Author's Note: Yes, this Fic has been updated! My many apologies for the delay! I hate writer's block…

Can I just say that the response last time I updated was phenomenal? Over 10k views in a single day? A personal record for one of my Fics, it must be said.

One thing that has raised its head is the question of consorts. There will be no concubines in my Fic, but consorts I'm not so sure about. What do you all think? Let me know in a review.

As always, read, review and check out my other stories!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

"Harry" -Speech

'Ginny' -Thoughts

/Bill\ -Foreign/Non-human Language

Chapter 7: Trial and Prejudice

06:00, 31st of July, 1993

Harry's Bedroom, Number Four Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey

Birthdays had never been any kind of highpoint in Harry's life with the Dursleys. Dudley's birthdays had been little more than an excuse for the obese boy to rub in how better he was compared to Harry, as well as bully him unreservedly.

Harry's own birthdays had been largely ignored, right up until his eleventh birthday, when Hagrid had burst into that little Hut-on-the-Rock at sea and told him about who and what he really was.

Dudley being partially Transfigured into a pig and Uncle Vernon being told off had merely been icing on the cake.

Last year, his birthday had involved a slightly disturbed House Elf, a levitating pudding and the start of three days in prison, so it had been one of the worst birthdays in his life.

'Come to think of it, Dobby never gave me my letters from Hagrid, Hermione and Ron last year.' Harry thought with a small scowl as he sat at his new desk. He had woken up about an hour ago when Hedwig, Errol, the Weasley Family owl, and a tawny owl he didn't know landed on him.

After helping the elderly Errol to Hedwig's water dish, Harry had removed all the packages and letters from the owls, prompting the tawny to fly off.

All of them were presents from his friends and he had never had so many things for a birthday -ever. Ron had given him a Pocket Sneakoscope, which was supposed to light up whenever someone untrustworthy is around. Hermione had given him a Broomstick Servicing Kit, which was a relief, as Harry didn't want his prized Nimbus 2000 broom to break down at a vital moment during a Quidditch match.

Hagrid, for some highly implausible reason, had seen fit to give Harry a book entitled 'The Monster Book of Monsters', a green book that was literally alive and tried to take a bite out of him, so Harry had tied the damn thing up with a belt and resolved to ask Hagrid how to read the book without losing fingers.

The final item he had gotten in his morning owl post was a letter from Hogwarts regarding a privilege that third-year students had; visiting the village of Hogsmeade, the only All Wizarding settlement in all of Britain.

The fly in the ointment was the small fact that he had to get his parent/guardian to sign the consent form, which meant the Dursleys. Aunt Petunia might do it, but he severely doubted Uncle Vernon would do anything except say 'no' with a triumphant sneer on his face. Refusing to sign his consent form wasn't abuse or even bad parenting, so Vernon would refuse in a heartbeat.

"Maybe Aunt Petunia will sign it." Harry mused to Hedwig quietly. Vernon's snores resounded throughout the house, making Hedwig quietly hoot at the loud noise. She had learned last year not to make loud noises at night, otherwise a walrus stormed into the room to shout at her Harry.

Deciding to leave it for the moment, Harry opened the desk drawer and took out the boxes containing his Heir's rings, setting them onto the desk in front of him.

He wasn't exactly sure how to go about putting them on. House Peverell was the higher-ranked house, so should that one go on first? On the other hand, since Harry was a member of House Potter first and foremost, should that ring go on first?

Shrugging, he decided to go with the latter choice. Family first and all that. Opening the box with the lion rampant emblazoned on it, he saw a thin silver ring sitting in the centre of it. Plain and functional, the only ornamentation was the shield-like bezel that had the same emblem as the box engraved on it.

Picking it up, Harry could feel the magic that made up the ring flowing through it. Carefully, he slipped it onto the middle finger of his left hand and waited.

The ring glowed for a moment before resizing itself to fit Harry's finger perfectly and releasing a thrum of magic through Harry that he felt all the way down to his core.

"What the bloody hell was that?" he muttered. Heir's Rings weren't supposed to do that, from what he had read in 'Who Rules the Roost?' Sending thrums of magic out was usually something that only the Lord's Rings did.

Debating with himself for a moment, Harry weighed the pros and cons of putting the other ring on without asking someone about the odd feeling. Deciding that Hagrid's need was greater, Harry shrugged and opened the second box, pulling out the Peverell Heir's Ring.

It looked exactly like the Potter Ring, except the bezel was triangular. The odd triangular-eye design filled the triangle and made it look very…mysterious.

Sliding it onto the same finger as the Potter Ring, Harry watched in fascination as the two rings merged into one. It was very interesting to watch and Harry knew that Hermione would like to see this.

Once the rings had fully merged, yet another thrum of magic echoed through Harry's body, even stronger than the last one, before settling down.

