A/N: As a fair warning, if YOU DO NOT LIKE CLIFFHANGERS, wait until FRIDAY to read this chapter (and the next one).

This chapter starts a new 'chunk', so if you read in chunks, come back at 367

Harry and Susan went with Hermione up to Dumbledore's office after dinner on Thursday, both wearing their best robes.

"I'm nervous," Susan admitted. "I've been to the Wizengamot before, but I've never testified."

"It'll be fine," Hermione assured her. "You're clever. Just be thoughtful with your words and tell the truth, and it'll be fine."

"Will I get to see Sirius Black?" Harry asked. "Will he be there?"

"I don't think so," Hermione said. "This is the pre-trial type stuff. Sirius Black isn't going to come out of hiding for a proper trial until the Ministry promises he won't be Kissed on sight."

Harry sighed.

"I guess that's fair," he conceded. "Drat. I kind of wanted to meet my godfather."

With as little family as Harry had, Hermione supposed that wasn't a surprise.

Dumbledore greeted them all at his office, smiling.

"This evening will certainly be an adventure, won't it?" he said, eyes twinkling behind half-moon glasses. He led them over to the fireplace, throwing Floo powder into the flames to turn them emerald green. "And each great adventure starts with a bold first step."

He gestured to them, smiling, and Hermione led the way, stepping into the fireplace, tucking in her elbows, and calling out, "Ministry of Magic!"

The Ministry was practically deserted this time of day, with all the light globes dimmed down. Susan and Harry came through the fire, followed by Dumbledore, and he led the way.

"We'll be in a trial room today," he said, black velvet robes sweeping along the floor. "Utterly confidential, and with a Truth Circle no one can challenge." He gave them a smile. "If we're going to do this, we might as well do it right."

Hermione didn't really know what to say to that.

The trial room was the same one in which Harry and Hermione had testified in over the past summer. As they entered this time, though, the Wizengamot was still circulating around, talking as everyone filed in.

"I have to go up to my seat," Hermione told Harry and Susan. She gave each of them a quick hug. "Good luck, you two!"

She hurried up the steep stairs to the back, where Royce Fiddlewood was waiting for her.

"What's this committee inquiry I've got about my budget?" he demanded, holding up a paper. "There's no legislative committee formed for any of this here – I'd know if there were legislation in progress about werewolves!"

"It's just me – a committee of one," Hermione said hastily. "And it's not to audit your budget – I'm trying to determine if you're allotted enough to pull off my idea for werewolf legislation and reform. If not, then we'd need to give your department more."

"Give my department more money?" Royce said. He squinted at her suspiciously. "No one cares about my department, you realize. They like to forget that magical creatures exist."

"If we terrify them about the threat of werewolves and then present a perfect solution to the problem, they'll be falling over themselves to fund it," Hermione said, confident. "I'm trying to figure out the finances of it all to make sure it will work before I present it to the Wizengamot."

Royce looked her over consideringly.

"Give me what you have so far," he said. "If you're going to reform my department, I want to help."

"I don't have anything written down yet," Hermione protested.

"Then just tell me what's in your head," Royce said dismissively. "What's your core idea? What exactly do you think is going to work?"

Hermione explained her idea in a hushed voice, Royce growing thoughtful as she talked.

"I've honestly never heard an idea anything like that," he said. "I'll have to ask someone on the sixth floor about the possible expense to see if it's remotely feasible. I know someone I can talk to there – Miriam Edgecombe owes me a favor…"

Dumbledore's gavel suddenly echoed loudly in the hall, and everyone quickly fell silent, finding their seats. Hermione watched as Lucius and Narcissa both took their places, their features emotionless. It was remarkable how well they were portraying a cold anger between the two of them without saying a word – it was in the subtle things, like Lucius not taking Narcissa's arm to escort her to her seat, in Narcissa not looking at her husband before she stood to speak.

Adult Slytherins were very subtle, Hermione mused. By contrast, she must seem as subtle as a charging hippo.

