Welcome back everyone to another chapter of Bad Moon Rising, in which I try to wrap up the trail, Fudge digs himself a deeper grave, and, hopefully, Scáthach and Harry take a trip into the Department of Mysteries.
On with the show.
Wizengamot Hall.
With a bang of the gavel, the door to the hall was sealed behind them all, the trial had begun with the thunderous sound of a magical lock clicking into place. But despite the enormity of the charges leveled against Harry, the boy himself felt oddly relaxed, he knew one way or another that he was walking out of the Ministry a free man thanks to either the plan in place by the Order, whatever machinations that The Morrígan had cooked up, or the simple fact that his Teacher would most likely kill every single person in the room to ensure Harry's freedom. So when Fudge cleared his throat to draw the attention of the courts to him, Harry looked up at the man without an ounce of fear on his face.
"Mister Potter, with the numerous charges levied against you by the Ministry and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement for the sake of expediency, we will be starting with what this court sees as the most minor offenses before moving on to the crimes that have the most severe penalties attached to them, do you understand?" Fudge says, looking down at Harry with a frown, his eyes constantly flickering to Dumbledore and back again.
Harry looks over toward Ted, whose eyes never leave the upper stands of the courts, and sees the man give a small nod before turning back to the Minister, "Yes, um, is it Minister or Chief Warlock?" Harry asks as Fudge's eyes shoot back to him.
"Chief Warlock will do, Mister Potter, or a simple Yes, Sir to a simple question like the one I just asked," Fudge informs Harry as he nods and says yes sir, ignoring the temptation to call him "Ma'am" just to see what he would do.
"Excellent, Now, on the charge of resisting arrest, a crime that has a punishment of up to four months in Azkaban or up to a thousand Galleon fine, How do you plead?" Fudge asks, looking up from the parchment work that he had in front of him.
Harry, Sirius, and Ted had already gone over each charge the night before, and Harry would plead to each one with a prepared argument for any ready just in case, "My client pleads no contest to the charges of resisting arrest, Chief Warlock," Ted speaks up from his seat to Harry's right in a calm polite voice, "Though we will plead with the Court for leniency on this charge, My client wasn't in the right state of mind due to outside personal matters, the Dementors showing up just made the matters worse for him," he says with a smile.
Fudge nods his head before turning to his left to Madam Bones who stands, "The Department of Magical Law Enforcement is willing to waive any time in Azkaban, and instead, fine the defendant the total sum of five hundred Galleons to paid to the Ministry in one year time," She says before taking her seat once more before Fudge speaks once more.
"Does anyone have anything else to add?" Fudge says before looking around the court. No one moves or says a word, so he nods his head before banging the gavel once more, "Then this court charges Mister Potter with the total fine and will add this to his record, the court will now close these charges," he says before shuffling his papers around, "Moving on, with the charges of the death of two Ministry Employees, which carries with it a maximum sentence of five years in Azkaban each, how does Mister Potter plead?" Fudge asks, looking over his glasses toward Ted.
"My client pleads not guilty," Ted simply says simply as Fudge frowns a bit.
"On what grounds does he plead not guilty?" the Chief Warlock asks with a raised brow.
"Come now Chief Warlock," Ted says with a bit of a scoff, "We both know Dementors are classified as Non-Beings and so, do not have the same rights as one under the Stature of Magical Human Rights as I or you have, they are creatures, and so they can not be employed in the same way one could employee an auror," Ted says in a clear and polite voice much to the whispers to the court, but Harry could see Madam Bones nod her head at Ted's words.
"Not to mention that before this incident, Dementors were thought to be immortal, so there was no law in place about the repercussions of killing one, you can't just label them as Ministry Employees because no law exists about it," Ted says with a shrug of his shoulders, and as Fudge opens his mouth to speak, another voice cuts him off.
"I would have to concur with Mr. Tonks, Cornelius," Lady Perevell speaks up from her seat, "Dementors are strictly classified as Non-Beings and five X-class creatures, none of these can technically be employed by the Ministry, and I also find this insulting to both this body and the good Hit-Wizards and Aurors to even be having this conversation," she says with slight disband as the whispers from the lowest court begin again as Madam Bones nods her head once again, "I say we move to a vote to strike this gravest overreach of terminology from Mister Potters record," Lady Perevell says calmly looking around the court as Neville Longbottom's grandma strikes her cane against the floor twice.
"Here, Here, I second this motion," The old woman says as she sends a glare down at Cornelius.
"Third," Daniel Gaunt grunts out from his seat, before Fudge scowls before picking up his gavel and striking it twice.
"The motion of voting has passed, all those in favor of striking the crime from Mister Potter's record please raise your lit wands," Fudge says before most of the court doing so, with the only four abstaining from doing so was Fudge, the toad woman, Lucius Malfoy, and Bode, though the last one seemed to be asleep in his chair rather than paying attention to anything around him, "The motion has passed, let the record reflect that we have struck the crime from the accused case," Fudge says before banging the gavel twice more before he picks up a quill before drawing two lines through something of a piece of parchment before stamping it and signing it and handing it to Percy who takes it with a nod.
"Now, moving on to the three counts of the Misuse of an Artifact, which each counts punishment being a fine up to ten thousand Galleons and the seizure of the Artifact, how does Mister Potter plead?" Fudge says, once again looking down at Ted, a small smile growing on his face.
"My Client pleads Not Guilty, Chief Warlock," says, returning the smile with confidence.
"Shocked, I am not," Fudge says with a small scowl, "On what grounds does he plead not Guilty?" Fudge asks.
