Chapter 10: Trials and Tribulations

Alastor Moody insisted he was retired from the Ministry, but the Ministry wasn't tired of him, so until they were he came to work every day just to make sure they were really sick and tired of him.

It was a running joke in the Department that Moody could never really leave because the Wizarding community believed he was the only Auror, or at least his name was the only one everyone knew and so almost all complaints, tips, and leads came addressed to the surly wizard, giving rise to the need for an owl redirect.

Every piece of mail addressed to him had to go through several stages of security checks. First, it was screened for hexes, curses, and charms. Then it went through a rigorous check for authenticity. Finally, it was to be determined if Moody had to handle the reply personally or if someone less surly could handle it.

Hedwig wasn't putting up with it.

No one delivered her letters for her. No one intercepted her letters. She knew she was being redirected away from the wizard her letter was intended for. The poor witch who tried to take it from her received a painful bite. She evaded the witches' attempts at capture and flew through the door when another wizard came to investigate the horrendous racket coming from the mailroom. "Stop that OWL!"

Hedwig swooped through a long hallway leaving a trail of destruction, with one wizard ducking into another attempting to avoid the winged menace resulting in an amusing paper bomb.

The Snowy owl veered left into a large room and there he was, sitting at a desk with a flask in his hand, his wooden leg perched on his desk. The old wizard's mechanical eye whirled in the owl's direction and he watched as a gaggle of office staff tried and failed to catch her. His lips curved into a horrific facsimile of a smile. "Now that is an owl on a mission." He turned that horrific grin on the blonde woman sitting opposite him.

Amelia Bones ducked to avoid Hedwig's dramatic entry and the bird landed with glorious grace upon Mad-Eye Moody's wooden leg.

Moody gave the letter a quick glance and snagged it from the owl. "Well, you are persistent." He broke the seal on the scroll just as the office witch arrived looking harassed and embarrassed.

"I'm so sorry sir. She got out of the mailroom." She glared at the beautiful owl. Hedwig hooted and hopped from the woman's reach when she tried to grab at her.

"Leave her be." Moody grunted while the head of the DMLE snorted behind her coffee cup somewhat amused by the situation.

"Bugger!" Moody growled as he finished reading the letter and he hoisted his leg off the desk. "Come on Bones. You and I gotta go to Azkaban. Bring some Veritaserum with you. Looks like we got a prisoner we forgot to interrogate."

Amelia rarely was surprised but then grunted. "Are you crazy Allistor? Just have the prisoner brought to the Ministry holding cells. I'm not setting foot in that godforsaken place."

Allistor blinked and grinned, "See that's why you get paid the big galleons." He turned to the departing office witch and told her to have Sirius Black transported to the Ministry ASAP. She wasn't in charge of that, so had to go find someone who was.

"What is this about?" Amelia asked. Moody handed her the letter. It was from a wizard named Remus Lupin. She recalled meeting him long ago. She couldn't even remember what occasion it was for. Something to do with James Potter she thought. Maybe it was during his induction as an Auror. She had to read the letter a few times as the gravity of the situation became clear. "He never received a trial? He's a pureblood wizard! How is this possible?" She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "We better pray to Merlin that he's guilty."

Moody stood and moved to a large filing cabinet and ripped open one of the drawers. "Black, Sirius file." He stated and a thick file shuffled to the front of the tired and abused cabinet. He pulled it out and placed it on his desk, flipping it open. A photo of Sirius with his bio was on the front. He began looking for evidence of a trial. "Even if he pled guilty there would be a trial to determine his sentence." His voice a guttural growl. He was one of the arresting officers and Sirius was his trainee, his responsibility. Did he really not get a trial?

No. No no no. Moody sighed and shoved the file to Amelia. "The lad didn't get a trial. They shipped him off to Azkaban the same day he was arrested and forgot about him."

"Crouch and Scrimgeour were the interrogators." She sighed, "And Bagnold signed the order."

Moody reached for parchment and a quill, quickly penning a memo and with a wave of his wand it turned into a paper plane and flew around his head for a moment then shot out of the office heading for its intended destination.

Barty Crouch was about to have a horrible day.

Remus was shouting. He never shouted which was a testament to how angry he was. The subject of his ire was sitting across from him looking not quite GUILTY ENOUGH!

"How could you not know he didn't get a trial, Albus? It was your JOB TO KNOW!" Albus Dumbledore sighed and looked at the man pacing across from him. He was perfectly justified in his anger. Albus didn't know what to say. What could he say? Remus was right. He'd failed spectacularly.

He had no doubt that Sirius Black would prove to be guilty but no wizard could be sentenced to Azkaban without a trial. That the wizard was a pureblood, and the head of one of the most powerful magical families in Britain compounded failure upon failure. How did a trial get overlooked? He knew that the wizarding world had been thrown into chaos then, but it was no excuse. "Remus I assure you. I had no idea that Sirius was denied a trial as is his right. I'm as shocked as you are."

Remus fumed and then threw himself into a chair. "What happens now?"

"Well, I suppose that depends on a few things. My guess is that Sirius will get the trial he was denied and then serve out the remainder of whatever sentence they hand down." Dumbledore shrugged, "If he obtains a good solicitor he may be able to argue that he should be released because he was illegally detained."

Remus sighed, "And if Sirius is innocent?"

Dumbledore shook his head, "I cast the Fidelius myself making Sirius the Secret Keeper. The only way Voldemort would have known where the Potters were hiding is if Sirius told him."

Remus nodded having heard all this before, but now he had horrible doubts. Sirius's declaration that he switched Secret Keepers and that Pettigrew was alive kept haunting him. "Will you let me know when the trial will be held?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Of course Remus."

"They didn't even give me a trial Prongs! So you can't say I'm guilty yet. I swear I couldn't betray you and Lily. Or Harry. I wouldn't kill Wormtail either and if he was here right now he'd tell you that. But he's not James! Why didn't he give us his memories? Don't you find that suspicious?" Harry was watching the fireworks take place between his father and his father's best friend.

Moony was trying to keep both civil but it wasn't doing much good. His father kept sputtering and yelling and trying to strangle his godfather. Harry kept trying to intervene but none of the people in the painting were paying him any attention at the moment.

"I agree with Padfoot! We aren't sure of all the facts. We should find out more. Get Remus down here and have him tell us everything. I don't believe for a second that Padfoot would sell you out James, so please stop trying to kill him." Moony pleaded with his father's portrait.

"Yeah stop trying to kill me," Sirius whined and then turned to look at Harry. "You have to believe me kiddo. I'd never do anything to hurt you or your father or your mum. I would have died before I'd hurt a hair on…." James tackled him and they began rolling on the floor. Harry shook his head and for the first time ever he draped a blanket over the portrait.

The instant silence was bliss.