"We are gathered to investigate the claims put forth by Sirius Black in his complaint to the court," Dumbledore announced, his voice ringing out. "We have called the first two people on Black's list of supporting witnesses to question them. Harry Potter, if you would take the stand, we will begin."

There was no Wand of the Realm present for questioning this time, Hermione saw. Instead, Dumbledore led the questioning, with others chiming in as need be.

"For the record, can you tell us your name, please?" Dumbledore said.

"Um. Harry James Potter," Harry said. He shifted in his seat.

"Thank you. Now, Harry," Dumbledore said. "What can you tell us about Sirius Black?"

It was such an open-ended question that Hermione was astounded, and Harry was caught off guard as well.

"Err—I heard he's my godfather," Harry said. "He's wanted for breaking out of Azkaban. And he's said to have been the one who betrayed my parents to Voldemort."

There was a murmur in the room at Harry saying Voldemort's name.

"Sirius Black has alleged he did not betray your parents," Dumbledore said. "Do you know anything about that?"

"Not directly," Harry said slowly. "But I have reason to believe that's true."

There was another murmur.

"What reason do you have for that?" Dumbledore prompted.

Harry glanced up at Hermione, who nodded, and he took a deep breath.

"When I first heard Sirius Black was my godfather and he'd betrayed my parents, I was angry," he said. "I wanted to go after him – just leave school and chase after him, to demand he account for what he'd done. No one knew where he was, though, so it wasn't a great idea. So my coven and I decided to do a Blood Debt ritual, to call him to account for his crimes that way—"

"A coven?" Zarek Selwyn interrupted. "I'm sorry, did you say a coven?"

"I did," Harry said, holding his chin up.

There was a murmur at his words.

"I'm sorry, I know you were raised with muggles, but the word 'coven' has a very specific meaning within the wizarding world," one of the regional representatives said apologetically. "Do you mean—"

"We bled and bound our magic together on Beltane," Harry said, eyes flashing with defiance. He raised his hand, ring glinting from his finger. "My magic is their magic, and their magic is mine."

There were gasps and loud murmurs at this.

"A coven?" Muriel Prewett demanded. "You're letting them form covens in Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore?"

"Though ritual magic has long since been removed from the Hogwarts curriculum, covens have never been forbidden at Hogwarts," Dumbledore said pleasantly.

"And they shouldn't be," Rowan Greengrass said curtly. "They are part of our heritage." He looked at Harry. "Please, continue."

Harry glanced around, uncertain.

"I was just so angry," he recounted. "So we decided to do a Blood-Debt ritual, to call Sirius Black to account for the deaths of my parents and his betrayal. Only… it didn't quite go as expected."

"What happened?" Dumbledore prompted.

"Well, the ritual worked," Harry said awkwardly. "The blood made these giant tentacles of magic that went searching for the traitor, but it didn't bring back Sirius Black. It brought back my friend's pet rat."

There was a collective gasp.

"A rat? A rat?" August Longbottom demanded.

"Um. Yes," Harry said. "My friend Ron has a pet rat, Scabbers."

The Wizengamot, having heard Sirius' full complaint and accusation of Peter Pettigrew being an unregistered Animagus, were shocked, and they broke into murmurs. Harry, having no idea of the details of that complaint, went on.

"We thought it might be because we used Ron's blood in the ritual," he said. "We needed virgin blood, and he gave us his. We were going to try again in case we did it wrong, but we never got around to it – there was so much else going on. And… well…" Harry hesitated. "The ritual felt right. It felt like when the magic searched for the traitor, it found Sirius Black, determined him not guilty, and then went on to find Scabbers." He shrugged. "We figured maybe there was a curse that turned the real traitor of my parents into a literal rat, but we could never find a counter-curse to try."

The court stared at Harry, amazed. The murmuring didn't stop.

"To summarize," Augusta Longbottom said. "You, with your coven, sought justice for the death of your parents. Instead of pulling Sirius Black into your ritual circle, however, you pulled in your friend's pet rat."

