Chapter 8: Trial
(Word Count: 3,473)
Harry and Remus returned together to live at the beach house with Tripsy. Tripsy had to go fetch Remus's belongings, but he got settled into one of the guest rooms.
The next morning, Harry took the opportunity to show Remus his parent's wands. Wands were extraordinarily important to wizardkind, considered to be a part of themselves. So to see their wands again was like having a connection directly to them.
Remus gently picked up James's wand, eyes watering. "James…" he muttered under his breath. Remus tried to sort through all of the emotions he was experiencing. He had utterly failed his brother. He had thought that Harry would be safe, but that couldn't have been farther than the truth. He had thought Sirius was guilty, but he wasn't. He had thought Peter was dead, but he was the traitor, alive and hiding. Pettigrew had gotten off scot free from James's murder for years.
Remus picked up Lily's wand. "Lily…" She was like a sister, always so kind, intelligent and driven. He had failed her too. He could have been teaching Harry about wizarding life, potions and magic. Just like Lily was sure to have done for her son.
Tears flowed down his cheeks, as he smiled tenderly. It seemed like Harry took after Lily. When they had arrived at the beach house, Harry had immediately become excited and started showing him all that he had learned on his own. Remus was shocked to see him already casting charms without issue.
It was still a little scary for him. Self doubt was always a struggle for him, but Remus vowed to do better. To be there for Harry from now on. Except for full moons. Yeah, it was way too dangerous no matter the good intentions.
Over the next two days, they spent the time telling stories of the Marauders adventures, stories of Lily as prefects together, and practicing magic together.
Harry was hoping to be able to test his Occlumency and Legilimency, but unfortunately Remus didn't practice either field. Seeing the disappointed look on his face, Remus had to explain that very few people practiced the mind arts, and fewer still had decent skills in them. There was a reason occlumency wasn't taught in school.
So instead of practicing mind arts, they practiced dueling. Harry had a lot of theoretical knowledge, and could cast a few spells, but he needed to learn to use them quickly.
And like that, two days passed by in a flash.
Now it was time for Sirius's trial. Tripsy brought us both to the apparition point within the ministry of magic. Even though Tripsy could have placed them anywhere, it was only good manners to arrive at the designated entrance. There was a hefty fine involved if you were caught doing otherwise.
"Come on, Harry. The courtrooms are this way." Remus said, dressed up in his best suit. The suit was a bit worn, but it was clean.
Harry wore a plum colored suit, a deep purple that Madam Malkin's said brought out his eyes. He had to say, he looked good.
Unfortunately, since he was surrounded by Aurors, Harry left his mother's wand at home. He didn't want to be caught with it and have it confiscated.
Harry followed Remus's lead, and they made their way across the lobby. The place was packed with people, hearing the news of Sirius's trial and the announced attendance of Harry Potter.
As soon as they entered the lobby, reporters and people crowded them. Flashes of cameras were going off, sending smoke into the air. They were wizards, couldn't they have made a smokeless flash?
"Mister Potter! How are you feeling today about the trial of your parents' betrayer?"
"What were you doing all these years?"
"Any comment about Peter Pettigrew?"
"Do you plan on allying together with House Black?"
"What happened that night when you know who attacked?"
"Why come back to the wizarding world now?"
"Are you training under Chief Warlock Dumbledore?"
At this point, Harry had enough. "Everyone, please! One at a time!" He had to shout to be heard over everyone, but when he did, they all quieted down.
"Thank you all for your concern and support. However, the trial will begin momentarily so I only have time to answer one question, so think carefully," Harry said.
One of the reporters stepped forward, it was Rita Skeeter. For how twisted she paints people in her articles, she is one of the most popular writers in wizarding media. "Mister Potter, my name is Rita Skeeter of the Daily Prophet. I think I speak for everyone when I ask, how did you defeat you-know-who that night? No one knows how you did it?"
Inwardly, Harry sighed. The bigoted wizarding world would rather believe that a little baby scion of House Potter defeated a Dark Lord than a muggleborn woman.
"I have nearly eidetic memory, and I remember that night perfectly. It wasn't anything I did at the time, I was only a toddler then. I didn't even know what was going on. What happened was that my mother, Lily Evans Potter, evoked the ancient magic of Love to protect me. By willingly sacrificing her life for me, she created a powerful protection over me. When You-Know-Who cast the killing curse at me, it struck me," and Harry touched his lightning bolt scar on his forehead, which was being openly displayed, "and rebounded back at him. The erupting magic destroyed his body, leaving only the dark lord's robes and wand. I remember the rat animagus form of Peter Pettigrew coming in and taking the wand away."
The crowd was deathly quiet. Everything known about that night was speculation from magical residue. So hearing it told by Harry, confirming his survival of a killing curse, was awe inspiring. There were some among them that sneered at the idea of Lily being so capable. Others, most of the women really, were moved by his mother's love.
"And what happened after that? Where have you been until now?" Another reporter asked.
