III

Bloodslayer shook his head. Did this wizard just request the Ritual of Judgement? That hadn't been performed in over 200 years and the end result wasn't what the petitioner was expecting.

"Lord Black, are you aware of what you are requesting?" asked Bloodslayer.

"I am, Bloodslayer. There is no way the Ministry is going to give me a fair trial even if I could find Pettigrew. Albus Dumbledore has had two years in which to clear my name, but hasn't lifted a finger to help. I need to be free to help my godson and start to bring the Black family back to its former glory."

"Very well. We must allow the Ministry four hours to prepare. Our notice only tells them that the Ritual has been requested, but not WHO has requested it. It requires the presence of the Minister, the Chief Witch or Warlock, and the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Each representative may bring one other person to witness the Ritual."

Remus mused, "I wonder whether Fudge will bring Umbridge or Malfoy."

Harry said, "Oh please let him bring Umbridge! Are you sure you can't word the notice that the Minister and his or her Undersecretary are summoned?"

Bloodslayer said, "Were it so, it would help our case, but he has the choice. However, Miss Tonks, a word whispered to Madam Bones might speed things along. If she is here at the Ritual, Gringotts can send their team to Hogwarts to search her quarters. We would welcome your presences as a Ministry representative."

Tonks rubbed her hands together with glee. While she would love to be here to support Sirius, she wouldn't mind bringing the toad down, "By your leave, I will speak with Madam Bones regarding the situation."

"Consider it given," said Bloodslayer, "It has been a long night and I'm sure you are all very tired, but things will move quickly once the notices are sent. We will set the time for the Ritual of Judgement for noon. Our ritual chamber should be ready for Lord Potter at nine. He should be fully recovered by the time of Lord Black's trial. I can give you another portkey to return then, or I can provide you with an area to rest and refresh yourselves."

Sirius said, "I don't think going back to Grimmauld Place is a good idea. The only reason we were able to leave when we did was because everyone else was asleep. I think staying here is the better option." He looked at the others who nodded.

Remus asked, "Are you sure I shouldn't go back and let them know that everyone is in a safe location? Once Molly notices that Harry is gone, she'll let the headmaster know and things are liable to blow up. He'll probably mobilize the entire Order hunting for him."

"True, but telling her where we are will just cause similar problems. I have another idea. Kreacher!" said Sirius.

The elf popped back in, "Master calls Kreacher?"

"Yes, Kreacher. I want you to lock down the floo, if anyone asks you where any of us are, tell them you don't know. Feel free to curse my existence when you do. I think Molly was planning to go to St. Mungo's first thing, so hopefully she'll think we're all sleeping late. Oh, put a golem in Harry's bed and they won't know the difference. Can you do that, Kreacher?"

"Kreacher can, Master," replied the elf.

"Thank you, Kreacher. Please resume whatever you were doing," said Sirius.

With that taken care of, the group adjourned to a lounge area to relax before their trials began. Tonks decided to go back to her house for a couple of hours before going into work and letting Madam Bones know what was going on.

- YAGP -

Once the witch and wizards had departed Bloodslayer's office, the goblins got to work. First Bloodslayer sent a missive to Ragnok detailing the meeting he had just had and the results. Then he sent the three invitations to the Ministry. Everyone knew that Gringotts used black envelopes when notifying someone of a death in the family, but few knew that a dark green envelope meant something required the recipient's immediate attention and a reply within two hours. These were rarely used, but when they were, people jumped. The letters were simple:

NOTICE OF REQUEST FOR RITUAL OF JUDGEMENT

Let it be known that the Ritual of Judgement will be held at Gringotts Bank London at noon on December 22nd, 1995. As per the Treaty of 1672, this requires the presence of the current Minister for Magic, the Chief Witch/Warlock, and the Director of Magical Law Enforcement. Each may bring one guest. Any additional individuals attempting to attend said Ritual will be ejected from the Bank and barred for a period of no less than three months. Gringotts Bank requires the names of the six representatives of the Ministry no later than ten o'clock this day.

Griphook also went back to his office to assemble the documents for the additional houses he was now responsible for. While the Gryffindor records were probably in some semblance of order, the Slytherin records weren't. He would probably need to requisition an assistant now that he was managing four ancient and important houses. He also sent a note to Ragnok letting him know that the Gryffindor and Slytherin houses had been reactivated. He had a lot of work to do as well as oversee the removal of the soul sliver from his new Lord.