"Because he did not misuse anything, my client used the Artifact in question for its intended purpose, self-defense," Ted says before Fudge scoffs at his words.
"Self-defense?" Fudge asks with a scowl, "He used it to kill a dragon that was granted not only sanctuary on the islands but was also under the protection of this ministry for its visit during the first task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, then twice more on two guards of Azkaban sent to subdue him," Fudge says, and before Ted Tonks could answer back, another voice speaks up.
"Just to be clear, what Artifact are we talking about?" Scáthach asks from her seat on the same level that Lucius Malfoy sat on.
Fudge turns to her with a frown on his face, "Miss Árd-Greimne, I will ask you to raise a lot wand if you wish to speak next time, but we are talking about an Artifact called the Géa-Bolg that Mister Potter had in his possession since the first task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament last year," Fudge says before looking back toward Harry, muttering under his breath, "Not that you would know about it," that made Harry bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from smiling from what he knew was about to come.
"Excuse me, Minister, what was that?" Scáthach asks, turning her head to look fully at Fudge with a raised brow and without a lit wand.
"Ma'am, I have just told-" Fudge says, trying to cover his embarrassment from being heard, just before Scáthach cuts him off.
"What would I not know about, Minister?" Scáthach asks with a dangerous edge to her voice that puts Harry on edge as Fudge looks at Scáthach with his lips pressed into a thin line.
"Would I not know about the Tri-Wizard tournament? Or would I not know about The Géa-Bolg? Please, be clear, if you will," Scáthach asks, her eyes narrowing at the man.
"The Géa-Bolg," The minister says through gritted teeth, and Harry winces for the man, "It is an unknown artifact from a very old Legend of the islands," Fudge tells her.
Scáthach just smiles, making most people in the room uneasy by the sight of it, "You speak of the legend of Cú Chulainn, the hound of ulster, and his training on the Isle of Skye, yes?" she asks with a look of amusement on her face, "Because assuming an Irish national doesn't know a story that originated in their home country is rather insulting," She says as the Ministers face grows pink in embarrassment, "But allow me to inform you what I know about the Géa Bolg, while you, wrongly, call it an Artifact, when it is an amalgamation of curses," Scáthach say, much to the surprise of most of the room.
"You see when the Géa Bolg was First created by three powerful witches, they went over every wording the curse could form from, every possible counter curse and action one could take to avoid it, every known configuration of runes that all wards on the Islands, and some even on distant shores are based on into account to make the curse as lethal as it is before stitching each curse they created together and infused it to two spears carved from the bone of a now extinct sea creature," Scáthach explains in the same tone of voice she spoke in when she was lecturing Harry of battle tactics and warfare philosophy.
"The spear itself isn't an artifact and is merely the system of delivery for the four hundred and seventy-three curses that the spear contains that all inevitably end in one thing, Death," Scáthach says in such a flat and matter-of-fact delivery that it left most people looking at her oddly, even Bode had opened one of his eyes to look at her in sharp curiosity, "So calling it an Artifact is mislabeling it when the true nature of the Géa Bolg is simply a very well made and highly attuned curse," she says dismissively to the speechless court.
"If that is true, Miss Árd-Greimne, then would you say anyone could learn this curse?" The toad-like woman asks.
"Unlikely," Scáthach answers back, "The curse itself was created without safeguards in place for the user and is incompatible with any foci in existence, which is why a spear was chosen to hold it in the first place," she says before turning to Harry with a proud look in her eye, "It takes a great amount of skill, will power, and a sheer stubborn personality to utilize it effectively if anyone lesser would try, the curse would consume them," she says as Harry rises his head in pride that he was able to use his teacher's penultimate technique to such a degree as he has shown as she smiles down on him.
"Even if that was true, Miss Árd-Greimne, it does not fit the current legal definition of what a curse is and is more akin to what an Artifact is," Fudge says with a slight glare, "And so does not have ground to stand on to remove the charges of the misuse of an artifact that has been levied against Mister Potter," he says before turning back to Harry just before someone rises their lit wand.
"The court recognizes Director Bode of the Department of Mysteries, you have a question, Director Bode?" Fudge asks after banging his gavel twice.
The older man who not too long ago looked to be napping was not sitting up and looking at Scáthach with something akin to recognition in his eyes, "Just a statement and a simple question, first, from what we were able to find with non-intrusive scans of the Artifact in question, I inform the court that what Miss Árd-Greimne is correct, the spear is just a spear that has seemed to be enchanted in some way to hold a rather powerful and nasty curse," He says with a quiet hum to his voice, much to the whispering to the court, "And my question is Directed to Miss Árd-Greimne herself, your last name is rather interesting, was it something bestowed upon you or a family name?" he asks as a few people look at him confused.
"A family name, my step-father to be exact," Scáthach answers politely before giving Mister Bode pause for a moment before he slowly nods his head to her.
"That will be all," Bode says before relaxing back in his seat and closing his eyes once more.
"Getting back on track, the defense of the use of the Artifact as intended is shaky at best because it doesn't matter how Mister Potter used it, it is the fact that he used it at all, the esteemed body does not dull out pardons for the use of any of the unforgivable curse, why would we do so for this? Hmm?" Fudge says as he looks around the court as a few people nod their heads.
"Objection your honor," Ted says before standing from his seat, "Your statement isn't entirely true, now is it?" he states with a glare, "During the First Blood War the Auror department was given leniency in casting the killing curse on Death Eaters and full pardons for each account," he says.
"We were at war as you well know, Mr. Tonks," Fudge snaps at him.
