20 Justice
Minister Cornelius Fudge was in total panic. Peter Pettigrew was found to be the Potter betrayer and the mass murderer that Sirius Black had been assumed to be. That immediately meant that Sirius Black needed to be formally acknowledged as one who was erroneously imprisoned and denied a trial. And worst of all – Lucius Malfoy was missing, presumed dead. He just couldn't believe that, despite Madam Bones showing him the muggle photo of the richly robed cadaver found at Riddle Manor. It must have been some error, he felt sure. Lucius would arrive in a few hours, dismiss it all as some imaginative journalism and give him a small "donation" to calm him down. But as time passed, it only became more evident that Pettigrew was really a criminal and Black was not. It also seemed less and less certain that Lucius Malfoy would soon, or ever, come to the Ministry.
Cornelius would have liked nothing better than to go home, cuddle under a thick blanket and forget reality for a while, yet he couldn't afford to act that way. And now he couldn't even blame Dolores after he had forced her to resign. Instead, he had to join Amelia and try to look in control for the press conference. Sighing, he left his office and joined Amelia, who was waiting near the elevators, and they both reached the atrium together, where he helped the lady to the small stage, although she didn't need any help.
Cornelius looked at the assembled journalists. He knew most of them, although he didn't really like those representing foreign press. They seemed to be much less impressed by him than the local ones and not prone to take bribes. Well, he knew what he had to do and he didn't need to bask in any glory this time. "We are glad to announce that due to the diligent work of our Auror force and some cooperation with the muggle police, we finally got enough information to understand what happened at Halloween 1981 at Godric Hollow, and the mass murder of muggles, a few days later. I'll let Madam Bones, our head of the DMLE fill in the details."
Amelia was much more factual. "A few days ago, a group of Aurors was despatched to Little Hangelton, where a large house seemed to surface out of nowhere, emitting very putrid smell. The muggle authorities had already arrested one suspect, who was identified as the previously assumed to be dead – Peter Pettigrew. He was found to be sporting the dark mark on his left arm. Under veritaserum, he confessed to being the Potter's secret keeper, of betraying them and leading Voldemort to them and of then framing Lord Sirius Black for that and killing twelve muggles while trying to escape.
"This means that Lord Sirius Black is innocent of all the crimes for which he was sent to Azkaban. Furthermore, with Pettigrew's confession, we tried to find how Lord Black could have been sentenced to prison. Well, we found out he wasn't. Minister Bagnold along with the Head of the DMLE at the time, Bartimeus Crouch Sr., signed a document to send Lord Black directly to prison, without even interrogating him first and with no trial at all. Therefore, Lord Black can no longer be considered a fugitive, nor a convicted felon. Sirius Black is currently not suspected of any crime. Minister Fudge has rescinded the order to give Black the dementor kiss as soon as captured. Lord Sirius Black is now a free man since we found the criminal that had done all the crimes that Black was accused of.
"I still ask Lord Black to visit the DMLE at his earliest convenience, so we can return all the possession taken from him at his arrest. Since Lord Black served as an Auror until his illegal incarceration, it looks like we also owe him more than twelve years of salary, including overtime, along with some compensation for the time spent in prison and for besmirching his name. I hereby call for Lord Black to come, as explained, and promise that he shall not be detained nor harmed in any way. He can come with any reasonable escort he may like, of course.
"Back to Pettigrew, though. He's currently going through some additional interrogation so we can learn not only about those grave events but also about how the organization known as 'Death Eaters' worked. Since some elements in society may want to silence him before he tells us too much, he's not held in the normal cells at the ministry but somewhere else, under very strict security. We'll bring him here only for his trial, due in a week or two."
Madam Bones stopped for a moment and then grimaced before going on. "As some of you may have heard, we found a very peculiar ritual circle in that house along with a book, still open at the ritual's description. The DOM took over the research of that aspect. A decaying cadaver was also found there. Judged by its clothing, that was the cadaver of Lucius Malfoy. Judged by some other signs we found and confirmed by his personal healer, we are now sure it was Lucius Malfoy who took part in that failed ritual. Another robe was found there, with some human remains but not a full cadaver. Our experts were unable to identify the remains and they may also have been used just as ingredients for the ritual."
She waved her hand as if inviting questions.
"Did Pettigrew take part in that ritual?" one asked.
"According to his testimony, he was asked to hide for the duration, since, and I quote, 'You already botched one ritual. You'd better stay away from this one.' We haven't yet found information about the other ritual." She seemed a bit amused while talking.
"Are you sure that Sirius Black is innocent?"
Amelia smiled. "The Sirius I knew before that Halloween would have felt offended by your question. Lord Sirius Black is innocent of the crimes he'd been sent to Azkaban for, of that we're sure."
"Can you tell us some more about that Halloween and how everything happened?"
Amelia shook her head. "The details came out as part of the interrogation and will be presented at Peter's trial, along with the rest of his testimony under the truth serum."
"A question for the minister: How do you feel now, that Sirius Black is found not to be guilty of all that he had allegedly done?"
Cornelius would have liked to skip this question, but he couldn't. In a way, he wasn't even sure how he felt. Relieved? Panicked? Thankful? But he still needed to answer. "I feel relieved that justice can finally be done. You should know that as a Minister, I have to rely on the truth of the information presented to me and can't do all the in-depth research. That's what we have the various departments for. According to the information given to me by my predecessor, I had no reason to doubt Black's guilt, and his escape seemed to even prove it. Now, that our efficient law department found out the truth, I'm glad that we hadn't caused the death of an innocent and that we can correct a mis-justice done by the previous administration."