- YAGP -

The Ministry of Magic

At exactly eight o'clock, three human Gringotts employees entered the Ministry of Magic. One went to the Minister's office, one to the Wizengamot Administration Services, and one went to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Bill Weasley was the one selected to go to the Minister's office. While his father had a minor position in the Ministry, he was a Department Head plus his brother also worked for the Minister. Percy was surprised to see his brother walk in, "Bill, what are you doing here? Has something happened?"

"Hello Percy. I'm here on official Gringotts business. I need to deliver this to the Minister immediately, and the await his reply."

Percy puffed up, "If you give it to me, I'll give it to the Minister when he's free."

Bill sighed, "I'm sorry, Percy, but this can only be given directly to the Minister. There are treaty implications." Bill let the green envelope show and Percy's eyes went wide.

"I'll be right back," Percy said and headed to the Minister's office. He disappeared for a minute, then motioned to Bill, "The Minister will see you now, Mr. Weasley."

Bill went into the Minister's office and it took all of his willpower not to sneer at the disgrace in the office. Fudge looked up from whatever it was he was doing and said, "Well, whatever you're here for, just leave it on the desk and I'll get around to it."

"I'm sorry, Minister Fudge, but I cannot leave until I have been assured you have read it and written your response," replied Bill.

"How dare those creatures make demands on my time! I'll get to it when I get to it now leave before I have the Aurors remove you!"

Bill knew he'd have to spell it out for the minister, "Minister Fudge, if you would note, this is a green envelope indicating a time sensitive notification. If you fail to respond in a timely manner, Gringotts can close not only your personal vaults, but the vaults of the ENTIRE Ministry for a minimum of three months. This is all part of the Treaty of 1672 which outlined the separation of Gringotts and the British Ministry. I'm sure you wouldn't want to be the first Minister to have the Ministry's vaults sealed for three months which would mean nobody would get paid, including yourself. Oh, and let's not forget the penalty for unsealing a vault which is five percent of the value of the vault, now would you?"

Bill watched the Minister slowly turn pale. By the time he got to the last sentence, Fudge was ripping the envelope open.

The Wizengamot Administration Services

Mafalda Hopkirk flipped through the morning's Daily Prophet. Since she'd been reassigned from the Improper Use of Magic Office after the Potter boy's trial, she'd been quite bored. She sent out the monthly meeting notices and made sure each office had the necessary supplies. Occasionally there would be a special session called, like with the Potter boy's trial, but usually it was very boring so when an unknown wizard stepped in her office, she looked relieved to have something to do.

"Good day, sir. How may the Wizengamot Administration Office help you today?" she asked.

"Good morning. I have a letter from Gringotts to deliver to the Chief Witch or Wizard. To whom should I deliver it to? It's quite time sensitive," he said.

Well, that was a problem. Since Dumbledore had been ousted, Tiberius Ogden had been the Chief Warlock. Then Fudge put that Umbridge woman as the High Inquisitor at Hogwarts and he and Griselda Marchbanks resigned. Since then, they'd appointed a new one each session. The most recent one was Cyrus Greengrass.

"I believe that would be Cyrus Greengrass," she replied.

"Could you contact him? I have a summons from Gringotts that must be answered immediately," said the Gringotts representative.

Mafalda went over to the floo and tossed in some green powder. After talking with someone, she backed away, "Lord Greengrass will be here presently. If you would like to take a seat, it shouldn't be long."

"Thank you, but no," he replied.

A few minutes later a stately man stepped calmly out of the floo and turned to the pair in the office, "I understand you have a summons of some sort for me?"

"Yes, Lord Greengrass," and handed him the green envelope.

Lord Greengrass tried hard to hide his surprise. While he knew the importance of them, he'd never seen one before. He neatly tore the envelope open and read its contents. As an old family, he was aware of some of the more esoteric rituals. The Ritual of Judgement was seldom used because it could have unwelcome results. He turned to the representative, "I think I know who will be my guest, but I need to contact him and confirm it. Do you have time to wait?"

"Yes. I was instructed to wait for your reply."

Lord Greengrass quickly wrote a message and sent it off as one of the many paper airplanes flying around the Ministry. It would be a few minutes before the reply returned. He was pretty sure that Unspeakable Number One would jump at the chance to attend the Ritual.

- YAGP -

Tonks was waiting outside her boss's office when she arrived. Amelia Bones noticed there were two people waiting for her. She recognized Auror Tonks, but not the other gentleman. Her assistant told her there was a Gringotts representative with an urgent summons.