"Yes, we were, but what about the other three cases in which this body had pardoned the use of the killing curse?" Ted asks, placing his hands behind his back and beginning to pace in front of the court, "In 1723, Mary Alice of the Noble House Selwyn used the curse to kill her husband who was trying to kill her with the same curse, because she used it in self-defense, In 1834, Marven Ackerman used the curse against a Muggle with a firearm trying to kill him, he was pardoned in, once again, Self-Defense, and the last time, in 1899, a Jarves Bettlebock, a simple farmer, used it no less than four times against a group of dark wizards that had captured him and was hunting him for a spot of good fun," Ted pauses for a moment to take a breath while looking around the court, "And it was pardoned, once again, in self-defense, if this most evil of curses has been given a pardon, why not the same for the Géa Bolg?" Mr. Tonks argues before the court causing the whispers to start again.
"This is a poor argument as well," Fudge says dismissively, "The Dementors were doing as they were told to do while the dragon was invited here by the ministry for the first task with its word that it would not truly harm any student that it was put against, this wasn't self-defense in any-" he continues before being cut off by Mr. Tonks.
"Is that so, Chief Warlock?" Ted asks before turning and walking back to his seat and opening the briefcase that he brought with him and pulling out a few files before lifting them overhead, "Then these sworn statements by both the Auror corps and the staff of Hogwarts into an investigation into the incident during the first task where someone had switched the dragon that Mister Potter was assigned with an unidentified one that hadn't agreed to the terms that our ministry had laid out means nothing?" Ted asks before tapping one of the files with his wand, creating duplicates of it before sending them to all sitting members of the court as they open them and begin to skim through them.
"As you all can see from the reports, the dragon that Mister Potter was assigned was a White scaled South American Quetzalcoatl, and the dragon that he used the Artifact on was, as of yet, an unidentified Black Scale Dragon. This unidentified dragon attacked my client with the intent to kill, it said so itself before Mister Potter used the Géa Bolg on it," Mr. Tonks says before the whispers turn into loud mutterings, it was then Amos Diggery raises his lit wand.
"The court recognizes Director Diggery of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, you have the floor, Amos," Fudge says, banging his gavel twice and silencing the other heads of departments.
"Thank you, Chief Warlock," Mr. Diggery says before turning to Harry, "Mister Potter, by the statement in front of us it said the dragon could speak, I was wondering how well it could? Was it saying only one word or broken sentences?" he asks, before Ted turns to Harry and nods his head.
"Um, no, it was-" Harry tries to say before he's interrupted by Fudge.
"See, the boy can't even keep his story straight, this fabrication is preposterous, even the oldest dragons recorded could only speak single words to answer anything asked of them," Fudge says before picking up his gavel, "I'm ordering us to move on-"
"Cornelius, I swear if you bang that gavel to try and move past questioning I will come down there myself," Lady Peverell snaps at the Minister, causing him to stop and turn around to look at her and flitches at the glare she was leveling at him before turning to Harry with a softer expression, "Please, continue where you were so rudely cut off from Mister Potter," she says with a smile.
Harry nods, not trusting anything that the goddess was doing, "It wasn't speaking in single words or broken sentences, it was speaking in proper English and was asking how tasty I was going to be when it ate me," Harry says before Fudge scoffs.
"There hasn't been a recorded dragon who can speak in full sentences to my knowledge before," Fudge says before Mr. Diggery speaks up once more.
"Actually, there is one on the British Isles," Mr. Diggery says, turning to face Fudge who in turn looks at him with a raised brow, "It's exceedingly rare mind you, but there is an albino Welsh Red that speaks fluent English, Welsh, and french, it's currently living in the caverns under Gringotts at the behest of the goblins," Amos says much to the surprise of the court.
"And why haven't we been told this fact?" Fudge demands.
"Well, we have," Mr. Diggery says, shuffling his feet a bit, "We've known it was there for the past three hundred years or so, it's just not a well-known fact, the only time it comes up is when re-registration for it comes up every ten years or so, the goblins pay the fee and we send a dragon tamer to check it over to make sure it's not being mistreated, I've even gone myself," He says with a shrug of his shoulders, "I found her a bit off-putting with her obsession with stuffed animals, but otherwise very dolce," Mr. Diggery tells Fudge, much to the confused surprise of the Minister.
"We are getting off track, again," the calm voice of Lady Peverell carries over the court before she turns to Dumbledore, "Headmaster, in the course of the investigation did you find out what happened to the Quetzalcoatl that was originally assigned to Mister Potter?" she asks.
Dumbledore nods once before speaking, "Yes, Lady Peverell, we found what remained of the poor creature in its cage after the task, it looked half eaten by I dear say, a much bigger fish," he says with a joke to lighten up such a tragic event.
Lady Peverell nods before looking over at Mr. Tonks, "And what of the Dementors? You spoke of the use of the Géa Bolg in self-defense in all three uses, would you care to elaborate?" she asks, though, to Harry, it sounded more like a demand.
"I would, Lady Peverell," Mr. Tonks says with a bow of his head before holding up three other files, "These are the written statements of Lord Sirius Orion of the House of Black, Atalanta Claydon or the Hunters of Artemis, and the after action report of Arresting Auror Dawlish all stating the same thing," he says before pausing to copy each one and sending them to the members of the court, "That the Dementors went against the orders of Wizengamot and tried to subject the kiss to both Lord Black and Miss Claydon, my client, Mister Potter acted in self-defense not for himself, but for those he loves and cares about, something anyone of us would do if we were in the same circumstances," he says before walking back over to and stowing the files away, giving the court the time needed to read through each statement.
