I know, I know, another short one, and yet another cliffy. But that's not my fault! All these chapters ended with cliffies. But, there's only 81 chapters... and three epilogues... so it's coming to a close really quickly.

Part 76/?

The reaction to that statement was extreme.

Moody sat back, vindicated.

Severus double and triple checked the potion, as well as the fact that Dumbledore had taken it.

Lucius reconsidered his question, trying to see how the wily old mage might have worked it around to get a negative answer.

It took everything Harry had to keep from yelling at the old man.

Behind the privacy curtain, the reaction was much louder. People were shouting and arguing with each other. Aurors who Dumbledore had personally Obliviated when they wouldn't accept what was happening at the Dursleys argued with those who believed in the ex-Headmaster. Hermione and friends were desperately trying to figure out how the old man had done it.

Suddenly, the Gryffindor brainiac's eyes flew open and she jotted down a thought quickly. Then she raised her hand in the air and started waving it wildly. It took Severus nodding in her direction to get Lucius over there. He took the paper from her, and his eyebrow rose in interest.

He turned back toward the old man and asked the question Hermione had brought up. "What is your name?"

"Albus Dumbledore," the mage answered immediately.

Well, so much for that idea, Lucius thought. Still... perhaps... "How old are you?" he asked. Hermione's suggestion that the person in the seat might have been an imposter was still a good one.

"One hundred and sixty-eight," Dumbledore replied.

"What was your job one year ago today?" Lucius asked.

"Headmaster of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Well, if he couldn't find out a reason that way, he'd simply have to go for it another way.

"Who is that person?" he asked, pointing towards his husband.

"Harry James Potter Snape."

"When did you first see him?"

"When he was three days old."

"How often did you see him before the Potters went under Fidelius charm?"

"Twice."

"Once the Potters had gone into hiding, when was the next time you saw Harry?"

"When Hagrid brought him to me at Privet Drive."

"How did you know he was still alive?"

"Hagrid contacted me when he was found."

"Why did you not go yourself?"

"Severus Snape had returned to tell me what had happened during the raid and I needed to take his report."

"Why did you dispatch Hagrid?"

"I had felt the Fidelius charm going down. Upon realizing that I knew where the Potters were living, I felt it best to send someone. Few people would mess with Hagrid, and the Potters knew him well. If they were still alive, they would trust him."

"Why did you decide to place Harry with the Dursleys?"

"They had a child Harry's age. They were his blood relatives and there were wards that could be placed upon him if he stayed there. I also believed that it would be better for him to grow up without the fame that would have smothered him in the wizarding world."

"Did you have anyone watching?"

"Yes."

"Who?"

"Arabella Figg, a witch I've trusted for years, took a house not far from the Dursleys and became Harry's babysitter."

"Who else?"

"No one." Again there was a great deal of conversation and shocked looks.

"Did Madam Figg ever tell you, by voice or written word, of Harry being mistreated?"

"She did not."

Lucius was getting frustrated, but did not let it show.

"When did you next see Harry?"

"When he entered the Great Hall for his Sorting."

"Why did you not check up on him before then?"

"I trusted the ones who were watching over him, and did not wish to give away his location if someone was watching me."

"Did you try to push Harry away from Slytherin?"

"I did."

Finally! Something they might be able to use. "Why?"

"I felt it was the safest way. I was aware that several of the students in Slytherin were the children of Death Eaters, and wished to keep Harry away from them."

Wonderful, an acceptable and reasonable explanation. *Not* exactly what they were looking for.

"Why did you give Harry the invisibility cloak during his first year at school?"

"I promised his father I would give it to him as soon as possible."

Slowly they worked through the first five years of Harry's schooling. For every question Lucius asked, Dumbledore either had a reasonable answer, or he didn't know. Still, the Minister was sure he'd get him during sixth year.

"Why did you send Harry back to the Dursleys when there were others that were able and willing to take him?"

"There was no guarantee that Harry was safe from people who wished to get revenge on him for destroying Voldemort; therefore I felt it was best that he remain within the safety of his family."

"Why did you try to hire a member of the Sidhe?"

"I believed he would be a good influence on Harry, as well as help several other students get away from bad situations."

"Which students?" Lucius wasn't entirely sure why he'd asked that question. Outside of Harry and Draco's friends, he'd had almost nothing to do with the students of Hogwarts, especially the younger grades. The time he'd spent as substitute DADA teacher did not leave him time, nor really, the inclination, to get to know those students better.

Dumbledore gave up several names. Lucius looked over at Harry who was looking very confused. Harry quickly wrote something down and handed it to his husband as he walked over. 'None of those are students that claimed Sanctuary, nor are they ones that I, Severus, or as far as I know, O'Feahr had marked as worrisome. They are, however, all Slytherins.' Lucius read that out so the court could hear it. "How come they are all Slytherins?" he asked.