Harry shook his head in bemusement at the odd magic before turning his attention back to the rings. This was the interesting part about the rings. Their magic allowed them to fuse with other rings, as well as allow Harry to choose which of them was represented on his finger. He concentrated on the Potter Ring and, a second later, there it was on his finger.

'Time to see if the Heir's Ring has the same feature that the Lord's Rings have.' Harry thought grimly. The particular feature that he was thinking about was the option for him to make the rings completely invisible to sight, which would be really useful. Harry hated people pointing at his scar, and he had a feeling that once his ring was spotted, he would have another body part being pointed out by all and sundry.

Concentrating, Harry grinned when the ring became invisible. Lucky for him, the rings obviously had that feature built in to them. The book had mentioned that 'some' Heir's rings possessed the invisibility ability, but made no mention of which families possessed rings that had the ability.

"Tomorrow's Hagrid's Trial, Hedwig." he told his owl, "Here's hoping that Lucius Malfoy doest throw a spanner in the works."

The snowy owl hooted in agreement.

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0700

Staff Room, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Albus Dumbledore strode into the staff room with a sigh. The escape of Sirius Black from Azkaban Prison had sent panic across Wizarding Britain, to the point that he had had to personally deal with several people who were running around like headless chickens.

Unfortunately, Cornelius Fudge, the incumbent Minister for Magic, had just informed him of a decision he had made that Dumbledore had striven to talk him out of ever since Black had been discovered absent from his cell. The portly little man had decided to dismiss Dumbledore's advice in favour of being seen to be decisive, when in fact he was being a fool.

'Minerva will not be pleased about this.' the Headmaster foresaw. He wasn't happy with it, but he knew that Minerva McGonagall would be very vocally displeased with the Minister's decision. You didn't have to be a Seer to predict that!

Taking his place at the head of the table, the venerable wizard waited as his colleagues entered the room and took their seats, muttering to each other as they did so. Severus looked disdainfully around as he took his seat, choosing to remain aloof of conversation.

Once they were all seated, Dumbledore began. "As you are all aware, Sirius Black vanished from his cell in Azkaban Prison approximately four days ago without a trace."

"Is there any indication of how he got out, Albus?" Minerva asked.

"No, the presence of the Dementors makes any magical examination of any part of Azkaban Prison nigh impossible." Dumbledore shook his head, a faint moue of disgust in his voice as he spoke the name of the Azkaban guards, "In addition, there were no physical signs of escape, no broken locks, no broken walls, nothing that gives any indication of how he escaped whatsoever."

"Black always did know how to leave no traces of his pranks behind...just like Potter!" Snape sneered.

"What did the Minister want, Albus?" Professor Sinestra asked, trying to head off one of Snape's rants about James Potter and his friends.

Dumbledore smiled gratefully at his Astronomy Professor before "He informed me that the human guards informed him of Black's likely target…Harry Potter."

A gasp erupted from the staff, with Rolanda Hooch and Minerva looking the most shocked out of all of them. Severus merely sneered again, his black eyes flashing in what could be triumph or vindication.

"My god!" Filius Flitwick shook his head in disbelief, "Is Mr Potter safe at his relatives' house?"

"He is safer than anywhere except Hogwarts." Dumbledore confirmed, "Tomorrow, he shall be with me in the Ministry building for Hagrid's trial, surrounded by Aurors and Hitwizards before being returned to Number Four for the rest of the holidays. Unfortunately, Sirius may not be able to get into Privet Drive, but he could -possibly- break into Hogwarts."

"'e'd be'er not!" Hagrid growled. The half-giant made a rough gesture of what he'd do to the escapee if he found himself within arms length of Hagrid.

"Alas, if he can break out of Azkaban, he has more than a fair chance at breaking into Hogwarts." Dumbledore sighed, "Which is why Minister Fudge issued an Executive Order that commands the Dementors of Azkaban to stand guard around Hogwarts until Black has been captured, effective immediately."

As he anticipated, the staff, even Severus to the Headmaster's amusement, was outraged about this little addition to the security measures of the school. After letting them vent for a minute or two, he raised his hand for quiet.

"Rest assured, I was not any happier than any of you when the Minister told me of his 'decisive and bold move', as he calls it." Dumbledore said with a shake of his head and a sour look on his face, "I spent a good hour yesterday attempting to convince Cornelius that this was a Bad Idea, but to no avail. The most I could do was ban them from entering the castle and from the inner grounds, including the Quidditch pitch. They are to remain on the boundaries. I shall not permit them to come any closer to the castle."

"Quite right!" Minerva huffed, "Those…monsters…are disgusting things and it is utterly inappropriate to have them around children! I am surprised that no one on the Wizengamot or the School Board of Directors has protested this decision!"

"Cornelius issued a gag order; no one other than the staff here, the Office of the Minister and the handlers of the Dementors shall be aware of the move before September the First." Dumbledore replied gravely, "Even Madam Bones and the DMLE are being locked out of the loop. An ill-advised notion, but Cornelius is adamant."

