Disclaimer: See prologue.
A/n: After a long wait, here is the next chapter of the story. Thank you to all those who have waited so long for this to be completed, I really do appreciate all the support from people on both sights. I am studying again this year, but hopefully there won't be such a big gap between updates again. Note that parts of the death scene have been taken from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, chapter 35.
One final thing before I begin this chapter though, I'd like to take a moment to express my horror over Russia's current invasion of Ukraine. In my opinion, no one should ever feel unsafe in their own country, let alone have to flee because it is slowly being destroyed. Before you read any further, please, take a moment to think about the innocent victims in this senseless war. If you have family over there, then I hope you can draw comfort from this message. It is a truly sad day when a countries President decides to invade another. I hope reading this can bring your mind off the truly sickening events currently happening, even if that is for a short amount of time.
Chapter 7: Trials and Tribulations
August 12th, 1991.
Chaos! That would be one way to describe the ministry of magic. With all the articles running about Harry Potter and the oath that was made by him, people were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Fear was the dominant emotion in the atrium and other places in the building. Mostly all of the facts they had known about their world had come crashing down around them.
People pushed past each other as they bustled towards courtroom ten for the long-awaited trial of one Sirius Black who had, according to the daily profit, been illegally incarcerated. Many thought that the man was guilty, many thought he was not, and many were neutral about it. Everyone made sure that they had their wands on their person. Plans were made by many paranoid people to defend themselves, just in case the man tried anything. Sirius Black had been in Azkaban which was known as the hell on earth for the better part of ten years. Surely being in the company of those soul-sucking monsters could drive anyone insane.
At the same time, in another office.
Bartemius Crouch senior was worried. No, worry wouldn't cover what he was feeling. Ten years ago, a big mistake had been made. Granted that it was not directly his fault, but it didn't matter anymore. Once people found what his actions had led to—no, Dumbledore's actions lead to, they would probably kill him. Barty Crouch, if asked the question where he thought he would be working in a decade's time, the minister of magic always came to mind. With his policies, many people agreed and supported him. The position of becoming the minister of magic was even closer than a hand's reach, before his son had to be found with lord Voldemort's most faithful lutennints. Not only that, but his son being caught red handed using one of the unforgivable curses had really affected his political standing. After reading the daily prophet, he had checked for many blocks and potions on his person and he had found a lot. How Albus too many names Dumbledore used him to imprison an innocent man repulsed him completely. What made him even more furious was the fact that he had been set up big time by the old fool. Not only that, but the esteemed high and mighty Albus too many names Dumbledore had dared to mess around with his family, partly being responsible for his wife's death and framing his poor son for a heinous crime he had not even committed. Clear as day, the memory dragged itself to the surface. It had taken very powerful mind-healers to undo this particular obliviation and it took a few goblins to flush a very dangerous and illegal potion out of his system.
November 1st, 1981
Barty Crouch's office
12:40 p.m.
A roar of fury burst out of Bartemius Crouch as Peter Pettigrew roughed him up. Often, he would use a few of the dark curses which left him with many gashes, at other times he would turn into a rat. Getting bored of toying with Crouch, Wormtail pointed his wand straight at his targets chest to deliver the killing blow:
"Avada—" bang! The door burst open as Albus Dumbledore dramatically entered the room, intending to play superhero again.
"Albus!" Thank god you came!" Barty Crouch exclaimed in relief. Dumbledore, however, said nothing but walked forward toward Wormtail who was standing calmly by the wall. Crouch, meanwhile, had regained his wand. Bringing it forward, he began to utter the words of the stunning spell. He was surprised, therefore, when before he could get out the first few syllables, his wand was roughly grasped from his hand. Not believing what he was seeing, Barty closed his eyes, rubbed them, then opened them again, only to witness the same thing. Albus Dumbledore looked pissed. There was no other way to describe it. One eye glared at him, while his other eye looked over the form of Pettigrew in concern. In full panic mode, Barty began shouting for help, but to no avail. "The door has a silencing charm on it," Pettigrew said gleefully, pointing his finger at Barty.
"That is right, Bartemius," Dumbledore said, "nothing you do now or say will be heard by anyone else but me and my… friend here. I'm sure you know of Peter Pettigrew, do you not?"
Before Barty's eyes, Pettigrew slowly raised the left arm of his shirt to reveal the faded tattoo of the skull with a snake inside its mouth, the symbol of the dark lord Voldemort. Barty lay helpless on the floor while Pettigrew, after being handed back his wand, bodybinded him.
"Now, please explain to me why you want his life to be spared? He has been fucking around too much with your and the dark lord's plans," Pettigrew said.
"Shut it, Peter! Do you not see how he can become useful to me?" Dumbledore yelled. Barty raised an eyebrow in surprise. Dumbledore had not reprimanded the death-eater for his choice of words? Not that he never used such language like that at times, because he did! Rarely, of course, but he knew all about the time and place. Which then made him wonder, just how many kids had picked up the habit of cursing all the time at Hogwarts? Not that he could do anything to stop it, seeing as it was not against the law, but that had planted a small seed of suspicion into the man's mind: was Dumbledore looking after the staff and students properly at that school? Or was he not? Even stranger seemed to be the fact that Dumbledore allowed a death-eater to be with him. If Pettigrew had not attacked him with the intent to end his life, then perhaps, Barty may not have been that curious, nor would he have thought about the old man's actions, thus coming to his own conclusions which did not seem right to him. Perhaps if he had not argued, and just complied, history would be different. For that would have meant that Barty Crouch could then do his own investigations and get Albus in prison as well as saving both his wife and son from a horrible fate. But that did not come to pass. Ignoring his instincts, Barty did the most foolish thing he could have done in this particular situation: he entered the situation head on, not considering the consequences which would follow afterward, not the disastrous effect his actions would have not only on his life, but the lives of his son and wife, a child, a -grief-stricken werewolf, an innocent man and the rest of the public.
Barty Crouch tried to move. His eyes rolled around in his sockets to no avail.
"Calm down, old man," Pettigrew said coldly, "Dumbledore isn't going to kill you. But I assure you. Had it been me—"
"Enough!" boomed Dumbledore. He flicked his wand twice in Pettigrew's direction. The death-eater tried to speak but no words came out. At the same time, he was flung through the air, hitting one of the office walls and falling unconscious immediately.
"Ah, Bartemius, my dear boy," Dumbledore said as he released the body bind from the man. Why the hostility towards me?"
"Pettigrew… your pet death eater tried to kill me!" Barty raged as he pointed a shaking finger towards Dumbledore. "And you! You are keeping this death eater filth safe! How dare you!"
"Now, now, Bartemius," Dumbledore chided him as he waved his wand creating a chair for himself. His blue eyes twinkled away merrily as he surveyed Barty with his half-moon glasses, his hands steepled together. "Let's not be so hasty here." The events that transpired between you and Mr. Pettigrew were, I am sure, a miss-understanding. Peter Pettigrew here is my spy of sorts. As much as I would have liked this to be a social call, I am, unfortunately, not here for that reason. I have come to notify you about the latest developments, and hoping that you would be kind enough to do a favor for this old man?" The twinkle in his eyes intensified.
"Talk." Barty growled as he warily sat down in his chair, all the while throwing looks of disdain and hatred towards the knocked-out death-eater. Dumbledore took a deep breath and began.
"As you know, yesterday, lord Voldemort met his end at the hands of a 15-month-old toddler, that being Harry Potter. The Potter's and longbottoms had been under the fadelious charm. What you do not know is that they were targeted because of a prophecy. This prophecy in question talked about a child being born at the end of July to parents who have thrice defied Voldemort, and the child would have the power to defeat him. Both the Potters and Longbottoms fit the description of the prophecy. Both families were very important to the defeat of Lord Voldemort. You know all about the Order of the Phoenix, I am sure? Well, Bartemius, you have to understand. These are dangerous times we are living in. Very dangerous. Unfortunately, a spy managed to worm his way into our midst, that being Sirius Black. Something which may sound far-fetched, yet I assure you that it is true. It was in the daily prophet how young Sirius had been disowned from the Black family because he allied himself with… families that the Blacks did not approve of, and also the fact that he managed to get sorted into Gryffindor house, when in actual fact he was meant to go to Slytherin and join the rest of his family in the snake pit. I am sorry to break it to you, but it was all a ploy of the Blacks. They knew that I was fighting against their beliefs and the person who they bowed down to, that being lord Voldemort. To them, that was not good. As you very well know, I hold a lot of sway and power, and (all modesty aside) I am the greatest wizard alive. And it is precisely that which became a big problem for them and a few other families. Thus, a cleverly crafted plan was concocted. On September 1st, 1971, I was most surprised to see young Sirius being sorted into Gryffindor. The poor boy was used, and it disgusts me even still to this day how they managed to corrupt such an innocent boy. You see, it had been his family who had asked him to infiltrate my organization. What better way would there be than to get sorted in the house of the enemy, cut ties with his allies, get disowned from the most noble and ancient house of Black for going against all their traditions, being a rebellious child, befriending the enemy as well as renouncing his family? I am deeply ashamed to say that I fell for young Sirius's tricks, and am now distraught that he has shown his true colors. To him, it was all a prank. Infiltrate the enemy's camp, make the enemy trust him, worm his way into a lot of people's affection, and at last, betray the enemy. No doubt he is laughing about it now as we speak somewhere."
"I see," Barty said gravely. "What about the other Blacks?"
"I believe they are innocent of any wrongdoing. To the best of my knowledge, neither Walburga Black, Narcissa Malfoy, nor Andromeda Tonks are guilty of anything."
Barty Crouch decided to believe him for the moment. Even if he wanted to, he could not do any harm to the old wizard, as he had a lot of supporters both in the ministry and out.
"So, Bartemius," The old man continued. "Now that I have explained everything to you, I don't think that it is necessary to give Black a trial."
"What!" Barty bellowed. "Albus, are you out of your bloody mind? Of course, we need to give Black a trial. Just think of all of the information we could learn about the death eaters. And plus, it's my job to see that Justus is served. Even if your information is correct, I am bound to carry out my duties and make sure that everyone gets a fair trial. You can't just waltz into my office with your pet death-eater in toe who wants me dead and ask me to not follow the proper procedures and throw a man into Azkaban without giving them a trial."
