A/N: Thank you all for the great comments, suggestions and theories! Keep them coming - they sometimes inspire me to write something totally different than what I had planned ;)

Charm93: I think you are mixing up stories... But what you said sound intriguing - which story is that?

mandancie: I am sure Dodge will be back - he will not take this lying down but since Dumbles was not there he thought it better to retreat...

JasminSky: I hope you will find more time to write again this year! Hmmm... sadly he did not commit any crimes against the goblins :(

Guest: I am amazed that you are 'reading' my fanfiction if you have no vision? How do you manage that? I feel honoured that you are reading MY fanfiction - it can't be easy for you.

Mephistopheles: Merry Christmas is alright ;) Yeah we will be sad too... but I have a bunch of emails with ideas of one shots and short stories that deviated too much from the main story line to be in this one ;) Once I'm done here I will spend some time on all these one shots :D I'm glad you made it through that hard time of your life - I really enjoy reading all your comments (they are rather funny sometimes ;)) All the best for this year!

mizzrazz72: We are getting there ;) We still have to get rid of Ginny...

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling - I just played a bit in her universe.

Thanks to miu-sama95 for prereading, betaing and helping with the storyline ;)

Chapter 36: Wizengamot pt.2: Lies & Chaos

Words: 3362

When he first woke up he didn't open his eyes or give any other indication that he was conscious. He assessed his body and his environment to gauge his situation. It was dark behind his eyelids so either it was night or he was in a windowless room.

He didn't think that he was outside since he couldn't feel a breeze but it was also ice cold and damp wherever he was. It was deadly quiet which made him a bit uneasy since even a quiet room was not usually this quiet. Still he could only hear his own breath and heartbeat.

Beneath his fingers he could feel a cold stone floor. It was uneven in a way only old and used stone floors were. Nothing had happened since he had awoken so he dared to slowly open his eyes a bit. After taking a peek he opened them wide. It was pitch black in the room. He couldn't even see himself.

Slowly he clambered to his feet. His back and derriere were rather sore from lying on the floor for who knows how long. With outstretched hand he shuffled forward until he found a wall to lean against. Once he found it his hand automatically went for his wand but it was gone. His wand was gone.

Frantically he searched his whole body but it was gone. It could still be lying somewhere on the floor but without light he had no chance of finding it. Maybe he could find some torches or candles.

He slid down the wall to sit on the floor again. What had happened? His head felt a bit fuzzy. He must have hit it somewhere. Carefully touching it he found a tender lump on the back of his head. When he touched it spears of pain shot through his skull. Definitely hit it somewhere.

Slowly his memory came back. He had gone to the bank to claim his rightful Lordship and the goblins had arrested him! HIM! Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts! Those vile creatures! How dare they?!

Once he was out of here he would make sure to get them punished. He would get the laws concerning these creatures tightened so they would suffer for daring to arrest him. Nobody was allowed to arrest him.

With newfound energy he got up again and felt along the walls for a door or his wand. He did not find either but he found something one could call a cot and a bucket of water.

Those creatures had actually dared to take his wand. They would pay for what they had done!

Albus spent quite some time demanding to be released as well as shouting profanity at the goblins. How dare they?! Still nothing happened. No one came and once he had run out of steam the room was deadly quiet again.

Albus carefully shuffled over to the cot again and sat down. Now that he had finished his rant his brain started thinking again. He may not have his wand but he was powerful enough to do at least a bit of wandless magic.

If he just knew where the door was he could try to get out. He would have to bide his time and wait until someone came to him. Then he would take a chance.

The next topic his mind brought up was a bit more complicated. He had gone to the bank on Friday. Depending on how long he had been knocked out it could already be Saturday. Which meant the first Wizengamot meeting of the summer was today! He was the head of the Wizengamot – he needed to be there!

He had to guide the Lords and Ladies on what to do so his plans would all work out! If he wasn't there then Madame Bones would lead it and although she was far from being Dark she was very correct and that wouldn't help his plans at all. No! He had to get out of here!

"I demand to be let out of here!" He screamed angrily at the ceiling. "You have no right to take me prisoner!"

There was no answer. Only his own labored breathing could be heard.

"This is kidnapping! Set me free at once!"