After a few minutes of silent reading and muttering, Fudge finally speaks up, sounding a bit more grumpy than a few minutes before, "The fact of the Dementors stepping out of line aside, Mister Potter's first response should not have been to use an incredibly deadly Artifact," The minister says with a sour face.
"And what else could the boy do, Cornelius?" Madam Bones speaks up from her seat, turning to look at the Minister with a glare, "Run to the nearest Auror in a Muggle neighborhood? Or did you expect him to use the Patronus Charm at his age?" she says.
"Well, I would have, but we're not allowed to use magic outside of school," Harry says, even though he knew he wasn't in the right state of mind to use any magic, That's when Harry notices most of the court looking at him in surprise, "What?" he asks.
"You can use the Patronus Charm? At your age?" Madam Bones asks, her eyes wide as Harry nods at her question, "Is it corporeal?" she asks.
"Is it what?" Harry asks back, confused.
"Does it have a form, Mister Potter? Or is it just shapeless light?" Madam Bones asks.
"Oh, it's a stag, it's always been a stag," Harry states, watching as Madam Bones' eyes narrow.
"Always?" She asks, "Just how long have you been able to perform the Patronus Charm?" Madam Bones' questions.
"Since the end of my third year," Harry says with a shrug as he watches Madam Bones' monocle fall from her eye.
"By Mother Magic's garters," Madam Bones says breathlessly as most of the court looks at Harry in open shock, even Ted had turned to him with a look of shock.
"Mister Potter has always shown himself to be a powerful Wizard for his age, his growing mastery of Battle Magic speaks for just that," Dumbledore speaks up, a note of pride in his voice, "He is, if you do not mind a bit of humble bragging, one of the most powerful students that the halls of Hogwarts have ever seen, perhaps the most powerful they have ever seen," Dumbledore admits as most of the court looks at the Headmaster in open shock, for a man thought the world over to be the greatest Wizard since Merlin himself to say something like that carried a lot of weight, even Harry had looked at Dumbledore with surprise(Not that he looked to see him, to know he would outstrip the old-) Harry grinds his teeth but looks away from Dumbledore.
"I think I've heard enough," Lugh speaks up from his seat, "The boy defended himself and those he cared for, which is good enough for me, I say we move this sham along to the vote," He says looking bored in his seat, but even from the bottom floor he could see the fires of the sun burning in his eyes about something, for something.
Lady Peverell and Lupusregina quickly agree to move to a vote, and with no one having any more questions the court cast the vote to strike the charges from the record, which passed with three-fourths of votes to do so, much to the displeasure of Fudge he repeated the process that he had done with the previous charge of the death of two Ministry "Employees".
"Then we move on to the final charge and the most heinous of all," Fudge says drawing himself up to full height, "The charges of Fifty-Six charges of vandalism of a grave with the intent to create Inferni, the punishment for which is a life sentence in Azkaban, Mr. Tonks, how does your client plead?" Fudge asks, the distasteful frown never leaving his face.
"He pleads not guilty, Chief Warlock," Ted says with a nod of his head, and this time Fudge doesn't make any comment but notes something down before looking back up to Harry.
"Now, I will be the first to admit that the evidence of Mister Potter perpetrating this heinous act is circumstantial at best, but seeing there was no other evidence of anyone else being at the scene of this crime, we are forced to bring him up on these charges to get to his testimony in this matter," Fudge says as he puts down his quill and interlocking his fingers.
"Chief Warlock, you did not need to bring my client to an official hearing to get his testimony, you could have sent an Auror to get his statement on it," Ted says, as he continues to stand, "I motion for a mistrial on the merit of this is wildly unnecessary and for lack of evidence that you, yourself, have admitted too," Mr. Tonks argues.
"Your motion is denied, ," Fudge says to him, "While the evidence is circumstantial, it is still evidence of Mister Potter's possible involvement," he says before turning to Harry, "Mister Potter, would you care to explain to this court as to how your wand was found at the scene of this crime?" he asks Harry.
Harry swallows before glancing at Ted, who sighs but nods, "I've told you how it happened before, sir," Harry says as he watches Fudge scoff.
"No, Mister Potter, what you told me when last we met was a fantastical story," Fudge says dismissively, "And not once in it do you ever mention the creation of Inferni, Mister Potter," he says right before Lady Peverell lifts a lot wand, causing Fudge to sigh out a little before calling on her.
"Yes, I have a few clarifying questions, the first of which is what year are you in at Hogwarts, Mister Potter?" Lady Perevell asks with a raised brow.
"Um, going into my fifth, ma'am," Harry says, a look of vicious disgust passing over his face for showing her any amount of respect, but from the growing smile on her face she had enjoyed it immensely.
"And, do tell, do you even know what an Infernus is?" Lady Perevell asks with a smile of eager anticipation.
"I learned what they were last night from Sirius and Ted," Harry says quickly, watching with a growing sense of satisfaction as Lady Perevell's smile falters a bit.
"I see," she says before turning to look, well, glare really, at Scáthach, "Lady Árd-Greimne, seeing that you're now the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, perhaps you can shed some light on this matter, at which year do you teach students what an Infernus is?" she asks, and Scáthach doesn't even turn her head to look at her.
"Sixth year," Scáthach answers in a bored tone of voice, "Though I admit, I am in the middle of revising what is being taught at each year and adjusting them accordingly, the prior lesson plans were a good attempt at compromising for the fact there hasn't been a stable teacher for the subject in the last thirty or so years, but it was more of broad strokes of the subject instead of anything truly in-depth, I am hoping to be teaching them to the fifth year students in the next three or so years," she admits to the court with a shrug.
