Chapter XVI
hogtie time in the house!
At the end of the half-hour, Kinsley entered the 'heir room' without comment. She smoothly took her seat between Bill and Cassiopeia, ignoring the concerned looks being sent her way. She had little need to speak about the spat she just had with her mother. This was why she was glad when the wall returned to its transparent state, and they were greeted with the sight of the Lords and Ladies seated.
It didn't take long for Amelia to rise and Kinsley had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. Her mother's anger was still clearly present upon her facial features, however, she wasn't about to point that out to anybody. Thankfully the woman began speaking sending the proceedings into motion once more.
"Before the break, we delved into the accounts of both Mafalda Hopkirk and Albert Runcorn. Now we will be discussing Runcorn's — punishment concerning his actions. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement has gone through several documents, and matching them with cases in the magical world, has learned the very startling information. We believe Runcorn is responsible for the death of no fewer than 20 girls, Muggle-borns, were expelled for little reason. Out of those deaths, more than half were reported as a suicide and the rest as suspicious. All showed reports of injuries and as apparent suicides hold medical examinations all were found to have signs of sexual assault, meaning every girl was raped in some way. That was only the girls. It was found about 25 boys were also expelled and although not sexually assault, many have found their way into mental facilities or have committed suicide as well. However, there is one case that stands out amongst them." Here Amelia took a deep breath, her contained anger dissipating into sadness as she read from a document before her. "A boy age 13 was expelled when he used magic. Upon investigating we believe the boy was defending himself from his alcoholic mother who beat him. The report states that this 13-year-old boy, beat, raped and killed his mother before committing suicide."
"Monster," Kinsley growled, doing her best to hold in her anger.
"We believe that Albert Runcorn should be sentenced to the Dementors Kiss. He has caused the destruction of no less than 45 people and that is what we have found to date. Most of them are dead, some dying brutally, others to escape the horrendous action of the man." Amelia declared earning a murmured agreement from the lords and ladies. "It is time to bring this motion to a vote. All those in favour of Albert Runcorn receiving the Dementors kiss, please raise your hands."
Watching with their breath held, it didn't take long for hands to begin to rise. More and more joined the sea until a good portion of the wizengamot's hand was in the air. Satisfied that nobody else was about to move, Amelia brought the motion to an end.
"It has been voted upon, Albert Runcorn will receive the Dementors Kiss. Details will be delivered in due course. Until such a time, he will be remanded to Prison cells here inside the Ministry. Onto the next motion, let the third accuse be brought in."
Just like Hopkirk and Runcorn, the doors opened and aurors marched into the hall. Between them walked a rather repulsive sight of a small squat woman with mousy brown hair and greenish skin tone. She was dressed in the same attire as the others, although looked anything but defeated. Her head was held high as though she believed she would get out of this without worry. When she refused to sit, an auror stepped behind her and forced her down, causing the chains to connect to her own. The veritaserum was then provided and although she fought it wasn't much when aurors grabbed her by the jaw and forced the liquid down her throat.
Finally, the woman seemed to become calm. She slumped back into the chair while the hall prepared themselves for what was to become one of the worse questionings of the case.
"Name?" Amelia questioned.
"Dolores Jane Umbridge." The toad-like woman answered, the girlish sound, sending shivers of displeasure through Kinsley and many others.
Clearly, this woman was not liked and many would be happy to see her go. This was curious considering she was so high up in the Ministry. Kinsley was curious to learn what the woman had done to be brought before the Wizengamot.
"You are charged with the following. Political corruption, use of the unforgivable curses, espionage and others. You stand before the wizengamot for the charges provided. Tell the court of your involvement concerning Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge." Amelia ordered and although she struggled it didn't take long for the woman to break.
"I was charged with placing listening devices in the office of Minister Fudge. Those I work with wanted to do their best to keep certain — plans — in the works. Every week I would replace the charms. I also began placing impulsive cursed objects in the office enforcing certain ideas." She explained, causing some outrage amongst the people.
"What was the purpose of these plans?"
