Chapter Five
Harry wasn't feeling much better come the twelfth of August though, in fact he was sitting at the dinning room table, staring at his food, feeling very much like he was about to throw up.
"Harry, please try and eat something." Lily asked, checking everything was in her bag "I can make you something else if you'd like?"
Harry shook his head, "No, thanks. I'll eat when this is all over and done with."
Lily sighed but nodded and took his untouched plate of toast back into the kitchen. Hermione was up as well. She'd made a point of sitting down with him at half past five that morning with a large pile of papers detailing the case she thought he should make.
She was bleary eyed and wrapped in her dressing gown, Sirius was also sitting at the table in a similar state. Nikka however was up and dressed, along with Arthur Weasley; they were used to the early mornings that the Ministry often demanded.
"Right, now you look very presentable," Arthur said with a smile, "I'll take you and Lily in and help show you around, it can be a bit of a maze and we don't want you to be late!"
Harry forced a nod and a smile, "Great, thanks."
Lily was dressed smartly in a set of black dress robes, her long hair swept up into an elegant up do. Harry was also scrubbed clean, dressed in new dress robes with enough Sleekeazy's Hair Potion and Scalp Treatment to make his hair sit smartly against his head for once. Harry hadn't realised just how messy it normally looked until he saw himself in the mirror that morning.
Mrs Weasley had arrived down stairs and was starting to smooth his collar and make sure his label wasn't showing. Harry was too tired to start a fight by pointing out he didn't have a label on the collar of his robes.
"The law is on your side." Nikka said, "All of us, even those who are under age, are allowed to use magic in life threatening situations."
Sirius nodded, "Just stick to the truth, and try not to rise to the bait; they're going to want to make you mad."
Harry was already mad; he was always mad that they were putting him through this, trying to kick him out of school and for what? Because he'd defended himself. It wasn't fair, they knew it wasn't fair and yet there he was, at some ungodly hour in the morning, worried sick over what they were forcing him through.
He wasn't going to give up though, not because he didn't want to, a big part of him did want to just give up. It's not like he couldn't have a good life away from magic, he was rich and reasonably clever, he could go to normal school and then live his life, but this was too important to let them win.
"Time to be getting going I think." Arthur smiled, "We're a bit early but better early than late. Ready to go Lily?"
Lily nodded, "I'll just go and fetch Danica, Severus was getting her dressed."
"What?! Why is Danica coming?" Harry demanded.
"Remember that whole 'calm' idea?" Sirius asked.
Lily sighed, "I don't like the idea of bringing her any more than you do, Harry, but she's the only other person who saw the Dementors."
Harry felt his blood boil, as if this wasn't bad enough. Nikka coughed awkwardly and put her hands on the table.
"Harry, you should leave your wand here." she said.
Harry frowned, "Why?" he didn't feel very comfortable being without his wand.
"Well," Nikka said carefully, "Just in case things don't go well today, surely it would be better to not have your wand on you when they… want to snap it in half."
Harry couldn't disagree with that logic and, slowly, handed his wand over to Nikka.
"Just don't tell Moody that I gave my wand up." He smiled.
It sounded stupid, but he felt almost naked without his wand.
Lily came back down stairs with a very sleepy looking Danica resting on her hip. It was a good job that Danica was small for her age, although Lily was clearly struggling to hold her up.
Arthur grabbed Lily's bag and opened the door for them. It was so early, the sun was barely up and everywhere was covered in a cold morning mist. There was a bus stop at the end of the road, not too far to walk which Harry was grateful for, although the fresh air was helping to wake him up.
Lily put Danica down, much to Danica's annoyance and reached her arm out to signal the bus to stop. Arthur took Danica's hand, he was clearly very excited to be using Muggle transportation, despite the circumstances. The bus was crowded, Harry and Arthur had to stand while Lily sat with Danica squished on her knee, earning ugly glares from the woman sitting next to them.
"How many stops do we have?" Arthur asked.
Lily shrugged, "Not sure, it's crowed so they might stop a lot. It would have been a lot easier to just, pop there."
Arthur shook his head, "No. This way makes a better impression. Shows we're playing by their rules."