Lady Peverell then turns to Dumbledore with a growing scowl on her face, "Headmaster, do tell, are there any books in Hogwarts on the creation of Inferni or how to create them?" She asks as the Headmaster looks up from his seat.
"No, all books that held the ritual and potions needed to create Inferni were removed along with many other books, tomes, and scrolls that held spells, potions, and rituals of the dark arts from both the accessible library and the restricted section when I started my tenure as Headmaster," Dumbledore answers easily, looking up at Lady Peverell with a small polite smile.
"And where are they now?" Lady Peverell asks.
"They have locked away in my office behind a sealed and warded bookshelf that hasn't been accessed in almost thirty years," Dumbledore informs the court before Lady Perevell turns to Fudge with a full-blown scowl.
"Then, Cornelius, may I ask why we are charging a schoolboy who had no clue as to what the hell an Infernus was until last night with creating a whole mess of them when he had no access to any relevant information about how to create them?" Lady Peverell asks in a hard and angry tone as she leaned forward on her throne to glare down at the man.
"We have evidence that puts the boy at the scene of the crime," The Minister argues back.
"What evidence?" Lady Perevell shoots back with gritted teeth and anger in her tone, but Harry could see the amusement flashing in her eyes as she made the mortal squirm.
"His wand," the Minister squeaks out before coughing to clear his throat, "His wand was found at the scene, checked and verified with both the registry and Lord Ollivander himself," he says quickly before pulling out his file to copy and send to the other members of the courts, Lady Perevell snatches hers out of the air and opens it to read, her face set into a deep scowl as her eyes dart back and forth before scoffing loudly and tossing the file aside.
"A broken wand, Cornelius, are you joking right now? The only piece of evidence that the Ministry can come up with is a broken wand?" she asks, sounding insulted.
"That's why we are holding this trial, Lady Peverell, to get to the bottom of this," Fudge defends as Lady Peverell rolls her eyes at the man's words.
"Do we honestly think that a mere child was behind this? No matter how powerful he may be, without knowledge of how to create the Inferni, he wouldn't be able to do this," Lady Peverell says leaning back in her seat and looking down at the heads of departments with an angry and disgusted look on her face, as all but Bode and Bones looked back at her with guilty looking faces.
A wand tip then lit up, drawing the attention of the Wizengamot as Fudge scowls at the man who holds the wand, "The court recognizes Albus Dumbledore," he says, voice thick with contempt.
"No, I do not think anyone here truly thinks Mister Potter is responsible for this crime," Dumbledore says as he stands and folds his hands behind his back, "But there is someone who has created and utilized Inferni before, by the hundreds, if not thousands," He says looking up at Cornelius before approaching the bench, "Cornelius, please, see reason," Dumbledore pleads with the Minister, whose face screws up like Dumbledore had spit in his face.
Fudge leans over the bench to glare at Dumbledore with hard, hated-filled eyes, "He's not back! He can't be Dumbledore, He. Is. Dead!" Fudge's whispers sound out around the courtroom.
"Excuse me," Lady Peverell calls out from the top row, "But who is this he you two are vaguely hinting at?" she asks, her voice dripping with curiosity.
"Just a boogeyman that Dumbledore keeps insisting that has come back to life after being dead for thirteen years," Fudge spits out, his eyes never leaving Dumbledore as the aging Headmaster sighs and shakes his head but before he could turn back around to walk to his seat, another voice speaks out.
"Well, did he?" Lugh asks from his seat, one leg crossed over the other as he looks down at the court and the court turns to look back at him with confused faces, "What?" Lugh asks with a raised brow, "It's an honest question,"
"It is one of the most basic rules of magic that the dead can't come back to life, Lord Gryffindor, what dies is dead and doomed to eternally lie," Lucius speaks up from the lower rows as he looks up at Lugh with an unimpressed face, "And here I thought a Lord of a Most Noble and Most Ancient House would know something so fundamental," he says before looking away.
"Okay, first off lad, I don't like how ya said that do it again and I'll come down there and feed ya your teeth one by one," Lugh says, pointing at Malfoy before shaking his fist at him, causing Lucius to frown and glare up at him, but as Fudge opens his mouth to tell Lugh off for threatening another member of Wizengamot, Scáthach speaks up.
"Can I second this motion?" Scáthach asks, looking over at Fudge.
"I beg your pardon, Miss Árd-Greimne?" says the toad-like woman, "But are you trying to…second a motion for physical violence, like some common muggle?" She says the last part with disdain, her head slightly back with her nose in the air but Scáthach doesn't even turn to look at her, too busy cleaning her nails.
"You could beg if you wanted, but I assure you, it would do you no good," Scáthach says without looking up. As the toad-like woman was about to snap at one of the few people even Harry would trash talk, Lady Perevell speaks up.
"Lugh, Miss Árd-Greimne, that is enough," she says sharply before both of the gods roll their eyes at her, "Lugh, get to your point or stay silent," Lady Peverell tells the man sitting off to her right.
"Alright, Alright, keep ya knickers on, damn," Lugh says to Lady Peverell before turning back to the court, "What if the bastard never died? Like he cheated death somehow," Lugh asks before crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat, and honestly quickly climbing to the top of Harry's favorite Dé Danann list; other than teacher that is.
"That's not possible," Fudge immediately says, waving his hand as if to banish the idea completely from the hall.
"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Lady Perevell says, leaning to the side onto the arm of her chair, her hand brought to her face with a finger tapping her bottom lip as she captures the attention of the court once more, "Headmaster Dumbledore," she says, causing the man to look up at her with a raised brow, "You are a high respect mind in the academic field of magic, have you any theories on how someone could cheat death? Because I can think of two or three off the top of my head," she says before lowering her arm and crossing them both over her lap.
