Advance Arrangement
by Teddylonglong

All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story. I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.


Lily was surprised to see that Dumbledore was occupying his usual seat on the Wizengamot. To her relief, however, Amelia in her capacity as the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement immediately opened the trial. She sent Dumbledore to sit in the chair of the accused, albeit not in chains, as they were hanging loosely to both sides of the chair. To Lily's surprise, Dumbledore willingly complied, however, shook his head in apparent annoyance at the request.

Amelia then informed the assembled Wizengamot members how Albus Dumbledore had completely ignored Lily's and James' will. "He made himself Harry's guardian, although possible guardians were named in the will, and he was not one of them. He then took Harry to his muggle relatives, who were not only abusive and hated magic with a passion, but were also explicitly excluded in the Potters' will. He stole money from Harry's accounts and finally signed a betrothal contract for Harry with Ginevra Weasley in spite of not being his rightful guardian. Furthermore, he told my Aurors that Sirius Black had been the Potters' Secret Keeper and convinced them to send him to Azkaban without as much as a trial. Fortunately, the Unspeakables were able to rectify the matter, so that we could arrest Peter Pettigrew as the real culprit and determine Lord Black's innocence."

She then called Unspeakable Caesar to the witness stand. "I have a copy of the Potters' Will, and it clearly says that in case of the Potters' death, Harry's godfather Sirius Black should become his guardian," Charlus explained in a firm voice. "Furthermore, his godmother, Alice Longbottom, as well as Amelia Bones, Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape and Remus Lupin were mentioned as possible guardians. Petunia Dursley and her family were explicitly excluded from the list of possible guardians. That Albus Dumbledore named himself Harry's guardian, sent him to the muggles and stole from his account is inexcusable. I plead that Dumbledore will be stripped off his positions as the headmaster of Hogwarts and the head of the Wizengamot, and I also suggest extending this case of attempted line theft to Molly Weasley."

Amelia turned to the Aurors, who were standing behind her. "Please summon Molly Weasley and ask Arthur Weasley to attend as a witness." She then turned to Dumbledore. "How do you plead?"

"Innocent."

Lily let out a small scoff, unheard by everyone but Merlin and Charlus. Merlin then rose from his chair.

"Unspeakable Merlin?"

"Thank you, Madam Bones. I request that Albus Dumbledore will be questioned under Veritaserum."

Amelia asked the members of the Wizengamot, who, to Lily's relief, agreed, and one of the Aurors administered the Veritaserum to the old wizard, who did nothing to protest against it.

"What is your name?"

"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore."

"Did you unrightfully make yourself Harry Potter's guardian and sealed his parents' will?"

"No."

Lily frowned, while a huge commotion began in the Wizengamot chamber.

"He clearly has taken an antidote to Veritaserum." Lily recognised Lucius Malfoy's voice.

Amelia shook her head. "No, that is not possible. Unspeakable Fluffy has administered the so-called anti-denial potion, which annuls the effect of the antidote to Veritaserum." She smirked. "The anti-denial potion was recently developed by Professor Severus Snape and Unspeakable Fluffy."

Turning back to Dumbledore, she enquired, "Who was the Potters' Secret Keeper?"

Dumbledore seemed somehow confused and finally replied, "I don't know."

"Do you not remember casting the Fidelius charm yourself?"

"No."

"Do you remember taking the guardianship over Harry Potter, albeit unrightfully?"

"No."

"Did anyone force you to do all the things of which you are accused?"

Again, Dumbledore seemed to hesitate over the Veritaserum, before he replied, "Yes."

"Who was that person?"

"I don't know."

The trial continued for a few more minutes, before Amelia ended the questioning. In the end, the Wizengamot decided in favour of the old wizard due to a lack of evidence.

"Professor Dumbledore, you will be able to remain on your current positions for the time being; however, you will be put on probation." Amelia cast the old wizard a strict look.

"This is totally annoying," Lily whispered to Charlus, who full-heartedly agreed, when Dumbledore once again took his seat on the Wizengamot.

HP

After a ten-minute break, Molly Weasley was led into the chamber, while Arthur Weasley took his seat in the visitor's gallery, sitting in the row behind the three Unspeakables.

Amelia swiftly opened the trial. "Molly Weasley, you are accused of attempted line theft. You were also aware of Dumbledore stealing from young Harry Potter on the behalf of your family."

Mrs. Weasley stared at Amelia Bones in apparent shock.

"No. I only did what Albus told me, and we did not receive any payment so far anyway."

"Did you sign a betrothal contract for your daughter Ginevra and Harry Potter, the sole heir to the ancient and noble house of Potter?"

"Yes."

Sirius rose from his chair on the Wizengamot. "Madam Bones, I request the use of Veritaserum."

The Wizengamot supported his request, and Lily as Unspeakable Fluffy was once again asked to administer the anti-denial potion, before Mrs. Weasley was dosed with Veritaserum.

"Did you make sure that Dumbledore was Harry Potter's rightful guardian before signing a betrothal contract in favour of your daughter?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Why would I? The Potter boy is rich and a marriage with him would be the best that could happen not only to my daughter but to the whole family."

"Were your husband aware of your deals with Albus Dumbledore?"

"No, he leaves everything concerning the children to me."

Lily tuned the rest of the questioning out, just glad how everything had turned out for James, her, their twins and their friends. 'Life is good,' she thought, 'even if James and I better remain in hiding on the North Pole for the time being. At least we can venture out into the magical world as our Unspeakable personas.'

She was brought back to reality, when the verdict was announced. "Molly Weasley, you are going to be sent to Azkaban, where you will stay for ten years."

tbc...

Thank you for the kind reviews for the previous chapter. Please continue feeding my muse. Any ideas, suggestions or opinions are welcome.