Chapter Four
2000- January
"This is not how I'd been planning on spending the first week of the new millennium." Harry grumbled to himself, fighting to get his bow tie done up, it was bad enough he'd had to got the award ceremony the day after his nineteenth birthday, although that hadn't been as bad as he'd feared, "Oh for fucks sake!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in frustration.
"Language!" Danica laughed, "What would mother say?"
"Don't tell her." Harry smirked.
"What's up?" Danica asked, smacking his hand from his tie so she could do it for him, "Apart from the tie. Which you are normally more than capable of doing yourself I might add."
Harry sighed, "Thank you… I just… I don't know what I want the outcome from today to be."
"It's not up to you." Danica said firmly, "The Wizengamot will say if Davis goes free or not."
"He was a bad person. He hurt a lot of people, Danica." Harry said.
Danica could see the confusion and pain swimming in his green eyes that matched her own, "And he saved your life, after watching his only child die. I will always be grateful that you didn't die as well, or at least stay dead. He helped with that."
Harry nodded, "Exactly. So, do I want him to get to go home or rot away in Azkaban for a little longer?"
"You can't think like that. It's not up to you. You'll drive yourself mad if you think like that, that you're responsible one way or the other." Danica said, "Just go, answer the questions they want you to and leave any and all judgements up to the Wizengamot."
"When did you get so wise?" Harry laughed.
Danica gave him a small curtsy, "Well I am eleven now. I get to go to Hogwarts this year and everything!"
"Naw you're so grown up!" Harry laughed, ruffling her hair.
"Get off!" she said, grabbing the brush off his dressing table and straightening out her hair, "We should go, we're going to be late, which although tempting, isn't going to help I guess."
Harry nodded, and followed her down the stairs at Grimmauld place, to where Lily and Severus were waiting in the Hallway.
"Nikka is meeting us there." Lily told them, "Sirius, thankfully, hasn't been called. He's not well enough to be out and about yet. Bad enough they called Nikka away from him after they were apart for so long…"
"Stop fretting." Severus told her gently, giving her a kiss on the cheek, "We should be going though, are you ready?"
Harry and Danica nodded, taking their parents' hands and apparating away.
Thankfully they were to arrive via the visitors entrance, which meant they wouldn't have to stand in the toilets and would have a few more moments to compose themselves once they arrived.
Severus opened the phone box door for them and punched in the code.
"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic, via the visitors entrance, London." A calm female voice said, Harry was relieved to hear that the message had been updated since he'd last entered the Ministry this way, the thought of hearing the words he'd heard the night Sirius was nearly killed was suddenly terrifying.
Danica reached over and gave his hand a tight squeeze, "It'll be fine." she mouthed silently.
"If you have come to the Ministry to attend a hearing, please press one. If you have come to place a request for personal or equipment, please press two. If you have a meeting, or have come to request a meeting, please press three. For anything else, please press five."
Lily couldn't help but snort a laugh as she pushed button one.
"If you are attending the hearing as a defendant, please press one. If you are attending as a witness, please press two. If you are attending for any other reason, please press three."
Lily pressed the '2' button and waited for the next instruction.
"Please press the button relating to the number of people in your party."
Lily pressed '4' and rolled her eyes, "It would have taken less time to just say it the old way."
She handed out the four small badges with 'hearing; witness' written on, attaching hers to the lapel of her power blue suit jacket.
"Welcome to the Ministry, please report to the check in desk, main lobby, on you arrival and have a very pleasant day."
The lift moved slowly down, engulfing them in darkness for a moment before they got far enough under ground for the light to creep in from the floor, growing slowly until the lift came to a stop. There was a sharp pinging noise as the door opened, letting them out.
Harry was pleasantly surprised by how much had changed. There were still fireplaces down either long side of the vast Atrium but they were no longer gilded with gold and intricately carved, but simple, pale wood with either 'ARRIVAL' or 'DEPARTURES' stamped across the top beam.
The dark wooden floor had been replaced by white marble with black and grey lines zig zaging across.