"I have a few theories-" Dumbledore begins before Fudge quickly picks up his gavel and repeatedly beats it against the bench.
"Enough!" The Minister shouts, "I will have none of this! None of this talk about a dead man coming back to life! Impossible! Ludacris! And wildly off-topic of why we are here!" he screams before turning to Harry, "Mister Potter! You will explain, in detail! How your wand got to that cemetery in Little Hangleton with fifty-six uncompleted Inferni, I will have the truth or you will be spending a great deal of time in Azkaban!" He yells at Harry while waving and pointing his gavel at him, but while Harry flinches slightly at the yelling(He did hate it when people were yelling), he takes Fudge's threats in stride, for Harry knew that neither the Morrígan nor Scáthach would never let him see the inside of a prison cell filled with Fomorians.
Harry sighs out before looking at Ted whose face was set into a grim frown, Ted had hoped to avoid anything to do with Voldemort or his resurrection and keep the focus on just the crimes laid out with a quick explanation of how his wand had gotten in the cemetery to not turn a sham trial into a political circus but Ted turns to harry with a sigh before nodding his head. Harry's eyes drifted over to Scáthach, who looked back at him with a soft smile of encouragement, and her words drift back to the forefront of his mind, "You have the heart of a warrior, Greaca, bow your head to no one who does not have the same,"
Harry smiles back at her before looking up at the Morrígan in her mortal guise, who looks down at him from her seat before, even so slightly, nodding to him and Harry gets the sense that this was exactly what she wanted. So, with a sigh, Harry stands, his head held high and begins his tale of what happened when the Tower came crashing down at the third task.
As Harry explained what had happened from the time he grabbed the Tri-Wizard Cup to Voldemort's resurrection with the help of Wormtail, Fudge had tried to interrupt several times only to be told to be quiet by Lupusregina, Lady Peverell, Madam Bones, and Lugh. He had gotten to the point of Voldemort calling his followers while he was bound to the statue and began naming them when he turned to look at Lucius Malfoy along with the rest of the court. The man looked unruffled by Harry's accusation and merely lifted a brow at Harry and the court now looking at him.
"Well, this is one of the most preposterous things I've ever been told," Lucius says calmly with a blank face.
"Are you denying the boy's allegation against you?" Daniel Gaunt says as he looks down at Lucius from the top row.
"Certainly," Lucius says with a roll of his eyes, "Why would I ever return to The Dark Lord's side willingly, the man was a pox upon the islands and a monster who forced innocent men, men like myself, to unspeakable things, I would sooner give up my magic then help that monster ever again," he says with his face twisting with disgust just at the right moment.
"Whether or not that Lord Malfoy was involved is something we will have to look into another time," Lady Perevell says from her seat, "What concerns me now is the fact that we may have a monster on the loose, Madam Bones, have you investigated these allegations at all?" she asks, turning to the head of the DMLE.
"No, our investigation was strictly limited to the Inferni that was found," Madam Bones says, turning to look back at the other woman.
"That will not do," Susan Bones says, speaking up for the first time, a deep anger set on her face, "This type of allegation shouldn't be ignored or shunted to the side, if Voldemort has truly returned then we should make sure we are prepared for it unlike last time," she says, eyes flashing with hatred as most other people flinch or gasp at the name.
"He. Isn't. Back!" Fudge hisses through his teeth turning to the Noble and Ancient Houses, "He can't be, this is all some type of mad plot by-" the minister begins to say before he is quickly cut off.
"Enough Cornelius!" Lady Perevell yells, her scream echoing throughout the chamber, and with it thick and terrible magic that silences and suffocates any who would dare speak, "I have had enough of your crusade against The Headmaster and Mister Potter, you have refused your due diligence to this country by shunting away or shutting down and shutting up everyone who would dare speak up about a possibility that Voldemort has returned, you have made a mockery of the very office you were sworn to uphold by not looking into these matters and instead used the authority of it to drag the headmasters and Mister Potter's through the mud, this ends now!" She says as she stands, the ever-present authority over the islands as its Queen-Protector thick in the room, her eyes fully bleeding black as she glared down at the Minister who was now pale and shaken.
"We will be moving to vote to have these charges stricken from Mister Potter's records because it is painfully obvious that while he has the power, he lacked the necessary understanding and knowledge to create the Inferni, afterward the department of Mysteries will be returning all confiscated items to Mister Potter," Lady Perevell says in a tone that brokered no argument before she closing her eyes to take a deep breath, calming herself before opening them to the dark brown, "After that, we will be taking a recess, and when we reconvene for the full meeting we will be discussing investigating the Allegation that Mister Potter has borough before us," she says before turning to look directly at Lucius Malfoy who was busy looking up at her in shock, for now, he knew just who Lady Perevell was, "And if I find out that any of the lords or ladies have willingly helped Voldemort, whether in the past or currently, Azkaban will not take them, for I will execute them myself,"
It didn't take much longer for Harry to be exonerated of the last charge against him.
Outside Wizengamot Hall, ten minutes later.
Harry, Ted, and Dumbledore came through the doors to Wizengamot Hall first, and Harry didn't even make it ten feet before he was tackled to the ground by a familiar Silver and Forest green blur babbling almost incoherently about How worried she had been, how she was ready to put her foot up someone's ass and pull him into the safety of the Hunt. Harry had laughed, half out of how his older sister was reacting and half out of mad relief for everything for once going right in his life before Hardy is quickly pulled to his feet by both Atalanta and Remus who had come up behind them with a smile and relief flooding his eyes.