"I'm sorry everyone, but I must get to the courtroom. If there's time afterwards, I can answer more questions, but I must be on my way." Harry said.
All the reporters started shouting again, trying to get one more question in, but Harry ignored them and kept walking. Man, give them an inch and they'll try to take a mile. He had hoped that by answering one question that they'll leave him alone, but they didn't.
They ended up being hounded right up until the elevators, where the Aurors started blocking the public's access due to the high profile trial going on.
As they were descending, Harry breathed a sigh of relief. "Phew!"
Remus patted him on the back. "You did a good job handling those reporters."
"Thanks, it was pretty nerve wracking though," Harry replied.
They exited the elevator and made their way to the courtroom. Dumbledore was there, waiting for them outside the doors. "Ah, young Harry, Remus. There you are. How have you been these last few days? Everything is going well, I hope?"
"Headmaster," Remus said respectfully. "It's been wonderful! Harry here is a genius when it comes to wandwork!"
Dumbledore turned to Harry. "Really? How so?"
Harry blushed a bit at the praise. "It's nothing really. I just read some of mum's old textbooks and tried a few of the simpler spells from the first year."
"After only a few weeks in the wizarding world, you've gotten all the spells in the Charms and transfiguration books memorized." Remus boasted.
Dumbledore seemed pleased. "That's rather impressive, Harry. I myself used to be a transfiguration professor, so if you have any questions I would be more than happy to help from time to time."
Harry was surprised at the offer. In the books, Dumbledore never did anything to directly teach Harry magic. There was obviously the risk he only offered to keep a closer eye on him, but who cared? Personal tutelage of a master was too good to pass up. It could also be that he simply offered in good faith. "Yeah, that would be great! Please, feel free to drop by the Potter's beach house if you wish."
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled happily. "I'll have to come by then."
Together, they entered the courtroom. It was packed full of people. The guest seating was completely full, which is probably why they had to start blocking people from entering. Luckily, they had reserved seating up front. In the center of the round chamber, there was an iron cage, only wide enough for a man to stand up straight in, and spikes to stop him from moving around too much. It stood empty at the moment.
"It's best that I get settled down at my seat. If all goes well, I'll meet you with Sirius after the trials," Dumbledore excused himself.
Looking around at the Wizengamot members, Harry recognized Minister Fudge, Dolores Umbridge, Lucius Malfoy, Barty Crouch, Amelia Bones, and Augusta Longbottom.
Ted Tonks saw them enter and came over. "Remus, Harry. Excellent, you're here. Your seats are over here, next to my family." And he led them over to two witches. One the mother, a stern looking witch with brown hair. The other a teenager with bright pink hair. "Remus, Harry, this is my wife, Andromeda, and my daughter, Nymphadora."
The pink hair deepened to crimson. "Don't call me that! It's just Tonks!" She turned her angry glare onto the two of them. "It's just Tonks, you hear me?"
"Come now, Nymphadora. There is nothing wrong with your name," Andromeda said.
Harry grimaced inwardly. Honestly, how did this woman not see the issues with the name? Any woman with "nymph" in her name is bound to be harrassed.
Aside from the name issue, Tonks was one of his favorite characters in the novels. He was glad that she didn't look like she did in the movies. They made her seem a lot older in the movies than she actually was. Tonks right now looked to be around 14 or 15.
"Hello, Mrs. Tonks, and Tonks. It's nice to meet you," Harry said.
Tonks smirked victoriously at her mother, "See, he gets it!"
Andromeda huffed. "I stand by what I said."
Harry sat down next to Tonks, and whispered, "does she seriously not see the issue, or is she just messing with you? Even I can see the problem."
"I'm right here, boy. I can hear you." Andromeda said angrily.
"Whoops," Harry laughed. Tonks laughed with him.
"You cheeky kid, I like you!" Tonks said, roughing up his hair. He didn't mind though, it was messy already.
Meanwhile, Remus spoke to Ted who was representing Sirius Black in his trial. "Is there anything I can do to help here?" He asked worriedly.
"Rest assured, Remus. This trial is mostly a formality. I have plenty of evidence to show he's innocent," Ted said reassuringly.
Some gavel strikes rang through the air, and everyone in the crowd went silent. Minister Fudge spoke, "Court is now in session. We now begin the retrial of Sirius Black. The alleged betrayer of the Potters and murderer of 12 muggles. Bring out the criminal."
The side door of the chamber opened and in walked a team of 4 aurors, leading a chained up Sirius Black to the center cage. Black hair all shaggy and greasy, dirty and worn out prisoner's uniform, and he was way too thin. His cheeks were sunken, but his eyes were bright, searching about the room until they landed in Harry. Immediately, Sirius broke out into a wide grin. "Harry!" Sirius called out, gripping the bars in front of him. "Look at you!"