The celling once dark blue and gold, was now light blue and silver.
It gave the whole space a more open, and welcoming feel.
Danica held Harry's hand tightly as they wove through the crowds to the check in desk, where a friendly looking witch, in black robes smiled down at them. She took their names and details before checking in Lily, Severus and Harry's wands.
"Do you know where you're going?" She asked cheerfully.
They all nodded.
"Yes thank you." Severus said, "We've attended before."
"Very good sir, have a lovely day."
They made their way over towards the lifts when Harry stopped suddenly.
"What's up?" Danica asked.
Harry didn't say anything, but walked slowly over to the wall. What looked smooth at first glance, was actually in fact hundreds of names, carved into the stone.
"In Memory of those who died to stop You-Know-Who" was carved in large letters along the top.
"I… I spotted…" Harry said, reaching out, his fingers brushing over Tracy Davis's name.
"I didn't realise there would be so many." Danica said softly.
"Will James's name be here?" Harry asked, his eyes scanning the wall.
"Up here." Severus said, pointing James Potter out.
They waited there for a few minutes. None of them, quite able to tear their eyes away.
"Oh good, I'm not too late." Nikka said, shoving a handful of papers back into her bag with one hand and putting her wand back in its hip holster with the other, "I was so worried. Sirius's physio when on longer than planned."
"How did it go?" Lily asked, managing to smile slightly.
"Well." Nikka said, "They've given us more exercises and said that Sirius should be able to walk round the garden a little… not quite at stairs yet though. He's getting stronger though, definitely."
"That's brilliant." Harry grinned.
"Aunty Nikka?" Danica asked, "Why do you have crackers in your bag?"
Nikka took the fallen crackers from Danica and shoved them in a pocket, "In case I miss breakfast." she mumbled. Harry noticed a slight blush on her cheeks, "Come on, we should get going." Nikka continued, "Before we really are late."
Harry wished he didn't remember the way down to the courtroom but he did, every twist and turn to the dark, cold courtroom.
Dementors were no longer used in the courtroom, or at Azkaban, but the courtrooms still felt heavy with their presence.
Even the sight of Harry's friends did little to lift his spirits. He smiled to them, Cho coming over and giving him a quick kiss.
"Thank you for coming." Harry said quietly, "It's horrible here, I know. I'm really grateful."
"It's alright." Cho assured him, "We know you needed us here. So does Daphne… it'll be over soon."
Harry nodded, spotting Draco, an arm protectively wrapped around Corvus, standing in the corner with Lucius and Narcissa, and started towards them when the door to the courtroom was flung open.
"Please enter." a wizard dressed all in black said, with a loud and booming voice, "Visitors please report to the viewing gallery. Requested witnesses, please report to your assigned seats on the right hand side. Thank you."
"Good luck." Cho said quickly, giving him another kiss.
Harry begrudgingly let go of her hand and wondered into the large, open Hall. As he expected, every seat of the Wizengamot was filled; all of them dressed in rich, crimson robes. He was slightly relieved to see Kingsley sitting centre front, Caroline to his side ready to take notes.
He found his seat fairly easily and crumpled up the sheet of parchment with 'Potter, Harry' written on it. Corvus sat next to him on the right, another witch he didn't know on his left. The row in front of them was occupied by a single witch.
She had long, very pale, strawberry blonde hair, caught up in a low bun that rested on the nape of her neck and wore a high necked, dark blue dress.
"It's Elizabeta Davis." Corvus whispered to Harry, "Tracy's mother."
Harry nodded, understanding why she'd been placed on the front row, alone. She seemed to be completely unaware, and uncaring, that there was anyone else in the room, staring fixedly onwards.
There was silence for a few moments, after everyone was seated and the main doors were sealed.
Kingsley's cough echoed through the room, "Please bring in the defendant."
The door at the far end of the courtroom swung open and a very ragged Davis was led in by two guards, dressed in dark grey. They led him to the chair that sat on the left side of the slightly raised platform in the middle of the room. He was chained down with a flick of their wands, which they checked by hand before stepping back.
