How to free Sirius:

- Steal Pettigrew from Hogwarts

- Get Ivy to steal Pettigrew from Hogwarts

- Get Ivy and the twins to steal Pettigrew from Hogwarts

- Ask the Goblins

- Get Ivy to ask the Goblins

- Go to the DMLE

- Go to the Wizengamot

- Ask the Goblins how to go to the Wizengamot

- Break into Azkaban

- Send a Patronus and tell Sirius to break out of Azkaban

- Break into the Department of Mysteries and attempt to get my Hermione here

- Break into the Department of Mysteries and attempt to get a Hermione here

- Convince the Hermione here to help

Harry looked at his list. This was not going well. Every one of his ideas so far had merit (shut up, you niggling voice of reason that sounds suspiciously like Hermione in the back of my mind), but they also each had some serious flaws.

First were the plans involving nabbing Pettigrew. Harry really didn't want to break into Hogwarts. Hence the fact that the diadem was still there. Although if it became absolutely necessary he supposed he would at least be able to kill two birds with one stone, so that was something. And he didn't want to risk Ivy getting hurt at all, so he didn't want to send her after Pettigrew, even with the twins' help. She could handle herself fairly well but she was still eleven, and Pettigrew was a fully trained adult wizard and death eater who had managed to escape notice for the last decade.

Then there was the problem of going to the ministry. Harry had carefully avoided anything to do with the ministry, or politics, or wizarding Britain… The goblins claimed he had political power at his disposal, but if he did he certainly hadn't done anything with it. While he would be the last person to claim knowing anything about politics, he was fairly certain that he couldn't just waltz in there and say his name and expect everyone to do what he wanted. Unfortunate, really, at least in this case.

While no one had successfully broken out of Azkaban at this point in time, at least as far as Harry knew, no had successfully broken into Azkaban either. Probably because, despite Hermione's opinions to the contrary, most witches and wizards did possess some amount of sense. A tiny bit, but a bit nonetheless. Besides, Harry wan't an animagus, and that was the only way he knew of to get in or out undetected. Hmm. Maybe he should work on that.

Harry was pretty sure he could get into the Department of Mysteries. He'd done it before, after all. Plus he had been there all the time before ending up in this universe, and it was probably similar. So that part was fine. It was getting Hermione from his universe over here that posed the problem. First of all, he wasn't entirely sure she would appreciate it. Second of all, he wasn't too sure he would even be successful. He hadn't tried too hard to go back, since he had decided Ivy was more important, but he didn't think interdimensional travel was likely to be one of those things that he could learn about at the DOM library. And yes, they had a library. The Unspeakables were the nerds of all nerds, and Harry was always surprised that not everyone seemed to fully grasp this concept. Still, interdimensional travel was not likely to be in there, or else surely someone else would have done it by now.

Of course, maybe someone else had but just hadn't told anyone and instead had assimilated themselves into society using a new name so helpfully provided by the little happy terrors of the magical world. Nah. Probably not.

That probably complications associated with trying to recruit a Hermione from another universe had led him to consider recruiting the Hermione of this universe. But then again, she was eleven. Well, almost twelve. But still.

And the only other plan on his list…

Oh, how he loathed dealing with those grinning menaces.

He quite liked the idea of Ivy asking the goblins for help since they would probably take over the world on her behalf if she asked. But she wouldn't be available until Christmas, and Harry already felt bad enough about leaving Sirius in Azkaban for this long. He was a Gryffindor, for Merlin's sake. He could force himself to approach the goblins for help. He could. He would. Right after he made another list of every possible alternative to that plan.

September 20, 1991

Harry walked into Gringotts. He had done it. Well technically he hadn't done it yet, but he was about to do it, so he was still counting it as a successful day so far. Plus, he'd only been stopped by two witches on his way here. He really needed to talk to Ivy to figure out how to put an end to that. He knew she was behind it.

Walking up to the nearest available teller, he cleared his throat and was about to speak when the goblin spoke first.

"Ah, Lord Peverell. What can Gringotts do for you today?" The goblin's voice was louder than necessary (his grin indicating that it wasn't an accident), and Harry felt the eyes of several people in the bank turn on him.

In a much quieter voice than the goblin had used, Harry expressed his wish to speak with a goblin representative about Sirius Black. The goblin grinned more, and Harry heard a small squeak of terror behind him somewhere. Not turning to see who was justifiably scared of the grinning goblin, he continued to stare down the goblin teller.

"Right this way, Lord Peverell," the goblin finally said, once again speaking unnecessarily loud. More eyes turned in their direction. Harry's eye twitched. "Gringotts would be happy to assist you in any way we can."

Ignoring the quiet murmurings of the surrounding witches and wizards, Harry followed the goblin into the back offices.

A few other goblins shuffled into the office, and Harry was invited to take a seat. They went through the usual, though blessedly brief pleasantries, and Harry was invited to state his reasons for being there.

"Sirius Black is innocent and I want to get him out of Azkaban."

To the goblins' credit, they didn't even pause. "Very well," the one in charge said. "How may Gringotts assist you in that endeavour?"

Harry squirmed in his seat a bit. "None of the plans I've come up with so far seem particularly viable, so I was hoping you might have some suggestions?" He listed a few of his previous ideas, explaining about Pettigrew's status and the infeasibility of breaking into Azkaban.

The goblins in the room whispered amongst themselves for a moment before the goblin in charge turned back to Harry. "I believe we have a solution, Lord Peverell. Allow us a few moments to assemble the necessary documents."