"We wished to pass laws that would stop filthy beasts from gaining more rights or keeping the rights they have now. They are animals and should be classified as such. They have no logical mindset like wizards. We wanted to restrict muddlebloods in the same manner, preventing them from being able to grow in our world. We've tried stopping their acceptance into Hogwarts, however, the Ministry holds little sway in those matters. We've succeeded in preventing many from getting jobs and blocking many from taking their masteries."
"Who were you working with?"
"I was working with various people," Dolores answered.
"Name those you worked with." came the order and although she wanted to she had a difficulty holding her tongue.
"Lord Malfoy," came the blurted out announcement. "He would pay me with transfers of money to my vaults."
The change was instant. Many moved away from the currently paling Lord Malfoy whose hands were gripped so tight against his snake cane that his knuckles were turning ghostly white.
The hall was silent as everybody turned to focus on the Lord Malfoy. For a moment he looked as though he was about to fall through the floor until his eyes narrowed. With deadly speed, he pulled his wand from his staff and aimed it at Dolores. The tip turned green as he began speaking his spell until BAM! Out of nowhere an auror appeared, slamming the man to the ground. The struggle was quick with the aurors much larger frame taking control of the situation and Lucius Malfoy was swiftly cuffed and detained.
When he rose to his feet, he dragged Malfoy with him, showing the man's dishevelled look to all present. The man's wand lay broken on the floor with his staff discarded off to the side.
Inside the heir room, many were giving the Malfoy's far breath while Narcissa looked stone-cold. Draco's expression was a mixture of green and paleness as he realized that his 'perfect' little life was deteriorating. This turn of events was going to bring many changes yet Kinsley had a hard time believing that Lucius Malfoy would have been as careless as to do the dirty work himself. She would have believed he would have passed it on to another minion, but then again, he himself was a minion.
"This is going cause some chaos," Cassiopeia murmured to her niece who gave a nod.
Thankfully the trial did continue once Lord Malfoy was delivered out of the courtroom. Umbridge continued to answer questions being asked of her, and they all soon learned that she was also responsible for multiple attacks on Werewolf clans and werewolves themselves. She declared them monsters and abominations that needed to be removed from society.
Kinsley, however, did not share those views. Werewolves only became a danger to people once they transformed on the full moon. Yes, she'd never met a werewolf, however, she knew that many tried to live normal lives and could if only they were given the chance and proper ability to do so. Still, people were set in their ways and believed that werewolves are dangerous every day of their lives. Much like Umbridge, they believed that they should be killed to stop the spread of the disease. They chose to ignore, push aside and punish those with the illness instead of finding a cure to help the poor people bit by a werewolf.
Finally, Umbridge was pulled from the courtroom, her trial done. She was sentenced to life in Azkaban.
"Bring in the next accused."
The next accused to be brought in was one that brought some murmurs from around the crowd. Bartimus Crouch Sr looked ragged and defeated as he was dragged into the courtroom wearing prison garb. When he was set in the chair, the chains did not move to shackle him down, almost as though they sensed that he was defeated and no longer held the urge to fight back.
"Bartimus Crouch, you have been brought before the courts for unlawfully removing your son, Bartimus Crouch Junior, from Azkaban and housing him in your own home. You are charged with the use of the Imperius curse upon Bartimus Crouch Junior. Today you are brought before the Wizengamot to answer questions concerning these charges and others that the department would like answered."
Here a pause was taken as the serum was brought in once more. There was no struggle this time as the man took the potion and soon the questions began.
"How did you help your son escape Azkaban?"
"My wife was dying, she begged to take his place and I could not deny her wishes. We went to Azkaban, and she took the polyjuice potion to take his place. He also took the potion to look like her, and we left the prison. From then on, he stayed in my home, I held him under the imperious curse preventing his escape." He explained earning some murmurs from the sitting members.
"A method so simple," Cassiopeia murmured contemplatively. "However I highly doubt Sirius would have escaped the same way."
"Did you ever help any other prisoner from escaping Azkaban?" Amelia questioned, voice breaking Kinsley from those thoughts.
"No," the man answered, earning some relieved looks.
"Before your sentencing, Barty, is there anything else you'd like to admit to?" Amelia questioned, she knew this wasn't usual, yet the man had made the request, and she could not deny him that.
