Chapter Six
Summary: The Trial of Sirius Black
Evie's Notes: Happy Tuesday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week ! As always, thank you so much your support of this story, it really and truly means the world to me ! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update .
Albus Dumbledore was having a great morning until the mail arrived. He was happily sucking on a lemon drop secure in the fact that all of his plans were moving along smoothly…. or so he thought.
His precious peace was interrupted when several owls landed in front of him. Taking the letters, Albus flipped through them not expecting anything interesting.
A letter from Gringotts caught his eye. Opening it he was shocked to read that he had been removed as young Harry Potter's magical guardian. The goblins were demanding any copies of Harry's key back and anything that had been removed from the various vaults. They gave him two weeks from receipt of the letter to return all items before they would pursue legal action on behalf of Harry and his new guardian. They also informed him that he would no longer be able to vote the Potter and Black seats in the Wizengamot as the new guardian would be taking them over for Harry.
Albus was shocked. Who could this new guardian be? Harry was the last Potter and Sirius was on the run; there wasn't anyone with a blood claim that could overrule his placement in Harry's life.
Opening the next letter from Locke & Wood law firm Albus was horrified to see that it was a notice that a lawsuit was being filed against him for neglect as Harry's magical guardian. This was awful! How could this be happening?
To make matters worse one of the glass devices on his desk which monitored the blood wards on Harry's home shattered. The wards had fallen, either Harry had been taken or he no longer considered Private Drive home. Knowing that Harry had a new guardian, Albus feared that he had taken to seeing his guardian's house as home. He had to find out more about this mysterious guardian as soon as possible!
Xx Breaking the Hourglass x Breaking the Hourglass xX
Castor kept his promise and began to teach Harry the art of Occlumency. Harry struggled with meditation at first, unused to sitting still for so long. Castor was patient though and taught the boy how to clear his mind. The pair discovered that it was best for Harry to imagine that he was flying and to channel that peace into his meditation practice. Remus joined them in their practice as he said meditation was good for communing with his inner wolf.
Once Harry had the meditation part down the pair began to train him to protect his memories. Castor instructed him to build a mind palace for him to store each memory. Keeping with the flying theme, Harry made his mind palace the quidditch pitch at Hogwarts storing his memories in the seats around the pitch. He had, in his opinion, the perfect barriers of the other faceless players he inserted and the bludgers. His most important memories would be stored in the snitch.
Xx Breaking the Hourglass x Breaking the Hourglass xX
Castor had been in the past for over a month and a half and he was amazed by what he had accomplished in such a short amount of time. He grinned as he read that morning's articles by Rita Skeeter. "Newly Arrived Lord Saves Our Savior" followed by a piece titled "Heir of Noble House unjustly imprisoned without trial". The threat of exposing her animagus form worked just as well now as it had in the future. As long as he kept her on a tight leash she could be a powerful ally. He wasn't dumb enough to actually trust her.
Castor had received memory proof of the Dursley's being arrested the previous morning. His lawyer, Katherine, also let him know that the charm on Dumbledore's mail had registered as read so the old man couldn't claim ignorance of the suit. And because the goblins were the absolute best, they had held off sending the notice of Harry's change in guardianship until yesterday so that they could bury him in paperwork and bad news. Castor loved the goblins!
Castor was both excited and nervous for that afternoon's session of the Wizengamot. Lucius had talked him through the process so he was feeling secure in that part, it was just that he was officially coming out of the shadows today. It was a little scary, especially since he was moving so publicly against Dumbledore.
Xx Breaking the Hourglass x Breaking the Hourglass xX
Castor nervously straightened the non-existent wrinkles in his dress robes.
"Stop that, you look nervous" whispered Lucius.
"I am nervous" shot back Castor.
"Back straight, eyes forward, project confidence. You can do this. You're a Black" coached the man.
Taking a steadying breath, Castor did just that. He followed Lucius into the meeting room for the Wizengamot. The pair got a lot of looks as the others pieced together that he was likely the Lord Potter Black that had been announced in the paper that morning. His arrival with Lucius had many questioning which way he would vote.
The room itself was set up stadium style on three sides. In the center of the room was a podium for the supreme mugwump. When presenting or arguing a bill the speaker would stand from their seat, magic projecting their voice to the room. Castor loved magic.
Standing by the door, Castor watched as Lucius went to take his seat in the Traditional section. There were three main parties in the Wizengamot, the Traditional (dark), Moderate (neutral) and Progressive (light). Dumbledore, along with being Supreme Mugwump, was also the leader of the Progressive party. The Progressive party was the largest by a small margin, but it meant a slant on bills got passed. The Moderate faction was the smallest and rarely got bills passed.
Castor had done his research on the different parties and the history of bills passed by each faction. Besides the fact that he was a dark wizard himself, the legislation of the traditional party called to him.
