ourselves?" Amelia Bones asked as she read over the parchment Fudge handed her.
"I'm afraid not, we have already found him guilty, he's alive now as a courtesy to you," Graniteblood replied. "The interrogation damaged him beyond recovery, regardless," he smiled. "But I assure you, we had several wizard employees present, should you require Pensieve memories," he produced several vials and passed them towards Fudge and the others. "Unless you have any evidence unknown before now, we are prepared to declare the accused innocent and will be advising him to seek compensation from the Ministry for false imprisonment among other charges," the goblin looked to Fudge.
"We need time to prepare a case like this," the man protested.
"You have had sixteen years, the Goblin Nation rules on the side of Sirius Black and exonerates him of all crimes," the goblin shuffled the papers before him. "This ruling will carry over to your Ministry as per the treaty of 1873, thank you for your cooperation," the goblin rose from his seat, grumbling in Gobbledygook to several of the guards.
Fudge glared at Sirius as he whispered to an ugly woman Sirius recognized as Umbridge. Sirius was greeted warmly by Kingsley and his partner whose hair was flashing different colors in excitement. "Nice to see you too Nymphadora," he smiled as the woman babbled.
"Don't call me that Sirius, I don't care if you are family," she frowned, hitting him in the arm. "I can't believe all this," she glared at the back of Fudge and the others that were hurrying from the bank. "Those bastards, I'm gonna," she stopped as Kingsley held her back.
"It's okay, and now that I am free, I can give you access to the family vault," he handed her a key. "There's a lot in there, more than I could ever spend, have some fun kid," he smiled at her.
"How did you finally catch Pettigrew?" Kingsley asked curiously.
"Sorry about that, part of the agreement was I leave him out of it if I ever turned the rat in," Sirius shrugged. "He's not someone you want to cross though, I'm lucky he didn't kill me after he spotted me watching him in my animagus form," Sirius admitted.
"What are you going to do now?" Tonks asked as they exited the bank into the fresh air.
"I'd love to relax, but I can't, there's work to be done," Sirius smiled weakly as he fingered the business card in his pocket. He froze immediately, jerking his head around, sensing something. "Fudge has lost his bloody mind," he muttered as she pulled the stolen wand from his pockets.
"What's wrong?" she asked as she notice the area start to grow colder.
"The cold, what makes that cold Tonks," Kingsley replied, pulling his own wand.
"Fudge, are you out of your damn mind?!" Sirius screamed at the rapidly emptying alley. "Setting Dementors loose in the bloody Alley!" he screamed loudly as the bank's doors opened behind them.
"Inside, quickly," one of the guards that had been trailing them since the trial ordered, locking the door after a squad armed with torches left through it. "Graniteblood heard him order the woman to order the Kiss on you," the guard explained gruffly. "All three of you," he looked over the two Aurors.
"He's lost his mind, finally gone over the edge," Kingsley muttered, slumping against the wall. "Tonks, I don't know how to say this, I've been trying to keep it from you since you were new, but Death Eaters more or less run the Ministry now, whether the Minister knows it or not," he explained as Sirius looked on with no emotion.
"How…there has to be some way to check them for the Mark, doesn't there?" she frowned, fumbling with the words.
"Going about the checking of everyone's arm would be impossible, what with the laws being made by purebloods," Kingsley shook his head. "Dumbledore has a group out there, trying to do what we can, but we're losing," he admitted.
"The Order?" Sirius asked.
"Yes, The Order of the Phoenix, you were a member, weren't you? Back in the first war," Kingsley nodded.
"Yeah, back before I was hung out to dry," Sirius growled.
"He'll have you back you know, he's Dumbledore," Kingsley looked at the other man.
"That's the problem, I don't care about Dumbledore anymore, I don't care about any of them," Sirius pulled a parchment from one of his robe pockets, signing it with blood after cutting himself on the knife the guard offered him. "I'll explain it to them, go take that to Graniteblood," he ordered the guard.
The guard bowed and left the three of them alone. "What just happened?" Tonks questioned him.
"Oh that, I just legally signed over my declaration of defection from the Ministry of Magic," Sirius shrugged. "I'm legally a goblin now, so besides the ten million galleons I paid them to make it happen, the vault is all yours," he smirked as Tonks' face paled.
"What?" she stuttered.
"I'm through with the Ministry, the goblins needed a mercenary, I volunteered," he explained. "Once I take care of my personal target, I'll owe them some missions, but it's a fair trade to be free from Fudge and his idiots," he smiled.
"Speaking of which, we need to go to Dumbledore," Kingsley replied. "Our lives are in danger, they already tried to kill us once Tonks," he ordered her.
"Fine, we'll go see the old man," Tonks sighed. "Who's your target?" she asked Sirius.
"The man that killed Harry Potter and his relatives," Sirius grinned. "Once he's gone, maybe I can rest easy at night," he patted her on the arm before walked towards the back of the bank to where Graniteblood was waiting.