"There is," he answered, causing a rippling silence to fill the hall. "During the Death Eater Trials, we were so short-handed and — people were beginning to get tired of the war and charges. Some prisoners that were sent to Azkaban were never given trials." He admitted and instantly Kinsley's head shot up, eyes wide.
For some reason that clicked in her mind something. (Don't always believe what people have to say about your father.) Something was wrong about things that surrounded her father, things that didn't click, and she didn't have enough information to even speak of it to anybody else but something didn't feel right.
"Who — Who did not receive a trial and was sentenced to Azkaban?" Her mother's slightly shaky voice questioned bringing her back to the present.
"Rodolphus Lestrange, Cypres Nott, Alden Greengrass, Timothy Shafiq and — and Sirius Black."
Silence, the silence was strong and yet it didn't last. Instant uproar roared to life, rearing its ugly head and causing many to wince. For Kinsley however, hope bloomed inside her heart. Her father had never been given a trial. How could they be sure he had performed those acts? How could they be sure he had been the one to betray the Potters, to betray her? How could they be sure that he had killed all those people? Maybe there was another reason for everything, another explanation? Could her father be innocent?
"Silence!" Amelia shouted, wand moving up to let a small explosion out. "Be seated, this is not over. Bartimus Crouch, what is the evidence in which you sentence these individuals to Azkaban for?"
"Rodolphus Lestrange was found in the Longbottom Home during the attack on the Longbottoms. Cypres Nott was captured during a raid. He was questioned and sent to Azkaban immediately. Alden Greengrass was found under the dark mark at the McKinnon property. He was taken to Azkaban believed to have been one who helped orchestrate the attack on the McKinnon House. Finally, Sirius Black was found on the exploded street, laughing maniacally. He kept saying that it was his fault. That he killed the Potters. It was found to be enough evidence, with the fact he was a Black, and he was carted off to Azkaban."
"Are you telling me my grandson, the Heir to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black was sentenced to Azkaban without trial just because he was a BLACK!" Arcturus Black roared, his anger surfacing like an angry dragon. "Sirius Black was an auror, a member of your own department! He was one of the best to ever grace your department and you sentence him to Azkaban! Then you say that all those others were sentenced simply because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time! No medical scans were performed, nothing was performed?!"
"Lord Black, although I understand your anger towards the situation," Amelia began but Lord Black was not finished. "My grandson could be innocent Madam Bones, an innocent man could have been sentenced to Azkaban for crimes he never committed. No proof was given to my grandson's involvement in the Potters death, only his word and even then it could have been a mental breakdown after the loss of his brother in all but blood! My grandson is being hunted down with a kiss on-site order when he never even received a trial! I demand retribution to the House of Black! I demand that my grandson is given the trial, he was so terribly denied before his sentencing to Azkaban and I demand that the Kiss on-site order be lifted until the truth be revealed!"
"The Man was the only one to survive the explosion!" Somebody roared.
"Yet you have no proof! If he was sent to Azkaban without trial, then it's entirely possible his wand was never checked for explosive spells! If my grandson did perform the acts he was accused off, then so be it, but if he is innocent, then an innocent man was sentenced to life in Azkaban!" Arcturus declared before motioning to the Notts and the Greengrass family. "Then comes the others. They were never given the opportunity to speak the truth, to take the truth serum and reveal to you all beyond a reasonable doubt that they were innocent and that they were, in fact, the murders we all believed them to be. Could you live with yourselves for the rest of your life without that bothering you? I'm sorry, but I could not live with that on my conscious. These men were never given the trial that was rightfully theirs, they were never given this chance and I demand that the law be put in force and the wrongs are accounted for!"
"The House of Potter has always supported the truth, they speak nothing but - however, the betrayal of Sirius Black has been a dark mark upon its history. Speaking on their behalf we would like that Sirius Black be questioned so that we can fill some voids left by his supposed betrayal." Andromeda spoke after feeling her pendant warm against her.
She had to admit, there were many questions, they all held, and she wasn't about to let this opportunity go by. She'd always believed that Sirius was like her, somebody who'd escaped the Black Family life, but when he was sentenced to Azkaban she thought she was fooled.