Many floors above, in the goblins break room a group of them sat around a table laughing tears at what they saw. All goblin cells were monitored by a special spell, allowing them to see what was happening through a pensive.

Griphook had been nice enough to put the pensive in the break room so everybody could catch a glimpse of the ranting Dumbledore. This was the best break time they had had in a while.

Amelia had to let out a loud bang from her wand to get the people in front of her to quieten down.

"If you could all shut your mouths and sit down again for a minute I could explain what is going on!" She told them hotly. She silently counted to twenty to calm down while the others – stunned by her tone – followed her command.

Amelia was angry with them since a good majority had been sitting in these chairs when Sirius should have had his trial in the first place.

"Alright. I was given evidence indicating the innocence of Lord Apparent Black last week. Since the goblins approached me directly I worked on these leads personally. It was my job to follow these new leads even if everyone was sure he was guilty and what I found shocked me to the core."

Amelia picked up a brown folder and held it aloft.

"This is the file on the trial of Sirius Black." With that she let the folder fall open and one single sheet of parchment sailed down onto her desk.

There was a moment of shocked silence before all of the members started talking over each other.

This time the current head of the Wizengamot used a sonorous charm to get everyone's attention back to her case.

"Quiet! You all messed up! There is no denying it since thirty of you forty had been sitting here since before 1980!" Amelia took a moment to look around at each of the Lords who were involved in this mess. "Maybe back then you didn't think much of it since 'everyone knew he was guilty' but now it blew up in your faces big time!"

"But how do you know he is innocent? The evidence was clear and he confessed to the aurors." One of the Lords asked carefully.

"Evidence? There was no evidence back then other than Black allegedly screaming 'I did it'! No one ever checked anything. I got sound evidence from the goblins as well as an eye witness."

"Eye witness?!" An old witch screeched indignantly. "He killed everybody in that street that day! How can there be an eye witness?! And where was he the last 14 years?"

Amelia just smirked at her before dropping her next bombshell.

"Peter Pettigrew is alive."

Harry was in love. Madame Bones was his new hero. She was the BAMF- Queen of all time in his eyes. He snuck a glance at his fathers and saw both of them smirking in amusement. They were also enjoying the show. Since it was their first meeting it was expected of them to just listen and not participate in discussions.

"But he died in that alley!"

"They only found his finger."

"How did this happen?"

The Lords and Ladies were astonished at these news. They started bickering with each other to find someone they could convict for this oversight. Even if the person taking the fall was one of their own.

"If you could quiet down and let me explain." Amelia requested again. She would be so happy once this was over.

"I have proof from the goblins that Sirius Black was not the Potter's Secret Keeper. It states in their will that it was Peter Pettigrew. They thought it would be the ultimate farce since everyone would assume it would be Black. That was the information I was working with when something unexpected happened."

Madame Bones took a moment to take a breath and build up the suspense in her captive audience.

"A team of my aurors was called to an emergency and they returned with an unconscious wizard in tow Thursday night. When I got their report I found the likeliness of their John Dow to my suspect too good to be true."

With a wave of her wand Amelia sent out the duplicates of her case file before explaining further.

"We interviewed the suspect under the influence of Veritaserum and found out that he was indeed Peter Pettigrew. He had been hiding in his illegal animagus form for the last 14 years."

There were gasps and excited murmurs from the Lords and Ladies while they all looked through the information the aurors had gathered so far.

Marvolo was pleased with the way this was going. When he looked through the interview transcript he saw that Pettigrew had not said anything about his resurrection. His memory charms had worked. He also noticed that Amelia had left the piece about old Dumbles knowledge about it all in the file. It wouldn't be long until –

"Dumbledore?!" Augusta Longbottom exclaimed, drawing all attention to herself.

"What about him?" Someone asked annoyed.

"He knew!" Lady Longbottom exclaimed again. "He was the one who told us all that Black was guilty all the while he knew that it had been Pettigrew!"

There was a shuffling sound as they all looked for the right passage in the file.

"But that's… that's illegal!"

"Black is innocent!"

"Dumbledore conned us all!"

Amelia decided now was a good time to take control of the situation again.

"Lords and Ladies! Although we do not know where he is at the moment we can still clear Lord Apparent Black of all his charges and try to get a message to him afterwards."