Castor remained standing by the doors as the others took their seats and Dumbledore made his way to the center of the room. Raising his gavel, Dumbledore called the meeting to order.
"I call this meeting of the Wizengamot on the 22nd June to order" announced the man. "Before we begin with the itinerary, are there any seats to be claimed?"
Normally the answer would be no, the last change over of seats had been Xerxes Ogden to his son the year before.
"Yes, I, Lord Castor Potter Black Peverell, am here to claim my seats today" said Castor, stepping forward and projecting confidence, though internally he was quaking in his boots at being the subject of so many eyes watching him. They were most likely surprised by his third lordship since it hadn't been included in the morning paper.
"Very well Lord Potter Black Peverell please step forward" said Dumbledore, keeping his face steady though his normally sparkling blue eyes were thunderous.
Castor stepped to the center of the room where a crystal stood glimmering in rainbow light. The crystal had been used by the Wizengamot since its founding and held a trace of each wix's power who swore in upon it. Placing his hand on the crystal he repeated the Wizengamot vows Lucius had taught him of upholding the interests of the wizarding world.
"Thank you Lord Potter Black Peverell, please take your seat" replied Dumbledore when Castor finished.
Castor felt all the eyes of the room on him as he made his faction choice. Summoning his courage, Castor made his way over to the open seat next to Lucius in the Traditional section, bringing the weight of his three seats with him. This caused a gasp and murmurs to fill the room.
"Lord Potter Black Peverell, are you sure about your seat? The Potters have traditionally been in the progressive party" called a witch from the other side of the room.
"I thank you madam but I am where I am supposed to be. The Potters are actually a traditionally Moderate party, which only changed for the brief time my cousin was Lord Potter. I find that the interests of the Traditional party will best serve the current Potter, Black and Peverell House".
This did not make Dumbledore happy, Castor could tell but the man did his best to carry on the rest of the honestly boring meeting. Castor was glad that these meetings were only once a month. It was a pain to take time off of work for this instead of spending time with Harry or Bill or the others.
As the meeting came to an end, Castor heard his name being called by Albus Dumbeldore before he could escape with Lucius. Signaling to Lucius to go on ahead of him, he turned back for the inevitable confrontation.
"May I help you Mr. Dumbledore?" asked Castor.
"Yes, Castor, I wanted to reach out and introduce myself. I was surprised to find out about your existence and guardianship of your ward in this morning's paper" said the man, as he tried to sneakily break Castor's Occlumency shields.
"Mr. Dumbledore, I kindly request that you cease your attempts to access my mind" said Castor loudly, drawing the attention of those who had remained behind.
"I apologize, Mr. Potter Black I was simply worried on behalf of my student Harry Potter. I mean a mysterious guardian that appeared out of nowhere. I merely wanted to ensure that you had no ill will towards your new and very young charge" said the man, causing members of his faction to nod along in agreement.
"You will find Mr. Dumbledore that I am not the one with ill will towards my new charge. I do so look forward to our day in court" snapped Castor, turning on his heel, determined to have the last word as the room once again filled with murmurs about his parting shot.
Leaving the meeting hall with a measured stride, Castor made his way down to the Department of Mysteries; he had work to do. Spell crafting always lightened his mood and he had gotten in some new items to study recently.
Xx Breaking the Hourglass x Breaking the Hourglass xX
Between the public outrage at the Rita Skeeter article, Lucius, Castor and Tonks kicking up a fuss, and the lawsuit Katherine was threatening the ministry with, Sirius was finally getting a trial. It was thirteen years late, but at long last he was going to be a free man.
The trial was set for the last day of June and would be in front of the Wizengamot and would be open to the public, meaning that Harry and Remus could attend. Since Sirius was still technically on the run, the ministry placed an advert in the Daily Prophet with the day and time of his trial. Castor swore he would break into Azkaban himself if the ministry tried to use this as a trick.
Katherine spent the next week at the Black Seat preparing Sirius for his trial. The man was nervous but excited at the prospect of actually getting his life back. Of being able to go outside not in disguise, of being able to take Harry shopping or go on a date in public with Remus. It was all very overwhelming.
Xx Breaking the Hourglass x Breaking the Hourglass xX
The morning of the trial Castor apparated to the ministry and made his way to the courtroom that the trial would be held in. He grinned when he saw Lucius was already there and made his way over to sit by the man.
"Are you ready for this?" asked Lucius.
"I'm looking forward to this almost as much as he is," replied Castor.
"It will be good for my cousin to be a free man again" nodded the Malfoy Lord. "Cissa is quite nervous. I believe she and Draco are sitting with your ward and the wolf".
"The wolf has a name," snapped Castor with an eye roll.
"Not until he is family" replied Lucius.
"Well expect that announcement soon" smirked Castor, thinking of how in love the pair were.