"My brother held a close bond with Alden Greengrass and to this day the McKinnon family has held good relations with the Greengrass family. We were hard-pressed to believe that Alden was responsible for the murder of the main line. We would like for the man to be questioned and given his own trial." Lord Mckinnon declared, causing a rippling murmur through the hall.
"I understand the need for truth," Amelia began once more, her eyes focused straight on Bartimus Crouch. "All those named will be removed from Azkaban and given the trial they were never provided. A medical examination will be performed as well, however, to answer one question I had Auror Markel fetch from evidence the wand of Sirius Black. I also had another fetch Mister Garrick Ollivander who sold the wand to Sirius Black. We will have a ten-minute internal recess as we wait for their arrival."
With that, she stepped back and took her seat while Barty Crouch was pulled from the hall by aurors.
Inside the heir room, things were a hive of whispers. For Kinsley, she felt a sense of hope fill her before she rose from her seat to move about. Susan was quick to join her side as reference making her smile.
"You want to believe he's innocent don't you?" She whispered making Kinsley look up.
"He's my father Susan, I know, I just — learned that, but he is my father. I want to know if I am the daughter of a Death Eater or not." She hoped Susan understood because really right now she didn't need somebody to think her crazier than she already thought she was. Thankfully her cousin gripped her hand, letting her know that she stood by her before a soft cough had them both turning to find Neville Longbottom standing behind them.
"Hi Neville," Susan greeted warmly earning a shaky smile from the boy.
"Hi, Susan - greetings Heir Black." He greeted his tone becoming far more formal than Kinsley had ever heard it before, especially directed towards her.
"Greetings Heir Longbottom," she murmured respectfully. "I'll let you both speak,"
"No, I - came to speak with you," Neville hurried to say, stopping her from leaving and making her frown. "I mean - if that is okay with you?"
"I - you can call me Kinsley," She remarked before returning to Susan's side.
"and you may call me Neville," the boy answered back
She didn't know what Neville had to say to her, but any chance of gaining the boy's friendship again would heal her just that little more. She might have hung out with Ron and Hermione more during school, however that did not mean that Neville hadn't been a good friend. The few times she had spent with Neville, the boy turned out to be a very good friend.
"I wish to apologise to you." he began surprising both Kinsley and Susan. "When you entered the room, I did not introduce myself and allowed my — resentment towards a member of the Black family come over me."
"Neville, I understand more than most what the Black Family has caused however a large rift has appeared within the Black family as well. Its members scattered, many taken by the ideals of a madman, bent on destroying our world by forcing families to remain "pure" with inbreeding. The Black family has been torn apart and those left behind are left to return the family to a sense of stability and peace once more. We are attached to so many families Neville, family was turned on family when the war began.
Bellatrix might be my second cousin, but you are the son of a Black as well. Your Great Grandmother is a Black even if you've never had the pleasure of speaking with her. I know she'd like to speak with you, meet her great-grandson." she whispered earning a wide-eyed look from the boy before he looked down at his feet.
"The war hurt a lot of families," he whispered, hands forming tight fits at his side. "But I cannot judge an entire family because of one person's actions. I hope you can accept my apology."
"There is nothing to apologise for Neville," she whispered back earning a quirk of the lips from Susan and a surprised look from the Gryffindor before her. "Your anger is to be expected. What Bellatrix did is — it's terrible. She's suffering though inside Azkaban."
"Yeah but one of them might go free," he grumbled, speaking of Rodolphus Lestrange who would be receiving a trial.
"There is an old saying. Innocent until proven guilty. Those who were sentenced to Azkaban were never given the chance to show their innocence. It is quite likely that they could be guilty, however, no charges were ever laid upon them because they were never officially arrested and any charges that were placed have lost their grounds as they were never put through the juridical system. For now, we must believe that those people were sentenced to Azkaban as innocent men and prove that they were indeed guilty of those crimes. If they are guilty, we will know when they are placed on trial, and they can be returned to Azkaban however if they are innocent and grave injustice has been done and needs to be fixed." She explained earning a nod from Susan while Neville was eyeing her with an odd expression on his face that confused her.
"You're more mature than other kids our age," he remarked, making her eyes widen a fraction before she shut them and turned her head away. "I've only ever seen one other person like that, Harry - eh the Heir to the Potter Family. You two would probably get along rather well."