"What about his outbreak form Azkaban?" Someone asked.

"Since he was illegally imprisoned and did not get a fair trial in three months' time from the moment of his apprehension he was actually in his right to leave the island in any way possible. Technically he was kidnapped and escaped captivity."

That surprised some of the younger Lords.

"Let us vote! All for Lord Apparent Sirius Orion Black's innocence raise their wands now!"

Harry, Marvolo and Severus all raised their wands as well as the majority of the other Lords and Ladies. Especially the older ones felt guilty for their error in judgement.

"Those who think Black is guilty raise their wands now!" Amelia commanded after counting wands.

Now only a few wands were raised and all of them were around Severus' age. He even knew a few of them from school.

After a moment Amelia announced the vote.

"Alright, we have 35 for Black's innocence against 7 for his guilt. Lord Apparent Sirius Orion Black is hereby cleared of all charges and a free wizard, so mote it be!"

There was a flash of magic as the Wizengamot's vow settled. Amelia quickly wrote an order to call back the Dementors as well as a note for her aurors.

"What now? How do we tell Black of his innocence?" Lord Greengrass asked.

Amelia smirked at him before turning towards the newest member of the Wizengamot.

"Lord Gryffindor Potter do you by any chance knew where your godfather currently resides?" She asked sweetly. She was sure the boy at least knew something. He had been far too calm during the whole discussion.

"Why of course, Madame Bones. He is at home recovering from his stay in Azkaban." Harry answered just as sweetly. "Oh and he told me to give you this and tell you that he missed you."

With that Harry marched towards the surprised department head and gave her an officially looking letter. What Amelia didn't know was that this was a modified howler. Once she broke the seal the letter hovered in front of her and started speaking:

"Hello everyone! I am Lord Apparent Sirius Orion Black, I so do swear. Since I was basically kidnapped and held captive for nearly twelve years I demand compensation.

First for the slandering of my name and my house, second for prohibiting me a trial and third for prohibiting me all visitors.

I am suing the Ministry of Magic for breaking the law concerning incarceration without trial and slander and sending Dementors after a free wizard.

Also I am suing Minister Cornelius Fudge personally for illegally ordering a Kiss on a Lord Apparent, trying to get a captivated Lord Apparent Kissed and slander.

I am suing Headmaster Albus Dumbledore for slander, lying, breach of contract for his position as head of the Wizengamot, giving false testimony and kidnapping of an Heir Apparent.

I also demand an impartial investigation of the Wizengamot of 1981. If they can be swayed that easily by one man I fear what else they have done.

Have fun with all of that Ami! Maybe you want to go out for a butterbeer tonight?

I look forward to meeting you all at the next Wizengamot assembly.

Oh! Before I forget! If anyone is sitting in proxy of the House Black he or she is doing so illegally as well!

Good day!"

With that the letter floated down on Amelia's desk while everybody in the room except for the Prince-Slytherins was too shocked to move.

Suddenly Amelia had her wand in her hand and shot a stunner at the back of one of the younger Lords.

At the shocked gasps of the others she quickly explained her actions.

"He just tried to sneak out and as you can all see from where he sat he was the illegal proxy of House Black."

With a forced calmness the head of the DMLE sent out her patronus to get a few of her most trusted aurors before she conjured a chair in front of her desk and levitated the wizard into it. She bound him to the chair and afterwards released the stunner.

The second he could move again the man started complaining.

"Let me go! You have no right!"

"I have every right, Mister!" Amelia said absentmindedly while shuffling through a pile of folders. Once she found what she was looking for she gave the man all her attention.

"Archibald McLaggen, forty years of age, otherwise unemployed. Who gave you the proxy of House Black?"

"Dumbledore of course! Why not use the votes of the scum in Azkaban for something good? It helped his cause and I got a nice sum of money for it." The wizard spat.

"Right. You are under arrest! Aurors! Put him in a cell!"

Shacklebolt and Tonks stepped forward and removed the arrested man from his sear and left with him. Amelia did some quick thinking before addressing the wizengamot again.

"It seems as if Lord Apparent Black was right. We need to check everyone in this room again before we can take any actions."

"How do you propose we do this, Madame Bones?" Lucius asked curiously. He was disgusted by what they had discovered today. At least his wife will be happy to have her favorite cousin back.