"Laird all above! Is he trying to get impeached?!" Minerva asked in disbelief.

"Keeping the DMLE out of the loop is a monumentally stupid thing to do." Professor Vector agreed, "Madam Bones will be on the warpath once she finds out about it. What about the Unspeakables? Do they know?"

Professor Sprout snorted in an unladylike fashion. "The Department of Mysteries are a law unto themselves; who can tell what they know."

"Indeed." Dumbledore agreed, "To return to the original topic, we must ensure that there are as few reasons for the student to go near the Dementors. Pomona, you are to keep a strict watch over the students going to and from your Greenhouses. Hagrid, keep as far away from the boundary as you can during your new classes. And Rolanda, you might want to brush up on the Patronus Charm, just in case the Dementors ignore my directives during a match."

"I'm afraid my Patronus is an incorporeal one." the Quidditch referee admitted, "It's such an advanced charm and Dementors only ever travel between Azkaban Island and the Ministry, so I never put much practice into it. I never dreamed Fudge would, well…fudge things up like this!"

Dumbledore sighed. "I can create a corporeal Patronus, as can Severus and Minerva. Who else here is capable of that?"

A show of hands revealed that the overwhelming majority of his staff couldn't do so. Filius, the Charms Teacher, could create one, as could Professor Vector and Pomona Sprout.

"Six people to face two hundred Dementors aren't very good odds, Albus, even if one of them is you." Severus remarked blandly.

"That number will go up to seven once I finish persuading our new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor to take up his position." Dumbledore replied.

"Oh? And who might that be?" Severus asked with narrowed eyes as he thought, 'Curses! Foiled again!'

"I am endeavouring to hire…Remus Lupin for the post." Dumbledore replied, mentally bracing himself for the inevitable tirade that the Potions Master was bound to unleash at him at this.

He wasn't disappointed.

"WHAT!?" the greasy-haired man bellowed, "You must be going senile! You're hiring a Marauder?!"

"Who better to guard against a Marauder than another Marauder?" Dumbledore countered. The two men stared at each other for a moment before the older man sighed and said, "We shall finish this discussion in private at a later date, Severus. For now, kindly gather the necessary ingredients for the Wolfsbane Potion."

"You expect me to aid him?!" Snape's cold voice asked incredulously, his eyes popping in sheer disbelief.

"And so you shall. Understood?" Dumbledore replied firmly. He rarely insisted on anything like he was right now, but to his mind, Lupin was a necessary defence for Harry and needed to not worry about his ailment.

That and having a werewolf escorted to the Shrieking Shack via the secret tunnel underneath the Whomping Willow once a month would make the more inquisitive students (such as a certain pair of redheaded twins) try and find out what it was all about, which would not be a good thing to happen.

Not at all.

"Very well." Severus ground out, "If you are done, I have potions to brew for next term."

The Potions Master stood up and stalked to the door, swooping out in a dramatic bat-like flutter of his robes.

"Well," the Headmaster remarked mildly, "He took that better than I expected."

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Some Time Later

With Sirius, English Countryside

The large black dog that was one Sirius Orion Black the Third crawled out from under the bush he had used as cover last night. Most people would consider it uncomfortable compared to a bed or even a sleeping bag, but Sirius thought that considering he had been in the closest place to hell on earth for the past decade or so, being away from aforementioned hell on earth made anything seem like a drastic improvement by comparison.

'Now then…since I've put a nice bit of distance between myself and that damnable prison, time to start to think.' he thought as he started trotting through the fields.

If Prongs or Moony had heard him say that, they would first choke, then move on to using Diagnosis Charms to discover how strongly he had been Confounded.

Sirius knew, thanks to listening in to Muggle Radio programs at roadside burger bars, roughly what date it was. Harry's Birthday. He remembered Harry's first birthday party well. All their friends had come and thrown him one hell of a birthday bash.

'Note to self, find out if Prongslet still likes flying and buy him a new broom if he does.' Sirius thought as he pushed through yet another hedge.

Sirius wanted, needed, to track down Harry and make sure he was safe. The main problem was, he hadn't a clue where Harry was, so he started to work things out in his mind as he walked. Harry most likely wasn't with Moony, because there were several laws that precluded a werewolf from adopting a child. He doubted that Dumbledore would let any Death Eater families adopt him and that could only be done by trumping any distant claims of relation with a closer one, so most of the Order of the Phoenix was out as well if the venerable Headmaster had invoked that part of Wizarding tradition

James had been the last living member of House Potter and most of the first cousins had died during the rise of Voldemort, so that left Lily's side of the family. Her parents had died when Harry had been three months old under mysterious circumstances for Muggles. They had in fact been killed by a Death Eater attack, to send a message to Lily.