She had to stop herself from snorting at the irony. Of course, she'd get along well with Harry Potter, she was bloody Harry Potter. If Neville noticed the similarities, who else would?
"It would be hard to say considering my father was the one accused of betraying the Potters to Voldemort ending with their death." She mumbled, a bad taste forming in her mouth.
"The House of Potter have always been very forgiving or so my Uncle Algie says and I sort of believe it, considering they took the heir to two dark families." Neville declared before a soft chime signalled the commencement of wizengamot sessions.
Hurrying back to their seats took little time and as Kinsley settled beside her aunt, the wall returned to its transparent state to reveal that aurors had returned. One stood beside an elderly wizard everybody in the hall recognized as Garrick Ollivander, current wand maker at Olivanders wands, the other held a small glass case with a long piece of wood inside, a wand.
"Aurors have returned and I present Mister Ollivander to you all as well as the wand taken from Sirius Black the day he was detained and sent to Azkaban." Amelia declared to the hall before turning her attention to the wand crafter. "Mister Ollivander, you remember every wand you have ever sold correct?"
"That is indeed correct, Madam Bones." the man agreed, before turning to the wand case at hand. "Just by looking at it, I can tell what wand that is,"
Slowly the man approached the case, breaking the seal and removing the wand with ginger fingers.
"It was one of my older wands I must admit," he continued, eyes never leaving the wand. "Basswood wands are used for creative endeavours, star magic, enlightenment, love, attraction, healing and enchantments. The core is strange in itself as I usually use dragon heartstrings, unicorn hairs and rare on its own phoenix feathers. A large portion of my wands are made from Unicorn hairs and Dragon heartstrings, however, this one is made out of two cores, a single strand of unicorn hair mixed with a single strand of Grim fur."
This had many of the elder members gasping and Kinsley couldn't help but roll her eyes. She'd read up on the supposed grim and didn't believe it could actually kill you by just looking at it. Nothing much was even known about Grims to begin with.
"I sold this wand in 1970 to Sirius Black as he was about to begin his adventures at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The boy would substantially return to my shop every summer to by a wood polishing kit to keep his wand well polished and in fine working order. He was quite proud of his wand I dare say he should be. Most members of the Black family had a single type of wood. I've only sold Basswood wands to two individuals in that family, Sirius Black and Andromeda Black now Tonks."
"So this is the wand Sirius Black used until his arrest?" Amelia clarified earning a nod from the man. "Auror, please bring it to me." She ordered and with a nod, the wand was returned to its case and brought up to Madam Bones. "As I — might be judged of prejudice concerning this I would like to have Auror Macintosh perform the spell."
Here a new auror stepped forward and accepted the wand. Without missing a beat, the man raised the wand and placed his upon its tip.
"Priori Incantatem," he whispered and before their very eyes, the spell began to glow until he revealed its contents or its history.
The spell could only reveal a limited amount of spells used and to the shock of everybody, all of them were healing charms, not one blasting hex, not one charm that blew things up. The new evidence in the case had many shocked and Amelia was no exception.
"Sirius Black's wand has proved that he did not cast an exploding charm, hex or jinx of any sort, only healing spells," she whispered before taking a deep breath to steady herself. "Combining this evidence with the evidence provided by Bartimus Crouch Senior, I believe we have enough to pull the Kiss on Site order off the table and to declare that Sirius Black must be captured and not killed. A broadcast will go out explaining the situation to the magical world and hopefully, the man gives himself up."
The rest of the court session passed in a blur for Kinsley. All her thoughts were focused upon the newly revealed information concerning her father. The man's wand showed that the last spells performed were healing spells, she knew her father had been the one to dig Harry Potter out of Godric's Hollow, Hagrid had let that slip, was it possible that the man had healed him with those healing charms before giving her to Hagrid? If that was the case, why would he try to kill her parents and it didn't explain the blown up street. Sirius Black had clearly not killed any of those muggles, he couldn't consider the explosion was caused by him — or at the very least that is what his wand said.
author note:
So ends the trials with perhaps a future for few more. Hope you all enjoyed it!