Under Susan's advice, the four of them decided to sit in the front of the train.
After everyone was settled, and the trunks in place, Harry used the table to write a few notes to veris girls. Hermione had put Crookshanks in the luggage rack until they were under way. Susan was cuddling Blot to her chest.
To Daphne he asked to meet over tea to discuss House Black Business. To Padma, he asked her and her sister to join him for red curry. He called Dobby from his compartment in the trunk.
"Okay," Harry picked up the Elf and set him on the bench beside him. "Do you remember who was there when you were bonded?" Dobby looked around the compartment before pointing at Susan and Hermione. "Yes. And there were two more. You got them in your mind. These letters are for them. Once they are settled in their compartments, hand them their note and leave."
Dobby bounced twice before popping away with the notes in hand.
"And now I wait."
Hannah frowned at the Lad. "You have Susan and Hermione and now you are gathering two more witches?"
"Three." Hermione sighed from the corner of her bench, where she was reading a book.
"Why are they not enough for you?"
"Truth… even one witch is too much for me." Harry smiled at the blonde. "I am contracted to Susan in a House Continuing contract or something like that. Hermione is to be Lady Potter and Greengrass has something to do with House Black. No Idea what is with Padma."
"You said three… who is the third?"
"Padma's sister." Harry sighed. "They're twins."
"Men!" Hannah huffed.
"Boys." Sue corrected her.
"Males." Hermione turned her page.
"Oi!" Harry and Crookshanks chorused.
"Did your cat just speak?" Sue looked at the beast.
"Not really. But he mimics sounds pretty well." Hermione looked up from her book. "He has learned to make certain sounds that I can interpret to see to his needs. He is a kneazle cross.
The Door to the compartment was yanked open by Goyle.
"Get your things and get out of my compartment." Draco's voice sounded even more pompus than usual.
Susan smirked at Harry. "Sorry Malfoy. I am the one person who you can't order around." She stood and approached the door, pushing Goyle back. She looked around the door jam at the albino haired boy. "Now, I am enjoying my compartment. And I find your company distasteful. Good Day." The door was slammed shut.
Through the door, Draco's muffled "just wait until my father hears about this!" was heard.
"Not likely." Susan smirked. "The main reason Aunty has been allowing me to run with this Bounder is she is setting up a surprise court date for Black. I got a letter from her personal owl." She frowned. "What does a puppy and a lucky dog have to do with anything?"
Both Muggle raised snorted.
"It means that Amelia is feeling less stressed this morning and the Grim is going to be prancing about on his leash." Hermione smiled as she turned the page.
HPWQ
At 8:45, Daphne herded her younger sister into a compartment in the second car. After frowning at the trunks she reached for her wand. Blaise usually was there to do the lifting. Before her wand cleared its pocket, the trunks floated up and settled in the racks.
"Miss Daffy. My Master sends you noteses." An Elf looking like the Malfoy Elf in a red quidditch jersey held out a note for her. Once she took the note the Elf popped away.
"That looked like Dobby." Tori bounced on the cushioned bench.
"If that was Dobby, why would he be wearing a Gryffindor Jersey?" Daphne unfolded the note. "As soon as Tracy gets here, we're going for a walk. I thought I had at least another year before I had to worry about this."
HPWQ
At 9 on the strike, two identical sisters pushed through the floo. Moving with a coordination that only comes from a lifetime of togetherness, they carried their trunks into a car and compartment in the middle of the train. As they set the trunks down to lift them… they floated up and tucked into the racks.
"Miss Paddy. Master sends noteses." An Elf was standing on the bench.
Padma took the note and read it while the Elf vanished.
"We are invited to curry."
"We just had curry last night." Pavarti was checking her makeup.
"Red Curry."
Pav froze. "No… who sent it?"
"All he signed was 'a friend'." Padma frowned. "He is claiming that he is in the first car… second compartment."
"An hour after we roll out?"
"Okay you can gossip with Brown until then. But no mention of the Red Curry until tonight."
HPWQ
Amelia flooed into the Atrium of the Ministry that morning with a relaxed stride as the Grim at her hip pranced.