'That leaves…oh bloody hell!' Sirius cursed and snarled in his dog form. Lily's only living family was her sister, Petunia, who last he had heard had hated magic and had married a man with the most utterly Muggle outlook in life, to the point that he hated anything that was even mildly odd or unusual to him.

Merlin only knows what those two had done to Harry. Sirius started to pick up speed as he redirected himself to head for the last place he recalled Lily saying that one Petunia Dursley lived, a boring piece of suburbia called Little Winging, Surrey.

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0900

Number Four Privet Drive

Harry was not having a good breakfast. His Aunt Petunia's toast was currently resting at the bottom of his stomach like lead and he was not looking forward to the next week. Why?

Aunt Marge was coming for a visit.

Marge Dursley was Uncle Vernon's sister and looked exactly like him…right down to the overweight body, moustache and bad temper. Not related by blood to Harry, he had nevertheless been forced to call her 'Aunt' his entire life. She despised Harry and he returned that feeling tenfold thanks to her pet dog, Ripper.

That thrice-accursed dog seemed to love chasing him around and trying to bite his ankles off. To give one example, when he was ten, the damn dog had chased him into the garden and forced him to climb a tree to get away from him. Marge had refused to call off Ripper until long after midnight.

Dudley still laughed at the mere thought of this incident.

He was still seated at the kitchen table, where Uncle Vernon had just broken the news to him with his distinctive sneer. Dudley was keeping one eye on the TV (bought because of his complaints at the long walk between the TV in the living room and the fridge) and Harry, anticipating some form of Harry Bullying, his favourite entertainment.

"Uncle Vernon, I hope you have a good explanation for Aunt Marge." Harry said evenly, fighting to keep his anger and panic under control.

"Explanation? What are you talking about, boy?!" the beefy man spluttered.

"My room? My being called to be a witness in a court case tomorrow?" Harry reminded him, "You know the first thing she does when she arrives is remind me how much better off than me Dudley is by dragging me to my old bedroom…the cupboard under the stairs."

Aunt Petunia went white. "Oh Vernon! If she sees that the Boy has not only been moved to Dudley's second bedroom but has that furniture, she'll ask questions!"

"How about you drop her stuff off and then take her out for the day?" Harry suggested, "I'll send an owl to Professor Dumbledore and he'll come and cast some Muggle Repelling Charms on my door."

"Some what?" Vernon asked with a snort.

"Something my kind uses to keep your kind away from things we don't want you to come near." Harry replied, wishing Uncle Vernon wouldn't lose his temper whenever he uttered a certain five-letter word beginning with 'M' as it made describing spells and the like somewhat difficult.

"More of your unnaturalness!" Vernon growled, "Fine. Now, I'd better go and pick up Marge. Her train gets in at ten." The large man stood up and stomped out, calling back over his shoulder, "Pet, give him the rules. I can't stand the sight of him anymore."

Once the front door slammed, Harry stood up and headed up to his room to write the letter to Professor Dumbledore, followed by Aunt Petunia.

"Harry, you can't let Marge know about your…heritage." she said once they entered Harry's bedroom, "And I know you wouldn't do it on purpose, but please don't use any…magic…around her."

"Aunt Petunia, I wouldn't tell her anyway." Harry replied as he pulled a blank piece of parchment from his desk drawer and picked up a quill, "And, for the record, accidental magic happens most often under three circumstances; times of fear, times of stress and times of anger. I have no control over my accidental magic, so if Marge makes me angry, it will go off with or without my permission. The best thing to do is to keep me and Aunt Marge apart as much as is physically possible."

"Oh." Petunia absorbed this for a moment, "So, Vernon shouting at you when you were younger…"

"…had the opposite effect of what he intended." Harry finished as he folded the letter up and put it in an envelope, "Hedwig? Up for a fast delivery, girl?"

Hedwig hooted in agreement, flapped over to land on Harry's desk and stuck out her leg for Harry to tie the letter to it. Once he did, she opened her wings and flapped out the window.

"There…is one other thing…" Aunt Petunia hesitated before finishing her sentence, "…Vernon has told everyone that you go to St. Brutus' School for Incurably Criminal Boys."

Harry jerked around to gape at her in shock. "He did what?!"

"We had to come up with an explanation for the neighbours and Vernon was…creative." Aunt Petunia said weakly.

Clamping down on his instinctive urge to curse up a storm, Harry breathed in, held it for a moment and then slowly released it,. "Fine. I'll keep to that story…on the condition you sign this."

He passed her the Hogsmeade Consent Form.

"Hogs…oh. The village near your school?" Aunt Petunia asked. Receiving a nod, she took a pen from her pocket and scribbled her signature on the guardian signature box.

"There you go." she said before bustling off to get Dudley ready ("With a brand new bow tie for you, Didy!").

Harry slumped down and sighed. It was a good thing he had finished all of his homework in the month since the end of school, even Snape's essay on poisons and antidotes, as he foresaw that he would be unable to concentrate on anything this week.