All of a sudden pieces of parchment began flying into the room, and a stack on the main desk began to form. The assembled goblins quickly went through the documents, throwing out some, and putting others back into the pile. In what was quite literally a matter of moments, the goblins had a rather large stack of papers that they proceeded to hand to Harry.

After expressing his thanks, Harry ventured to ask, "so, what do I do with this?"

One of the goblins who had been assisting seemed surprised that Harry was asking. "Just take these to the ministry, of course."

Right. Of course. And do what, exactly? Harry's confusion must have still been evident because the goblin in charge spoke again.

"I would suggest taking these to Madame Bones of the DMLE. Just take these there, give them your name, and they will do what you want."

Harry blinked. So out of all the plans that he had made… And the one he thought was the least feasible… Just show up to the ministry… Tell them his name and…

Harry managed to mumble out a thanks as he was escorted from the goblin offices. He cradled the stack of papers close to his chest, and deciding that there was no time like the present, apparated to the ministry, ignoring the startled faces at both Gringotts and the ministry lobby as well as the fact that it was technically impossible to apparate to or from either location directly.

Once at the ministry he looked around for some sort of map or sign. He knew where the DMLE offices were in his world, but that wasn't an absolute guarantee that they were the same in this world. Seeing no such sign, he decided that it was probably close enough to the same, and set off in the direction his destination was probably in.

Coming to a security desk, he approached cheerfully and asked if this was the way to the DMLE head offices. Upon confirmation of that assumption, and the question of his name, Harry said, "Henry Peverell. Thanks," and then walked on. Technically he was supposed to get his wand checked, but he was in a hurry and honestly it probably wasn't the best idea to go waving around the Elder Wand in front of people. Plus the guard didn't ask, probably because he was too busy gaping.

Harry continued on until he found an office with a nice little placard indicating that he had arrived at Madame Bones' offices. Stepping inside, he was confronted with a secretary who asked, "Can I help you?"

"Yes, I would like to see Madame Bones, please."

"Do you have an appointment?"

Harry shook his head. "No, sorry. Just came from Gringotts to bring these over." He gestured to the stack of papers in his arm.

The secretary gave him a once over. "Name?"

"Henry Peverell."

The look on the secretary's face changed completely at that pronouncement. Very quickly Harry found himself being escorted to a comfortable looking waiting area and was asked if he wanted, tea, refreshments, and something that sounded suspiciously like the secretary's firstborn child before finally being able to clarify that yes, he could see Madame Bones, and so sorry, sir, it would be just a moment.

Harry assured the apologetic secretary that he didn't mind waiting. And no, he didn't need anything. And yes, he was sure. And…

After a few moments, the door to Madame Bones' office finally opened and a middle aged looking man stepped out. He gave Harry a curious look before making his way out of the office. The secretary hurried inside and conversed with Madame Bones for a moment before gesturing to Harry.

"Madame Bones will see you now, Lord Peverell," she said.

Harry got up and walked past the secretary into the head of the DMLE's office. This was it.

Amelia Bones had seen many things. How could you not when you ran the entire Department of Magical Law Enforcement. But this was its own type of thing, and Amelia wasn't quite sure how to handle this. The Death Eater trials had all happened nearly a decade ago, and there hadn't been a petition of innocence in years.

Then suddenly the mysterious and much-speculated about Lord Peverell shows up at her office, dumps a pile of documents on her desk, from Gringotts no less, and proceeds to tell her that not only is Sirius Black, one of the most notorious of Voldemort's death eaters, innocent, but he never had a trial in the first place.

It hadn't taken long to confirm that Black had not, in fact, had a trial, which in itself was worrying, but then Peverell had gone on to say that Black wasn't even the Potter's secret keeper. Instead, he claimed that Pettigrew had been the secret keeper. And that he was still alive.

Further still, when questioning his involvement in this case, Amelia had learned that Lord Peverell was the guardian of one Ivy Potter. And that the guardianship had not been for the duration of her removal from wizarding Britain. That had led to a conversation that left Amelia with many more questions than answers.

Albus Dumbledore had been insistent that Ivy Potter had been well taken care of and placed in a safe, suitable location, but upon hearing Lord Peverell's account, she was most likely going to have to begin an investigation into possible child neglect, or even abuse.

And as for Dumbledore? Merlin, was he going to be in for some questioning. Muggles? Dumbledore had left the girl-who-lived with Muggles? Amelia didn't have any personal problems with muggles like many witches and wizards she knew, but to leave an orphaned witch whose family had been targeted by a dark lord did not seem to resemble anything close to the suitable and safe environment Dumbledore had assured them she was in. And if the investigation turned up anything…

Well, there was no use dwelling on speculation. First things first, she needed to see to Sirius Black's immediate removal from Azkaban, pending a trial that was nearly a decade late. And for a member (even if possibly disowned) of an Ancient and Noble House, no less. Merlin, she needed a drink.

October 2, 1991

"So let me get this straight. You are James and Lily's son from another universe, except you're older and defeated old Moldyshorts in your world, you ended up here, kidnapped, sorry, adopted Ivy, the goblins love you, and they helped you help me get freed from Azkaban."

Harry could admit that it sounded a bit ridiculous even to himself, who was the one who had lived all that, but he just nodded.

"Okay cool."

Harry blinked. Wait, was that it? That had gone better than expected.