Connie Hammer fell-in beside her. "You're looking relaxed this morning."
Amelia held off answering the question until she and Grim were on the lift. "I had a wizard last night." She smirked. The gate closed. The cage jerked away.
"You Slag!" Connie laughed out loud.
Twenty minutes later the Number Ten Courtroom was filled with the quorum to overthrow a convection passed by the court… even if the convection was as fake as Fudge's Toupee.
She settled into the seat set for the DMLE, having Padfoot sit beside her. He found her lap convenient for resting his head as she pulled his ears and scratched his head.
Connie Hammer, the only person who she could not beat in court procedure, was the DMLE officer who she assigned the case to. It took her two days to read through the file before she gave up and assigned it to Connie.
When she sent everyone the summons to the Courtroom, she put the time as when Albus arrived or everybody else.
Fifteen minutes ago, she left Vance with the summons for Dumbledore to be delivered by Floo.
She heard the sounds of the approaching chaos that was Albus. Fudge and Umbridge arrived at a good clip to be ahead of the Chief Warlock.
There was a flurry of activity as some stragglers rushed to get ahead of the old man.
At the stroke of ten, the Chief Warlock, Albus 'the Meddler' Dumbledore strode through the doors. Today's robes were Gray Heather silk with a white sparkly shimmer. No doubt that the shimmer was to be thought to be either unicorn hair or demiguise furr.
Odds it was just good wand work.
As Dumbledore settled in the Pulpit, the last few stragglers arrived and the doors boomed closed.
"What brings us all here today?" Albus peered down from his high chair.
"I need you to declare us in session. Chief Warlock." Amelia milked the ear in her fingers.
"All right." The gavel fell. "I declare the emergency session of the First of September nineteen ninety three in session. Now tell us about today's session…please."
"Continuance Hammer. The Floor is yours."
"Thank you Director, Chief Warlock, and Gathered Lord's. It has come to the attention of the Department of a Miscarriage of Justice. It is the findings of the analytics section that either together or separately, an innocent wizard sent to Azkaban for life, a Ministry Head declared that the Named Heir was Guilty without a trial, and someone used the Ministry as a Murder for Hire outfit."
The shocked gasp came from every section of the chamber… but the Pulpit.
"Now Minister, which should we deal with first?" Connie was enjoying herself.
"The Heir declared Guilty." Lord Nott roared to his feet. "Only the Lord of the House has the right to decide who is Heir, but if a Department Head was able to just declare an Heir guilty, it would undermine the basic rights of a House to Self-Govern!"
Greengrass moved with the grace of a snake in grass. "It also undermines the Power, Standing, and Respect of this Body. I may think certain members of our Society should have been declared guilty and shipped off… but they faced this Body and our Questions."
Fudge shrugged. "The Heir issue seems like a big issue, but I really want… no I need to get to the bottom of the Murder for Hire."
"Trick question." Connie Hammer smiled evilly. "They are the same case. Just different facets." She looked at the Lords above her. "What we decide here today is going to set a precedent in all cases of Law and Rights of the Peerage from now on. So I will be dragging everyone involved in the conspiracy to a rightful Heir and Lord's prevention of Duties. Everyone."
Bozo's camera flashed.
"First." Connie opened the file in front of her, Amelia noticed that it had tripled in thickness. "I have had this case for two weeks and I used every resource at my disposal, including bribery of unused personnel to dive and dig through the Archives and I mean all the Archives." A folder was held up. A DMLE Case file, Stamped: Closed. "The Accused's entire case file. I had to go to the restricted section of the DMLE Archives. Scribe please copy this into the record and make a temporary copy for everyone."
The Scribe did as asked.
"Black!" Fudge surged to his feet. "You're saying that He's Innocent and…"
"I am not saying anything yet, Minister. For me to be saying anything about Black's Convection, He first has to be convicted." Connie grinned. "As to your releasing the Dementors on the Public to Kiss him… for a palm greasing… and anyone else they cross while out there… They were recalled yesterday and each and every one confirmed this morning. We Will be dragging you down here before we are done."
