(HBP) CHAPTER FIVE: Exclusives
Dear Miss Black,
In the coming hours, you will learn via the media that the Wizengamot has ruled Peter Pettigrew guilty of the twelve Muggle murders previously charged to your father, Sirius Black, along with aiding and abetting the Dark Lord and Aleksander Dolohov in their kidnapping and torturing of you. For these crimes, he has been sentenced to a life in Azkaban Prison.
I am writing to you now because I know what your next question will be: Does this news exonerate your father? In short, it does not. While the Wizengamot accepts that Sirius Black played no part in the murder of those twelve Muggles or, of course, in the murder of Peter Pettigrew, he still committed the crimes of breaking out of Azkaban Prison and running from the law for over three years.
Should you have any means of communicating with Mr. Black, we urge you to convince him to turn himself in. We will give him a new and fair trial, where he will be sentenced to new terms that befit his remaining crimes.
We send you our best wishes and hope that you are recovering well.
Yours,
Pius Thicknesse
Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement
Ministry of Magic
"Pius Thicknesse?" Ellie asked when she was finished reading the letter. "But I thought Amelia Bones was the Head of Magical Law Enforcement."
"She was murdered," Lupin said darkly. "The day before Sirius' trial."
It seemed that half the Order was in Ellie's hospital room with her. They had gathered together to await the news of Peter's trial—which had come in the form of the letter for Ellie.
"So Thicknesse is in You Know Who's pocket?" asked Molly, sounding horrified. "And because of that, Sirius isn't a free man?"
Ellie glanced at her father, who had curled into a ball and hidden his head in his fur as soon as Ellie was finished reading the letter out loud.
"They can't sentence him to much, can they?" asked Tonks. "After all that time he served that he shouldn't have?"
"They seem to think they can do whatever they please," grumbled George.
"They didn't even apologize," Ellie said, shaking her head. "He spent twelve years in Azkaban for crimes he didn't commit, and he doesn't even get an apology?"
"Nor did you get a thank you for catching the real criminal," pointed out Arthur. "They weren't pleased when I delivered him. Didn't want to have to admit their mistake to the world, I reckon."
"That's it!" Ellie gasped, sitting up so sharply, everyone seemed to take a step backwards in response. "They're doing this because they don't want to the world to find out about their mistake. Whether he stays on the run or spends a few more years in prison, that's a few more years they don't have to tell the world that Sirius Black is a free man. Right?"
"Right," said Fred, sounding confused. "And that's a good thing… why?"
"Because there's a simple solution: we tell the world about their mistake, anyway!"
"Ellie," said George, sounding doubtful, "I know you've had your hands full with the whole nearly dying thing, but the media isn't exactly on our side these days."
"That's not entirely true," said Arthur. "They're certainly on Harry's side."
"I'll send Woodstock to Emma Brighton with this letter," Ellie said, "along with my own. I'll ask her to call them out on this."
"And who's to say she will?" asked Lupin, frowning. "George is right—the media haven't done you any favours lately, Ellie. They've barely covered your kidnapping at all."
Despite all the warnings people had given her about the media, Ellie had liked Emma Brighton, the reporter who broke her out of Ministry jail after the Azkaban breakout. And yet, George and Lupin had a point—why hadn't Emma written about Ellie's kidnapping? At the time she had disappeared, she had still been fairly relevant as a pop star; wasn't there an audience for that type of story?
"Mum," said Fred. "Is Harry still staying at the Burrow?"
Molly nodded.
"Tell him we need his help. Tell him we need him to agree to do an interview with Emma in exchange for her writing about Sirius."
MINISTRY SENTENCES PETER PETTIGREW TO LIFE IN AZKABAN FOR CRIMES PREVIOUSLY ATTRIBUTED TO SIRIUS BLACK—BUT STILL CALLS FOR BLACK'S ARREST
PLUS, EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS: WHAT DO THE CHOSEN ONE AND THE PEOPLE'S PRINCESS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THIS?