"No!" Dumbledore yelled in panic; this was obviously not going as planned.
Bartemius Crouch was confused. Something didn't add up here. The past couple of days had been… strange. Yes. Strange would be the word that covered them. First of all, Lord Voldemort had met his demise at the hands of— if the story was to be believed— a fifteen-month-old toddler by the name of Harry Potter. He had ,like the others, been rejoicing at the unexpected turn of events. Unlike the others, he had kept his guard up. For he knew that his harsher policies had displeased many old pureblood families. Death eaters, death eater sympathizers, and those families who wanted the pureblood lines to be continued rather than cut down. Then today's events and revelations had left him very shaken. Little did he know that this was just the tip of the iceberg. He thought of his wife and son. It was times like these when he wished that they were with him. But it had been for their own safety. He had insisted that they both get as far away as they could from England. All he knew was that they had gone to America. Bartemius junior had called him on his communication mirror, telling him that himself and his mother were coming home tomorrow and he had been overjoyed. For his wife and his son were the only 2 people whom he loved with all his heart. Had he known that as he thought this, Dumbledore had been in his mind, he would never have dared to think about his family.
"I'm sorry, Bartemius," came Dumbledore's voice from behind him. Since you haven't done as I asked, I have no choice but to remove your memories. Whatever I am doing, I am doing for the 'Greater Good.' I have got things planned for your wife and son. You see, I can't have you becoming minister, either. Your son will be the perfect weapon which will be used to get you out of the way." then everything went black.
30 minutes later found Cornelius Fudge, who was the junior minister in the Department of Magical Catastrophes at the time, along with 20 Aurors bringing in a stunned Sirius Black who seemed to be looking insane.
They all seemed to be terrified! They explained about finding Black along with Pettigrew on a muggle street, how Pettigrew began accusing Black of betraying his friends, how Black had then thrown a blasting curse which hit one of the gas lines, the result being 12 muggles injured and Pettigrew dead, and the only thing found of him was a finger. They walked onto the scene of Black laughing and a couple of bystanders whom had explained everything to them. Little Pettigrew had managed to put up a strong shield which, instead of killing the muggles, injured them instead. He had died a hero's death.
A few hours earlier
Looking back, Bartemius was horrified of how much the old bastard had fucked with his mind. He had erased part of his memory. Even worse was the fact that he had dared to do the same thing to his wife and son. Upon further reflection, he realized that this was the perfect opportunity to put the old fool under Veritaserum and pump all the answers out of him. Let those people, who thought that the sun shined from his wrinkly old arse, see how much of a bad and dangerous criminal he really was.
A few hours earlier
Gringotts
The torture chamber
Peter Pettigrew screamed once more.
"Please!" He choked out, "have mercy! have… m—" but Neville had applied the curse again.
"Take that, you bastard! That was for getting uncle James and aunt Lily killed."
"They're not… your… uncle and a-aunt! They weren't—"
"Weren't what? My parents' friends? Well, my gran says otherwise. You see, she has told me everything! How my parents and my aunt and uncle fought in an organization called the Order of the Phoenix. Oh, and I know the secret keeper, by the way."
Wormtail's face went white.
"A very clever idea," Neville continued, "but not good enough. I know that because Lily Potter was my mother's best and closest friend along with my godmother, she would be our secret keeper. How clever to have one main secret keeper and then another secret keeper in the same house. You know, I've just realized: you, my dear friend, are also responsible for the state that my parents are in. If you had not given out the secret, uncle James and aunt Lily would have been alive, and because aunt Lily would have been alive, my family would have been protected."
"And that's two family members of mine you have messed with," came a deadly voice from the door of the chamber. A furious looking Hermione approached the fallen man with a very hot oven tray.
"Diffindo," she said coldly, cutting open Pettigrew's shirt from the chest down to the stomach.
"Do you have a heart, rat?"
"I don't need to answer you, filthy mudblood bitch."
Silence descended over the room before Hermione, enraged, came so close that she was nearly standing over him.
"Well, it doesn't seem like you have a heart. You were willing to see the murder of two innocent children. Children who have done nothing to you, Voldemort and No Name. Because of you, many innocent people have died. Harry is my soon to be husband and Neville is my younger brother. You deserve this for messing with my family."
Smack! Crash! Thwack! On exposed skin the oven tray hit. Once, twice, thrice. Channeling all her anger, Hermione continued her assault before she was forcibly restrained. The skin over Wormtail's chest and stomach was covered with blisters and the smell of burning flesh made everyone gag.
"Enough!" Bellowed Remus, pulling Hermione back with him. "If you kill him now, Sirius wouldn't be getting a fair trial." Remus, Gellert and the goblins, distracted by Hermione, did not notice as Harry and Neville crept forward. Wormtail, at the site of them, began to whimper in pain and fright. The boys did not know nor did they care. Standing above the pitiful shaking wizard, they raised their hands and only muttered one word. "Crucio." Wormtail's screams of pain were music to their ears. Everyone turned to watch the man writhing, twitching and screaming on the ground. Only when the rat started to lose his sanity did Ragnock and Gellert restrain the boys from taking their revenge.
Peter was then taken to the healing chamber where he would be healed, and where the goblins would then cast the same spell they cast on Albus No Name. Should Pettigrew ever mention the goblins, he would not be able to reveal much, not under the effects of Veritaserum which was the strongest truth potion in existence, at any rate.
In a cell in Azkaban, a big black shaggy dog lay peacefully sleeping through the screams of the other prisoners.
He had forgiven Moonie for the lack of responsibility that he showed when it came to Harry. In hindsight, he supposed that he had been rather hard on Moonie when it came to his innocence. Especially when Barty Crouch himself had explained everything. The mere sight or name of Barty Crouch always ignited a fire of rage within him, for he had made sure that he was sent to Azkaban without a trial. But after hearing the full story, the anger was directed at a certain barmy old codger by the name of Albus Dumbledore—no, Albus no name, if the received information was correct.
Remus' healing potions, the Honeydukes chocolate and food had greatly improved his physical health. Mentally though, he somehow survived and was for the most part, quite saine and alright. Being an animagus really had its perks, Sirius Black thought when he woke up.
Seeing Bellatrix across from him, he really couldn't resist taunting her. Turning into a human, he yelled, "Oi, Bella bitch! How's your hypocrite of a master doing? Ah but I forgot. The filthy half blood, the bastard son of a squib and a common muggle is dead. His most faithful rat made sure of that, didn't he?"
Hearing the woman screaming, frantically trying to break the door and yelling at him was entertainment for him. She spouted off the usual shit about Voldemort not being dead nor a halfblood, the insulting of Pettigrew ("THAT FILTHY VERMIN… THE FAT… SORRY EXCUSE OF A RAT IS NOT MY LORD'S FAITHFUL SERVANT!") and her proclaiming that she was his faithful servant made him roll his eyes in annoyance.
He was bored. There were no other words to describe it. Being in the auror force naturally gave him things to do. Visiting his friends also made him happy.
"James!" He shouted, succumbing to the dementor's effects.
"James! No! No no no no no! "Prongs, you bloody git. Wake up! This isn't funny!"
Just then, the coldness of the dementors seemed to disappear, and a few people with brown trench coats seemed to be walking toward him.
"Finally, I think I have cracked in this miserable hellhole," Sirius said as he cackled madly.
"The bloody hell, James. Here I was thinking about the Aurors, and now there are some of them in front of me. So, gentlemen, to what do I owe this visit?"
"Mr. Black, you are coming with us to the ministry for your long-awaited trial."
"I… W-w-what?"
Sirius didn't know what to say. He tipped his head back and tried to laugh, but what came out was a horse gurgle.
The Aurors looked alarmed and very uncomfortable.
"So," Sirius rasped out. "Finally, I've been given a trial now, am I? After what? Nearly a decade wasting away in this miserable hellhole?"
The Aurors did not know what to say. They watched as 2 dementors flanked the man and led them to the boat. The Aurors were there just in case anything went wrong.
20 minutes later saw 2 dementors drop a very pale, thin and shaking Sirius none to gently into a hard uncomfortable chair. Chains instantly bound the man's hands and ankles, effectively ensuring that he did not escape.
Sirius was shivering from the cold of the dementors who had been his personal demons for the better part of a decade.
If not given the potions and chocolate by Remus, he would have looked sickly and pale, with waxy skin which would have stretched over his face so tightly that it would have looked like a skeleton. But thanks to the potions, he didn't look so bad. The haunted look in his eyes would stay there for a long time. He was still thin and frail, something which a lot of food would fix. His handsome aristocratic features had wasted away in the space of 10 years. Only time would tell if he was restored to his proper self, but 90% chances were that it would not happen.
"Sirius Black," Madam Augusta Longbottom's authoritative voice rang throughout the courtroom. "You have been brought here today to determine if you are or not guilty of the crimes that you were accused of ten years ago. You shall get the chance to explain yourself, after which the Veritaserum will be administered to ensure if what you speak is the truth and only the truth.
"This man, Sirius Black, was sentenced for life in Azkaban for being a death-eater, passing on information to lord Voldemort," everyone flinched, "…leaking the hidden location of the Potter's to his master which resulted in their deaths, , and the attempted murder of their son, Harry James Potter, who was formerly known as the boy-who-lived, injuring twelve muggles and killing a wizard by the name of Peter Pettigrew. How do you plead?"
"Not guilty," he rasped out.
"How are we, the court and the jury, supposed to believe that you, Sirius Black, are not guilty of those charges when the evidence is so overwhelmingly against you?"
"I was the first choice to be the secret keeper for the Potters, this is true. They were in hiding because it was rumored that the Death Eaters were searching for the Potters; but we believed that there was a spy amongst us and James and I…" Tears welled up in his eyes as he spoke. "We decided to change Secret Keepers at the last moment to keep them safe. We agreed that I was the obvious choice and that Voldemort would come after me.
James was my brother in all but blood. I would have rather been tortured or died for him, Lily, and Harry. But we chose Peter. It was my idea. I asked James and Lily to switch to Peter. I thought it was the perfect plan, a bluff. Voldemort would be sure to come after me, he would never dream that we'd use a weak, talentless thing like him. It must have been the finest moment of his miserable life, telling Voldemort he could hand him the Potters on a silver platter.
