AN: Once again I remind you that I have no knowledge about how a trial is run so please don't send me reviews saying that I'm doing it wrong because I know.

Wizards have no common sense and they do things differently. (And I didn't feel like to do research about those boring things.) I am lazy. Sue me! :p

Florence starts to kick ass and the quote chosen for this chapter is very appropriate, I think. (Does even anyone read these little things?)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

''I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life's a bitch. You've got to go out and kick ass.''

– Maya Angelou

Previously :

Dumbledore showed clear surprise at that. Definitely, he wasn't aware that there would be anyone present at the time able to claim any Lord/Ladyships. The only ones that he could think of were still too young to do such a thing and he didn't recognize the young woman at all. Though, he had no choice on the matter; as she had stated, it was her right.

''Very well, Miss…?''

''Lady Florence Peverell,'' she said proudly, gleefully smirking on the inside when she saw the old man widening his eyes minutely in recognition of the old Pureblood name.

CHAPTER 11

''I assume that you are aware of the proper proceedings to claim your Magical Seats?'', Dumbledore asked with a gruffer voice than usual, after recovering from this unexpected information.

Florence merely nodded and Dumbledore silently made a gesture for her to proceed.

She stepped into the middle of the courtroom and produced her wand (the twin one to the wand in Albus Dumbledore's possession, though much more powerful and slightly disguised at the moment), held her head high and took a deep breath before waving her wand in an arc and stating strongly.

''I, Lady Florence Alcyone* Peverell, do hereby claim my right by Magic and by Blood to the Seats of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Peverell.''

There was a flash of blinding light as the claim was magically accepted and a rich parchment appeared from the tip of her wand and flew automatically to the Chief Warlock's hands. At the same time, Florence's previously black robes (worn in respect of Harry Potter) turned the official plum colour that every member of the Wizengamot displayed, thus wordlessly confirming that Florence Peverell was now part of that august body.

Dumbledore moved as if about to speak and announce the number of Seats now under her power – which Florence knew were five – but was cut off once again. After all, she just had now started.

''I, Lady Florence Alcyone Peverell, do hereby claim my right by Magic and by Blood to the Seats of the Noble and Ancient House of Potter.''

The same blinding light and appearance of parchment followed accepting her claim and Dumbledore visibly paled at that. She had no doubt that the old man was mourning the loss of the Potter Vaults and Seats – which were three. Several other people were quite shocked as well at this sudden turn of events.

Florence maintained her proud and clear mask, not giving any time for recovery.

''I, Lady Florence Alcyone Peverell, do hereby claim my right by Magic to the Seats of the Royal and Most Ancient House of Gryffindor.''

After the claim being again accepted, Dumbledore seemed to almost whimper under the new reality of the existence of a Founder's Lady. His power in Hogwarts had lessened in a flash, literally. And right now, her number of Seats was steadily increasing, with now more six Seats making a grand total of fourteen, and it seemed that she still wasn't done.

''I, Lady Florence Alcyone Peverell, do hereby claim my right by Magic to the Seats of the Royal and Most Ancient House of Ravenclaw.''

Dumbledore seemed to waver slightly in his seat: more six Seats and half of the power in Hogwarts out of his grasp. The audience, it seemed, had lost their voices in their impressive shock and merely waited with baited breath for what it was to come.

''I, Lady Florence Alcyone Peverell, do hereby claim my right by Magic to the Seats of the Royal and Most Ancient House of Hufflepuff.''

The old man was too shaken to react anymore. In that moment, he had lost most of his power in the ancient school and being the headmaster didn't serve him of much, as he had no standing to make substantial decisions on his own anymore.

''I, Lady Florence Alcyone Peverell, do hereby claim my right by Magic to the Heiress Seat of the Royal and Most Ancient House of Slytherin,'' Florence stated at last.

Slytherin was the only House that she could not legally claim all its Seats, unlike the other Houses, as the Heir by Blood, and lawful Lord was still alive – yes, she meant the Dark Lord Voldemort – and she had no intentions in turning his murderous attention on her just yet by taking what it was rightfully his. Though, as the only other Heir alive, she could claim the Heir Seat, which was originally given to the family heir's upon their majority to start training them on the ways of political affairs.

She noticed with amusement that Dumbledore actually seemed to be fighting some kind of seizure. His eyes never left the conspicuous parchments in front of him, though his breath was not steady and he seemed to be perspiring at an alarm rate; his case looked to be much worse than Fudge's own problems with sweaty hands (something that everyone knew and was disgusted about when meeting the man, though no one commented on it; he was the Minister of Magic after all). At his side, Amelia looked on concerned for all to see to the Chief Warlock and spoke quietly to him, no doubt asking if he was alright.