"Auror Tonks, could you wait a moment until I see to this gentleman's message?" asked Amelia.

"Actually, Madam Bones, I think we should both be in there," replied Tonks.

That got her attention. One of her aurors had been involved with Gringotts? This was quite unusual, "Well then, if you'll both follow me."

The Director of the DMLE led them both into her office, "Alright, what's the emergency and why are you involved, Auror Tonks?"

Tonks nodded to the Gringotts representative, "I think you need to read his letter first."

The representative handed the green envelope to the Director and then stepped back. This really got Madam Bones' senses going. This was something very serious!

She opened the letter and read it. She knew what the Ritual of Judgement was as well. And she also knew why it was seldom used. She could take one person with her. She'd better take Rufus. Since Fudge wouldn't be able to take his personal guards in with him, she'd better bring someone who would be able to be both a witness and a guard. She quickly pulled a piece of parchment and penned her reply and handed it to the representative who quickly left. She sent another missive to Scrimgeour to let him know to meet her in her office at half eleven. Then she turned to Tonks.

"Speak, Auror Tonks. If I don't like what you tell me, you will find yourself on the Azkaban detail for the next month."

Tonks sat down and dumped all of the night's information into the lap of her boss. Then the planning began.

- YAGP -

Back in the Minister's office, Cornelius Fudge was having a hard time deciding who to take with him. If he took Malfoy with him, he'd have to listen to all of the pureblood drivel he would have to say about the goblins. If he took Dolores, he'd have to listen to her disgust with them as well. While he was tossing that back and forth, there was another knock on his door and then Amelia Bones walked in. She also had a green envelope in her hand.

"I believe you also received one of these?" she asked.

'Yes. I've never seen one of these before!" he replied.

"I don't think they've used them in years. I've already notified Rufus to accompany us. You realize Dawlish won't be able to go with you, don't you?"

"What! But I need my guards!" Fudge exclaimed.

"If you take one of your guards, you won't be able to take anyone else," she replied.

While they were discussing the pros and cons of who to take, their answer just arrived in the Minister's private floo.

"Cornelius! Those nasty goblins are trying to cheat me out of my money! They just sent me a letter telling me that there were irregularities with my account and I must come in person to correct them by five this afternoon! How dare they summon me like a common person! Don't they know I'm the Senior Undersecretary to you AND the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts? My time is exceedingly valuable! And on top of that, I just found out that horrible Potter boy and all of the Weasleys left the castle two nights ago without official release! Dumbledore said he gave them permission to leave the castle early due to a family emergency. Everybody knows Potter doesn't have any family! I want him expelled!" Umbridge said.

Amelia was trying her best not to snicker at the pink horror. She was aware that the eldest Weasley was also still in the room, but apparently Dolores hadn't even registered his presence.

She cleared her throat, "Dolores, there happens to be a representative of Gringotts in this office at the moment. Don't you think this should be discussed privately?"

Dolores looked around the office and noticed Bill Weasley in the back of the room. She turned to him, "You! You tell your bosses that they can't summon me at their whim! Now GO!"

Bill used all of the tact he'd learned over the years to answer her, "Madam, I am but a messenger to the Minister. I have no power to make any changes. However, I cannot leave until I have the Minister's reply to the summons I brought."

"Those horrible animals are trying to summon you too! You can't let this happen. They should be coming to you, Cornelius! You are the Minister for Magic after all!" shouted Dolores.

"Well, if you accompany me to this meeting at noon today, Dolores, I'm sure we can sort everything out then," the minister replied.

Realizing she was being asked to something important, she readily agreed. Cornelius quickly scribbled out his reply and handed it to Bill who then left – with a smile slowly creeping on his face.

- YAGP -

At half past eight, Griphook came into the room given to the trio to relax in. He escorted them down into the bowels of the bank to a stone room.

"This is where we stop. Only Harry may go into the ritual room. We must all wait outside. Once the soul shard is freed, there can be no other humans around that it might latch onto," said Griphook.

While Sirius and Remus weren't happy about that, they understood the danger. Sirius reached over and hugged Harry, "We'll be waiting here for you when you're done. Give the Dark Wanker the finger and kick him in the balls!"

Remus also gave Harry a quick hug, then went to the seating area nearby. Griphook took Harry into the vestibule and instructed him on the procedure, "You must go in there, strip down completely and put on the robe provided. Make sure there is nothing magical on you. Once you have done that, walk through the other door into the ritual room. The ritual master will instruct you from there."

