Chapter 13: Riding rough-shod
For disclaimer and author notes please see chapter 1.
1986-02-25 11:00 UTC, Ministry of Magic, Press Briefing Room
The press had been informed of a high-profile lawsuit, and that the head of the Wizengamot would hold a brief press conference at 11am. As such, the press room was full; it had been several days since anything interesting had happened, and "high-profile" was like blood to a shark for them.
Presently, Augusta Longbottom came to the podium, which puzzled some people, but some others were quick to guess why, and a shocked whisper went around the room as those who got it, explained to those who had not.
Sirius was inside the ante-room, standing so that he could see and hear, but not be seen; it would not do to have Madam Longbottom be seen as favouring one side even before the hearings started!
"Quiet down, please, and we can get this done quicker. There won't be any questions being answered - I'll tell you everything I know anyway, and the folks who know more are not here. May as well make it easier on yourselves and on me". She was clearly an old hand at handling the press.
Without waiting much more, she continued. "Lord Sirius Black, having been pardoned and released, has decided he is ready to take up his role as Harry Potter's godfather".
She knew that would get their attention; very few people, it seemed, knew this.
"Yes, he is, apparently, the boy-who-lived's magical godfather. Anyway, Albus Dumbledore has sealed the Potters' wills and placed the boy-who-lived with muggles and warded the place so no witch or wizard can get in. He has also, apparently, refused to give him to Lord Black, so Lord Black has filed suit against the Chief Warlock."
"As such, for the duration that this suit is in progress, I will be the acting Chief Witch. And that is all we have, ladies and gentlemen."
As the crowd dispersed, one extremely energetic, and much hated, reporter was having a quiet conversation with her photographer, explaining to him where she would be over the next day or three, and where she expected him to be to get the best shots.
Before she could properly complete her instructions and make sure he understood, however, she ... just disappeared!
Her photographer stared at the spot where she was standing, puzzled and confused. However, he was not worried. First, he knew Rita could take care of herself. Second, he didn't really care too much anyway.
1986-02-25 12:00 UTC, dungeons beneath 12, Grimmauld Place
Rita found herself forced into her beetle form, then summoned into someone's hand and apparated out of a room that she knew was warded against apparation. She was now in a dark room somewhere - a dungeon by the smell of it.
She tried to revert to her human form to get some light, but found she could not. She was stuck as a beetle. Once she realised that, panic started to set in. She looked frantically about for some escape, but the room appeared to be impenetrable. She could not apparate while in her animagus form, and even then she was sure there were wards here.
After a couple of hours, even the prospect of a story that her competitors did not even know about failed to ease her mind; she was now in full-blown panic and buzzing about erratically all over the room.
Suddenly, she was in her human form again. Someone invisible was there. He was not trying to hide his presence, only, it appeared, his identity.
"I trust you are not terribly uncomfortable, Ms Skeeter?"
She spent a few seconds to take a breath and calm down a little. "I've seen better, and I've seen worse. Who are you?"
"For future reference, I am called the Phantom", he said. She made an appropriate gasp, then calmed down again, her reporter's mind taking over. For all intents and purposes, this was an exclusive interview with someone who had done amazing things. Potentially even more terrible if he wished, but amazing!
He was quick to spot, and squash, the excitement in her eyes. "This is not an interview. You will not be reporting on this meeting. In fact, from now on you work for me - you write what I tell you to write, you ignore what I tell you to ignore, you stalk people I tell you to stalk, and you ignore people I tell you to ignore. In effect, I control you completely."
"What do I get in return?"
"You get to live, my dear", said the voice smoothly.
"I thought you were great; I really admired you burning down those death-eaters' manors while not harming the women and children. Are you just a common murderer after all?"
"So far, I have only killed one person in a pre-meditated manner: Bellatrix Lestrange", said Hobby. He had no obligation to tell her the truth anyway. "But I do not have any moral or ethical issues in killing people if needed. It's just that I make sure the death is really needed.
I consider you, in your own way, to be as evil as those death-eaters. Actually, worse - if a death-eater attacks someone who is willing to fight, they stand some chance of winning and repelling the attack. With you, they are left outraged and angry, but powerless to actually do anything while their reputation, and often their life, is ruined and their so-called friends abandon them, their business associates look elsewhere, and so on. I have known insects like you, in my time, who would do this even to children, merely because they were famous, and refused an interview with you.
You are, in effect, a law unto yourself, and have been such for some years now, ever since you perfected your animagus form. Therefore, in your case, I would have less than zero guilt about squashing you like a beetle under my foot. As you can see, I am not even being subtle about my threats; I have no reason to be".
Truth be told, Hobby had, briefly (very briefly!) considered reasoning with her and trying to get her co-operation willingly, but realised she had no morals and would turn on him the first chance she got, so there was no point. He'd have to watch and control her anyway, so may as well be direct about it and save time.