All around the courtroom, the members of the Wizengamot and public alike watched the new Lady, some in awe (mainly the general public), others in fear and greed of what it meant to them (the Wizengamot) now that they had someone unknown in their midst with such staggering power in her hands. After all, Lady Potter-Peverell-Gryffindor-Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff and Heiress to Slytherin had under her command no less than 21 Seats. If anyone tried to make an enemy of her, better have the guts and power to stand against her.

The Minister of Magic was one of the people that seemed torn between greed and fear. Without even trying, Florence could almost see his mind at work at that moment, thinking of ways which he could sway the powerful Lady to his own plans and the terrible ramifications if Florence stood against Fudge. The man was aware that he was more than likely to not last very long if that influential witch chose to turn against the Ministry.

Exceptionally, one of the oldest wizards belonging to the Wizengamot appeared deeply amused with this new state of affairs and chuckled lowly. His nearest companions shot him looks as if saying that he was finally off his rocker in his old age. He ignored them all and gazed at the powerful witch with interest. Florence returned his look in kind, not bothered at all by what she had just done. The old wizard – who now Florence recognized as Lord Greengrass, the very same one that had been sent to Azkaban after loudly protesting against the extreme pro-muggle laws and outlawing of old magical traditions' practise in Florence's world – seemed very happy that Dumbledore had fallen off of his high horse and had no compunctions in showing his pleasure; unlike some others who didn't possess enough backbone to openly express their opinions about the great Albus Dumbledore.

''We welcome you in the midst of this august body, Lady Potter-Peverell-Gryffindor-Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff and Heiress to Slytherin,'' Amelia Bones strongly proclaimed in Dumbledore's stead, seeing as the Chief Warlock was not exactly in condition to do it himself at the moment. The Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement had stated this with her usual stoic features, as if what had just transpired was not a huge bombshell and nothing out of the ordinary. ''Please, take your rightful Seat amongst the Wizengamot.'' Amelia gestured slightly with her arm to just behind her.

Only then, everyone noticed the appearance of the new Seat in the upmost and farther row of the judicial organization – due to previously being too preoccupied staring in shock at the newcomer witch to really take notice of their surroundings. It was a large armchair, in green and gold tones and adorned with the Coat of Arms of all Florence's claimed Houses. In comparison to the others Seats, everybody could clearly see that it was richer and more imposing than any other, unmistakably stating which one was the most powerful Lord/Lady among them.

''Thank you, Madam Bones,'' Florence responded courteously, with a slight nod of her head and her features unchanged. ''However, I will remain standing right here as I would like to call forth the Family Law of 1550 stating that the Head of the Family him or herself has the right to lead the prosecution against a suspect of harming and/or killing one their family members in an open trial before the Wizengamot.''

Everyone was stunned again at that statement, as no one could recall ever hearing about that particular Law being used in the last one-hundred years – it was a fairly old law after all, and most people simply hired a barrister when necessary, seeing as they evidently were more knowledgeable about any existing laws and the proper ways to proceed in a court case. Only a handful of people appeared to recognize the indicated law, although they seemed somewhat sceptical that such a young woman could really do a proper job in such a trial of great magnitude as this one.

''Very well.'' Madam Bones, however, didn't even bat an eyelash at this latest turn of events, as if this proceeding was a common occurrence.

Albus Dumbledore, finally mostly recovered from the last minutes revelations, didn't appear to share her opinions at all, though he wisely remained silent. He seemed to be fighting with himself – and loosing spectacularly – to not glare at the offending witch who was turning his world upside down and destroying his plans in a matter of a few minutes.

''Thank you.''

Florence walked towards the stand usually used by the barristers and turned and faced the public stands. She wandlessly produced several sheets of parchment seemingly out of nowhere and discreetly took a deep breath. This was the moment where everything would change. She would do her best to start righting the long-standing wrongs of the Magical World, and that meant stripping that annoyingly twinkling-eyed old bastard of his precious political power and the general public's beliefs that he could do absolutely no mistakes.

''As everyone already knows, Mr. Vernon Dursley is the main suspect of the murder of Harry Potter,'' she started, face inexpressive and looking around the courtroom without really seeing anyone. ''What isn't known yet are the causes that led to this very unfortunate occurrence. Was it the first time that Mr. Dursley committed such an offense against his own nephew? Is the man the only one to blame for it, or are there others that should take the blame as well? The answers to these questions and much more are the ones that I'd like to make known to everyone.''

The courtroom was absolutely silent, except for Florence's voice and the Scribe recording each and every word spoken by her. The anticipation for what was to come was almost palpable in the air.