James and Lily agreed, and Dumbledore cast the charm immediately. But a week later, Pettigrew betrayed them. I had arranged to check on him, but when I didn't find him, I was scared. I went to James and Lily's house to tell them, but I found it in ruins." He teared up again, and after composing himself, continued with his story. "I was shocked, so I went into the house and found both James and Lily dead. I had assumed that Harry had also died along with them. I was about to leave when I heard him crying. Thinking that the cries I could hear were a figment of my imagination, I started to walk away. But when the cries got louder, I turned around and saw him. Harry was twisting and turning in his crib and I immediately rushed towards him. I was about to leave the house, but then Rubeus Hagrid turned up and said that he needed to take Harry to Dumbledore. Him and I argued for a bit, before I handed Harry over to him and accompanied him to Hogwarts. After seeing Harry in good hands, the anger returned. I knew that Dumbledore would look after Harry. I was also certain that there was only one person to blame for all this. I wandered around searching for Pettigrew. I at last cornered him on a muggle street. I confronted him about it and asked him why he had done what he did. But what I didn't expect was little Peter to get the best of me. He shouted out in the street, accusing me of betraying the Potters and serving Voldemort. I was then confused, because I didn't know what games the rat was playing with me now. Taking advantage of my confusion, Pettigrew shot a blasting curse in the street, transformed into a rat, and escaped into the sewers. I then completely lost it. I had lost my two friends, and now, I was unable to kill the person who was responsible. I kept yelling 'it's my fault!' and laughing. Because I thought that I was to blame. If I had only known that the rat would do what he did, I would have never dared to even suggest the idea of making him a secret keeper. Come to think of it, I wouldn't put it past Dumbledore, Pettigrew, or any of Voldemort's lackeys to have confunded me into making that miserable rodent our secret keeper.
The last thing I saw was the half-destroyed street and about a dozen bodies before I was stunned and woke up in Azkaban. I thought I deserved Azkaban. I was happy that I thought I had managed to kill the rat. Also, because I was Harry Potter's sworn godfather, if I had truly betrayed James and Lily as well as Harry, my vow to protect my godson and his family would have killed me. I shouldn't need to remind all you members, but I will because I can see there are kids in this courtroom, one of which is my mentioned godson. The fact is that oaths like that should never be given lightly and there are severe consequences for breaking them, up to and including death as I mentioned just a moment ago."
Absolute silence followed Sirius' confession. Could what the prophet was saying be true?
Eventually order was restored and Augusta Longbottom resumed the interrogation.
"Do you, Mr. Black have any evidential proof to back up your claims?"
"Yes, I do. As it is my trial, I am within my rights to ask for the court penseive."
Shocked silence permeated the courtroom, for the court penseive had not been used for half a century.
Suddenly, about a dozen dementors surrounded Sirius, and one of the dementors' mouths had descended on Sirius'.
"Expecto patronum!" Harry shouted at the top of his voice. Remus, Hermione, Neville and Ragnock did the same. Those who believed Sirius to be innocent followed suit. All the patrony overwhelming the dementors had clearly won. Soon all the 12 dementors were driven away. Harry, Neville and Hermione's patronus's were the colour of gold, unlike the rest who's were silver.
They showed no mercy whatsoever, grabbing the dementors in their jaws, instantly and effortlessly finishing them. The fowl beasts shrieked and writhed with pain. Soon, there was a sea of cloaks on the floor and souls started coming out of the now destroyed cloaks, going to the realm of the dead. Despite them being the souls of criminals who were kissed, most of those in the courts were genuinely happy to see them go to the afterlife.
Harry had never known such rage before as it coursed through his body. His accidental magic reacted, doing whatever needed to be done to calm down the young wizard. Memories were the key here. They entered Harry all at once, overwhelming him for a few seconds. He cried out in pain before processing everything. A chilling smile crossed his face as he now knew what needed to be done.
"By the power of the houses of the founders of Hogwarts and by the power of the law binding the Wizengamot I, Harry James Scar rock Potter, heir apparent to the houses of Potter, Gaunt, Peverell, Black, Ravenclaw, Merlyn, Slytherin and Gryffindor, demand that the ancient power of the Wizengamot, given to this entity by Merlin himself, punishes the one who gave the order for the dementors to strike." He ordered.
His tone was full of authority and all the members of the Wizengamot felt the powerful surge that leapt through their bodies. What kind of power did this boy have to control the ancient power of the Wizengamot itself?
The culprit was found soon enough. Dolores Umbridge suddenly clutched her head and cried in pain.
"Dolores Jane Umbridge. You have been found guilty of attempted murder of Sirius Black as well as other things, and as the heir of the for mentioned houses, I demand that you are brought before the Wizengamot to receive justice." Harry spoke.
"Your actions have been found despicable. The Wizengamot's power comes from the law, not what some people think would be best for their agendas and reputations. Therefore, the ancient power of Wizengamot has decided that you are not worthy of wielding magic. Let it be told through me that your punishment had been dealt by ancient magic. You will be stripped of your magic. Your magic will be added to the power in the Wizengamot which was given freely by Merlin at the end of his life. By law of the Wizengamot, so mote it be." Harry intoned and Umbridge cried out as she felt her magic leaving her.
Everyone was in an uproar. Many spells were cast at Harry, some of them being stunning spells and other harmful and less harmful curses. Harry raised a hand and was encased in a golden shield.
It took 3 blasts of sound from Augusta's wand to quieten everyone down.
"Silence!" Augusta said in a cold, unforgiving voice.
"The next person who fires a spell in this trial for no reason will be thrown out and won't be allowed back in!"
The woman glared then spoke again.
"Now. As Mr. Sirius Black has mentioned, he is fully within his rights to use the court penseive.
Auror Proudfoot, if you would be kind enough to extract the memories from the accused?"
Just how stupid Dolores Umbridge could get, that was beyond everyone's understanding.
"HOW DARE YOU!" She shouted at the top of her voice.
"HOW DARE YOU, A SON OF A BLOOD-TRAITOR AND A COMMON FILTHY MUDBLOOD TAKE MY MAGIC AWAY FROM ME? YOU AND YOUR FILTHY HALF-BREEDS WILL PAY! I WILL HAVE YOU AND THEM SLAUGHTERED AS THEY WERE MEANT TO BE. PURE-BLOODS RULE SUPREME, MUGGLES, MUDBLOODS, BLOOD-TRAITORS, SQUIBS AND FILTHY HALF-BREEDS DON'T DESERVE—"
But just what they did not deserve, nobody found out. Cornelius Fudge, who had had enough of his under secretary embarrassing him and the ministry sent a silencing charm which hit her in the face and Amelia Bones levitated the woman to a chair. The chains glowed gold and bound the woman tightly.
With Umbridge now bound, the Auror stepped forward and began to speak to Sirius.
"Mr. Black, all I need you to do is think about the memories you want and I will extract them and place them in these vials."
Sirius signaled that he had them and the man started taking them out one by one.
Unbeknownst to everyone, the court penseive was also sentient. The memory extraction worked without a hitch. That is, until they were put in the penseive. Bright silver light encased the penseive before splitting into 3 threads which headed towards 3 wizards: 1. Sirius Black. 2. Peter Pettigrew. And 3. A white haired old man who was sitting in the middle of the public that had come to watch.
There was a huge blast of magic which destroyed the chains binding Sirius Black to the chair. He started writhing, screaming in agony as the silver light mended his mind, lifting all compulsion charms, memory blocks as well as refixing memories which had been tampered with. A golden beam of light then came at him from the penseive and entered his body, soon leaving it just like it would have been if he had not gone to Azkaban. His eyes still remained with a haunted look, for no charm, spell, or curse could ever undo the effects of being with the dementors for a decade.
The old man had a similar thing done to him, but after the first part, the similarities ended.
Many wands were drawn upon seeing the man turn into Albus no name. Albus himself wasn't faring that well. He screamed in pain and rage once he realized that his magic had failed. Memories he could not control started coming out of his head. The silvery light coalesced into a ball, rested on the man's temples, and drew out memory after memory which filled the penseive.
Peter Pettigrew also screamed as the thread of light entered his body, undoing all obliviations, restoring memories and removing memory after memory, putting them in the court penseive.
Half an hour later.
To say that everyone was shocked would be an understatement. They had seen it all: all of no name's trickery. All of his manipulations from the start. Right from when he had manipulated Gellert Grindelwald and Tom Riddle. How the old man had tampered with poor Sirius Black's memories. Not only that, but with the memories of the Crouch family as well. Many had begun to suspect that the poor phoenix, Fawkes, was under no name's control. For phoenixes only serve those who have good intentions and want the best for the world.
No Name groaned in pain. Realizing what had happened, he tried to get up, but his efforts were in vain.
Its work done; the light started flowing back into the pensive.
"Fawkes," No Name said weakly and the Phoenix flamed above him and grabbed the old man, flaming away into a ball of fire, into an unknown location.
Those who had cast spells were too late.
Everyone was howling in anger at what had transpired. Therefore, they did not notice a balding fat man secretly planning his escape. Hence, no one noticed a rat escaping through the ruckus. No one was paying any attention to the ventilation shafts, for if they had, they would have noticed a fat grey rat making it's escape. At the same time, a girl with blonde hair and brown eyes waved her wand, and a person wearing an invisibility cloak took the place of Peter Pettigrew; everything had gone exactly as planned. Well, not exactly. Potter and his goblins had messed up quite a lot and Albus had been exposed. But the main objective, which was everyone in the Wizengamot distracted, had worked, even if the plan had gone wrong. Albus was now safe, Peter had escaped, and everyone was distracted. In her world, everything was fine. She would be rewarded later on. Forcing a flask to the man's mouth under the cloak, she watched the potion do its work. Heart hammering in her chest, she watched as the imperioused muggle resembled Wormtail. So far, the plan is working! It was now time to get away… far away from this place where —if caught— she could be punished. She had no desire to go to Azkaban, be given the dementors kiss, nor take a trip through the veil of death. The distraction was enough. Everything had gone without a hitch and she was in the clear. Only two things more to do before the next phase of the plan could begin.