"Please confirm you are Mr Aaron Marcus Davis, convicted Death Eater." Kingsley said.
"I…" Davis coughed to clear his throat, "I am, sir."
"And you are aware, that on the fourth of June, 1998, you were found guilty of multiple crimes, including but not limited to, destruction of public property, destruction of private property, conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to commit unlawful imprisonment?"
"Yes sir." Davis nodded.
"You were also found guilty of being voluntarily branded with the Dark Mark. You are aware of this?" Kingsley asked, "And understand the seriousness of these crimes?"
"I do, sir."
"Good." Kingsley said, "Then we may continue. Your original sentence was for… forty years, I believe. We are here today, as you have requested that we re-examine the original evidence, as well as examining the claim put forwards by Mrs Elizabeta Davis, that you swapped sides before the end of the battle. She even insists that you were instrumental in the defeat of Tom Riddle. You understand that after today your sentence may increase, decrease or remain the same?"
"Yes I…" Davis looked towards his wife, giving her a small smile, "I understand. Sir."
It was only then Harry realised that Elizabeta was very softly crying. He wondered if he should try and comfort her, but there would be nothing to say. He fixed his eyes firmly on the trail, waiting for his name to be called.
Kingsley took a sheet of parchment from Caroline and looked over it for a moment, rubbing his chin as he thought, "The Ministry calls Corvus Lestrange to give witness."
Harry gave Corvus's hand a tight squeeze as he got up and made his way slowly to the platform, sitting in the chair on the right. He was sure that chains would jump to life any moment and bind him to the chair. He took several deep breaths to steady himself.
"Mr Lestrange, our evidence says that you were witness to many of Mr Davis's actions as a death eater. Please state, in your own words, what you saw during the time between February 1997 and May 1998." Kingsley said, kindly.
Corvus thought for a moment, sitting up a little more, "It… it was a little after February 1997 that I really saw Mr Davis, or any of them. I was in school full time still at that point and… and I didn't get a lot of news from home. I returned home at the end of the school year, at the end of June… there were many… new people, at the house. Including, at least once a week, Mr Davis. I never saw him directly hurt anyone… but…"
"But?" Kingsley asked.
"I did over hear him helping to plot several murders and kidnaps. My mother said he was included in planning the kidnap of Luna Lovegood." Corvus said, trying to force himself not to shake and not to let his eyes flick to the scruffy man beside him.
"But he never actually took part?" Kingsley asked to clarify.
Corvus nodded, "No. He was… he was what my mother called a planner. She… she often said that he had no taste for it, but had a mind to make up plans. The Dark Lord seemed to respect him though. He was always treated well…"
"Was Mr Davis ever harmed, as far as you know?" Kingsley asked.
Corvus chewed his lip a little, "I… Everyone was punished at times. The Dark Lord's temper was… extremely volatile. No plan is perfect… I… I was able to get a message to… a friend, and mother said how angry the Dark Lord was when the plan failed. I over saw Mr Davis tending the scar of a burn he got for the plan failing… I don't think he was… pushed into anything though, if that's what you mean."
"Thank you, Mr Lestrange." Kingsley said, "Is there anything else you observed?"
Corvus shook his head, "I don't think so."
"You may return to your seat." Kingsley said, "Miss Regina Sprocket, please take the witness chair."
Harry zoned out slightly as the witnesses were called. It was too difficult to listen to the stories of those hurt by Davis, or not. So far the evidence seemed impossibly balanced. The lady who had been sitting next to him was Zoe Partridge, someone who was cleared of the crime of being a mudblood by evidence provided by Mr Davis, although there were three others that had been condemned by the same evidence.
Harry thought back to what Tracy had told him, that awful walk through the forest. The walk to what was meant to be Harry's death, but ended up being hers.
She's told him that she didn't know how to make the world make sense any more, now that what she'd known wasn't true, it never had been.
"Mr Harry Potter, please make your way to the witness stand." Kingsley said clearly.
Harry took a deep breath and stood up.