Harry apparated back at Hogwarts. He was exhausted. The day had been madness. The arrangements for his date with Daphne, then the actual date and the roller-coaster of emotions that had been. Then, he had found Pettigrew's name on the map. Defeated him and Crouch. Then all the questioning. Going to Amelia Bones' house and convince her about the story behind the Sirius and Pettigrew story. That had been a hard task, but he managed. He found he actually liked the head of the DMLE. She was a tough and stern woman, but she had treated him fairly and listened to what he had to say, not dismissing him as just a kid. He wondered how the night had so many hours. All he wanted was to lay down for a few hours, but he still had one small task to do. Taking a sip of a pepper up potion, knowing he would be going to sleep soon, he made his way to the second floor, and entered the defense professor's office. Using the instructions provided by Barty Crouch Junior, he opened the seven-lock trunk-vault in the office, finding the real Alastor Moody stunned at the bottom of the trunk. Carefully levitating the former auror out of the trunk, he assured that was a safe distance between him and the old man, not knowing how he would react to being rennervated.
It was a good choice, because as soon as the spell hit him, the former auror started throwing his arms around, trying to fight of someone who was not there.
"Mister Moody?" carefully asked Harry.
"Who are you? Where am I? And where is that little shit Crouch?"
"You're in Hogwarts, sir. My name is Harry Potter, and to answer that last question, Crouch has been posing as you for the last two months. But he has been recently dealt with, you don't have to worry about him anymore."
With all his years of experience as an auror and a leader, Moddy was good at reading people. So, he immediately knew what the boy meant by dealt with. His body language was quite telling of what he felt about the matter.
"Harry Potter? Funny it was you rescuing me." Said Moody. Harry wondered what was so funny about the situation. "I guess I owe you a thank you. And I don't do that often, so consider yourself lucky."
"Why is it funny, sir?"
"You saved me, boy. You don't have to call me sir. Just call me Moody. But what I find funny is, I don't know if you knew it, but I was friends with your parents. Your father more than your mother, but she was a great witch as well. And I remember very well speaking with James about you and how to protect you. You were just a baby. Now, I find myself being rescued by that same baby. Your father would be proud of you, boy."
Harry's chest filled with a warm feeling. His father would be proud?
"Thank you, Moody. Thank you for telling me that." Harry liked the man. He was a bit rude, and his reputation as crazy preceded him, but Harry found him to be nicer than he thought. Moddy could become a valuable ally, he thought, if only he was able to get the man away from Dumbledore's influence.
"How did you end up in such a situation, if I may ask?"
"That bastard caught me from the back while that rat Pettigrew was distracting me. I was so surprised to find he was even alive that he caught me off guard. You think a man is dead for more than thirteen years and he just shows up at your front door? It would confuse anyone."
"You met Pettigrew? So, you know Sirius is innocent?" he asked, that was important. The Wizengamot meeting would be on the next day, and Harry knew Moddy's word carried a lot of weight.
"I met the man, yes. And I assume he was the real spy, as he was working with Barty's son. But that doesn't mean Sirius is innocent, he was still the secret keeper."
"Actually, he wasn't" corrected Harry "Dumbledore make my father change secret keeper at the last moment, choosing Pettigrew instead of Sirius. "
"Black had nothing to do with that mess? Interesting, if what you're saying is true."
"It is. Go to the Wizengamot session tomorrow if you can Moody, you'll see that all I said is true, and that Dumbledore was behind all of it. The choice of the secret keeper and sending Sirius to Azkaban without a trial."
"You make some serious accusations against a great wizard, boy. And I've known Albus for a long time, that doesn't seem something he would do. But I supposed I owe it to your father and to you, as my rescuer, to give it a chance. I'll be there boy. Now I think I should go to the infirmary. Being stunned in a box for so long can mess you up."
Harry watched as the old former auror left the office and the classroom. He had done a good job, even better than he expected.
After that he delivered a letter to Hedwig with a small package that two other owls were happy to carry and sent them in an express delivery.
He went to the chamber and finally rested his head on a pillow.
The Hogwarts students and staff woke up to another day, not knowing that in a few hours, a lot would change in Britain's wizarding world.
Only four people on the castle knew that something big was about to happen.
Moody sat in the infirmary, waiting for Poppy to be finished with her care, bored out of his mind.
Snape was eating his breakfast with a bad mood on, wondering how that brat Potter had interfered with both Dumbledore's and the Dark Lord's plans. He also took the chance to curse the memory of his childhood nemesis.
Dumbledore sat quietly at his golden throne in the middle of the great hall, bracing himself for the political madness that would fell on him in a few hours.
Harry Potter was sleeping, trying to make up for his long night, deciding to skip his morning workout for one day, and having decided to go directly to the Wizengamot chamber. His presence was required, even though Madame Bones had assure his anonymity, as he was the one who had presented all the evidence to Amelia Bones, and unable to use the excuse of being a child, seeing that he was now a Lord of one of the Seven most important houses in the country. Not that he wanted to skip the meeting, as he wanted to be there for Sirius trial, even if his godfather would be judged in absence, as he was still an outlaw and was running from the aurors.