People were howling at the injustice that had been done.
The woman took a deep breath and fired a blasting curse at the man where Pettigrew sat. The man's head severed from his body, and droplets of blood splattered the chair.
The woman surveyed the corpse of the man and waved her wand at the chair that Dolores Umbridge sat in before hurriedly leaving the ministry. All phases of the plan were complete.
Unaware of her punishment which she would be getting in a few years, she disaperated from the atrium of the ministry of magic, her job done. A few minutes later, everyone calmed down to see the blooded and mutilated corpse of one Peter Pettigrew and the satisfied smile on Sirius Black's face. Not that he had orchestrated this masterful plan, but he was glad all the same and was grateful to the witch who had disposed of the vermin. Little did he know that in a few years, he would have a big hand in her punishment. If only he had known of her true intentions, but the plan was so carefully executed that no one suspected a thing and Peter Pettigrew had, once again, faked his death with no one the wiser.
Freed from her chair, Dolores Umbridge smiled an evil, toadlike smile. She was well and truly buggered and she definitely knew that. She knew that by proceeding with her plan, she was going to get into even more shit with a lot of people. But this had to be done for the good of everyone. She was determined to finish what the dark lord had started. Not that she had the dark mark, but she supported his ideals. The Potter brat had ruined everything! Pure-blood society was slowly being ruined. Not only that, but the fucking bastard had stripped her, a pure-blood, of her magic! She could see him sitting there with his filthy little friends, the mudblood, Hermione Granger and that filthy blood-traitor, Neville Longbottom. The werewolf Lupin was also there along with six others whom she didn't recognize. She was feeling completely hopeless, for she couldn't complete her plan without her magic. The last encounter she had with those filthy half breed goblins played out in her head again, and remembering how the filthy mudblood Granger had taken her hand off with the muggle contraption made her tremble and spasm in fear. It had only been her luck that the half breeds had let her go that time, but she knew for certain that if they had not shown her mercy, she would either be dead or in a worse off position, doing house elf work. a small part of her tried to persuade her to not mess with Potter and his group of mudbloods, muggles, blood-traitors and half breeds, but seeing how things were going now, she knew that Potter had to be disposed of if there was any hope for things to go back to how they were before.
Suddenly, she saw a figure's arm twitch. In fact, a very familiar figure. Someone who could help her get the job done. So unnoticed by everyone, she made her way towards Walden McNair and whispered a bunch of instructions in his ear. He nodded and she quickly sat back down in the chair. The chains bound her yet again which frustrated and angered her to no end. But seeing the smile creep up Walden's face, she finally relaxed, knowing that the next part of the plan was going into action. And if everything went off without a hitch, she would possibly be minister of magic. If not, then at least the wizarding world would return to its normal state. Exterminating all halfbreeds were the top of her plans, then making muggles, blood-traitors and muggles slaves to highly respected purebloods.
She saw Walden McNair as he pointed his wand toward Potter's entourage and finally at the Potter brat. He shifted his wand until it was pointing at his forehead before uttering the two words which would finish the boy off for good: "avada kedavra."
Green light flew from the man's wand and hit Harry Potter directly over his lightning scar. The boy tried to move out of the way but was not fast enough. Dolores smiled in victory before schooling her expression to that of someone who was in shock.
To say that everyone in Harry's group was shocked would be an understatement. This trial was getting way out of hand. Both Harry and Neville had burst into tears of anger and sadness at seeing how James and Lily Potter along with Frank and Alice Longbottom had been tricked by Albus no name. Augusta Longbottom and Amelia bones were not fearing that well either. Augusta because of what the old coot had done to her son and daughter in-law, and Amelia because of watching the death of her brother, Edgar and his family. Susan Bones was also crying at seeing her parents' death by the hands of cloaked and masked death-eaters as Wormtail hid in his rat form and watched. Then came the worst part of all: when No name —who Harry called "dark lord—" escaped with Fawks. Everyone had been too angry to notice everything. Dan and Emma Granger as well as Ragnock, Remus and Gellert were yelling in rage and were uttering a string of curses, completely forgetting that there were children present. So, it had been for that reason and that reason alone that no one had realized the green light of the killing curse as it struck Harry directly over his scar. The scream coming from Emma Granger had the room falling silent at once and everyone looked over in her direction. No words needed to be said, for at that moment, Dan Granger nearly staggered as he tried to keep his balance. But the dead weight of Harry Potter was too much. Dan fell backwards, and if it had not been for Gellert creating a shield to stop Dan's fall, then Dan could have easily fallen off the high bench, possibly killing or injuring himself. Hermione screamed as she saw Harry's lifeless form. Ragnock was in shock, and his eyes were unable to leave the emerald green ones as they stared back at him lifelessly. The light from them was completely gone, and all of Harry's group clutched their heads as they felt the pain of Harry's mind link with them break.
He lay face-down, listening to the silence. He was perfectly alone. Nobody was watching. Nobody else was there. He was not perfectly sure that he was there himself.
A long time later, or maybe no time at all, it came to him that he must exist, must be more than disembodied thought, because he was lying, definitely lying, on some surface. Therefore he had a sense of touch, and the thing against which he lay existed too.
Almost as soon as he had reached this conclusion, Harry became conscious that he was naked. Convinced as he was of his total solitude, this did not concern him, but it did intrigue him slightly. He wondered whether, as he could feel, he would be able to see. In opening them, he discovered that he had eyes.
He lay in a bright mist, though it was not like mist he had ever experienced before. His surroundings were not hidden by cloudy vapor; rather the cloudy vapor had not yet formed into surroundings. The floor on which he lay seemed to be white, neither warm nor cold, but simply there, a flat, blank something on which to be.
He sat up. His body appeared unscathed. He pinched himself to see if this was real.
"Ouch!" Definitely real. He wished for clothes, for he was getting rather uncomfortable sitting naked in an unknown environment. The wish had barely formed in his head when clothes which seemed to be his size appeared on the floor a short distance away. After covering himself, Harry took stock of his surroundings. Things seemed to invent themselves before him as he spun around, trying to identify his current location.
"Harry! Over here!"
Harry froze. This couldn't be! It had been his dream to talk to his parents in the flesh, something that he knew wouldn't happen for a long time. He had totally not expected to die so young.
"Come here, Harry," his mother beckoned to him.
As Harry looked around, his mother and father came into more focus. Quite suddenly, benches started appearing. Harry sat sandwiched between his mum and dad. The bench then began to change until it was a couch. A cozy and comfortable couch. Harry began to think of the home which he had been during his childhood. Which had been the cottage at Godric's Hollow. The air stilled and the couch shifted. Then suddenly, Harry, along with the couch and his parents, were floating. He grabbed onto his mother and father for dear life, and he began to hyperventilate. But as much as he hoped that the day's shocks would come to an end, they didn't. Little did he know that in the next few hours, he would be getting the closure that he had so desperately needed. They fell through the air, and quite often in the middle of the journey to their destination, Harry had to be held back by his parents. In a desperate act of saving himself, Harry wished for the couch to have a seat belt of sorts which would hold everyone in place.
Fifteen minutes later saw the group of three land near the front door of the cottage at Godric's Hollow. However, there were many differences in this version of the cottage and the version in the land of the living. For one, the whole house was intact, and the grass had been cut neatly.
The couch floated toward the door. For a frightening moment, Harry thought that they were going to crash, so he closed his eyes tightly. Surprisingly though, there was no impact of his body hitting the door.
The couch carried on and on until it reached a certain spot in the living room.
Harry got off the couch along with his parents. With a sob, he threw himself in the arms of his mother. Deep, heaving sobs racked his body. Lily Potter began making shushing noises and tried to calm Harry down.
James Potter hugged Harry from behind and asked, "what's wrong, son? Is there any way I can help?"
"No," Harry said. "No. I am just happy because I g-g-got to see you in r-r-r-real life instead of a portrait or a picture."
"We're happy to see you as well, son," James said.
"Although we weren't expecting to see you for many years," Lily added.
After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Harry asked, "am I really dead?"
"No, you're not," Lily said.
"Not?" But how? McNair's killing curse hit me! I saw it!"
"Yes, it did," Lilly added sadly, "However, the only thing that is keeping you from crossing over properly is the soul bond you have with Hermione Granger."
Harry blushed.
"I am very proud of you, Harry," James said with a wink in his direction. "Married at 11! Wow! It took me seven years to get Lily flower here to go out with me."
"Oh, shut up, you," Lily said, playfully smacking James on the arm.
"I am also proud of you, Harry, for getting together with such a wonderful girl as Hermione. I am very proud to have her as a daughter-in-law."
"It is getting late," James said, looking outside the window at the moon and the stars.
"You have had a lot of shocks today, Harry," Lily said.
"Go to bed, son," James said. We'll show you where your bedroom is and we will answer your questions tomorrow once you have had a good sleep. There is nothing better to start with the heavy stuff fresh in the morning. Wouldn't you agree, Lily?"
"Yes," Lily said. Chop-chop. Bedtime now. Rest up, and we'll talk tomorrow."
Tears sprang to Harry's eyes as he heard his parents playfully and lovingly arguing with one another. How he wished that he had grown up with them. He would have given anything to be raised by these 2 wonderful and loving people who had given their lives for him. He hesitated to ask this question. To him, a thing like this sounded childish, but he still wanted this. Taking a deep breath, he asked what it was on his mind.
"M-m-mum? D-d-dad? I… I wanted to ask you something. Now I know that I am eleven years old… and what I am about to say… it… is probably ch-childish… but I was just wondering… If I could… if I… canIpleasesleepwithyou?" Harry blushed with embarrassment as he said this very quickly.
"Uh, I didn't quite catch that," James said. "Can you please say that again slowly?"
"Okay. Can I please sleep with you tonight? Please? I can't help but think this is a dream… And I just want to be close to you—"
"Say no more, Harry," Lily interrupted. "Of course we will sleep with you. But you will sleep in your own bedroom from tomorrow onwards."
"Yes, mum," Harry said as he yawned.
Just then, the couch changed.
"Wo! This is amazing!" Harry said. A huge bed stood where the couch had been seconds ago, and the 3 people fell asleep. James on Harry's left and Lily on his right.