"That's exactly what happened," Harry said, shrugging.

"Does anyone have any further questions for Harry Potter?" Dumbledore asked the Wizengamot.

"What do you do with your coven?" Muriel Prewett blurted out. "Besides Blood debt rituals?"

"Um," Harry said. "Well, before this, we were getting lessons from Professor Lupin – that's the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor – on how to cast the Patronus charm."

"The Patronus Charm?" Amelia Bones asked, surprised. "You're only in your third year!"

"Well, it was tough to learn," Harry admitted. "It helped that we're bound as a coven – we were able to share magic with each other until we got the hang of it."

"Wait – you're saying you succeeded?" Amelia was astounded. "You can cast a corporeal Patronus? At thirteen?"

"Um," said Harry. "Yes."

"I don't believe him," Lucius Malfoy said loudly. "The boy clearly doesn't know what 'corporeal' means, for the Truth Circle to read that statement as true."

"I do too," Harry said, getting angry. "I'm not lying. Watch." He withdrew his wand. "Expecto Patronum!"

A brilliant silver stag burst out of the tip of Harry's wand, galloping around the chamber, leaving silver wisps behind it in the air. The Wizengamot gasped, and on an impulse, Hermione started clapping. A moment later, the others joined in, then more, until the nearly the entire chamber was clapping. Hermione was satisfied to see Harry's face look a bit red when he dismissed the Patronus, the applause slowly dying down.

"Do you and your coven often study very advanced magic?" Muriel asked suspiciously. "That charm is out of reach for most adults, let alone a third year!"

"It seemed like a good thing to learn when there are dementors surrounding your school," Harry shot back angrily. "They invaded the school grounds once, messing up a Quidditch game. I could have died, falling from my broom, just because they wanted to feed on everyone's emotions. I didn't want to ever be that vulnerable again, so we went to the Defense professor and asked for help."

There was a heavy silence in the chamber. Harry was glaring at Muriel, who looked very taken aback. No one said a word.

"There are no further questions for Harry Potter," Dumbledore concluded a moment later. "Harry, you may step down."

Harry hopped down from the stand and took a seat on the side. Susan was called up next to testify in front of the Wizengamot.

"I am in Harry Potter's coven," Susan said, glancing over at him. "We did decide to do a Blood-Debt ritual. Everything Harry said is true."

"Do you have any thoughts on the ritual or Sirius Black that Mr. Potter did not already express?" Lucius Malfoy drawled.

"Only that we did the ritual properly," Susan asserted, sitting up straight. "Afterward, we wondered if we messed up, but I'm confident we didn't. We didn't call for Sirius Black by name; our words were 'House Potter was betrayed, and the betrayal calls for blood; we reach for the traitor's blood through blood, and we summon the traitor to come and answer for what he has done'." She glanced around. "The fact Sirius Black didn't appear means he is not the one who betrayed House Potter. It has nothing to do with where we got the blood."

Susan wasn't as famous as Harry, so people weren't as hesitant to quiz her on the existence of the coven.

"What was your first ritual as a coven?" Muriel asked suspiciously.

"You mean besides just binding our magic together?" Susan asked. "Um – we did a ritual on Beltane to help ghosts pass on if they wanted. It opened up a path to the beyond. A couple of them moved on – it was kind of beautiful to see."

"A Light necromancy ritual?" Phaedra Lestrange wondered aloud. "I've never heard of such a thing."

"Covens have gotten a bad name because of You-Know-Who polluting traditional ritual magic," Susan said, glancing at Phaedra sideways. "My mother was in a coven, though. As was her mother. Sharing your magic with those you trust allows for you to amplify your power and do magnificent things you couldn't do otherwise."

"What else have you done?" Thoros Nott wanted to know.

"We've been trying to help someone conceive through fertility rituals lately," Susan said, vague. "It's her private business, so I don't want to name names, but a lot of old fertility rituals are messy and kind of Dark. We've been altering them to account for willing participants, to make them Light acts of creation instead of Dark aberrations against nature."