''But before we can have these answers, we shall start from the beginning. When Harry Potter was orphaned on the night of 31st October of 1981, Albus Dumbledore took it upon himself to take the traumatised toddler who had just witnessed the murder of his own mother before his eyes, to his only Muggle relatives, blatantly ignoring the Last Wills of James and Lily Potter, in which both clearly stated who should be the ones acquiring guardianship over their beloved son.''

Said old man raised from his seat outraged, grand-fatherly masked forgotten and fury on his eyes.

''Lady Peverell, is there a reason as to why you are spouting such lies in this courtroom?'', he demanded, just barely containing himself and not reaching for his wand in his wrath.

Around the room, people started whispering to each other. Some shared the scandalized opinion that the young Lady was outright denigrating their dear Headmaster, though others were not so quick at accusing her. Despite what Dumbledore liked to believe, not everyone fell for his 'slight eccentric but everything light and good' façade.

''Lies, Mr. Dumbledore?'', the lady in question asked nonchalantly and turned to face him; her eyes, though, were blazing and if she had a basilisk ability to kill with her glare, he most certainly would be dead several times over. ''What I just stated is the complete true and I have with me the Potter's Wills to prove it.'' She raised two sheets of parchment from the previous ones that she had conjured. ''The goblins at Gringotts were more than pleased to make some copies of them. Madam Bones, if you will? I assumed that you, as the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement can accurately state if they are genuine or not. And please note that both Wills were signed by the Chief Warlock himself as a witness, thus he cannot claim ignorance.''

She made the Wills in question float wandlessly towards the Madam and patiently waited for her verdict. At her side, Dumbledore tried to take them before Amelia could and received a fierce glare for his meddling. She then proceeded to examine the papers and absolutely ignore the infuriated old man. Most members of the Wizengamot (and many from the audience as well) leant their bodies slightly forward in their eagerness to know the outcome of another shocking discovery. All were of the same mind that whatever happened in that room that day, they would surely remember the happenings for a long time to come.

''Both Wills are genuine,'' Madame Bones confidently decided (as she had already known that as she had gone through every document presented to her by Florence Peverell the prior days in her office, though no one was aware of their acquaintance before this morning).

''Impossible!'', the old man spluttered; face red with fury and panic of being found out.

''Are you saying, Albus,'' Amelia slowly and venomously hissed in her anger, ''that I do not know how to do my job properly?''

Dumbledore quickly shook his head, paling further. Everyone knew that Madam Bones was not someone to be crossed – with the whole Auror Force and other departments under her command – if they didn't want their lives throughout investigated and every little closet's skeleton discovered and bared to the world. It had already happened several times in the past and she didn't care if one was pureblood or not, as everyone was fair game. And she was one of the few people in the whole Ministry who was immune to any kind of bribery; in fact, if some fool even tried, she just used it as more ammunition to further her case.

''And something that Lady Peverell didn't mention is that both of them specifically state that Harry Potter should not, under any circumstance, be left with Lily's muggle sister as, and I quote, 'they hate magic and I fear for the life of my son in their care'. Care to explain, Albus?'', Amelia demanded, her eyebrow raised and voice cold and ominous.

''Harry needed the protection of the Blood Wards, created by Lily's sacrifice and for that he was required to live with his blood family'', Albus quickly explained, fighting for composure and trying to make them understand his reasoning. He could not be seen as someone neglectful who did not care for the well-being of the Boy-Who-Lived; he would lose many members of the Order of the Phoenix, not to mention the confidence of the general public, if they believed in that blasted witch coming from nowhere. ''It was for the greater good!''

The audience went wild at that statement. Many of them could not believe in their eyes and ears; they wanted to fervently deny that the self-proclaimed Light Lord would be capable of such misdeed. Tampering and/or ignoring someone's Will – and a Lord from an old Pureblood family no less – was a very grievous matter. They all recalled that there had been several magical families, from different backgrounds, that had wished at the time to adopt the Boy-Who-Lived, and all were denied by Dumbledore, claiming that it had been the wish of the late Potter's that little boy be raised by his remaining blood family.

''Independently of your reasons to do such a thing,'' Amelia said, unmoved by Dumbledore's heated speech and deeply irritated with his proclamation of the 'Greater Good' (how she hated that expression!), ''I must remove you temporarily from your position as Chief Warlock, taking in effect immediately.''

* Alcyone: queen who wards off evil and storms. ( )

Florence: From the Latin name Florentius or the feminine form Florentia, which were derived from florens "prosperous, flourishing". The name can also be given in referenceto the city in Italy. ( )