"I don't want to play by their rules." Harry muttered.
It wasn't long before they got off in a dirty looking area. The street was mostly empty, a stray cat wondering around some over-flowing bins. Lily and Arthur guided them towards an old phone box and opened the door.
It was a tight squash to get them all in. Lily handed Arthur a handful of coins to put into the machine and pressed the dialling pad.
"Six, two, four, four, two." he read out from the bit of paper as he pressed the buttons.
Harry rolled his eyes; MAGIC, very original. A clear formal voice filled the phone box, as if there was an invisible woman hovering above them.
"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business."
"Lily Snape, Danica Snape, Harry Potter and Arthur Weasley. Here for the Harry Potter disciplinary hearing." Lily said clearly.
"Thank you." said the crisp female voice, "Visitors, please take the badge and attach them to the front of your robes."
There was a small tinkle and three square silver badges dropped into the coin tray. Lily picked them up and handed them out. Harry looked down at him,
Harry Potter: Disciplinary Hearing.
Lily's and Danica's read the same only they had their own names before Harry's.
"Visitors to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wand for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium." the voice sounded.
"Why doesn't Mr Weazzy get one?" Danica asked, as the floor of the phone box slowly started to move down like a lift.
"Because I work here, so they already know who I am." Arthur explained kindly.
Harry felt himself start to panic a little as the light showed, a small crack at the bottom of the floor. He squared his shoulders and looked straight ahead. There was no point being afraid, it wasn't going to get him out of this.
The telephone box shuddered to a stop and the door sprung open, "The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant day."
Mr Weasley stepped out of the box, followed by Lily, holding tightly to Danica and Harry's hands. Harry had never been to the Ministry before, he was shocked at how big it was.
They were standing at the end of a very long hall, the dark wooden floor was polished so brightly you could see your face in it. The ceiling was bright blue with dozens of golden symbols drifting across it.
One wall was dedicated to large fireplaces, each glowing green, on the right side of which there were short queues of people waiting to leave, on the left was a steady stream of people arriving.
About halfway down the hall was a large fountain, gleaming gold in the light. It had caught Danica's eye straight away and she was pulling on Lily's arm to get to it. Arthur was leading them towards it anyway, although not as quickly as Danica would of liked.
Harry stopped to look at the fountain. It was made up of a group of glittering gold figures, larger than life size, in the middle of a large pool. The tallest was a noble, and slightly smug looking, wizard, pointing his wand straight into the air sending a jet of water into the pool. Next was a beautiful looking witch, also pointing her wand and sending a jet of water into the pool.
Harry didn't like her, she looked too above it all. She actually looked a lot like Bellatrix, Harry realised with a jolt of horror. He told himself it was more like Andromeda to try and not see this as a very bad sign.
There was also a centaur, spouting water from the tip of his arrow, a goblin, with water coming from the top of his hat, and a house elf with water pouring from the tips of his ears. They were all looking adoringly up at the witch and wizard.
"Mummy can I have a coin?" Danica asked, pointing to the smattering of coins on the bottom of the pool.
A slightly smudged sigh beside the pool read:
ALL PROCEEDS FROM THE FOUNTAIN OF MAGICAL BRETHREN WILL BE GIVEN TO ST MUNGO'S HOSPITAL FOR MAGICAL MALADIES AND INJURIES.
Lily smiled down at Danica, "Maybe on the way back, OK?"
Danica nodded and followed Lily towards a smart looking desk. Harry looked at the pool and promised himself that if he got to go back to school, he was going to empty his wallet in there and let Danica put every single coin in herself.
At the desk was a badly shaven wizard sitting and reading a copy of the Daily Prophet, whilst wearing blue robes that matched the sky.
"Excuse me?" Lily said, after a few minutes of the wizard not noticing her, "We're here for a disciplinary hearing?"
"Step over here." said the wizard in a very bored voice.
Lily went first, the wizard held up a long golden wire, like a very long car aerial and passed it up and over Lily.
"Wand." He grunted.