"There's only three sheets in here?" Regent Longbottom roared from her seat. "His arrest sheet, his processing sheet, and his transfer to Azkaban. All three have the same two Signatures, with Fudge's on the arrest sheet and his predecessor's on the other two. Where are the Court Transcripts, the list of charges, anything?"
"That's all there is." Connie smiled sadly. "Those three Convicted a Named and Registered Heir the same night he was brought in. Notice the date and time on the paperwork. He was transferred to Azkaban within an hour of being arrested. Then the file was sealed and sent to the restricted section. This was willfully and purposely executed to remove the subject from Society."
The 'Lords' whispered among themselves.
"Now to the Crimes he was Accused of." Connie rocked back on her heels. "We only have the Daily Prophet for the record. I submit the Front Page with the headline and article. Scribe."
Once everyone had a copy, "Now We, the DMLE, have irrefutable evidence that Black didn't commit one of those and biased evidence that he didn't commit the biggest one. Will start with the one that is irrefutable. The Murder of Peter Pettigrew!" Connie was just reaching her stride. "Bring in the Prisoner!"
Runcorn entered with a Rat in a Cage.
The murmuring rose to an audible level.
"When the Prisoner was taken into custody, he was slapped with a magic suppression cuff, and left in a room with a goblet of water, a list of questions and a Dicto Quill. When he awoke he drank the water and began to babble to himself." Connie pulled a half inch thick file from her robe. "With the Courts permission under the heading of saving time, I open the Case of the Ministry of Magic for the Greater Britain territories, versus Peter Pettigrew." The file slammed to the table beside the rat cage as the Chair of the Accused rose from the floor. "Peter Pettigrew. You will take human form and sit on the Chair for your trial or face Judgement in Absentia." She tapped the cage lock and let the door swing open.
The rat slowly exited the cage, looked about, and eased to the edge of the table before leaping to the Chair. It sat in the centre of the Chair and groomed its whiskers before it started to grow.
First it was the size of a money pouch, then the size of a Krupp, the size of a small child, it was about here that its shape started to change into something resembling human.
Over the period of three minutes Peter did something that Amelia had seen Sirius do under a second. He returned to his human form.
Amelia used this time to apply an old House Bones Curse… to the whole chamber.
"You gotta protect me!" The little rat of a man cried.
Albus leaned forward. "What do you need Protection from, my dear boy?"
The human squeaked like the rat he was. "They are out to kill me. Black, the Order, the Marked…" he seemed to fight it, "Albus Dumbledore, and The Dark Lord!"
"Let's take this one at a time." Connie strode around the pit of the Court. "Why Do you fear … the Dark Lord?"
"I failed Him!" The man cried, clutching at the fabric of his prison robes. "He doesn't tolerate Failure. Just ask Malfoy."
That caused a ripple of murmuring.
"Why the Dark Lord… he died when Black betrayed the Potters to Him."
"Black never would or could. Damn Mutt was too loyal. But he thought he was being so smart to take the title of Secret Keeper." The pathetic personality was replaced by hatred and seething. "His Blood Oath as the Brat's Godfather added another level of protection. But… no, let's use the puny pathetic Peter Pettigrew!" The venom and vitriol was visible .
"Then when it was to Albus Dumbledore's advantage I was to deliver this golden nugget of shit to the Dark Lord. He branded me like the rest of his chattel, and because it's Soul Magic, you have to not only accept it but want it. By the time it was offered… I wanted it so badly… but first the Brat had to Die. So I took him to Godric's Hollow. I watched as he murdered my first friend and moved to the sweetest witch I have ever known. He offered to spare her if she would just step aside… knowing that she wouldn't. He stepped over her body and pointed his wand at the sweetest babe with the greenest eyes and spoke those honeyed words… Avada Kedavra."
Peter Pettigrew bowed his head. "His body exploded on the cellular level. His robes and wand fell to the floor. The release of his magic and the babe's took the roof off the cottage. I grabbed the wand, and ran… just before Black arrived and watched as almost everything in his world was stripped away." The Man had a mask of Hate. "Albus took the rest."
TBC