A murmur of excitement filled the student body as the owls arrived in the great hall to deliver the mail, and the few students that subscribed to the Daily Prophet read the first page.
SURPRISE WIZENGAMOT MEETING TO OCCUR LATER TODAY, AT REQUEST OF AMELIA BONES
By Rita Skeeter
Late last night, the head of the DMLE made a surprise call for an urgent meeting of the Wizengamot, with the argument that a great wrong has been committed and it should be corrected as soon as possible.
The meeting, who will take place today at 1 p.m. does not have an order of business, so we assumed that the only topic will be the one brought forward by the Regent Bones.
More information on the topic on p.4
Yes, this was shaping up to be the most interesting day in the last few years in the politics of Wizarding Britain.
'Sonorus'
"ORDER" the voice of Dumbledore was heard throughout the Wizengamot's chamber. Albus Dumbledore, the Chief Warlock, presided the meeting. The irritating noise was something we was already used to, as joining so many powerful wizards with different views on the world in the same room was bound to result in confusion.
The noise died down a little bit with his request for order, but it took two more canon-blasting charms to really quiet down the crowd.
"Thank you, esteemed members of this honorable chamber, for your presence today, in an emergency meeting requested by our own head of the DMLE, Madame Bones." Dumbledore's brain cringed when he thought about the esteemed members of the Wizengamot.
He knew half of the crown would kill him if they could, and the other half worshipped the ground he walked in. There were a few families who were sort of indifferent to the political spectrum and sided with both sides when they found convenient, but the light and the dark faction, as he saw them, or the progressives and traditionalists, a more political accurate way of referring to them, were the vast majority of the chamber. Dumbledore's side, the progressives, were in a small disadvantage against the traditionalists, as one of the effects of Voldemort's slaughter was the extinction of a few of the families that supported Dumbledore. He would, often, bribe or negotiate with the few neutral families to achieve a majority. But that was a hard task, demanding a lot of effort from his part, as those families demanded something in return or were, simply speaking, too afraid to go against the traditionalists.
"Madame Bones, please. The floor is yours." He informed, getting ready for what was to come.
"Thank you, Chief Warlock. Esteemed members of this chamber, visitors, ladies and gentlemen of the press. Upon new evidence and lot of effort by the aurors of the DMLE, we were able to discover that one of the people incarcerated thirteen years ago under the pretext of being a follower of Lord Voldemort," the crowd shuddered when they heard the name of the Dark Lord." a death eater, is, in fact, innocent of all the charges. Upon revisiting the personal file of this prisoner, a file that was sealed under the order of the Chief Warlock, we found as well that this person didn't even got the change of a fair trial. "Dumbledore flinched in his chair, knowing the hammer was dropping on him, frantically thinking of an way out." This man, this innocent man, was thrown in Azkaban, endured the horrors of the Dementors, for thirteen years without even a trial." The crowd gasped, as they understood the meaning of the situation. "A fair trial is one of the more important rights in our country, and a law that helps a great deal in keeping our democracy alive. The man I'm talking about is Sirius Black."
The crowd roared now, screams of "murderer" and "Blood-traitor" were heard all through the chamber.
Amelia Bones waited for the crowd to calm down, as Dumbledore did his job, calmly. She knew this was a heated topic, and she would find a lot of resistance from the wizards present. But she was convinced of the man's innocence, as the evidence provided by her visitor the night before were very convincing.
"Thank you, Chief Warlock, now- "
"Hum-hum"
Amelia looked around, trying to find the origin of the familiar cough.
"Hum-hum"
She finally located the toad looking women, a pink shape near Minister Fudge.
"Undersecretary Umbridge?" She asked.
"If I may speak, Chief Warlock?"
Dumbledore's eyes sparkled for a second, knowing what was to come and being able to appreciate what would follow.
"If madame Bones agrees with your rude interruption of her speech, of course."
Amelia nodded, deciding to take that out of the way as soon as possible.
"Now, Black is a traitor, responsible for the deaths of the Potter family and thirteen others. They were muggles, but he still committed the crime. That's not to say that the man is a fugitive. Why would an innocent man escape prison, and not fight his battles legally? And how many more crimes has he done under his master guidance? To even allow this trial to go forward is a disgrace. Will we be retaking trials for all the others in Azkaban as well?"
"Miss Umbridge, if you waited for me to present the evidence of Mister Black's innocence before intervening, you'd know he is actually innocent of all the crimes you listed.
About Mister Black's escape, I can only say that after thirteen years of being wrongly imprisoned, wouldn't we all try to escape as well? And about retaking trials, as the personal files of the prisoner reflect, he didn't receive any sort of trial. This will be his first one. If I can now procced to presenting evidence, I would ask my aurors to bring them."