"Madam Bones, can you tell us how you feel about this whole affair?"
Amelia sighed. She always tried to keep her personal feelings apart from her job, but she thought this time was appropriate for expressing them, for once. "I'm a bit sorry that we had to rely on the muggle authorities for the initial phase, but it couldn't be helped. The last time any magical person was known to live in that town was more than fifty years ago. My Aurors had nothing to look for in that place. We also didn't look for Peter Pettigrew, since he was presumed dead and even a hero, as declared by the previous minister. I must admit that we had some testimonies of him being still alive, but they were considered inconclusive, just like the ones about Lord Black being innocent of the charges."
"Why were these testimonies considered inconclusive?"
"They were given by very young children, whom the Minister considered to be confounded. I had none of my Aurors there to say otherwise."
"Madam Bones, why do you insist on referring to Sirius Black as Lord Black?"
She smiled. "Sirius Black has been the Heir apparent of the Black House. The last Lord Black, his grandfather Arcturus, died about two years ago and didn't name another heir. Since we now know that Sirius Black has not committed any of the crimes he'd been accused of and didn't even get a trial, his right to the title is irrefutable, so now he is Lord Black, even if he hadn't claimed his position yet."
–..–
Peter's interrogation brought quite a few arrests. He even seemed eager to tell everything, probably hoping for some leniency in his punishment. He gave names of all the Dark Lord's people, marked or unmarked, along with the crimes they did to get their marks or just 'for fun'. He didn't know all the names of the victims, but enough to close quite a few cases and to put to trial the criminals. Practically all those who escaped prison due to the claim of being under "imperius" were arrested again, for other crimes. Only Lucius escaped, mainly because he was already dead.
This didn't help Peter much during his trial. The only debate was about which punishment was a better fit for his crimes. The decision was delayed until other trials could be held since his testimony was needed in some.
Peter also found that he was no longer an animagus. Whatever happened in that ritual circle had stripped him of that ability. It wouldn't have helped him anyway. His temporary "accommodation" was well-warded, disallowing any living being from passing the wards unless specifically permitted. He was still unsure if he could look forward to any future accommodation of any kind or just for death.
–..–
Dumbledore wasn't happy. Madam bones forced him to not preside over Peter's trial since he needed to testify. This prevented him from directing the trial away from areas that he considered problematic. He had to confirm that he was the one who cast the Fidelius and he made Peter the secret keeper, not Sirius. Although he wasn't the one on trial, the press was quick to point at him for refraining from helping Sirius, who was a part of his Order of the Phoenix. It was also pointed out that he'd done nothing to bring Sirius to trial, despite the man being sent to prison without one. Couldn't they understand that some things were more important? He couldn't really tell them that he needed Sirius far away from any influence on Harry, that he needed Harry to look at him as his mentor and trust him completely. Not that it had worked that way, in the end.
Looking back, Albus wondered if he wouldn't have had more influence had he let Sirius raise Harry. Young Sirius used to adore Albus with no questions, almost like Hagrid, and he would have passed that to Harry.
Well, it was too late for that. The brat was now his boss and no longer needed Albus. He also seemed not to trust Albus at all, trusting his wives instead, not that it was surprising.
He also worried about Severus. He managed to stop Amelia from arresting the poor lad, but with the testimonies of other Death Eaters, he doubted for how long he could still keep the lad out of prison. Unfortunately, he couldn't even honestly claim that Severus was redeemed. The way he had acted in class and with students in general, made Severus look just as bad as the ones on trial. Sometimes, even Albus felt not quite sure about that.
–..–
It took Sirius some time to come to terms with the news. At first, he could barely believe it. He then tried to roam the city in his dog form, checking various newspapers on Diagon Alley. He then used some muggle disguise to roam around in his human form, He even visited Gringotts where he was presented with his Lord ring. Finally, he asked Harry to accompany him, as well as Remus, Tonks and, after some consideration, Dumbledore.
Amelia was glad to give him back his wand and his other possessions. "Auror Black, I suggest you take some time to recuperate from your ordeal. We owe you a paid vacation for twelve or more years, and I expect you to use it to fully regain your health. By then, you may decide if you want to resume your role as Auror or retire."
Sirius expected that offer. "I thankfully accept your suggestion. I feel that I need to recuperate quite a bit. I may prefer to do it in a much warmer climate, though, since I feel like I'll never be warm again, after staying at Azkaban for so long. Then, I also hope to resume some friendships from before that event, and possibly more than friendships."
Amelia found herself blushing slightly. "Of course. Re-establishing old ties is a part of the recuperation process. Then, as you get to know your godson anew, you'll also get to know his wives." Her tone changed to a more personal one. "I expect you already know that my niece, Susan, is one of them."
He smiled. "Of course, and she even reminds me of you, when we were both younger. Harry is lucky to have gained her love." The tone implied that he'd like to gain her aunt's love.
Amelia blushed some more but managed to say, "I agree. She's very dear to me, just as Harry is dear to you."
They parted soon enough. Sirius would spend a few days in St. Mungos, just to be fully diagnosed and given the proper potions regime before he left for the Black island, which was unplottable, but somewhere near the tropic circle.