Castor was glad that Harry was sitting with Narcissa and Draco. There had been one Black family tea since school had let out and after a good bit of yelling the pair had agreed to bury the hatchet and try again… after all they were family.
The trial was called to order by Madam Bones who was overseeing the proceedings. She motioned for the guards to bring in Sirius, who due to living with Castor for the last two months was looking rather good for a man "on the run".
Sirius was placed on the chair in the center of the room and the chains bound to it sprang to life, locking him in place hand and foot.
"Mr. Black has agreed to testify under Veritaserum for the length of this trial" announced Katherine Locke, as she stepped up next to her client. This led to a series of murmurs to break out in the room.
Madam Bones ordered one of the stationed Aurors to administer three drops of the potion to the prisoner.
Immediately Sirius' eyes went glassy and his face slack.
"What is your name?" Asked Madame Bones to confirm that the potion was working.
"Sirius Orion Black"
"What is your birthday?"
"November 3, 1959" answered the man.
"Are you a halfblood?"
"No, Pureblood"
"I declare the potion as working. Attorney Locke you may begin your questioning".
"Thank you Madame Bones. Sirius Black, were you the secret keeper for the Potters?"
"No. I was a decoy"
There were several gasps of disbelief that filled the room.
"Who was the true secret keeper for the Potter family?"
"Peter Pettigrew"
"Who else knew that you were not the secret keeper"
"Lily and James Potter and Albus Dumbledore as he cast the fidelius charm.
The crowd exploded in yells. Castor grinned sharply, another nail in the coffin of the mighty Albus too many middle names Dumbledore's reputation.
Once the Aurors got everyone quiet, Katehrine continued.
"Did you kill Peter Pettigrew on November 1st 1981?"
"No, I was trying to bring him in as was my job as a Hit Wizard"
"Did you kill the thirteen muggles in the street?"
"No, Peter did before he cut his finger off and transformed into a rat to disappear into the sewers"
"How did you know that he transformed into a rat?"
"James, Peter and I all became anamagi as students. We were going to register after the war"
"I will remind the court that the prison sentence for being an unregistered animagus is two years. Eleven less than what my client has already suffered. No more questions your honor" said Katherine
The room was in shock. They couldn't believe that Sirius Black was actually innocent.
"I think the information we have heard is clear. I have no follow up questions" said madam Bones, her face stern. She ordered the Auror to administer the antidote.
"It is clear that a grave injustice has been done to Mr. Black. Let us vote. All in favor of his freedom.
All wands of the Wizengamot rose. Sirius was a free man by unanimous vote. The chains were released and Sirius was set free.
"Mr. Black on behalf of the ministry, I apologize for this great miscarriage of justice. We understand that nothing can give you back the life you had before and have missed since then. In reparation we will give you the yearly median salary of galleons for each year you were imprisoned and will cover all healer costs. Please send the bills to my department and I will ensure they will be paid. You must register your Animagus form by the end of the week".
"Thank you Madam Bones, I will do so. But if you will excuse me I wish to reunite with my family" replied Sirius, as he made his way over to where Castor, Harry, Remus, the Tonks family and the Malfoy's stood.
There were hugs and tears all around as the group celebrated their family member's freedom.
Shaking hands with Katherine, Castor promised to speak soon about the case against Dumbledore and the Dursley's. Ushering everyone through the floo, the Black family returned home to Number 12 to celebrate this momentous and joyful day.
Xx Breaking the Hourglass x Breaking the Hourglass xX
July started with a bang for the little family at the Black Seat. Dumbledore had eventually given in to their demands and returned all items he had taken from the vaults. Castor had promised Harry he would take him soon to check out what was stored in the main family vaults.
The muggle court case against the Dursley's had gone through without issue and a little bit of magic so Harry didn't have to testify. Castor thought reliving it all in front of a courtroom would be detrimental to his ward's mental health. Petunia and Vernon Dursley had both been sentenced to jail time with Dudley being sent to live with his Aunt Marge when not in school.
The magical guardian case against Dumbledore though kept hitting roadblocks as the man tried desperately to get out of it. Katherine was like a bloodhound though and was on the case. She swore to Castor and Harry that she wouldn't let them down. Dumbledore would be brought to justice and held accountable for his lack of action one way or another.
Ron had written Harry back and had surprisingly gotten over himself before sending his letter. What Harry didn't know was Mrs. Weasley had looked over the letter until it was less angry and supportive enough. The pair made plans for Harry to floo over to the Burrow for the day on July 13th.
Castor went on another couple dates with Bill, the pair getting closer. Castor was feeling secure enough in the relationship that he even offered for Bill to meet Harry and the rest of the little family at number 12. They planned for him to come over for dinner the day after Castor's birthday for the initial meeting.
Evie's Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading ! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week !
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