After waking up the next day, the three Potters continued their conversation where they left off.
"Now as I said yesterday, Harry. You still have the option to return to the world of the living because of the soul bond you share with Hermione Granger. But fear not. We have plenty of time before that."
After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Harry asked the question which he had been bursting to ask.
"If you're saying that I'm not dead, does that mean that I can return to my body?"
"It sure does," James said looking at him as if the answer of that question was obvious from the start.
"But how? Would it hurt me going back? What if they've buried me? What if—"
"Wo! Calm down there, kiddo," James said laughing. All of your questions will be answered in good time."
"Harry blushed.
"Before you have to go back, there are a lot of things we need to discuss with you," Lily said.
"And no doubt you may have questions of your own which you would like us to answer," James added.
"Yes, I do," said Harry. "I talked a lot to your portraits, but it's not the same as talking to you in real life. Can you please tell me why you didn't leave England and go to the other side of the world?
Uncle Moonie and uncle Paddy could have come too. If we didn't hide in Godric's Hollow, then what are the chances that you would still have been alive?"
"Now that is a good question, Harry," James said. "And the answer to that is… complicated.
As you know, I hero worshipped Dumbledore. So did the rest of the Marauders. We thought that whatever he was doing was the right thing. Lily tried to change my mind, even going as far as to show me a few memories and making me question them, but I refused to believe it. We all trusted Wormtail as well, so we did as he asked, which is to say, we hid in the cottage that Albus had given us. And you know the rest. Wormy betrayed us, we died, you became the boy who lived, etc."
"Fare enough," Harry said. "Now I understand. What about Snape?"
"What about him?" Lily asked.
"Do you want me to kill off the bastard for you?"
"Language, Harry, and no. Don't kill Sev. Not if you can help it."
"What! But why not! He is partly the reason why you and dad are dead! He was the one who gave Voldemort the first few lines of that fucking prophecy and—"
"Guard your tongue!" Lily yelled. "I don't want you getting into the habit of using language like that, because I swear. If you use it at the wrong place and the wrong time, it is going to get you in trouble."
"I'm sorry, mum," Harry said softly.
"Don't worry about it, son," Lily said.
"Now, we really get talking about the heavy stuff. The prophecy. As you know, Albus No Name deliberately set up the situation with that blasted prophecy. It was all part of his grand plan. I just want you to know though, Harry. If I could go back in time, I would not change much. First of all, remember this: prophecy is very unpredictable. Very few people know the true nature of prophecy. Some believe that prophecies are by their very nature self-fulfilling. That by hearing and acting upon a prophecy, one creates a chain of events leading to its fulfillment. But that is wrong. Some believe that prophecies speak of the absolute truth of what is to come. They, also, are wrong. Some believe that prophecy is fake. Rubbish words spoken by one who claims to be a seer, and that what they say in a prophecy will not come true at all. That is also wrong. Divination is a very imprecise branch of magic, and it is a talent which only some people possess. In every situation, myriads of choices arise. For every choice, a new stream of events occurs, leading to more choices, more possible futures.
A seer is someone who is able to catch a glimpse of the threads that run through all of these possible futures, no matter the choice. And it is that which is called prediction. One cannot predict what is precisely to come in the near future, but a true seer can go through all the threads in different futures and can predict vaguely what may happen in the near future. Because the future's not set in stone."
Harry knew most of that, because Gellert and the goblins had made sure to tell him about that.
"We know that the goblins have already explained all that to you, Harry," James said, "but we just wanted to remind you of that.
For me, you and your mother are my number one priority. As you know, I was being a complete dickhead at school, trying to get your mother's attention. I was spoiled, as you know. Being an only child as well as being doted on by my parents was not helping me at all! I had it all. The charming, good, handsome looks, the clothes, a manor as well as heaps of money to spend on whatever the f—I mean, whatever I want. So in other words, Harry, I was a spoiled brat. Sirius, Remus and Peter were my first and only close friends. You see, before I met them, I had never hung out with any kids before. So being the git I was at the age of 11, I pushed Severus Snape away because of his poor looks and the fact he seemed to be too close to your mother for my liking. Now don't get me wrong. I'm pretty sure that you are probably thinking of me being very creepy thinking like that about a girl who I didn't even know, but please hear me out before making any assumptions or forming opinions about me.
I kept going after your mother. Showing off, just to get her attention as well as treating people from Slytherin house like shit because of thinking of all Slytherins as being evil. I learnt the lesson after school: houses at Hogwarts don't matter. If you're going to be working after school, you're not going to see what house a person came from. You just don't do that.
Now despite all my faults, I was a good person as well. For if I had not been, I would have taken up Voldi's offer to join him. His supporters tried to entice me to join him. They offered me many things: safety for my family, all the riches in the world, all the girls that I would want… they even went as far as to promise Lily to me as a reward! But I didn't accept it at all. 1 because I didn't think that Voldemort would honor his promises, 2 because my parents didn't join him, and 3 because I am just not that person. True, I was a bullying git. A real prat, but I wouldn't truly wish death on anyone. Not even Snape, the person who I absolutely despised at the time. That is why I saved him from the Whomping willow after Sirius had told him how to get in.
I am not the type of person to be using love potions either, so I can perfectly assure you that I haven't been using love potions on your mother. We started going out in seventh year, and after graduating Hogwarts we married.
The day you were born was a very happy day for us, Sirius and Remus. You instantly had all of us wrapped around your finger. You were at the time, still are, and forever will be our bundle of joy, and we will always protect you first."
"I wish that we were there for you when you grew up," Lily said with a wistful sigh. But creating a better world for you and the rest of the children comes first. I am not the type of lady to shy away from evil. Hence, I sacrificed myself for you in the hopes that you would live a happy life which obviously didn't happen at first which I am very mad about. I assure you that Vernon and Petunia have definitely got what they deserved. I tried to make excuses for her for years! But after seeing the way that the b—… Woman treated you, I do not consider her as a sister of mine. She can burn in the pit of hell for all I care with that wail of a husband that she has. I am glad though that you and the rest of your care-givers and friends managed to save young Dudley Dursley from becoming a spoilt brat, making him into a respectful and a good functioning member of society.
Before we talk about anything else, I think that I need to explain the eight different types of love to you."
"What? There are eight types of love? Okay," Harry said looking confused.
"Yes. That is right, son," Lily said. love, according to the ancient Greeks, is comprised of eight elements.
The first type of love is called Eros, which is otherwise referred to as burning passion or love of the body. It is intense and often associated with youth or with our first great romance. It's formed mainly from passion or sexual desire, and the Greeks feared it because love like that can consume you and its power could destroy you.
The second type of love is called Philia, which is otherwise known as good will and brotherly love, and in us females' case, sisterly love. That type of love is sincere and platonic, the love you would have for siblings or close friends.
The third type of love is called Ludus or playful love. It can be flirtatious, or it could be when you tease someone and make them laugh. It's a fun kind of love and it is usually associated with fleeting romances and passionate affairs. It's all about having fun at the time with no regard for the future.
The fourth type of love is called Pragma, which is otherwise known as everlasting or long-lasting love. Pragma is the highest form of love because it is a true commitment requiring understanding and compromise. It's pragmatic and flexible. Anyone can fall in love, but it takes a conscious decision to stay in love with someone for better or for worse. Mostly couples would have that relationship of love.
The fifth type of love is Agape, otherwise known as selfless love. You know, when you do things for people, not expecting anything in return.
The sixth type of love is called Philautia or self-love. The Greeks divided it into two types. The bad sort of self-love is the sort you see in a selfishly egocentric person who seeks pleasure, fame and wealth and displays narcissistic tendencies. The good kind is the healthy kind of self-love, the belief that we can only love and care for others if we truly love and care for ourselves.
The seventh type of love is called Storge, which is otherwise known as unwavering devotion. It's the kind of love that parents feel for children. It's natural and instinctive, a powerful and protective force. It is knowing that you would protect someone with your life, even if they wronged you.
The eighth and final type of love is called Mania. This is when you are insecure or jealous of your partner spending time with other people. Whether they are of the same sex, or different sex than your partner. That really isn't healthy for any relationship.
Now we'll talk about why I don't want you killing Severus.
First you have to understand. Both you and Severus have quite a few things in common. Both you and him have been abused. You, by my dear sister and her charming brother-in-law, and Severus, by his father, Tobias Snape who was an alcoholic. Now to understand why Tobius was the way he was, we need to visit the history of Eileen Prince.
The Princes, as you know, were one of the pure-blood families. Eileen went to Hogwarts in the 1940s and became the captain of the Gobstones team at Hogwarts in her fifth year. After leaving school, she met and fell in love with Tobias Snape.
After marrying a muggle, Eileen was disowned by her family, just like Andromeda Tonks has been disowned from the Black family for marrying a muggle-born.
For years, Eileen kept the part about being a witch as a secret. But after Severus was born, he started showing signs of accidental magic. One day, Tobias saw Sev performing accidental magic and he threatened to kill the boy. Eileen then explained everything to him about magic and he completely lost it. He was ashamed to have a wife who was magical as well as a child. He began drinking and abusing his wife and child ever since he found out.
I was the first person who became Severus' friend. We met each other in a park close to our house. He saw me performing magic. I was opening and closing the petals of a flower, and Petunia kept yelling at me to stop. After a few moments, Petunia and I were swinging on a couple of swings, and he was watching us from behind a clump of trees. As you know, I had a grasp on my magic at a very young age.
He approached me and told me about me being a witch after he had seen me perform magic. I didn't believe it at first, and I thought that he was being rude. It took a bit of convincing, but I eventually believed him.
Petunia feared magic at first, and she was also jealous of me because I had magic. She didn't show it of course, because, of course, she was too… proud and vain to admit that she wanted to change. Adding Sevrus' hatred for muggles made things even more difficult. He treated Petunia with disdain and hatred for being a muggle, whereas he treated me like a princess. Petunia wrote a letter to headmaster Dumbledore secretly to see if she could also come to Hogwarts with me. But the esteemed high and mighty Dumbledore decided that he couldn't waste his valuable time and pawns with muggles and squibs.