"None of them come from Dark families, therefore, there is likely some problem at home that would cause them to be in Slytherin," Dumbledore answered.

"You do not worry about students in other Houses?" Lucius asked, trying to keep the anger out of his voice. He could tell by looking around that there were many more angry looks being given to the Headmaster. Even if they never figured out how he was lying, he'd never be allowed back to his old job, not when he had shown he was so completely blind to the truth of the reasons for the different Houses, and clearly biased against Slytherin.

"The other students have a good support system already in place."

Lucius just shook his head and wondered, not for the first time, if the old man was simply deluded. "Didn't Harry?"

"Harry had changed over the past year. I believed that giving him an adult to watch over him, other than Professor Snape, might be a good idea."

"In what ways had he changed?"

"He was drawing away from his friends, spending most of his time either in the library or the dungeons, becoming secretive. He would not talk to anyone about what was bothering him. His overall demeanor was much quieter as well."

"Why did you dislike the idea of Harry being pregnant?"

"He was much too young."

"Why did you try to kill the child?"

"I did not."

"Let me rephrase," Lucius said tightly. "Why did you order Madam Pomfrey to give Harry an abortifacient?"

"I did not."

Harry growled.

"Why did you tell her that it was Severus or Voldemort's child?"

"I did not."

"Where did the prophecy in Godric's rooms come from?"

"I don't know of any prophecy."

"Why did you give O'Feahr the impression that the child was Severus' and Harry was being abused?"

"I did not."

"I have a question!" Harry shouted out, finally having heard enough. "Who the Hell did your memory charm?"

"Mr. Snape!" Morann warned dangerously. However, before anything more could be said, Dumbledore's voice was heard.

"I can't say."

The entire room went still.

Part 77/?

"Ha! If someone placed him under a memory charm, then obviously there is someone else involved. More than likely, Voldemort got hold of him at some point and placed him under a compulsion," Moody said victoriously.

Lucius shook his head. "I'm afraid you are mistaken. There are only two ways that we could have received the answer, 'I can't say' to that question. Either the one who placed the 'Obliviate' on Dumbledore was incompetent, or he did it to himself. I do not believe it was the first one. If someone competent had done the memory charm, he would not remember it was done at all, not even under Veritaserum. However, it is impossible to memory charm yourself without at least remembering you did it. He could then have placed a compulsion or the like on himself not to reveal himself, but he couldn't make himself forget it."

"Can you break the memory charm?" Morann asked.

Lucius looked thoughtful. He gestured for Severus to join him and they spoke together for several minutes. Severus went back to his post as Lucius stood in front of the court. "I do not believe so. Although St. Mungo's and the Ministry have many talented people with the ability to break memory charms, none of them are powerful enough to break through Dumbledore's mind. And although myself, Severus Snape, Harry Snape and Draco Malfoy have the power, none of us have the ability to do so. It would, I believe, take many months, perhaps even years of study before any of us would be considered competent in that particular task."

"Although his being under a memory charm is a large indicator, what exactly it indicates is the question. Unless you can prove, beyond what you already have, that he, himself, placed the charm, it will be very difficult to come up with a guilty verdict," Morann warned.

Lucius nodded. "That, we might be able to do." He turned back to the spectators. "Miach of the Tuatha de Danaan, did you check this man for compulsions?"

The Sidhe healer shook his head, knowing that he wouldn't be heard up front with the privacy curtain still up.

"Thyme Scarborough of Hogwarts, have you checked this man for compulsions?"

The young Slytherin shook her head.

"Could one of you do so?"

The two of them talked together for a moment, the girl seeming to disagree with whatever the man was saying, but finally she stepped forward and through the curtain. "He believes that I would have the best chance of finding it if it's there, since I've had more experience," she explained.

She walked up to Dumbledore and took a deep breath. Reluctantly, she placed her hands on the old mage's face and looked deep into his clouded blue eyes. It was more difficult than it had ever been before. She had to work through the still active Veritaserum. After all, it could be considered a compulsion as well. Even the memory charm was there on the edges of her *sight*. Finally she saw it, and with a sigh of relief, stepped back. She nodded. "There's a compulsion on him," she announced.

"Will the potion interfere with the Veritaserum? It's kind of reading like a compulsion to me."

Everyone who knew where the potion originally came from looked over to Miach. He slowly shook his head. It would not.

"Is it safe?" Moody asked with a hard voice.

Miach nodded.

"If the God of Natural Healing, who created the potion in the first place, believes it is safe, I will allow it," Morann answered.

Severus hurried to where he had been keeping the last of the anti-compulsion potion and pulled it out. Without bothering to ask for permission, or see if he would take it by himself, he poured it down Dumbledore's throat and forced him to swallow.