"When I call your name I need you to stand up, tell me which seat or seats you are in and which positions you hold. Then I want an oath on the truthfulness of it."

"Is there no easier way to do this?" Lord Greengrass asked.

"Do you have an idea? We are only forty so it shouldn't take too long. Once you made your oath you are free to go. You will be contacted for an emergency meeting as soon as possible."

Amelia started to call out the names in alphabetical order from her list and listened closely as everyone made their vow. Thankfully the head of the Wizengamot had a self-updating list of current members. It was a small floor plan so she could actually see on which seat each person was sitting.

They didn't find any more illegal members and nothing interesting happened until she got to the P's.

"Prince-Slytherin, Henry!"

"I, Henry Gryffindor Potter Prince-Slytherin hold the Lordship seat of Gryffindor and Potter. So I swear, so mote it be." Harry said before lighting his wand for a moment.

"Thank you. You may leave."

"Thank you, Madame Bones. May I remind you that Elphias Dodge was sitting in my seat with an illegal proxy until today?" Harry said as he got up to leave the chambers.

Amelia just groaned before sending a patronus to her aurors. They needed to arrest Dodge and bring him in for questioning as well. The teen just smirked before hurrying out of the room. They had been controlling each member for the last one and a half hours and he really needed the toilet.

Severus smirked at his husband as they watched Harry nearly run out of the room. The boy had been fidgeting for the past half hour, much to their amusement. Of course his son wouldn't knew the charms that would take care of bodily fluids. Those were a godsend during long meetings or court cases without breaks.

"Prince-Slytherin, Severus!" Amelia's call pulled him out of his thoughts.

Severus quickly gave his oath before he left to search for his son while Marvolo had to wait a bit longer for Slytherin to be called up.

After also making his vow Marvolo left the meeting to catch up to his husband and son in the atrium of the Ministry. It was their designated meeting spot.

Once they were all together they quickly made their way to the fireplaces to floo back home and tell Sirius the good news.

Amelia was grateful when the last member of the Wizengamot left the chambers and they had not found another impersonator. Once the door closed behind him she slumped down in her chair. She was exhausted.

Not only had she been working nonstop for the past few days but now this new revelations would cause quite the uproar and a lot of paperwork for her. They would have to find all the laws that had been passed in the last fifteen years with a tight vote.

Because if they were decided through the impersonators the laws would be void immediately as well as all actions taken because of them. This was a nightmare and now she had to inform the bumbling idiot Fudge as well as the press about everything. With a groan she sat up again.

This is what hell felt like, she was sure of it.

"Madame Bones?" Head auror Thomas asked.

"Yes?"

"What can we do to help you, ma'am?"

"We need all old Wizengamot session transcripts and any laws they passed in the last fifteen years. Get all hands on deck there will be a lot of overtime in the near future. Use the recruits as well but don't forget to let them swear their oaths of fidelity. Anyone can sort files."

"Yes, ma'am."

Thomas turned on his heels and hurried out of the room, leaving Amelia all alone with her thoughts.

After a moment she got up with a sigh, collected all of her things and made her way to Fudge's office.

Once Harry stumbled out of the fireplace at Snake Pit Manor he didn't even stop to brush off the sooth from his robes. He started running towards the family living room straight away, calling his godfather.

"Sirius! Sirius!"

Said man opened the doors just as the excited teen was about to crash into them. Instead he crashed into his godfather and they both fell to the ground.

"She did it! You are free! Amelia did it!" Harry exclaimed with the biggest grin on his face.

It was quickly matched by the animagus' grin when he heard the good news.

"Really? I'm free?"

"YES!" Harry screamed before starting to laugh from the elating feeling.

Sirius soon joined in and that is how the adults found them.

Lying on top of each other, in the middle of the doorway, laughing like crazy people.

TBC

Hope you all had a good start into the new year! Thank you for all the well wishes! Miu-sama and I actually celebrated together in typical Austrian fashion: Dancing to the Danube Walz at midnight, watching fireworks and watching the New Years Concert in the morning :) It was wonderful :D

YAY! Sirius is free! What shall I do next?

Would you maybe like to know a bit more about Amelia and Sirius?

First posted on: 07. January 2018

Next update planned: 21. January 2018