At Hogwarts, we were both sorted into different houses. Voldemort, unfortunately, had people stationed inside Hogwarts to recruit people from all four houses. Most of the Slytherins, especially his friends Mulciber and Avery, got him to believe all of the blood purity hogwash. Most importantly, he was treated with kindness and respect. Think. If you are abused and treated by respect and kindness, you would naturally gravitate toward said people who treat you like a human being instead of a waste of space.
The marauders gave all Slytherins, especially Severus, a hard time."
James Potter suddenly looked very ashamed and continued from where Lily left off.
"We made his life a living hell, and we are not proud of it. It all came to ahead in fifth year after O.W.L.S. We said nasty things about Snape after our exams, and we cornered Snape near the lake and started mocking him about his appearance. When he tried to defend himself, we started physically bullying him and there were a lot of bystanders watching. We completely humiliated him by physically injuring him and using the levicorpus spell. I'm sure that Moonie has told you about that right? Well, we nearly vanished his underwear and laughed at him. All the other spectators were also laughing. Then Lily came along and told me to "leave him alone!"
Cocky and arrogant, I made a condition to leave him alone if she went out with me. Snape then said the one thing which severed his and Lily's friendship forever: He said that he didn't need help from "filthy little mudbloods like her."
In our sixth year, Sirius foolishly told Snape about the Womping Willow. And had things gone differently, then Snape would have died that night or had turned into a werewolf. He was lucky that I had saved his pathetic life. Sirius got told off by myself, Remus and the rat, I assure you. We didn't speak to him for at least a month. But gradually we all forgave him.
After leaving Hogwarts, Snape became a death-eater. He brued many dark potions for Voldemort and delivered part of the prophecy to his stinking master."
Lily continued from where James left off. "At the time, he still felt guilty for giving Voldemort the part of the prophecy which doomed my family. He could hardly care less about you and James. It was only me who he cared about, going as far as to beg his master to save my life. Naturally, things did not go as he thought they would. He was the first on the scene, you know. After seeing my dead body, he was devastated. He used legilimency on you to see how I had died. After he saw me begging Lord Voldemort to spare you and kill me instead, his loyalty changed again. To him, the Lily he knew was dead. Had, in fact, died in fifth year after the friendship was severed forever. He turned to Voldemort again, for Voldemort had given me many chances to save my life. I needn't have gotten involved at all! To this day, he still thinks the same. The only reason why I am asking you if you could go easy on him is because he was manipulated big time by no name as well as bullied by the Marauders. However, if the man physically harms you because he wants you dead, or if you catch him in the act of helping Voldemort in any way, shape or form, then I give you permission to do whatever you want with him."
Harry sighed. "Okay. I'll do it for you, Mum."
Lily, overcome by emotion, wrapped Harry into a hug as she said, "thanks sweety. I know how hard this is for you. The guy was my first and best friend, so I owe it to him to give him at least one chance for him to renounce his old ways and return to the sweet and caring young man that I used to know."
All of that information was a lot for Harry to take in and he didn't know what to do. He got up from the couch and paced up and down the living room, his forehead scrunched up in thought.
A few minutes after he had processed the information, Harry returned to the couch.
"So… What happens next?" Harry asked his parents.
"Well, that's up to you," James stated calmly. "You choose if you want to stay with us or go back to your family who are living."
Harry looked around the elegant cottage and asked, "so say that I wanted to spend some time with you both before I go back. how long can I stay here? And if I were to stay a few days, would the same amount of time pass in the land of the living or not?"
"Ah… This is a very difficult question, Harry," James said. In theory, if you stayed here for however long you want to stay, not much time would pass in the world of the living. One year is equivalent to one second. Your soul bond to Hermione Granger will insure that you return to your body."
After pondering on it, Harry Potter made his decision.
Ten years later.
Godric's Hollow
World of the dead.
In Hine site, this should not have surprised him. Covered head-to-toe with honey, Harry Potter tried his best to look around and free himself, but his efforts were for naught. The honey hardened to the point that he couldn't free himself. Muttering under his breath about getting revenge on his dad, Harry applied oclumency and tried to think.
Finding no weak points in the frozen honey that he was trapped in, he waited for the right time before freeing himself and getting his revenge.
Until the right time presented itself, Harry reflected on the ten years he had spent with his parents.
After he was settled down, Harry had met all of his ancestors from both his mum and dad's sides. Not only that, but he had also spent time with the four founders and Merlyn, and everyone had taught him everything they knew.
He had gotten the opportunity to just relax and be a child despite training, something which he had desperately needed, since all of his innocence was stripped from him at a very young age. Prank wars was also something which he excelled in, and James along with himself often had competitions to outdo each other. Charming a whole lot of honey to fall on him when he walked out his bedroom door was pathetic. He could do better than that. A smirk slowly spread across his face which promised revenge as he thought about how he was going to deal with this prank.
There! Hearing his dad's footsteps creeping closer, Harry took his chance. Using his wandless magic, he conjured a whole lot of boiling water which he directed all around him. The honey melted and he was free! His dad opened his mouth to speak, but he didn't give him the chance.
The water and honey merged together and went straight for James. No matter what he did to avoid it, his efforts were for naught. After trying a lot of spells, James gave up and started running. Harry watched with a satisfied smirk on his face. Time for the next part of the plan.
Lily Potter had just finished making breakfast when James came running into the room, an expression of frantic terror on his face.
"Lils! H-"
Whatever he was going to say was cut off by some soapy water which had mysteriously appeared on the floor and James slipped, crashing to the ground. Lily knew that it was Harry's doing, but decided not to say anything. Trying to suppress a laugh, she asked, "What's going on, Jamie?"
She never saw the boiling water and honey coming her way, and was therefore unprepared when it crashed into her, sending her sprawling to the ground. Her landing on James was short lived when the mixture of water and honey surrounded them both, creating a cocoon around them.
"Harry James Potter!" She screamed in rage.
Harry laughed and went to his grandparents to tell them about the morning's entertainment.
Today was Harry's last day in the realm of the dead. More importantly, the last day of being a child without worrying about both of the dark lords and their minions planning his demise. A part of him yearned to go back to see his friends and family in the world of the living, and a part of him wished to stay with his family who he had also slowly gotten attached to.
A few hours later.
Slytherin manor
Realm of the dead.
"We are all gathered here," began Salazar Slytherin, "to say good-bye to our one and only descendent, Harry James, who is the only one capable of making the world of the living into a better place than it already is."
Tears began to flow and he couldn't speak due to the lump in his throat.
Everyone crowded around him, giving him a hug, which turned into a group hug with everyone giving hugs to one another, providing and seeking comfort from one another. Soon everyone started crying.
The death lord watched everything with a stoic expression which faltered for a split second before he got his act together and made his way to the group. The next few minutes were going to be very important for his plans for the future, and he needed to do this just right to see if the boy was worthy of becoming his heir.
After a few more emotional speeches and good-byes, the death lord made himself visible to Harry.
"Harry Potter. Son of James, son of Lily. Where might you be off to at the moment?"
Harry froze as he looked at the death lord. He kept having flashbacks to when he had appeared in Umbridge's office. Within a short amount of time, he came out of his shock and his instinct and lessons from the Goblins came back to him. He bowed low and spoke, being careful never to lift his head.
"My lord Death, it is an honor to meet you. What can I do for you?"
The immortal interrupted Harry by lifting his head and speaking, "I see that your family on earth have taught you proper etiquette and manners," Harry Potter. "Why must you travel back to earth? Why not stay here with your parents?"
"My family need me. My friends need me… I have the weight of the world on my shoulders and I am prophesied to defeat Lord Voldemort. The world is doomed without me, my lord."
"I see. So just to clarify, you want to go back to the land of the living. The very world in which you were abused in. The very world in which your parents were taken from unjustly and before their time? The very same world in which live those who truly despise you and wish for your painful demise.
Tell me, Harry Potter. What do you see?"
A mirror appeared in front of Harry and he stared. His ancestors and parents looked at him along with his cottage. They seemed to be crying and mouthing, "Harry. No! Harry, please come back to us. We love you. We love you!"
The image changed and he saw the world of the living.
The goblins along with his human friends were partying, and some of what they were saying made him want to vomit and burst into tears.
Hermione and Dudley seemed to be holding hands, and Hermione said, "I am glad that your bastard cousin is gone, Dud. Now we don't have to hide our relationship anymore."
Tears pricked Harry's vision and the seen changed.
Ragnock was muttering to himself.
"... Glad that the brat is dead… Having to get involved with humans of all things… Shameful…" And then the seen changed to his dead family hugging Harry, praising him, wishing he was back with them.
Harry finally understood what was happening. The death lord was testing him.
"So, Harry. Tell me. What do you see? What is your decision after seeing everything you have seen? Are you still willing to return to the world of the living?"
"I saw exactly what you wanted me to see, my lord, and I will still return to the world of the living. I am sorry, but a mirror is not going to make me change my mind about how my family and friends feel about me, and me them. Even if my family did hate me one day along with the rest of the world, I would not change my decision, nor will I become a dark lord. I will answer your next question as well. I will fight for everyone. Yes, even those who hate me. No one deserves to live in a world where two dark lords rule supreme. I have been taught, as you very well know, to do what is right instead of what is easy. So go on. Do your worst."
Harry stood up straighter and his eyes got a determined look in them.
The death lord was impressed. He had honestly expected the young boy to cave under the pressure and fail this test, like people his age. As much as he wanted to comfort the boy, he prepared for the next test, all the while hating himself for what he was putting young Harry through, at the same time knowing that it had to be done.
"You're such a brave and honest boy," the death lord said. Fighting for those who would love to see you destroyed. Once someone has entered my realm, Harry Potter, they cannot go back.
You have been selfless and determined to return to your life and save your world.
As you know, everything comes with a price. I am the boss around here, and I do not permit anyone who has entered this place to leave. Ever! But seeing you pass my test… I am considering to let you return to your life.
So, tell me, Harry James, if I allowed you to return to the world of the living, what would you be willing to give me in return?"
"Almost anything, my lord," Harry said, his head bowed.
"Almost anything, you say?" The death lord said thoughtfully.
"Well, if you are absolutely sure, my boy, then I have nothing to do but to give you your options.