Lily bit her tongue at his rudeness and handed over her wand. The wizard dropped it onto a single dished set of scales. It buzzed slightly and a narrow strip of parchment came out a little slit in the base of the machine.
"Ten and a quarter inches, unicorn hair, been in use twenty four years. That right?" the wizard asked.
Lily nodded, "Yes, that is correct."
"I keep this." the wizard said, impaling the strip of parchment on a spike with several others before he handed Lily back her wand, "You get this back."
Lily took the wand and put it back in it's holder at her waist band, "Thank you." She said coolly.
"Next." The wizard said.
Danica nervously stepped forward and followed the golden wire as it passed over her.
The wizard waved his hand dismissively, "Next."
Harry stepped forward and let the wizard again pass over the wire. The wizard looked at him slightly suspiciously.
"You didn't bring your wand?" he asked.
Harry shook his head innocently, "No, I forgot it at home."
The wizard looked over Harry very disbelievingly, "Fine."
"Right, off we go then." Arthur said, cheerfully.
He guided them away from the desk and towards an old fashioned lift with a metal grate over the front. There was a long queue of people waiting to get in. Mr Weasley guided them next to a wizard with a large beard that was carrying a large wooden box.
"All right, Arthur?" said the wizard, nodding at Mr Weasley.
Mr Weasley gave a small nod, "What've you got there Bob?" Mr Weasley asked, looking at the box.
Bob shrugged, "We're not sure, we thought it was just a normal chicken until it started breathing fire."
"Cool!" said Danica, standing on tip toe to try and get a look in the box.
Bob looked down and frowned, "Well I think someone is going to be in trouble, if we're right this is a serious breach of the Ban on Experimental Breeding."
Lily pulled Danica in a little closer and gave a polite smile to Bob, "I hope it's not too much of a mess for you to clear up."
There was a general forward movement of the witches and wizards towards the lifts. Harry, Lily, Danica and Arthur managed to squeeze in as the golden gated lift arrive. Harry flattened his hair with his hand to make sure his scar was covered.
The same cool female voice that was in the phone box filled the lift, "Level Seven, Department of Magical Game and Sports, incorporating the British and Irish Quidditch League Headquarters, Official Gobstones Club and Ludicrous Patents Office."
The lift doors opened and a wizard carrying several broomsticks left, entering a corridor with several pictures of messy looking Quidditch players. The doors closed again after a moment and the lift continued downwards.
"Level Six, Department of Magical Transportation, incorporating the Floo Network Authority, Broom Regulatory Control, Portkey Office and Apparition Test Centre."
Several paper aeroplanes swooped into the lift, Danica looked up and pointed.
"They're just little letters to each other." Arthur smiled, "We can't use owls, they make to much of a mess you see."
"They're so pretty!" Danica laughed, reached up to them.
The lift continued, stopping at every level. Several witches and wizards entered and left the lift and different floors along with a large group of different coloured memos. Harry wondered if people had an assigned colour of if they just picked their favourite.
"Level Two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters and Wizengamot Administration Services."
"This is us." Arthur smiled, gesturing out of the lift.
"Can we go visit Aunty Tonks?" Danica asked, "She works with the Or...Oras?"
"Auror, and no sweetie, not to..." Lily smiled.
However Lily was cut off by a cry from Danica who saw Tonks's bright red hair leaving a door with a rather crooked sign on it.
"Lily!" she called, walking quickly over, Tonks knelt down to give Danica a quick hug, "Sorry, I can't really be seen. I'll be round for dinner tonight though?"
"It's all right, I understand." Lily smiled, "I'm actually just glad that you still have your job, you're more than welcome for dinner."
Tonks smiled, "I actually just needed to give you this. It was delivered to Arthur's office but there was no one in so I took it for you."
Lily nodded her thanks as Tonks went back into the Auror department. She slit the letter open and scanned over the short note written inside.
She thrust it to Arthur and picked Danica up. Arthur read over the words, the colour draining from his face slightly.
"Merlin's beard!" he gasped.
"What's going on?" Harry asked, looking nervously between Arthur and Lily.
"They've changed the time of your trial." Arthur said, pulling him back towards the lifts.