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The Next Day, 1100

Harry hated it when he was right.

Aunt Marge was, if anything, worse than she had been three years ago, as well as fatter somehow. She was rude, overbearing, opinionated and very much disliked Harry, sneering at him and his parents at every possible opportunity.

The previous day, no sooner had Professor Dumbledore left after casting the Muggle Repelling Charm on his door than the Dursleys had reappeared at Number 4, had poured a rather drunken Marge into her bed, and shut Ripper in with her.

This morning, she was making up her lack of rudeness to Harry with a vengeance, followed around by Ripper, her favourite, rather flatulent, bulldog from her dog-breeding farm. He was getting on a bit in dog years by this point, so he wasn't fond of chasing Harry like he had been three years ago. Still, Harry made every effort to give the foul-smelling beast more than enough space.

He liked his ankles without bite marks, thank you very much.

"Why're you floating around the living room, boy?!" Marge boomed before loudly slurping her tea.

"One of my teachers is due to pick me up today." Harry replied stiffly, "I was a witness to a crime, so I have to tell the…Board…what I saw."

"Hah! A likely story!" Marge snorted, "Whatever it as, you were involved somehow, weren't you?!"

"No, I wasn't." Harry said firmly, his temper already fraying at the contemptuous sneer in her voice that was somehow even more offensive than Draco Malfoy's own was.

"Don't you backtalk me, boy or you'll get what's coming to you!" she bellowed.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Aunt Petunia grimacing before retreating to the kitchen. It was with a sense of amazement that he had discovered the previous day that Aunt Petunia liked Aunt Marge about as much as he did, thanks to her constant insulting of her sister.

"Yes Aunt Marge." he replied dutifully.

With a harrumph and a fart, the obese woman sat back and slurped her tea again, which Harry used to execute a strategic withdrawal to the hall, where he was intercepted by a smirking Dudley, who left the front door open. He had been out with his gang of bullies and bruisers all morning.

"Having a good time, freak?" he sneered quietly.

"Same old, same old." Harry shrugged, "A bit better than three years ago, since Ripper's got arthritis."

Dudley scowled. "You'll get yours at some point. Mark my words."

"Dud, I may be underage now, but at the age of seventeen, I'll be of age to use my 'unnaturalness' outside of school. What do you think will happen then? Who do you think will be 'getting theirs' then?"

The rotund boy paled at this. "You aren't allowed to." he said in a squeaking voice.

"Thing about governments is they are very receptive to bribes." Harry locked onto his cousin's eyes with his own and held them captive, "Pay them a few hundred galleons and they'd ignore anything I did here, within reason, and just send the AMRS afterwards to undo everything."

"The who?" Dudley blinked his piggy eyes in incomprehension.

"People who can undo unnaturalness." Harry translated with an eye roll at being forced to explain in such a roundabout manner, "Just think about what I said Dud. Looks like the Professor is here to pick me up."

Indeed, the familiar form of Albus Dumbledore was outside the door, dressed in a Muggle business suit that was a loud yellow colour this time.

"Ah Harry. Good to see you, my boy." he beamed, "Ready to clear Hagrid's name?"

"Born ready." Harry grinned, "Dudley, tell Aunt Petunia that I'll be back at teatime."

"Y-Yeah…" Dudley stammered, his hands grasping his bottom tightly as he backed away from Dumbledore swiftly.

"Let us depart then." Dumbledore nodded pleasantly in farewell to Dudley before leading Harry down Privet Drive.

"Might I ask why your cousin is so defensive of his rear end?" Dumbledore asked as they walked.

"Hagrid got really angry at Uncle Vernon for insulting you when he delivered my Hogwarts letter and Transfigured a pig's tail onto Dudley's backside." Harry replied with a grin, "He is so much like a pig anyway that I wouldn't notice a difference if he still had it."

Dumbledore frowned, but then shrugged. "Hagrid does have a bad temper when it comes to those he respects and cares for. I would ask that you not bring this up with anyone else though, just in case."

"Understood sir." Harry nodded, "What time's the trial?"

"Half-past three." Dumbledore replied, "The members of the Wizengamot are all rich and powerful and cannot be drawn away from their various enterprises very easily, so that was the earliest I could arrange a session of a quorum of the Wizengamot."

"A what?" Harry looked blankly at Dumbledore, who chuckled.

"A quorum; the minimum number of people needed to sit in judgement of an issue like this." he explained, "The Wizengamot has around fifty members at any given time. Of them, I, as Chief Warlock, must be there, as must the sitting Minister for Magic, as well as at least twenty other members in order to constitute a quorum."

"Oh…who else will be there that I know?" Harry asked as they turned into Magnolia Crescent.

"Hmmm…you might not know her, but Madam Amelia Bones, the Head of the DMLE will be there." Dumbledore mused, "She's Susan Bones' aunt and only living relative. Madam Augusta Longbottom, Mr Longbottom's grandmother, will be there as well. As will, unfortunately, Mr Lucius Malfoy."