Your first option is that You will return to the land of the living, but the road for you and your family would not be easy. There will be many casualties in the purity war once the one known as Tom Riddle returns. The greater good war will also continue alongside the purity war when the one known as Albus Dumbledore, now disowned, gets his powerbase ready. Your efforts as well as the goblins will be fruitless, but you cannot stop both the lords. Delay them, yes, but not stop them.
I can see nearly all of your friends and family meeting their ends at the hands of Tom and Albus. After the war, your family will be hunted by wizards and killed because they don't want things to change.
Your second option is that you stay here. If you stay here, I can make sure that your godfather receives his freedom today, as well as making sure that both dark lords and their minions are not a threat with less casualties. Should you wish to stay, the soul bond between you and your friend, Hermione Granger shall be broken.
Your friends and family, especially your mate, will morn you and shed tears for you, but for them all to have happy lives, you have to stay. So yet again. I ask you this question, Harry James. What would you choose? Would you choose your happiness over your family's by being selfish, return to the world of the living and watch as your family and friends are tortured and eventually killed? Or would you rather choose your family's happiness over your own by being selfless, stay here, and let me deal with both dark lords, all the while making sure that your family and friends don't come to much harm?"
Harry carefully thought through both options, considering the pros and cons of both choices spread out before him before coming to a decision, taking a deep breath, and speaking.
"If my family and friends will have happier and better lives, then I will stay. I will not return to the land of the living, even though I really want to and see them all. If the choice is between my family's happiness and my own happiness, I would choose my family's happiness over mine in a heartbeat."
Harry was taken aback to see a gentle, understanding look on the death lord's face that he never thought he would see from him at all.
"Harry, I congratulate you. When I decided to test you, I thought for sure that you would fail."
"But why did you test me?" Harry said, a hint of anger in his tone.
"As much as I did not want to test you, it had to be done to determine the future of your world. You have passed the test of selflessness. You proved to me that you would do the right thing, despite facing adversity. You will not forsake the ways of good and opt to dabble in evil, even though you are forsaken by those who care for you and love you for who you are. You also passed the test of faith and proved to me that if anyone tries to turn you against your family, you would not be easily swayed, unless memory charms and things like that were involved. You have not only proved to me that you would be a beacon of hope for your world and rally people to your cause and lead the world to a brighter future, but you have also proved that you are good enough to become my heir.
I know that it is a lot for you to take in, but the choice is yours. Should you want to become my heir, you only have to say the word. If you become my heir, I shall allow you to come and go from this realm as much as you please. You will get to see your parents and the rest of your family as well should you want to. Not only that, but I can allow spirits of people such as the four founders to temporarily possess you and help you through the fight with both the dark lords."
Contrary to popular belief, Harry Potter was not stupid, by any means. The offer sounded very appealing, but if the goblins had taught him anything, then that was that everything comes with a price. As much of an honor it may be to become the heir of an immortal, Harry was sure that the offer came with strings attached. He would have to tread very carefully through these next few minutes as he negotiated with lord death himself.
After bowing to Lord Death, Harry spoke. "My lord, I am honored that you think me worthy enough to become your heir, and have no words to tell you just how much I appreciate that. If you are okay with answering this question, can you please tell me why? Why me. Out of all of the humans who have lived and died before me; people who are better and more experienced than me, why did they not get your offer of being your heir? Prophesized to defeat the two dark lords I may be, but I am just a child who has been forced to grow up so quickly. What can I possibly do if I choose to become your heir? I am sure that many others would have done anything to have been getting that offer from you."
"Ah, and that is exactly why, young Harry, I want you to be my heir. I want the one known as Tom Marvolo Riddle delivered to me at your hand. I have… a score to settle with him. Knowing of how powerful he is, you need as much support as you can get, and becoming my heir would give you that extra support.
Another person I ask for is the one known as Albus formally Dumbledore, now No Name. Because of those meddling, power-hungry men and their followers, many people have died before their time, and their destinies and fate cut short and going… not how we planned them to go."
It only took a couple of minutes for Harry to come to a decision.
"My lord, I accept. I am willing to become your heir. I swear on my life and magic to uphold the proper ways of things and deal with the world in an unbiased manner. I also swear not to let power go to my head and influence my decision."
"Are you aware of the oath you are swearing?" The death lord looked penetratingly at his soon to be heir.
"Do you swear that you will deal with everyone in the same manner? Not even people you like, or people who don't like your family?"
"I do," Harry replied calmly as he looked the death lord full in the face, his back straight, jaw set and a blazing determined look in his eyes.
"Do you also swear to make people who have wronged you and other's pay without personal grudges coming in the way?"
"I do."
"So shall it be done," the death lord said thoughtfully.
He suddenly reached forward and grasped Harry's left forearm, channeling his magic which flowed into Harry and merging with his. Harry violently shivered at the cold touch of the death lord. Screams of agony forced themselves out of Harry's throat as he fought to control the pain. A few seconds later, the pain subsided and Harry felt different. He examined himself. Yes, he was still human, but his magic felt… off somehow, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out how. However, the death lord had an answer ready for his unspoken question.
"It is unknown to me how my magic will affect you, Harry, but I swear to you that it will not harm you. My magic is a foreign identity on its own, therefor your magic is yet unsure as to how it should react to it. In time, your magic will realize that my magic is not a threat and should merge with it. I will ask you to proceed with caution, however. Your magic will probably be unstable for a few days due to my magic which is vastly different. Once your magic stabilizes properly, you will become nearly twice as powerful as you are at this stage."
"Wow!" Harry said as he stared slack-jawed at the lord death, for never had he expected that such an honor would be bestowed upon him. Nor did he think that he would even be noticed by a powerful entity such as death. But who was he kidding? he thought bitterly. He would gladly give up his powers just to be a normal child living a normal life with no burdens or prophecies hanging over him. Damn you, Voldemort and Dumbledore, he thought. Despite thinking this, Harry was still grateful for the power and importance he carried.
"I do think that your time within this realm is coming to an end, young man. I will allow you… an hour with your family before I send you back to the world. In case I don't say this to you later on, but Harry, I am very proud of the kind Young man you have turned out to become despite the hardships which have been thrown at you left, right and center."
An hour past in a blur. Tearful good-byes and hugs were exchanged and it seemed like no time that Harry was standing opposite the death lord.
"Good luck, Harry Potter," Death said as he picked Harry up and through him as hard as he could out of the doors of Slytherin manor.
Chaos reigned supreme in the court as many people noticed what had happened. Screams, wails, shouts and sobs echoed around the courtroom, but the most noticeable sounds came from Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. Sirius Black howled like a wounded dog, yelling out his godson's name and saying, "James, Lily, please forgive me. I failed you, I failed your son. Harry James, I am so, so sorry!"
Remus tipped his head back and howled at the top of his voice, unable to look at the lifeless form of his cub.
About twenty seconds later, Amelia saw the same people as before clutch their heads in pain. After about 20 seconds of this, she saw Mr. Potter wake up and she, along with everyone else was shocked. How could this be? Everyone had seen the boy go down by the killing curse, and yet… Pulling out her wand, she rapidly waved it in many intricate patterns. Strange. All of her spells showed that this boy was undoubtedly Harry Potter. But how could this be? She had seen the sickly green light of the killing curse which had hit the young boy over his forehead. Before she could speak, the boy took over.
"I, Harry James Scar Rock Potter, swear upon my blood, life, magic and the grave of my parents that I am who I say I am. So mote it be!"
A golden glow enveloped Harry and everyone was shocked into silence. Never had they seen someone get hit by the killing curse and stand up, stronger than ever 20 seconds later. Those who doubted Harry Potter to be a special and truly gifted boy were forced to believe that they were wrong.
One of the humans accompanying Harry Potter waved his hand and the human disguise fell away to reveal the director of Gringotts bank.
Everyone in the Wizengamot, except those who were aware of the group's identity, were shocked. Hearing that the boy had been raised by goblins and seeing it first-hand was different for them.
Most of them were wise enough to stay quiet in the director's presence, just in case they said the wrong thing, and yet some were not. But before they could open their mouths to speak, Ragnock spoke.
"I, Ragnock, Director of Gringotts bank would like to request that the Wizengamot hand over the one responsible for casting the killing curse at one of our own to us so we can deal with the person's punishment. I hereby declare his life forfeit and want satisfaction!"
After that statement, the chamber went into an uproar and many people began shouting all at once. Amelia regained control with a loud bang from her wand and someone screamed, "Director Ragnock, the boy is only a human child. Tell me," The man said, glaring, "why should we give you this wizard? As far as I'm aware, Gringotts have never taken in humans the way you seem to have done with this one."
"Well let me clear that up for you now human," Ragnock said, barely restraining to keep the fury out of his voice.
"Usually, we would let you humans dish out punishment for your kind and not get involved. But this boy here and the rest of them," he pointed to Gellert, Neville, Dudley, the Grangers and the Longbottoms, "Are all under the goblins' and especially my protection. Anyone who messes with me or my people answer to the goblin courts. Young Harry Scar rock is as much a Potter as a goblin when I adopted him after Conner Winters rescued him from his despicable relatives and one of the goblins brought the boys and Winters to me."
"But what made you adopt the Potter boy?"
"That is neither your concern nor will I explain myself to anyone else, but especially a person who said such a demoralizing statement about someone that I love."
Harry, wanting to try and calm things down before they got ugly, stepped forward and some would call it stupidity, others bravery, but he placed a hand on the Goblin's shoulder. His head whipped around so fast and everyone saw his eyes soften for the briefest of moments and Harry began whispering to him quietly. What was said, not many people would find out but interrupting their moment, everyone realized that it would be effectively political suicide to do so.
Turning back to the crowd, he nodded to Madam Bones and Augusta, his face telling everyone that he was waiting again and didn't look forgiving at all. The kind and gentle person was gone and replaced by a warrior. The boy had removed his hand and also stood back with his group.
"Ah yes, o-o-f course… Attempted murder… Boy who lived no less… What would people think if I… Not much got chance of being minister…" Cornelius Fudge was paralyzed with fear, jabbering on, not knowing what to do.
At last, after a few seconds, the trembling man straightened up and said, "very well, sir, for formalities sake, we have got to do this… You understand… Normal… Procedure… Those in favor of handing Walden McNair and Dolores Umbridge over to the goblins for the attempted murder of their ward, Harry James Scar rock Potter, light your wands.