If you haven't yet heard that Peter Pettigrew, a man previously thought to be dead at the hands of Sirius Black, was recently sentenced to life in Azkaban for the murder of the twelve Muggles also previously thought to be murdered by Black… well, there might just be a reason for that.
In a letter addressed to Ellie Black (see page four), Pius Thicknesse—the new Head of Magical Law Enforcement in the wake of the tragic murder of Amelia Bones—informed her that, though they accept that Black was involved in none of the murders he was previously sentenced for, he must now answer for his crimes of escaping imprisonment and running from the law.
"It's madness," said Harry Potter, more commonly referred to these days as the "Chosen One" following the infamous debacle with You Know Who at the Department of Mysteries, when asked about the letter. "They should be apologizing to him, not telling him to turn himself in."
Potter, as it turns out, is Black's godson, as well as a dear friend and ex-boyfriend to Black's daughter, Ellie, who was dubbed The People's Princess by the wizarding community when her music captured the hearts of thousands earlier this year.
"He served twelve years in Azkaban Prison because of their mistake," said Miss Black. "At the very least, they should issue him an apology and consider his remaining 'crimes'—if you can even call them that—to be already paid by time served."
Miss Black, who only recently escaped imprisonment by You Know Who and Aleksander Dolohov, went public with the story about her father's innocence and Pettigrew's guilt nearly a year ago, but was dismissed by Ministry officials as "wild," "absurd," and "outrageous," with Dolores Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister (who also served a brief and unpopular stint last year as professor, High Inquisitor, then Headmaster at Hogwarts, until Albus Dumbledore was reinstated) going so far as to blame Miss Black's Perelli charm for its effects on her mind.
"I'm not asking for the Ministry to apologize to me for the year they spent calling me a liar," said Potter, "and neither is Ellie. We don't even care if they apologize to Sirius. We simply beg that they do the right thing and let him finally walk free."
Until then, it seems that Black will remain in hiding, biding his time.
"Bloody hell," said Fred when Ellie was finished reading the article. "That ought to do it, right?"
"I hope that Emma Brighton's as skilled with her wand as she is with her words," said George, grimacing. "She just made a whole lot of enemies."
Ellie didn't want to think about the possibility of someone hurting Emma for what she had written. Dedalus Diggle dying in the search for her had been bad enough. She glanced at her father, who was still in his dog form. "What do you think? Will the Ministry finally be forced to let you go?"
He wasn't sure, she could tell. But he certainly hoped so.
They didn't have to wait long to find out; less than an hour later, a Ministry owl showed up with a fresh letter for Ellie.
Miss Black,
Attached is an official Ministry notice pardoning Sirius Black of his remaining crimes and releasing him from any and all warrants of arrest. You will find Prime Minister Scrimgeour's statement on the matter in the Daily Prophet tomorrow.
On behalf of the Wizengamot and the Ministry of Magic, I apologize for the misunderstanding that resulted in Mr. Black having served time for crimes he did not commit.
We continue to hope that you are recovering steadily.
Yours,
Pius Thicknesse
Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement
Ministry of Magic
"Wow," said Fred when Ellie was finished reading. "He didn't even attempt to sound sincere."
"Who cares?" demanded Ellie, scrambling out of the hospital bed to wrap her arms around Sirius' wiry coat and hug him as tight as she could. "It worked!"
"Ellie!" shrieked a horrified Fred. "You're not supposed to be out of bed unless—"
"Oh, come off it," said Sirius, who had transformed into his human self and was now hugging his daughter as tightly as she was hugging him. "She's set to be released tomorrow, anyway."
Ellie could hardly believe it. It had actually worked. For the first time since she could remember, her father was actually a free man.
"Pack your bags," she told Sirius, arms still wrapped tightly around him. "We're going to Paris."
I know this was a slightly shorter chapter, but I figured it made sense to lump all the articles and letters into one. How stoked is everyone that Sirius is finally a FREE MAN?! If there's one happy change I made from the source material, it's this! Stay tuned for the Paris trip and don't forget to review and follow!