"Great." Harry groused, "So he's going to try and muddy the waters again."

"Alas, I believe he will." Dumbledore replied, "but fear not as I believe that justice will be served on this day. Now, we should head over to Diagon Ally and purchase some appropriate robes for the Heir to a Most Noble and Ancient House."

The twinkle in Dumbledore's eye reminded Harry rather strongly of the Weasley Twins at that particular moment.

"Oh?" he replied carefully, inviting Dumbledore to continue.

"Wearing what you are at the moment will allow Lucius to tear you down in the eyes of his peers." the Headmaster said, gesturing at Harry's worn out jeans and jumper, "Therefore, it is necessary to dress to impress. Madam Malkins will be able to do a rush order of robes for the occasion. She can be counted upon for this sort of emergency."

Harry wasn't the kind of person to care about his appearance. Raised on Dudley's hand-me-downs, he didn't really care what he wore at Number 4 as he had never had any reason to look nice in front of the sneering neighbours who bought the Dursley's story about him being a scruffy troublemaker hook, line and sinker.

Still, if it meant one-upping Lucy the Loser, Harry would follow Dumbledore's advice. It would be nice to have some clothes that weren't four or five sizes too big on him.

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1520

The Chambers of the Wizengamot, Ministry of Magic, London

Harry sat in the witnesses section of the chamber feeling stupid in his brand new robes.

He knew, intellectually, that they in fact suited him rather well. Plain black, with gold and red trimming and the Potter Crest outlined in silver on his sleeves and over his heart, denoting he was the Heir Primus of House Potter. Cut in what Madam Malkin assured him was the most tasteful fashion for Heirs of his age, of which there were more than a few, they flowed over his body without being baggy like the regular robes were.

Still, a decade of being told how scruffy he was didn't fall at the wayside at a moments notice and he kept having the urge to straighten his robes when it really wasn't necessary. To distract himself, he started examining the chamber.

A massive edifice, the Chamber of the Wizengamot was very grand. The members of the Wizengamot were seated on a large horseshoe-shaped dais behind elegantly carved desks and podiums. Professor Dumbledore, wearing a luminous plum robe, sat in the centre, with Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic to one side of him in black robes.

The rest of the seats were being filled by witches and wizards dressed in either plum or black robes, although none were as richly coloured as Dumbledore's own. Whether that was due to his status as Chief Warlock or personal preference was a mystery to Harry.

One figure in particular caught Harry's eye as he strode in as if he owned the place…Lucius Malfoy. Spotting Harry himself, the man scowled before striding to what was presumably his seat.

Harry resolved not to lose his temper at the man, as that was probably his intent by coming to this session. Really, it was the kind of thing Draco would try and pull. Like son, like father, it would seem.

Over on the opposite side of the chamber to the witness' section was the desk for the defendant, behind which was seated Hagrid, looking thoroughly out of place and dressed in a horrible brown suit, with a lime-green tie. The half-giant was pale and uncomfortable as he was stared at by the assembled witches and wizards.

At last, Dumbledore banged his gavel thrice and called out, "Seal the chamber!"

The two large stone and wood doors swung shut and glowed white, indicating that the doors were locked up tighter than a drum. No one could enter the room without the permission of the Chief Warlock.

"In this session of the Wizengamot, we are to reopen a fifty-year-old case…a murder case at that…let the defendant stand forward!" Dumbledore announced.

Nervously, Hagrid stood up, jostling the table as he did.

"You are Rubeus Hagrid?" Dumbledore asked, "Currently the Keeper of the Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?"

"Yessir, that I am." Hagrid replied.

"The charges against you are: 1) That you did cause the murder of the Muggleborn Witch Myrtle Baker by use of an dangerous magical creature, to wit, one Acromantula named Aragog. How do you plead?"

"Not Guilty to all charges, sir." Hagrid replied with a large gulp.

"So noted." Dumbledore nodded, "Be seated. If there are no arguments, then the first witness to be called is Harry Potter, Heir to the Most Noble and Ancient House of Potter."

"And what possible relevance could a boy not even alive at the time of the crimes have to this trial?" Lucius Malfoy chimed in right when Harry expected him to.

"The reason this case is being re-examined after such a long time is that new evidence was discovered by Heir Potter this year during the resurgent attacks on the Muggleborn student population by someone claiming to be the Heir of Slytherin." Dumbledore replied, "Madam Bones, would you get the Veritaserum ready?"

The Head of the DMLE, a brown-haired witch wearing black robes and a monocle, looked at Dumbledore in askance. "He's underage." she pointed out.

"Heir Potter, kindly display your Heirs Ring." Dumbledore asked as Harry made his way to the stand. Raising his hand, he made the Potter Heir's Ring appear.