There was a murmur at that.

"Did it work?" Rowan Greengrass wanted to know. "Did it work?"

"It's not my place to say yet," Susan said evasively, which was answer enough – Rowan's eyes grew wide.

There were only a few more questions for Susan – apparently saying that they were able to help with fertility issues had helped their public image already with the Wizengamot. When Susan was allowed to step down, she went to sit with Harry.

"We have heard testimony from two witnesses. Both accounts support the claims put forth by Sirius Black in his complaint," Dumbledore announced. "What says the court?"

"Grant him his stay!" August Longbottom demanded immediately. "Give him a fair trial!"

"The words of confused teenagers messing with magic they don't understand is hardly sufficient evidence to prove a murderer innocent," Lucius Malfoy drawled. "Summon the boy with the rat. Compel him to bring his pet. Let us see once and for all if this rat is truly Peter Pettigrew."

There were loud murmurs and agreement at that. Dumbledore banged his gavel.

"It does no harm to be certain," he conceded. "Sirius Black listed Ronald Weasley as a witness to support his claim. We shall summon him and his pet rat, and we shall determine the truth of these matters once and for all. We will reconvene next Thursday."

He banged his gavel again, and the Wizengamot got up, murmuring and circulating amongst themselves. Hermione went and joined Harry and Susan, both of whom had wide eyes.

"Scabbers is Peter Pettigrew?" Harry asked, his voice hushed. "What?"

"That's what he's saying," Hermione said quietly. She bit her lip, glancing up at Harry. "And I believe him. I think Black is innocent."

"If he finally gets a trial, we'll find out one way or the other," Susan said. She pushed her turquoise glasses up. "I can't believe Crouch just threw him in jail without a trial. Black was in there twelve years."

"He threw his own son into Azkaban with only a show trial, I heard," Hermione said. "Crouch wanted to come down hard on Death Eaters, and he didn't care about collateral damage."

Harry snorted. "Brilliant."

The Wizengamot cleared out rather quickly, and Dumbledore waited for it to clear out before escorting them back out.

"I dislike having to do this in the dark," he admitted to them, lighting his wand with a wordless Lumos. It helped, but only a dim light seemed to permeate the darkness of the corridors. "Follow me please."

Level Ten, where the courtrooms were, was only accessible via a small staircase that led up to Level Nine. Dumbledore led the way, followed by Harry, Susan, and Hermione taking up the rear. The Department of Mysteries, which dominated Level Nine, gleamed in the dim light from the blue-white torches, black tiled walls glinting with a haunted ambience. Dumbledore hummed as they waited for the lift.

"You would think," he said pleasantly, looking up at the lift, "that in a building of this size with this many employees, they would have more than one elevator."

They all laughed, waiting patiently.

It happened very suddenly – one moment, Hermione was waiting for the lift with Dumbledore and the rest of them, and the next, she was zooming through space, a sharp hook behind her navel yanking her along. She crashed into the floor of a dark room, gasping, and she whirled around, wand out and alert.

Hermione could see nothing. The room she was in was pitch black.

"Lumos," she said, and her wand lit up. She held her wand aloft, searching.

The room she was in was much taller than she had realized initially – it wasn't entirely dark, she could see now – the ceiling was similar to the one in the Great Hall, alight with stars and distant galaxies. A large model of the planets hung in the air, suspended in space, shining slightly in the light of Hermione's wand.

"Hello?" Hermione called out, taking a careful step forward. Her voice echoed in the darkness. "Is anybody there?"

Footsteps echoed from the far side of the room, and a figure walked towards her, boots clicking. As the figure came into view, Hermione could see it was a woman, wearing jeans and a black T-shirt with the image a prism on it, light entering it and forming a rainbow. She wore a rough-looking black robe over it, open, and Hermione's eyes went wide.

"Sylvia?" Hermione asked, astonished. "Sylvia Lestrange?"

Sylvia's eyes seemed to glow.

"Hello, Hermione Granger," she said. "I'm here to blackmail you."