"I can go to the aurors for protection; I can report that you threatened me. The minister will help me, I am sure."
"You know that I forced you into your animagus form. Were you able to revert? I am pretty sure you tried.
You see, when someone externally forces the animagus transformation, reverting is not in your control. I could do that, and leave you in that form forever, sitting in a glass jar on my desk. But even more importantly, did you spot that I apparated you out of that room, and do you know what the wards are in there?"
She knew that, and he knew she did. But she was a pure blood, of course, so the "blind spot" was well in place - she had never experienced elf-transport, and had no way of recognising this as such.
She slumped down. Even if he did not kill her outright (she was not sure if she believed his bland statements about his lack of morality or ethics), he could certainly force her into her beetle form and keep her that way forever, effectively ending her life, if not actually doing so.
She had no choice but to agree, and he could see it in her face.
"Here are two lists. The one in green, with Albus Dumbledore, Lucius Malfoy, and Minister Fudge heading the list, is of people that you will not write positively about. Ever. The one in red is of people that you will not write about at all, unless it is required as a necessary part of a story about someone in the other list. Even then, you will only write positively about them."
"What if I find something really bad about them? The public has a right to know."
"Sorry, but you've never struck me as one who cares about the truth, so don't start now. If you had cared about the truth consistently, you would not have been in this position today."
"How will you contact me?"
"An elf called Hobby will come by with letters containing instructions, quotes, or - occasionally - entire articles. When I send you an entire article, you will not change a single word of it. Take credit for the article and print it exactly as is. If your editor has a problem, deal with it however you want, but I am holding you responsible. Clear?"
"Yes. Will you let me go now?"
"Memorise those lists; they are not very long and the pattern is fairly clear, except Dumbledore is on the wrong side. I will not have those lists fall into someone's hands."
And she did, and then she found herself in one of the goblin tunnels, which were supposed to be even more protected against apparation. A quiet whisper told her she was free to go; this was just a final demonstration of his powers. "Just imagine being stunned and placed in front of one of those dragons, Miss Skeeter!", saying which the voice left.
Struggling for breath at the sheer power of this Phantom, she waited some time to calm down, turned into her beetle form, and slowly made her way out of Gringotts.
1986-02-27 08:00 UTC, Ministry of Magic, Wizengamot meeting room and gallery
"This court is in session, Chief Witch the Honorable Madam Longbottom presiding", sang out the usher.
The members had turned out in full force. The press and public viewing galleries were full. This was unprecedented - a sitting Chief Warlock being sued by a Lord had never happened in living memory, if it had happened at all.
Madam Longbottom stood, and explained the facts of the case as she knew them - that Lord Black was Harry Potter's magical godfather, that Dumbledore had himself cast the Fidelius, with Pettigrew as the secret-keeper, that Sirius alone - of all the people released from Azkaban following the minister's other "misguided" (she could not resist adding that, since the Lestrange brothers were now out!) order, and that, most importantly, Crouch had thrown Sirius into Azkaban without a trial (she growled out that last bit, while Amelia looked simultaneously approving and angry).
"Each of the parties will get to say their piece, and then we will decide the merits of the case."
Reiter, Sirius's lawyer, stood up, and essentially repeated what Madam Longbottom said. (This made it really clear - if anyone were in doubt - whose side the Chief Witch was on!) He added only that Sirius was supposed to be the decoy secret-keeper, to lead death-eaters away from Pettigrew.
"The idea of using a decoy was my client's, and it is now his single biggest regret in life, due to the way it turned out.
In any case, my client offers proofs - pensieve memories, magical oaths, even veritaserum for the incident with Pettigrew - when called for, as the case proceeds".
Madam Longbottom thanked him, and called Dumbledore, who had - but naturally - decided to represent himself.
Dumbledore stood, and launched a character attack against Sirius - his morals, his womanising, his pranks, including the one where he nearly sent Snape to his death - all intended to make him sound immature and unfit to be a father-figure to the saviour of the wizarding world. He also revealed Sirius was an illegal animagus (Madam Bones interjected, saying, "not any more, he paid the fine and registered yesterday", getting an exasperated expression from Dumbledore, as if she were a student interrupting a lecture).
Then he cast doubts on the secret-keeper issue, saying - as he did in his own office a few days ago - that they may well have switched to Sirius later.
Finally, he said Sirius had murdered Pettigrew and a dozen muggles in broad daylight.
Madam Longbottom gave Reiter the floor again, and, with her permission, he projected Sirius's memory of the confrontation that day, including the arrest by Crouch. He then asked Dumbledore if he knew Pettigrew was an animagus.
"Yes I did - he was a rat. But I did not think it necessary to malign our dead heroes. So was James Potter, and the same goes for him too", said Dumbledore.