"Is that satisfactory, Madam Bones?" Harry asked politely.

"Indeed it is, Heir Potter." the woman nodded at him, "I shall have the Veritaserum ready momentarily."

"I fail to see how this…boy…can have any germane information." Lucius drawled, "No doubt his arrogance makes him believe whatever tale he has prepared, so the Veritaserum is a moot addition."

"Feh. You're talking claptrap, Malfoy." a woman wearing a stuffed vulture atop her hat growled, "The only thing that can bamboozle Veritaserum is insanity and young Heir Potter here is hardly insane from the looks of him."

"Madam Longbottom, I would ask that you not be confrontational with Mr Malfoy." Dumbledore interceded before the white-haired man could reply, "Mr Malfoy, kindly keep your remarks suitable for polite company. Madam Bones?"

"This is a vial of Veritaserum and it has not been tainted or adulterated by other substances." Madam Bones announced as she held the vial in question up for all to see, "Kindly take the stand."

Harry stepped up to the stand while Madam Bones descended and waved her wand over him whilst muttering a complex spell under her breath. When he glowed a pale white, she nodded.

"He is clear of any other potions or antidotes." she announced, "I will now administer the Veritaserum."

Carefully, she dripped three drops of the powerful truth serum into Harry's mouth and then stepped back to wait for the potion to take effect. Harry's eyes went distant and his face emotionless.

Madam Bones returned to her seat and began the questioning.

"What is your name?"

"Harry James Potter."

"Date of Birth?"

"31st of July, 1980."

"The Veritaserum has taken full effect." she pronounced, "Chief Warlock?"

"Very good." Dumbledore said gravely, "Heir Potter, please describe the events on the day Ginevra Molly Weasley was taken into the Chamber of Secrets, from your decision to attempt her rescue up until the point you dealt with the Heir of Slytherin."

In a dull, inflectionless voice, Harry recounted him and Ron dragooning Lockhart into coming with them, the location of the Chamber, Lockhart's eventual betrayal and attempt at Obliviating them, only to suffer from a backfire and, most interestingly enough, Harry's confrontation with one Tom Marvolo Riddle and his pet Basilisk.

When Harry finished his tale upon stabbing the Diary, the chamber was silent for a moment before the sound of not so quiet whispering resounded throughout it, the pale-faced members of the Wizengamot exchanging opinions and questions about Harry's testimony.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Does anyone have any questions -relevant to this hearing- for Heir Potter?" he asked calmly.

"Yes." Augusta Longbottom said shakily, "Heir Potter, do you have any possible idea as to where that diary came from?"

"It came from those second hand books that the Weasley chit was bought." Malfoy sneered hastily, his eyes full of barely disguised panic, "Kindly do not waste out time with foolish questions!"

"Mr Malfoy, one more outburst like that and you shall be silenced." Dumbledore said severely, "Heir Potter, answer Madam Longbottom's question."

"I have no proof, but the second-hand Transfiguration book that, according to Ginny Weasley, had the diary within it was grabbed by Lucius Malfoy in Flourish and Blotts when he was sneering at Arthur Weasley." Harry replied.

"How dare you impugn my honour?!" Lucius roared angrily.

"With the greatest of ease." Harry replied, still under the effects of the Veritaserum. This comment made a few people, Dumbledore, Madam Bones and Madam Longbottom among them, chuckle before returning to the matter at hand.

"Without sufficient proof, I'm afraid we must uphold Mr Malfoy's protestation of innocence." Fudge stated loudly, upon seeing the white-haired man look at him pointedly.

"Humph." Augusta snorted, but remained silent otherwise.

"Any further questions?" Dumbledore asked.

"Heir Potter, are you absolutely certain of what you heard and saw?" Madam Bones asked.

"I am." Harry replied simply.

There were no other questions after that, so Madam Bones administered the antagonist to Veritaserum, returning control of his mouth to Harry.

"I hate that potion." the Boy-Who-Lived muttered.

"A feeling most people who have it administered to them express, Heir Potter." Madam Bones said sympathetically, "Your testimony is complete and you may step down."

Harry returned to the Witness' Stand and watched the rest of the trial. First, once the members had calmed down from the revelations Harry's testimony revealed, they examined the original testimony, of which the only solid eyewitness account was from one Tom Marvolo Riddle.

There was much hemming and hawing from a few of the neutral members about this, but ultimately Riddle's testimony was dismissed as being tainted by self-interest due to Harry's testimony, despite Lucius Malfoy's continued sneering insinuations against him.

Next, Hagrid had been called to the stand. He had vehemently denied being descended from Salazar Slytherin on his father's side and to attacking anybody with Acromantula. He did admit that he had been in possession of an Acromantula named Aragog, but he had been very careful not to let him out of his cupboard and accepted that, perhaps, he shouldn't have raised a flesh-eating giant spider in a school.