Thyme rechecked the old man and stepped back. She turned to the judge. "He's clear," she said softly. "And as far as I can tell, the Veritaserum is still active."

"Thank you, child," Morann replied.

She nodded in response and headed back to her seat. Lucius turned back to the man on the stand.

"Who placed the memory charm upon you?"

"Albus Dumbledore."

"One more time, just to make sure, did you memory charm yourself?"

"Yes."

"Why did you Obliviate yourself?"

"I don't know."

Lucius just nodded.

The judge turned to Moody. "Do you wish a chance to question him before I make my judgment?"

"Of course I do!" Moody said immediately.

Alastor Moody decided to make his questions as straight to the point as possible. And this time he didn't have to worry about getting more answer than he wanted.

"Have you ever done anything to harm Harry Potter?"

"No."

"Have you ever done anything to harm any student under your guardianship?"

"No, I have not."

"Did you know Harry Potter was being harmed at his family's house?"

"I did not."

"Did you purposefully push Harry towards becoming a hero?"

"I did not."

"Did you try to harm the child Harry Potter is currently pregnant with?"

"I did not."

"Did you place compulsions upon anyone?"

"No, I did not."

Moody turned away from the one he was questioning and looked at the judge. "I believe it has been proven adequately, that Albus Dumbledore did not do that with which he is charged, and all charges should be dropped."

Morann looked at him coldly. "I disagree. Although we do not have proof, only denial from his own mouth, we do have enough witnesses to show what the memory charm he has admitted placing upon himself is covering."

Moody shook his head. "We know he was under a compulsion. There is nothing to say that someone else did not place the compulsion upon him. There is nothing to say that the compulsion did not force him to obliviate himself."

"There is some sense in what you have said," Morann agreed slowly.

Harry jumped to his feet in protest and just barely caught himself from yelling out his disagreement. He knew the Judge would not accept that from him again. However, his glare at both the ex-Headmaster and his Defender told them exactly what he thought of that.

"However," Morann continued. "If that is so, the wizarding world is in far worse straits than I had believed possible. If someone is powerful enough to place a compulsion upon Albus Dumbledore, of such strength and with such a lasting impression, a compulsion that must have lasted over fifteen years, and gone so strongly against accepted morals, than the wizarding world is in greatest danger."

"Voldemort..." Moody started.

"Was not that powerful," Lucius disagreed immediately. "Since Severus and Harry have both successfully fought off compulsions by him, at least to such an extent that they knew they were under one, and were able to get others to break it for them, then anyone able to keep a compulsion upon a mage of Dumbledore's strength must be several times more powerful. Voldemort was simply not that powerful."

"That is still not proof that it is not true," Moody argued.

"It doesn't matter," Lucius retorted. "If he was under a compulsion and did nothing to fight against it, then as far as I'm concerned, that means he is just as guilty as if he was in his right mind. We have absolutely no proof that it is true that someone else placed the compulsion, and ample proof that it is not true."

"So you are saying that a mage under Imperious *can* be blamed for what they did?" Moody pounced immediately and intently.

Harry, Severus and Draco all tensed where they sat, knowing what Moody was aiming for and willing the older man to be able to get out of the trap the ex-Auror was laying.

Lucius didn't seem to worry. "I am saying that a mage, who knows he is a mage, and who is not having the compulsion routinely reinforced by the one who laid the spell, can be blamed for his actions." He skillfully dodged the bullet. "Of course, I don't know why we're even arguing over this. The decision is not ours to make." He turned back to the judge. "I am not happy with the information we have been given. Not because of some possible compulsion placed upon him, a compulsion I do not believe in, but because we have been robbed of the answers this trial was supposed to give us. My lover might never know why a man he should have been able to trust has done nothing but bring harm to him. My friend might never know why a man he trusted, looked up to, and worked for for years, betrayed all that he stood for. But at least they will know that this *man* can never harm them again. And if that is the only answer we can get from this trial, then, with that we will have to be satisfied. We await your judgment." With a slight bow, he settled down next to his young husband.

Morann was silent for long, long minutes, before he sighed. "I, too, am not satisfied with the answers that have been given. I am sure the wizarding world as a whole is not satisfied, either. However, with no way to get at the memories buried in this man's head, we have no choice but to bring forth a judgment on the evidence that has been given."

"Actually," a melodious voice brought all attention to the doors of the courtroom. The voice was not very loud, but it cut through the silence like a cannon shot, breaking through the privacy curtain as if it wasn't even there. "I believe I can help you with that."

Standing by the doors leading into the room was an old man. Old, but still strong. With long white hair and beard, by no means as long as Dumbledore's, but still of decent length. However, his most distinguishing feature was his sparkling, jade green eyes.

"Dear Merlin," Harry gasped, staring into eyes the exact same color of his own.

"Indeed," Merlin replied gently.