Ted chuckled at the sight before clapping Harry on his shoulder and telling Harry that he did wonderfully in the court before parting ways quickly to oversee another case he was helping on. Harry looks around the slate-black halls just in time to see the Headmaster disappearing into the crowd of people in the Atrium, and Harry couldn't help the anger twisting in his guts at the sight of the man leaving without even saying goodbye. Harry was thankfully distracted by Sirius who came running out of the Wizengamot Hall to sweep Harry up into a spinning hug while laughing like a madman before putting him down.
"I may not like her all that much, but damn do I have to give it to Tilia Perevell, she really knows how to put on a bloody good show," Sirius says with a smile before placing both hands on Harry's shoulder, "And I'm in her debt for what she did in there for you, and for the order," he says with a sigh.
"Oh, in my debt are you, Lord Black?" the voice of the very woman that Sirius was speaking of says behind him, causing Sirius' face to drop before turning around and looking at her, "Well, good to know, and as luck of puck would have it, I know exactly what you can do to pay me back," Lady Perevell says with a poisons smile.
Sirius quickly swallows his fear of the being standing not two feet from him as he looks death in the eyes, "And what would that be, Lady Perevell?" he asks, keeping the fear from his voice as he speaks.
"Oh, nothing too painful, I promise," Lady Perevell says, the smile never leaving her face, much like a cat who knew it had caught the rat, "Just a small donation of gold to the poor Aurors that will be working quite a lot of overtime hours in the coming weeks," she tells Sirius, much to the man's shock.
"That's it? No first-born child nonsense?" Sirius says tilting his head back a bit, not trusting a word the woman says.
"Well, if that's what you're willing to give," Lady Perevell says in a flirtatious tone before taking a step toward Sirius, "I'm game, though do be warned I am a very demanding lover and you have a very high bar to overcome, shall we say?" she says, her smile morphing from full of poison to one full of a dark want that her eyes reflect causing Sirius to blink wildly at her.
"Aren't you married?" Harry asks, looking between the two adults, even as dense as Harry knew he was, not even he could miss this.
The Morrígan in her mortal guise doesn't even blink before turning to Harry, mischief shining in her eyes, "Mortals don't count, and I assure you as…gifted as my beloved is, my appetite has no limit, I am after all, a fae, my dear boy," she says with a smile before something dark and oh so very hungry flashes in her black eyes as she looks at Harry before the boy himself takes a step back from the being before him.
"Gold!" Sirius suddenly says before quickly standing in between Harry and the Morrígan as Atalanta pulls Harry behind her, "Gold I will happily do, Lady Perevell, just send me the bill and I'll make sure it's paid in full," Sirius quickly says, with the most charming smile he could muster.
"A shame, I was looking forward to finding out all the new craven desires you mortals have made up while I've been gone, but business before pleasure I suppose," Lady Perevell says with a disappointed sigh before looking back over to Harry with a much more tamed smile before reaching into the side of her corset and pulling out a single crystal vial, "Speaking of Business, My dear Harry," she says wiggling the vial and Harry sighs knowing what she wanted. After extracting a promise from The Morrígan that she wouldn't give his blood to anyone else and only use it to free the Dé Danann, did he take the vial in his hand before squeezing. There was a slight pinch but otherwise, no pain before the vial filled up with his blood and she stored it away in the darkness of…somewhere.
"Do enjoy your school year, Harry," The Morrígan says before pinching her cheeks and asking Sirius to follow her to discuss gold and what she will be doing in the following Wizengamot meeting before Remus turns to Harry.
"Well, come on Harry, time to get you back home," Remus says with a smile as he looks back around the Hall that was quickly filling with people with sharp eyes, "Knowing Molly, she probably already has a party planned for you, ay?" he says with a nod.
"I need to get my stuff, it's in the-" Harry begins to say but sees Remus' eyes widen a fraction before quickly stepping forward, his wand falling into his hand as Lucius Malfoy steps from the crowd, killing Harry's smile.
"Well, well, well, Mister Potter, it seems that you have quite the talent for escaping sticky situations, shall we say," Lucius says smoothly, holding his cane aloft, his eyes never leaving Remus' face.
"Who's this bag of dicks?" Atalanta asks, eyeing Lucius lazily up and down while crossing her arm.
"No one a common-" Lucius begins to say before Harry cuts him off.
"Lucius Malfoy, He's a lot of things, but mostly prey and a Death Eater," Harry says flatly while glaring at the man himself.
"Oh? So this is one of the dark fuckholes that I get to kick the shit out of," Atalanta says with a smile before stepping forward and into Lucius' face, causing him to turn his sneer onto Atalanta.
"I would suggest you take a step back, Miss," Lucius hisses out at Atalanta before she grins at him.
"Make me," Atalanta says calmly, unblinking to his face, causing Lucius to sneer harder at her.
"Perhaps," Remus says, his tone and voice the picture of calm and in control, "You should walk away Lucius, you're outmatched here, I assure you," he tells the other man.
Lucius looks in between both Atalanta and Remus before scuffing and taking a step back from the formidable wall the two beasts of the Hunt make before turning back to Harry with a glare of fire, "I have a message from Draco that he asks to pass onto you if I were to speak to you, He says, I'll see you at home," Lucius says with a smirk as Harry glares back.
"Well tell Draco, that I'll be hunting for Snakes next I see him, and they'll end up just like Slytherins Basilisk's," Harry tells him back letting a bit of the Hunt drip into him as he glared at the slimy snake in front of him.