At great length, despite Lucius Malfoy's constant harping and attempts at undermining, Hagrid was pronounced innocent of all charges except possession of a XXXX-Class Magical Beast and was fined a thousand Galleons, which was taken out of his considerable sum of compensation for being falsely accused and railroaded fifty years ago, as well as having his ban on purchasing a new wand lifted.

"I hereby declare this session of the Wizengamot closed." Dumbledore announced as he banged his gavel thrice, signalling the doors to swing open.

Harry wasted no time running over to a visibly moved Hagrid and grinning up at him. "Congratulations, Hagrid!"

"Can't believe it…" Hagrid said gruffly, "It's all thanks teh yeh, 'arry."

"It's the least I can do for a friend Hagrid." Harry tried to dismiss the man's gratitude airily, but the half-giant was having none of it.

" 'Twas yer testimony that threw out that ruddy git Riddle's testimony, so don't be tryin' ta tone down your part in gettin' me good name cleared." he told Harry firmly.

"Hagrid has a point, my boy." Dumbledore said as he came up to the two of them, "You are a most humble boy, which is endearing, but you need to take credit where credit is due. Now, I believe you have a wand to buy for Professor Hagrid here."

"Professor?" Harry parroted in confusion.

"Hagrid is taking over the post of Care of Magical Creatures Teacher from this year onwards." Dumbledore explained with twinkling eyes, "I believe he sent you the book he chose for his curriculum?"

"The biting book?!" Harry gaped.

"Yeh have teh stroke the spines teh read 'em." Hagrid explained.

"I'll let Ron and Hermione know." Harry was sure that Hermione would hate being locked out of a book, and Ron didn't need any more reasons to avoid reading his class material. "Anyway, do you fancy getting your new wand, Hagrid?"

"Been waitin' for this fer fifty years." Hagrid was grinning hugely.

"I shall accompany you so I can give Garrik the Wizengamot's ruling regarding Hagrid." Dumbledore put in with a small smile, "And it will be good to see one of Tom's plots fully derailed after all this time."

"I agree sir." Harry grinned.

Ollivanders shop, Diagon Alley

Mr Ollivander looked exactly as he had when Harry had bought his own wand over two years ago. His wide pale eyes regarding the odd trio that entered his shop, while a small smile crossed his face.

"Ah, Rubeus Hagrid." he said quietly, "I take it then that you have been acquitted at long last?"

"Indeed he has, Garrik." Dumbledore replied, drawing an envelope from his robes, "Here is the ruling for your records."

"Excellent." Mr Ollivander barely glanced at it as he pocketed it, "Now let us remedy this travesty. You were….16 inches, Oak and rather bendy, with a dragon heartstring core, if memory serves."

"Aye, that's right sir." Hagrid replied nervously.

"I had heard from Albus about your trial, so in anticipation of your imminent acquittal, I brought out those wands which are likely to suit you." Mr Ollivander smiled crookedly as he gestured at a small table with a dozen large wands in their boxes that was off to one side.

"Let's see…15 and ¾ inches, oak, rigid, dragon heartstring." Ollivander seemed to pick one wand up at random, "Give it a try."

He passed it to Hagrid, who gave it a small swish and flick motion before Ollivander took it back with a small shake of his head. "No, no, no. 16 and a half inches, oak, slight give, dragon heartstring. Try it."

The next three wands were the same, which seemed to thrill the wandmaker. Harry had an idea as yet another wand was rejected by the man.

"Mr Ollivander, are any of these wands' cores from Norwegian Ridgebacks?" he asked.

"Why…yes. Three of them." the wandmaker replied and pointed them out.

"Try those ones next." Harry suggested, "I think they are the ones for the job here."

Mr Ollivander peered at him for a moment before nodding. "Very well. Sixteen inches exactly, bendy, oak and the heartstring of a Norwegian Ridgeback Dragon."

He handed the first of the three wands to Hagrid, who made the same swish and flick motion he had been making for the past few minutes, causing a couple of sparks to shoot from the wand's tip.

"Oh-ho!" Mr Ollivander exclaimed happily, "Almost, but not quite! Mr Potter's guess seems to be right on the money!"

He gave the last two wands with the right cores a close examination before selecting the longer of the two. "This is the longest wand I have ever made, at 17 and ¼ inches long." he announced, "Made of oak, flexible and with the heartstring of an ancient Norwegian Ridgeback."

He reverently passed it to Hagrid, who repeated the swish and flick motion. A long stream of gold and red sparks erupted from the wand, illuminating the shop brightly.

"Ah-ha!" Ollivander seemed jubilant, "Well done, Rubeus! Well, well, well. I never thought that I would sell this one. That'll be seven galleons, five sickles."

Harry paid for it, ignoring Hagrid's protests. "Think of it as a gift celebrating your new job." he said with a grin.

This earned him another giant-sized hug.

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Next Chapter: Dirigibles and the Grim

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