Harry gulped, but squared his shoulders, "Thank you, Griphook. I'll see you when this is over."

He went into the dressing area and stripped down, then pulled the white linen robe over his head. He felt like he was wearing a nightshirt like Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol." He then opened the door into the next room. Inside were six goblins all dressed similarly to himself.

The oldest one addressed Harry, "I am Master Curse Breaker Stonejaw and will be leading this ritual. Since you have had this parasite for so long, it will definitely put up a fight. You will need to use your magic to help force it out. It will be painful. I cannot give you any potions until we have completed the ritual. Once the shard has been released, we will capture it in this crystal and the ritual will be complete. Any questions?"

"How will I know when to help you?" Harry asked.

"You will know when the pain gets to the point that all you want is for the ritual to be over. Concentrate on ejecting the soul shard. Nothing else."

"Thank you. I will do my best."

Harry was directed into the ritual circle and told to lie down in a certain position. The other goblins closed around him and began a low chant. At first, Harry didn't feel anything. As time went on and the chanting grew louder, he started to feel a bit of pain in his head. After another few minutes, it grew to the level he felt whenever he had been around Professor Quirrell. At that point he started concentrating and wishing the shard to be gone. That's when the fight began. Harry's mind focused on his scar and he began his own internal chant, "Begone Voldemort! Get out of my head!" He repeated it over an over despite the excruciating pain he was in. He thought of the night in the graveyard when Voldemort had him under the Cruciatus Curse. Then he brought his focus back to the ritual and continued his internal chant. Finally, when he couldn't stand it any longer, he imagined himself firing the strongest blasting curse from inside his head into his scar. With that final effort, the soul shard was ejected from Harry's body and Harry passed into oblivion.

- YAGP -

When Harry came to, he was in another area laying on some sort of cot. Both Sirius and Remus were with him. Harry looked at Sirius and asked, "Did anyone get the name of the dragon that tried to eat me for breakfast?"

Sirius chuckled, then handed him a potions vial, "This should help some. The Healer who checked you over said to give it to you just as soon as you woke up. I won't repeat the rest of what she said."

Harry took the vial and tossed it back. It didn't taste quite as vile as the potions Madam Pomfrey gave him, but that wasn't saying much. After five minutes, he felt much better.

So, did it work?" Harry asked.

"As advertised," said Sirius. He then handed Harry a mirror to see for himself. The scar was now a very faint line. All of the redness was gone around it as well.

"Wow! That's different. And hey! I can see without my glasses! Hey Sirius, did anyone tell you that you could use a haircut and a shave?" Harry joked.

"I'll have you know that all of the Black Lords have historically had long hair as well as facial hair. I think I look rather distinguished," Sirius preened.

That got both Harry and Remus laughing.

The healer walked in at that point and said, "Lord Potter-Slytherin-Gryffindor-Peverell, if you are this awake after the ritual you just completed, then you no longer need my services for today. However, I expect you to return the day after Boxing Day or receive notice that you've been seen by a fully qualified healer. Your physical condition needs much improvement. The same goes for you, Lord Black. While I haven't done a scan on you, exposure to Dementors for twelve years does not heal without appropriate treatment. Are there any questions?"

Sirius replied, well, seriously, "Thank you, Healer Greatclaw. Once we have completed our other business with Gringotts and the upcoming holiday, I will ensure we both present ourselves to you as you requested."

Harry looked at the goblin, "Thank you, Healer Greatclaw. I appreciate your help today."

Healer Greatclaw replied, "I will have a runner escort you back to where you were staying, then."

After returning to the lounge they'd been in previously, Harry asked what time it was. Remus responded that it was just half ten.

"How long did it take to get that thing out of me? It felt like forever," asked Harry.

"It only took about a half hour, then another hour for you to recover. When they brought you out of the ritual chamber, I was sure something bad had happened because you had blood and some sort of black goo coming from your head, but the ritual master said this was normal," replied Sirius.

"That's not too bad, I guess. It was putting up a fight so I mentally shot my strongest Bombarda at it and then promptly passed out," said Harry.

Remus said, "That tracks with what the ritual master said. He said that the sliver was putting up a heck of a fight and then all of a sudden it was ejected with such force it slammed against the wall before they could contain it in the crystal."

"I hope Voldy felt it then!" exclaimed Harry.

"Here's hoping he has the headache to end all headaches," said Sirius and raised his tea cup. All three men chuckled.