"I highly doubt that bo-arg!" Lucius begins to say before a hand comes from behind him and clamps down on his shoulder, none of the three others missed the crunch of bones being crushed beneath its grip, nor did they miss the voice dripping with power when she spoke.
"My normal method of teaching foolish students is to offer them the lesson without the pain of learning the hard way," Scáthach says, voice dripping with barely restrained anger as she leans forward from behind Lucius to whisper into his ear, "But if they are foolish enough to not heed their teacher's lesson then they learn the painful one, but in your case, I think I'll skip right to the painful one," she says, with a slight growl in her voice as Remus and Atalanta take a step back from the two.
"Unhand me no-" Lucius tries to say, but the scream that escapes his throat cuts off his protest and echoes around the hall that no other mortal seems to notice as Scáthach continues to crush Malfoy's shoulder.
"Listen and listen well, little mortal, because unlike Dumbledore, unlike the Morrígan, I do not like playing these games," Scáthach whispers sharply into Lucius' ear, "You threaten my student again, you will not have to worry about the queen's declaration because I will kill you myself," she says before shoving Malfoy against the wall, his arm hanging limply at his side as he looks into the burning blood red eyes of the Queen of Shadows in horror and fear, "And tell that master of yours, that My School will NEVER belong to him," she says as the shadows so thick begin to dance around her as the cold silence of death filled the hallway before Malfoy took off in a full sprint away from Scáthach.
As Harry watches Mr. Malfoy run for his life, he couldn't help but to wonder out loud, "Do you think he pissed himself?" before turning to his teacher.
"Undoubtedly, Greaca," Scáthach says before she turns to Harry with a smirk causing the boy to laugh.
"Ah, thank you for the help, miss.." Remus says, trailing off as he raises his hand to Scáthach who smiles as she takes it.
"Oh, right, Teacher, this is-" Harry begins to introduce his honorary uncle, and his older sister to his teacher, but no such introduction was needed.
"Remus J Lupin, former DADA professor of Hogwarts and Atalanta of Claydon," Scáthach says with a smile as she shakes Remus' hand, surprising the man, "It's nice to finally meet you, Mister Lupin, I found your notes and lesson plans on your classes from two years ago extremely useful in planning my lesson plans for this year, and your breath and depth of knowledge about dark creature was something of a wonder to behold, tell me, would you be interested in a role as a guest speaker for my third-year classes this year? I assure you, you will be well compensated for your time," Scáthach offers, much to Remus' surprise as he looks between Harry and the woman in front of him before dropping his hand.
"Teacher, was it?" Remus says, rolling back and forth on the balls of his feet before putting his hands into his pockets, "So, that would make you-" he begins to say before Scáthach finishes for him.
"Scáthach of Dún Scaith, Witch-Queen of the Land of Shadows, and the Greaca's mentor," She said with a smile before jerking her head toward Harry who was standing at her shoulder with a smile.
"Oh, so scary lady has a name, sweet," Atalanta mumbles as Scáthach turns to her with a smile before looking at Harry.
"This one I like much better than the Lieutenant or your mother, Greaca, she shows the proper respect to me," Scáthach admits with a smile, that had Atalanta smiling back at her awkwardly.
"You two met already?" Harry asks, looking between two of his favorite people.
"We have," Scáthach says, "Who do you think helped her get to your very well-protected home, hmm?" she asks, looking at Harry with a raised brow as Harry tilts his head back in a silent oh.
"Well, Lady Scáthach, I'll think about your offer, but for now we need to get Harry back to that very same home," Remus says before looking at Harry and jerking his head down the hall back toward the floos, but Scáthach had other ideas.
"No," She says causing both Lupin and Atalanta to look back at her with wide eyes, "The Greaca will be coming with me for a short while, we will be gathering his things from the Department of Mysteries before heading to the Department of Magical Education to get him properly registered as my apprentice, after that I will see him back home myself," she tells Remus and Atalanta, "You both my leave, or stay right here, doesn't matter to me," she tells them, and as Remus opens his mouth to say something Atalanta grabs the Werewolf by the arm.
"Moony, we were just told to take a hike by a goddess, let's not piss her off with any backtalk, huh?" Atalanta says before she starts to drag Remus off, "I'm sure Harry will be perfectly safe with her," she tells him before turning to look at Harry, "Get Home quick kiddo or you'll miss all the cake!" she calls out before she and Remus disappear into the crowd.
"Come Greaca, we have a spear to retrieve," Scáthach says before turning on her heel and folding her arms behind her back as she makes her way over to Director Bode who was patiently waiting for them while leaning against the wall by the turn to go deeper into the ministry.
Harry, with a smile, quickly follows behind his Teacher, intent on getting his jacket back.
Chapter Done!
Okay, so we didn't get to the DoM part of this, but that's fine. It can be the opening to the next chapter (I really want to stay at your house) and I hope that fits the chapter title, lol.
For some of you who seem confused about who is who, I feel the need to clear this up.
Taili Perevell is the Morrígan.
Lugh Leòmhann(which means Lugh the Lion) is Lugh the long arm and is Lord Gryffindor.
Daniel Gaunt is The Dagda and is Lord Slytherin.
And Yes, The Morrígan has a plan to replace every MNMA House rep with a Dé Danann without a drop of blood being spilled…unless it's Harry's.
But Ladies and Gentleman, remember what I said about the Morrígan lighting chessboards ablaze, well she has officially started! And if you think that she is going to let incompetence rule over her government, then you have another thing coming, because she's not about to let that fly, the only thing that flies with her is Harry and the heads when she starts the public executions.
Kingsaxcul, Out!