"He was a rat in more ways than one", said Sirius from the side, to laughter from the galleries and many, if not most, members.
Reiter also laughed, then he surprised the court by going off on a seeming tangent. "I would like to call Arthur Weasley as a witness."
Once the surprised whispers had died down and Arthur had taken the stage, Reiter asked him, "How often, on average, has Dumbledore visited your house over the last four years?"
"I can't say for sure, but maybe once or twice a month?"
"Do your children like him, or stay away from him?"
"They generally are not bothered. Only Percy - who seems set, even at his age, on working for the Ministry when he graduates - willingly spends time with Albus."
Reiter then pulled a rat out of his pocket. "Do you recognise this rat?"
By now you could see, by the expressions on their faces, who among the rapt audience - members, press, public - were stupid and who were smart. Dumbledore was definitely smart, so he objected. "Objection, irrelevant line of questioning".
Madam Longbottom smacked him down. "Overruled, I can clearly see the connection, and if you cannot, you are either lying or have been pulling the wool over our eyes for decades. Sit down, Dumbledore!"
And now it was absolutely clear whose side she was on.
She looked to Arthur, nodding for him to respond. "It looks like Percy's pet rat, which we lost a few days ago", said Arthur.
"Would you say Dumbledore has seen this rat before?"
"Oh plenty of times!"
"Closely enough to notice it has a missing front toe?"
The audience gasped, the Wizengamot members stirred and the few who were wool-gathering came back to life and paid attention.
"I think so, yes. At least a few times, since the rat was always peeking out of Percy's shirt pocket".
(Hobby was watching all this, of course, and the muggle-raised in him wondered, for the hundredth time, why no one thought it unhygienic; a muggle would barf his breakfast if he saw his son with a rat in his shirt pocket!)
Reiter then threw the rat on the floor, and asked Madam Bones to force him back.
And there, in all his glory, stood Peter Pettigrew.
After that, the original lawsuit was recessed in favour of giving both Pettigrew and Sirius a proper trial. Dumbledore tried to object to this also, saying this was unnecessary. Madam Longbottom shot him down again, saying "you impugned Lord Black's character; he has a right to clear himself in any way he chooses".
Then Dumbledore tried a different tack. "Since I am not directly involved in those trials, I should be presiding".
"No, you have a conflict of interest. Anyone can see that. Sit down or I will have you thrown out until your case comes back!", thundered Madam Longbottom. Whoever said possession is nine-tenths of the law, must have based it on the Wizengamot Chief's chair, laughed Hobby to himself.
So those two trials went ahead, with the expected results: Sirius was exonerated (finally!) of all charges against him, and Pettigrew was sentenced to life in Azkaban, with his order of Merlin of course stripped from him.
Then the original trial restarted, and Reiter took the floor to summarise. "Considering Mr Weasley's testimony, we can only conclude that Dumbledore knew Pettigrew was alive and well, and from that it follows that he might have also known the entire story that was revealed today. In light of his refusal to hand over my client's ward, Mr Harry Potter, to him, we can only conclude that Dumbledore intentionally suppressed all this precisely to prevent a lawsuit like this. In effect, we are saying that his mysterious, unexplained, need to control Mr Potter has also been the cause of my client being incarcerated without a trial."
Then Dumbledore stood, and basically rode rough-shod over the entire wizarding world. Or at least the Wizengamot. He didn't even wait for their judgement - though it was impossible to believe that may have gone his way anyway.
"Whatever I have done, is not for my personal gratification. My reasons are not personal, they are entirely to do with the good of the wizarding world. I am not at liberty to explain this in any more detail; the danger is too great.
Why should you believe me? I would like to think that, as a result of my track record and my services to the wizarding world, my word would have some weight.
In any case, I am refusing to unseal the wills, and I am refusing to hand over Harry Potter. The court may order what it wants, and it is with a heavy heart that I would refuse to comply, as any law-abiding citizen should, but I believe this is one case where I know what the greater good of the wizarding world requires, and I will harden myself to do exactly that, because I consider that my highest responsibility."
What a speech! Even Churchill could not have done better, thought Hobby.
Skeeter's headline in that evening's Prophet was "Dictator Dumbledore!", with sub-headings "Overrules Wizengamot", and "Kidnaps boy-who-lived, refuses to give him back". The article started with "Dumbledore effectively declares himself a dictator over magical Britain". It then went on to explain what happened in great detail, and - to the surprise of everyone who was in that room - it was completely true, too!
It ended with, "Dumbledore appears to be worse than a normal kidnapper. A normal kidnapper has some demands, and the parent or guardian has the hope that - in the worst case - giving the kidnapper what he wants will get the child back. With Dumbledore, even that does not happen".