About ninety percent of the wands were lit.
Ragnock carefully looked at the faces of those who had not lit their wands and committed their facial expressions to heart. They would need to be watched very carefully in the future.
Amelia composed herself and spoke in a loud voice.
"Director Ragnock, with only 10 percent a posed, the two who tried to harm one of your own are yours to do with what you please."
The Director smiled an evil smile, sending chills down those that saw and said, "Thank you, Director Bones. Guards, take the prisoners to the side of this chamber, disarm them and have them bound until we are finished here."
Complying with the orders of Ragnock, the guards took the two humans to the other side of the room and tied them up after disarming them. Getting tired of hearing their howls of fury and desperate threats, Ragnock waved his hand in the direction of the prisoners and silenced them.
Cornelius Fudge, who was getting panicked because he was losing control, tried to assert control over the situation.
"Order in the court!" He yelled, sending a powerful silencing charm which hit everyone and silenced them.
"Continuing with the trial of one Sirius Orion Black," Fudge continued in a strong and unwavering voice, "after hearing and seeing all of the evidence, those in favor of clearing Sirius Black of all charges, raise your wands."
Ninety percent of the people raised their wands, and the other ten percent, Ragnock noted, were the same people who had not raised their wands before.
"Those in favor of conviction, raise your wands."
Only the ten percent of people who had not voted for Sirius to be cleared of all charges raised their wands.
Cornelius Fudge, after remembering how Lucius told him to handle the situation, put a sorrowful look on his face and said, "Mr. Sirius Orion Black, I, on behalf of the ministry, profusely apologize to you for your unjustly time in Azkaban due to the lack of trial you were given by the previous administration. For every year you spent in Azkaban, the ministry will be compensating you with a million gallions which will be coming out of the vaults of Mr. Albus no name, the deceased Milocent Bagnald and the deceased Peter Pettigrew. Gallions can not bring bac the twelve years you have lost, Mr. Black, but on behalf of the ministry, I promise you that one day, we will catch Albus and bring Justice."
Sirius, who had been briefed on what was going on, put on a big, cheerful smile and said, "Why thank you, Cornelius. You just proved to me that the wizarding world of the United Kingdom needs a wonderful minister like you. A minister who properly corrected the errors of your predecessor and the previous administration in freeing me, an innocent man from hell on earth as well as giving me the chance to get involved in my godson, Harry Potter's life."
Seeing the minister's expression of glee when being complimented in front of people after his speech, Sirius shuddered in disgust. How a bumbling fool like Fudge was even allowed to be minister was beyond him. The only thing the dumb fuck cared about was his fucking popularity and his precious minister position, letting bastards like Malfoy push him around. The toad faced bitch; Dolores Umbridge had orchestrated his godson's death. He was no fool, and he swore on the graves of James and Lily that he would make the hag pay for what she had tried to do to Harry, and to Remus with those ridiculous werewolf laws.
Bowing to the pompous fool and roguishly winking at all the ladies, Sirius made his way toward where his godson and his entourage were and pulled Remus into a hug as well as clapped Harry on the shoulder.
Up next was Barty JR's trial.
Bartemius Crouch jr Sat in a chained chair which was next to the chair that Sirius occupied while he was on trial. The chains wrapped around Crouch's hands and feet, binding him to it.
"What is your name?" Amelia Bones asked him.
"Bartemius Crouch."
"What year were you born?"
"1962."
"You, Bartemius Crouch, were convicted on November the third, 1981 for torturing Frank and Alice Longbottom into insanity with the Lestranges, and for being a death-eater, follower of the dark wizard Voldemort. How do you plead?"
"Not guilty."
"How are we supposed to believe that?"
"It's not what you think. Like Sirius Black, I was also framed by Albus no name. My father had sent my mother along with myself out of Britain because he knew that people would be coming after him, due to the fact that he was taking such an open stance against the death-eaters. The plan was that he would join us in the United States after the purity war that Lord Voldemort–" People shuddered and gasped at the name of the dark lord, "–had been either defeated or killed. Seeing everything today has answered many unanswered questions. Why my father suddenly changed back in eighty-one. Why he seemed to hate me so before today.
On the 2nd of November nineteen eighty-one, tragedy struck. Our house in the US was attacked by both Dumbledore and Pettigrew. I can still hear my mother yelling at me to leave. That is a night which I will never be able to forget. I refused to leave mother on her own, and she did something which no mother should ever do to her child–she hurt me and rendered me useless. After a silencing charm was put on me, no one heard my screams as she broke both my legs and arms. With tears in her eyes, she profusely apologized to me for doing that. By that time, Albus had broken down the wards of the house and was nearly at the door. After calling Winky, she ordered her to take me somewhere safe, somewhere where no one could harm me. However, before Winky took me away, my mother quickly dried her eyes and said in a shaky voice, "I am very sorry about this, Barty. I know that you probably hate me, but please understand that I did this for your own good. I know you too well, son. I know that you would assist me with fighting Dumbledore, but I cannot allow that. He is a very dangerous man, and he will use you to get what he wants and leave you for dead afterward. I don't have enough time to explain everything to you. Trust Winky. She will look after you. Whatever you do, please stay away from your father at all cost. Love you, Barty."
"Just as the front door was blown off its hinges, Winky aparated me away to a muggle hospital where the healers patched me up. Wanting to know exactly what was going on, I asked Winky to make me invisible and take me to Crouch manor. Once there, I found out that my father believed that I was one of the loyal supporters of Lord Voldemort and he remembered giving me a trial before sending me to Azkaban. But how could this be? I most certainly had not been given a trial, nor was I in Azkaban prison. I then visited Azkaban prison and saw my mother who was disguised as me. Horrified, I asked her what had happened. Like my father, she also had memories of me receiving a trial, being found guilty for aiding the Lestranges, torturing the Longbottoms into insanity and being a death-eater. Her next memory was of her begging my father to release me. Since she was dying, she offered to drink polyjuce potion, transform herself to me and die, insuring that I was free. I started to tell her that none of that was true, but before I could, she died in my arms. I then became an angry person, full of vengeance. I wanted Dumbledore dead for messing with my family. I wanted to do the deed. In order to have Dumbledore killed, I was willing to find the dark lord and resurrect him. After I found out that Potter was living with the goblins along with his cousin, friends and uncle, and that all of them were also firm haters of Dumbledore and wanted him dead, I debated on going to them, telling them about what the old man had done to me, and hoping that they could help me in any way possible. However, before I could do that, I got a patronus from my father who asked to meet me in a muggle park in London. I was weary of meeting him again because I still thought that his mind was still tampered with. However, when I met him, he gave me a hug and explained that the goblins had helped him and had restored his missing memories. We both cried for my mother, for the ten years we have been a part because of the old man, and also for all the lives he has messed with. I am grateful to the goblins for helping my father, and will do anything for them. Helping Potter destroy both Dumbledore and Voldemort is the least that I can do. Using my influence to make life easier for the goblins outside of Gringotts is also the least I can do for them helping my father."
After hearing Bartemius Crouch Junior's testimony, everyone except the families in the dark faction voted for him to be innocent. The neutral faction had not fully allied themselves with Harry and the goblins, but they approved of what was going on. Having not being sent to Azkaban, Barty Crouch Jr did not require any physical treatment at St. Mungos, but because of how Bartemius Crouch junior and senior had allied themselves with the goblins, both Harry and Ragnock had organized mind healers to come into Gringotts and help them both come to terms with everything which had happened to them in the last decade, as well as helping to move on.
Dying, coming back to life again, using advanced magic to save his godfather from corrupt ministry officials and rogue dementors does take a toll on one's self, and Harry James Scar Rock Potter was no exception. The boy was fast asleep on Remus' shoulder by the time the final trial of the day had been included.
"wake up, young man," Emma Granger said lovingly to Harry as she gently shook his shoulder.
"whasa matter? Who you, what want," Were some of the words which Dan made out in between Harry's mumbling.
"The trials are over Harry, it's time to go home," Hermione said as Harry properly woke up.
It had truly been a long day, Ragnock reflected, as the trials concluded. Just as Ragnock was about to take his family away from the ministry, Fawks flamed into the chamber carrying a howler. Even strange was the patronus of Fawks which floated in mid-air to Fawks' left. Ragnock had a bad feeling in his gut but was too late to warn the chamber before the howler exploded and the patronus also did what it had been tasked to do. The fumes of the forgetfulness draft and the sleeping draft worked on mostly everyone except Harry and his family. Ragnock saw everyone dropping down like flies and he, also, felt like taking a nap. Pulling all of his occlumency barriers up, he tried to fight the sensation off. Not only that, but all the bad memories he had about no name started to slip from his mind and he started feeling silly and foolish for thinking of Albus Dumbledore as a bad man. Recognizing signs of a compulsion charm as well as a confundus, Ragnock fought harder than ever, and also sent energy through the mind link to the others as well. Gellert, who had plenty of power reserves left, continued what Ragnock had started. After conjuring masks which went over all of his family's faces, he quickly encouraged everyone to run toward the nearest aperation point. By that time, Ragnock had fallen unconscious due to using up all of his power reserves to keep everyone safe, who then had to be carried by Dudley.
He really had to give it to his old friend, Gellert thought as he safely aperated everyone to Gringotts. Sending a howler and a patronus with a confundus charm as well as a compultion to think of the man in a positive light mixed in a sleeping and forgetfulness draft was pure ingenious! No doubt he probably got Molly and Severus to brew his potion for him. It angered him to no end that he had not seen it coming. All of the hard work which had been put into trying to convince the public that No Name was a manipulative old conniving bastard who wanted to rule the world had nearly gone up in smoke. At least the daily profit would be able to convince them that things were not as they seemed. The journey ahead would be fraught with danger, and trouble would be waiting around the corner as an ambush. That was one thing which Gellert Grindelwald was one hundred percent certain of. But he would do his absolute best to see that the people and goblins he cared for came out on top of the war between No Name and Riddle, even if he died in the process. As the director was revived and told everything, Gellert Grindelwald retired to his chambers to take a much-needed nap.
