A/N: Thanks to Arct1cfox for the 400th review. Eid Mubarak to all the muslims reading it.

20. Crouch and the Trial

"Hey Harry."

Harry looked up from his potions book to see Ginny standing beside the armchair he was occupying. He felt a little anticipation. He wasn't with the best of terms with Ron after he 'lost' Scabbers. He tried to explain Ron that he was not going to harm Scabbers in any way and it was purely Ron's fault that Scabbers escaped as he was planning to hand him back to Ron once Crookshanks came out of the dorm. But Ron maintained that it was Harry's fault as he scared Scabbers off and now the rat was nowhere to be seen. Even Fred and George, who looked a bit ashamed at revealing the plan to their brother, pointed out that if Ron didn't curse Harry, Scabbers would still be there. But Ron was stubborn and even went on to say that Harry has killed Scabbers. The twins didn't find that amusing, and hexed Ron's mouth, so that every time he tried to say something, an ugly green, smelly and viscous liquid came out of his mouth. Apparently, the taste was bad enough that Ron was silent for a whole day and half.

"Hello Ginny. How are you doing?" he motioned a hand at her, telling her to sit down. She sat cautiously, as if thinking over something very carefully.

"I'm okay. Ron's being a prat to me and the twins, but he is a prat most of the time anyway, so it's nothing different, really." She replied.

"Err... I'm sorry that I've placed you in a difficult position with your brother-" Harry started, but Ginny cut him off.

"Don't be. He always used to moan about how pathetic Scabbers was, and wanted to lose him in the hopes that mum would buy him a new one. Come to think of it, maybe mum will buy him a new pet and he'll actually be happier. But then again, she might shout at him saying that it was his fault that he lost Scabbers." Ginny grinned at the thought of Ron getting a good verbal lashing. Harry smiled, thinking of the odd relation between siblings.

"Is Scabbers safe?" Ginny suddenly asked.

"How would I know? He escaped, didn't he?" Harry answered, not quite meeting her eyes. Ginny sighed.

"You went after Scabbers and couldn't catch him? I know that Harry Potter doesn't fail anything if he sets his mind on it." Harry blushed deeply.

"Who told you that? I can't do everything, and I couldn't catch Pet...Scabbers, I told you."

Ginny gave him a nice-try-better-luck-fooling-me-next-time look.

"Don't worry, I didn't tell anyone, nor do I plan to. I trust you." She said with a smile and went away.

Harry stared after her.

...

As it turned out, Fudge couldn't rehire the fired Aurors. When letters from the minister were sent to a dozen of skilled ex-Aurors, almost all of them replied with interesting suggestion on who the ministry should hire for protection. Their list included succubus, house elves and hippogriffs. The more bold ones wrote that something regarding Fudge and Umbridge mating in unconventional ways.

A thoroughly embarrassed Fudge had to, therefore, trust the remaining Aurors and pray that Black wasn't a super powerful wizard who could defeat the thirty Aurors that were to guard the ministry. Fudge wanted everyone from the barracks, but Amelia pointed out that in that case all the critical points of the country would remain unguarded and there would be no one to respond in case of emergency.

Fudge's fear was proved pointless as Sirius Black came quietly, handed a box labelled 'EVIDENCE' to a nervous clerk and took his seat in the middle of the circular courtroom. The chains bound him immediately on the orders of the Minister. He put on an easy grin on his face, but inside he felt like a hurricane of nerves. He broke out of Azkaban, and he didn't know what level of punishment that would hand him. He didn't ask Amelia or Andromeda because he didn't want to know the answer.

Before the trial started, Sirius stole a glance at Andromeda, who was sitting in the spectators' bench. She wasn't a part of Wizengamot, but Amelia managed a spectator seat for her because she couldn't bear to stay at home. She gave him a subtle assuring nod.

After introducing everyone important in the court, Albus Dumbledore, the judge, asked, "Do you, Sirius Orion Black, agree to be questioned under Veritaserum?" Sirius rolled his eyes and said, "Yep, I do."

It might seem very polite of the court to ask permission from the tried person to administer Veritaserum, but it was actually a law put forward by some dark influential families, centuries before. Veritaserum couldn't be administered to everyone. Only people charged with serious crimes like murder, national treachery and a few more could be force-fed Veritaserum. In other cases, the victim had to agree to take the potion. The Wizengamot explained that is was to prevent political opponents of the victims finding out unrelated-to-the-case secrets just by randomly asking them something. When you are asked something while the effect of Veritaserum was still there, you couldn't give a wrong answer... or even keep quiet. Actually, the makers of the law made sure that their dark secrets didn't get exposed to the world in a simple trial like unpaid tax. Right now, Sirius had no charges against him, as his trial never took place and this was a voluntary confession he was making.