"As mister black is not here to defend himself due to his status as a fugitive, he will be trialed in absence. The roll of defense lawyer fall's on you Madame Bones."
"Of course, "she said, the confidence in her voice was palpable "Auror Scrimgeour, please bring evidence one.
The older man limped forward, bringing a small cage with a rat inside.
Murmurs from the crowd were heard, as a lot of them understood what that rat was. Dumbledore was baffled, wondering how Amelia Bones had been able to catch Pettigrew, knowing this as turning worse than he expected.
A quick Animagus reversal spell from her part, and the fragile cage soon exploded, with a small man appearing where the rat used to be. Pettigrew was still stunned as chains tied him to a chair in the middle of the chamber. An auror med-wizard quickly entered the room and with a small 'renervate' the man's eyes opened wide.
"Wh- where an I?" He asked.
"Mister Pettigrew, you are in the Wizengamot halls, being a crucial witness in the trial of Mister Sirius Black. As you are not a Lord of a family, the use of Veritaserum is allowed. Auror Scrimgeour, please."
The man showed a small vial, still sealed.
"Let the record show that vial number seven hundred and thirteen from the department of mystery's archives will be now opened and given to the witness.
The seal opened with a loud sound, and three drops were given to Pettigrew.
The questioning had begun.
"What is your full name?"
"Peter Oscar Pettigrew."
"How old are you?"
"Thirty-five years old."
"What house were you in at Hogwarts?"
"Gryffindor."
Those first few questions served to established that the witness was telling the truth.
"Were you one of the servants of Voldemort, mostly known as death eaters?"
"Yes"
"Were you the Potter Secret Keeper?"
"Yes"
"Was it you that told the secret of the Potter's location to Voldemort? A betrayal that lead to their deaths?"
Tears rolled down Pettigrew's eyes. "Yes"
"Is Sirius black innocent?"
"To the best of my knowledge, yes."
"What happened when the two of you meet a few days after the death of the Potters?"
"I screamed at Sirius that he killed the Potters. Then I blew a gas storage. Gas is used by the Muggles to warm their water, and its highly explosive. The explosion killed a lot of Muggles. I cut off my finger, transformed into a rat, and left."
"Where have you been since then?"
"I've lived with the Weasley's for lot of years, and when I was found, I ran away."
Pettigrew was now struggling, trying to stop talking, like he was afraid of something.
"What did you do after?"
"I- I- " The man was suffocating, as the potion forced him to speak. "I went looking for- " Blood came out of Pettigrew's mouth, as the man bit his tongue off. His eyes were filled with fear, as he knew he had not stopped himself in time. He kept choking for a few more seconds and died in front of the Wizengamot.
The crowd was now roaring, people screaming as they saw the death of the man being interrogated. No one knew why that happened, as Veritaserum hadn't killed anybody in recorded history.
The unspeakables were called, and they removed the dead man from the room, taking him to investigation in the department of Mysteries.
Both Amelia Bones and Albus Dumbledore, as well as Harry Potter were in shock. No one knew how that had happened. Dumbledore was the first to regain his composure, quickly silencing the crowd with a burst of his own magic. There was a reason he was considered the most powerful wizard of the twentieth century, and the Wizengamot chamber was reminded of that. The amount of power present in the wave that ran around the room was impressive and terrifying.
"Madame Bones, as the witness died during interrogation, his entire testimony is to be disregarded by the audience, as written in our laws. Do you have any more evidence to present?"
"Yes, Chief Warlock. I request for James Potter's will to be opened and read here."
Dumbledore couldn't avoid a small smile, as the trial had suddenly turned is way. The will as an argument easy to rebuttal.
"James Potter Will is secret for a reason, as it could contain house secrets. I'm sure most of the Lords in this chamber will agree that revealing those secrets to the Wizengamot and opening this precedent is not a wise way to procced."
A lot of agreeing voices were heard.
Amelia Bones was now in a tough stop. Her case had crumbled like dust in front of her.
"Why don't you put me under Veritaserum?" A deep voice was heard all the way from the visitors' section. The heads closer to the origin of the voice turned to face a fourteen-year-old. The aforementioned fourteen-year-old smiled, his green eyes lightened up.
Dumbledore, only now noticing Harry's presence, was stunned. That didn't sound like the voice of the boy he knew. And he was right, as only a few moments later, an invisibility cloak was pulled off, revealing a tall man, long black hair around his face. The man looked quite malnourished but was easily recognizable.
Sirius Black stood in the middle of the Wizengamot.
AN: Please don't hate me for pushing the second part of the trial for the next chapter.
Thanks to my beta Arthur for his input on this chapter.
Just a reminder that I'm looking for a second Beta that can prof-read his corrections and give some advice when I'm out of ideas.
Thank you for the follows and reviews. Keep them coming.