An Auror came forward and asked Sirius to open his mouth. He obliged and three drops of the clear liquid was dropped on his tongue. That would last an hour. If the trial went on for more than that, more three drops would be fed.

"Your name?" asked Cornelius Fudge.

"Sirius Orion Black, also known as Padfoot." He replied monotonously.

"Where are you from?"

"Grimmauld Street, London."

"Are you a Death Eater?"

"No."

"Were you ever associated in any ways to the dark wizard named... err... You-Know-Who?"

Dumbledore interrupted at this point.

"I do not recall any wizard, dark or otherwise, who is named You-Know-Who." He said, his moustache quivering. Fudge looked slightly irritated and slightly sheepish.

"You know what I mean Dumbledore. So did you ever have connections to You-Know-Who?"

"Nope, never saw a good reason to get tortured in exchange of my service." Lucius Malfoy's eyes darkened at that.

"Hem hem."

Everyone turned to look at the toad faced undersecretary.

"Why did you kill Peter Pettigrew?" Umbridge asked in a sickly sweet voice.

"I didn't." There was an outbreak of whispers at this. Umbridge's face got uglier.

"But he's lying!" she shouted over the noise. Sirius actually laughed.

"Under Veritaserum? Are you as stupid as you look?"

Almost everyone laughed at this and Umbridge's face became red.

"I won't be spoken to like that, you-"

"ORDER!" Dumbledore banged his hammer and everyone became silent.

As the trial was going on, Bartemius Crouch was trying to figure out a way to escape the disgrace that would surely come after the trial was over. Unfortunately for him, he came up with none. He wished he granted Black a trial when the man begged him for one. He wasn't feeling sympathetic for the man who spent twelve years in Azkaban for nothing, no. His imprisonment was a necessity of the war. He did suffer, true, but the criminals of the country knew that no one could escape from him. His comfort and freedom was sacrificed for the war. And it worked well. The capture of Black and the Lestranges made sure that the criminals thought twice before going dark.

But then his son messed it all up.

He was never a family man. He married the most intelligent pureblood girl from Hogwarts' 1958 batch, seven years his junior. It wasn't like the girl and he have met. He just looked at the list of the Head Girls in that decade for the girl with best grades and simply sent a proposal to the girl's father. Arnold Coutcher was pleased at the proposal as Crouch was a prominent member of the DMLE back then.

Three years after their marriage, his wife said she wanted a baby. He clearly told her that he had no time to raise a child right now. As a result, his wife refrained from talking to him for three straight weeks. It took him two weeks to notice that. He wasn't one to chat uselessly with a woman after he came home. Office tired him out and he ate the dinner provided by Winky and went to sleep. When he asked her the whereabouts of his muggle clothing at the end of those two weeks, he noticed that instead of the usual smiling face, his wife had a very dark look and just handed him the costume without speaking. At first, he didn't think much of it, but after another week of the same treatment, her father came to talk with him. He frankly told him that her daughter was very unhappy and was even thinking of a divorce. Crouch was absolutely bewildered by that. She had wealth, comfort and an influential husband. What on earth was she unhappy for? Sighing, his father-in-law explained that she was deeply hurt by his casual disregard of her opinion about a child. Crouch got defiant and repeated that he didn't have time for a child and his wife should understand that.

Arnold Coutcher was a man who was feared by his opponents and respected by his friends and associates. He also happened to love his daughter very much. He simply told his son-in-law that if he couldn't learn to respect his daughter's feelings, he would have to suffer the consequences. No one hurt her daughter, physically or mentally, and got away with it. Crouch wasn't stupid. He knew Arnold Coutcher didn't make empty threats, and to be honest, the man helped him a lot to rise through the ministry. He had the power to end his career within a week.

Next day, he went to his wife and apologised profusely. What followed next was very uncomfortable and quite irritating for him: an emotional conversation. His wife told him about her dreams to raise a family and care for them and such nonsense. Barty Crouch was never a fan of emotions. He considered them useless and often hindering success. Still, he didn't want to risk Arnold Coutcher unhappy with him. He said he would try to get a child after a year.

After four years, Bartemius Crouch Jr. was born. Despite his resentment towards raising children, he started to enjoy little Barty's company. When he went to Hogwarts, he was pleased to see that his son never failed to be the top of his year. Though he never gave any sign to the boy about it, he was quite proud of his son. Trouble begun when Barty Crouch Jr. graduated. He didn't want to work in the ministry like his father. He wanted to be a teacher. Needless to say, Crouch Sr. wasn't happy about the decision. He downright forbade his son to be a teacher, because in his opinion, teaching wasn't a profession worthy of a man in his status. Besides, a school teacher had next to no power. He drilled in his son's head that without power and respect, life was meaningless. Though his son wasn't happy, that message sank in his head.

With Voldemort rising and causing terror, Crouch failed to notice how little time his son spent at home. His wife tried to tell him that, but he was not interested in the abnormalities of a teenager. He worked on as hard as he could, and as a result, he climbed through the ministry in an unbelievable speed. As soon as Voldemort fell, he was made the head of his department and he quickly ordered his Aurors to give as they got. For the first time, Aurors were allowed to kill where capture was difficult. He gave trial to some and others were simply thrown to Azkaban, or kissed, depending on their offences. He was ecstatic when Bellatrix and the other Lestranges were found. However, when he saw the fourth face, his world crashed down on him. A small part of him was angry at his son for joining Voldemort, but the larger part of him knew that his chance of becoming the Minister of Magic just died.

True to his prediction, after most of the escaped Death Eaters were rounded up, he was transferred to the Department of International Relations. From that moment onwards, he became a shadow of the driven ruthless leader he once used to be. When his wife begged him to arrange the switch between his son and her, it brought back all the disgrace that came with his son. But then he remembered that if he listened to her when she told him about their son going off the track, he would've been the Minister right now. Reluctantly, he granted his wife's wish in the hope that listening to her just this one time might help him.

And now, his past has come back to give him yet another blow. He was sure that his career was over. Fudge wasn't going to support him, he considered Crouch a potential opponent, and he would probably fire him as soon as he could. Bitterly, he turned his thoughts toward the trial.

"So who killed Pettigrew?" Fudge was asking impatiently.

"No one." Sirius answered, enjoying the minister's irritation and confusion.

"What do you mean by that Mr. Black?" this time Amelia asked, even though she knew everything about it.

"Pettigrew is alive." Sirius replied with a smirk, knowing that it would cause a huge reaction. And it did. Everyone present started whispering quite loudly.

"And where is he?" Amelia asked before any stupid question was thrown by Fudge or Umbridge.

"In my evidence box. He's got it."

"Mr. Diggory, would you be so kind to bring that box here?" Amelia asked.

"This man is clearly crazy. How can Pettigrew be alive and be in a box?" Umbridge shrieked and Dumbledore had to bang his hammer to bring silence.

The next part of the trial went just as Sirius wanted it to go. Pettigrew was released from his cage and animagus transformation was forced on him. Amelia immediately charged him of muggle slaughter, Death Eater activities and national treachery. The Potters were named as national heroes and treachery to them was equivalent to national treachery.

Peter didn't struggle when Veritaserum was administered. He gave up all hopes of living long before. Under the potion's effect, he confessed everything. Joining as a Death Eater, leaking information to Voldemort, betrayal of Potters, blasting twelve muggles and framing Sirius. He admitted that he lived as a rat for the last twelve years. Thankfully, no one thought to ask where he lived these years and the Weasleys never knew how much rouble they escaped from just from that little mistake. He was sentenced to Azkaban for life and he quietly went with the Aurors, weeping for what laid ahead.

After he was taken away, the first person to speak was Lucius Malfoy. The cunning man knew he had to keep a good image in front of the Lord Black, because he stole a lot from the Black vaults through his wife in these twelve years.

"I suggest the court declares Lord Black free of all charges and compensate for his time in Azkaban." He said in a smooth, convincing tone. Amelia seconded that, and soon Sirius was cleared of all charges. However, Dolores Umbridge had one last question for him.

"Hem hem."

When she had the attention of everyone, she went on.

"Mr. Black, who provided you shelter after you escaped?" she asked in that infuriating voice of hers. Still being under the effects of Veritaserum, Sirius couldn't stop from answering.

"Andromeda Tonks."

"And where is she?" she asked, looking around the courtroom. Amelia Bones was ready to kill the evil witch.

"Right here." Andromeda said without any expression, standing up from the spectators' seat.

"Wonderful. Since Mr Black was cleared just moments ago, he was still considered a criminal when he broke out of Azkaban. Mrs Tonks, you are hereby charged of harbouring a convicted criminal."