Fudge banged his gavel, "That's enough, Black. You stand here accused of 12 accounts of murder, the betrayal of the Potters, and of being a death eater. You were convicted 6 years ago, but new evidence has been brought to light that made this retrial possible. We will begin with the defendant's opening statements. Mr. Tonks, as the defendant's lawyer, will now address us. Mr. Tonks."
Ted Tonks stood up, and walked into the center of the room, right next to Sirius in the cage. "Your honor, I need to correct you on some matters. Mr. Black here is not convicted of anything! Ladies and Gentlemen of the court, this is not a retrial of a convicted criminal, but the very first hearing, as Sirius Black never had a trial in the first place! There is no record of any hearing, trial, or sentencing for Mr. Black. Only a brief summary of an arrest by Mr. Bartemius Crouch Sr. who threw the heir of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black straight into Azkaban, with no regard to the due process of the law."
"Preposterous!" Mr. Crouch shouted, "The man was clearly deranged! Everybody knows he was the secret keeper!"
"That's nothing but your own slanderous opinion! It was nothing but a laughing charm, even a first year can cast those! You must look beyond such things as an Auror, that is why the law exists!" Ted responded heatedly.
"Enough!" Fudge interjected. "Mr. Crouch, it is not your turn to speak. Mr. Tonks, please do not go about accusing people. Move on with your remarks or we'll turn to Mr. Crouch."
Ted went on to present what had happened with the whole incident, both with the secret keeper ordeal and the fight against Pettigrew. The way he presented Sirius made him out to be a tragic hero fighting in the war who was willing to sacrifice himself for his friends. How he made himself into the bait to move Voldemort's attention away from his friends. Which was exactly what he was. Harry couldn't help but to nod in approval.
"Your dad's way cool," Harry said in a whisper to Tonks. She just nodded, enamored by her dad's speech.
Ted went on to describe the night when Sirius went to check on Pettigrew, the actual secret keeper, to find him missing. That's when Sirius knew what Peter had done and raced to the Potter's house to find it ruined. Then he described the fight between Sirius and Pettigrew, what had caused the explosion, and why Sirius was found madly laughing, which is one of the reasons became so unnerving to the public. His mugshot showed him laughing, still under the effects of the charm.
"And that just goes to show just how quick Mr. Crouch processed his arrest! He didn't even give enough time for the charm to wear off!"
"Mr. Crouch, your opening statements please."
Crouch Sr. went on about how the times at the end of the war were different than they were now and that action had to be taken quickly. He explained how everyone "knew" that Sirius was the secret keeper and that meant without a doubt that he was guilty, so he didn't want to waste manpower holding onto a criminal that they knew was guilty during wartime.
Basically defending himself for wrongfully breaking the law. Even the Lestranges got trials, and it was during the same time. Maybe it was because Jr was revealed to be a death eater?
"Both sides have presented their opening statements, we will now move on to examining the evidence. Mr. Tonks, please present your evidence." Fudge said.
The next hour or so, both sides presented their evidence. Though Barty Crouch and the ministry didn't really have anything besides hearsay and "Well, everybody knows…" type stuff. They even tried to cite Pettigrew's Order of Merlin award, but that didn't mean anything in the courtroom.
Ted on the other hand actually put together far more than Harry had even thought about. His mother's diary entry was only the beginning. He called forth some of the obliviators that had arrived at the scene as witnesses, which helped prove further that it was Pettigrew that killed those muggles. He even had Amelia Bones present Voldemort's wand they had found on Pettigrew when they arrested him. He also presented their findings when they checked Sirius's and Pettigrew's wands with Priori Incantatum. Finally, he had documented interviews with both Sirius Black and Pettigrew under the influence of Veritaserum witnessed by Amelia Bones and Shacklebolt.
Ted Tonks had so much that it wasn't even necessary to call Harry as a witness.
The trial ended with only the death eater dark houses voting against Sirius. And Just like that, Sirius was declared innocent. As for compensation, that was a whole other matter that needed to be pursued at a later time. Either a private settlement or through a lawsuit. Surprisingly, the matter of Sirius being an animagus never came up, so that didn't factor into compensation.
Harry could see Sirius sag as much as he could within the cage. No one should have to go through that.
The Fudge called for a short recess before Pettigrew's trial began, and ordered for Sirius to be released. An Auror came over and freed him from both the cage and manacles. As soon as he was free, both Harry and Remus left over the bannister and ran over to give him a hug.
"Sirius!" Both Harry and Remus cried out.
"Remus! Harry!" Sirius hugged them both back as much as he could, but they could both tell he was shaking. "Harry, look at you! You've gotten so big!"
"Sirius, do you want to stay for Pettigrew's trial or should we get out of here to get you cleaned up?" Harry said. He really did smell awful.
"I can wait another few hours if it's to see that rat get what he deserves," Sirius said, nearly growling.
"Sirius, I'm sorry I doubted you all these years. I never knew you switched." Remus said remorsefully.
"Come off it, Moony! How could you have thought any different? It was our fault, we never told anyone else of what we did. We kept the switch to ourselves. We could have at least trusted you and Dumbledore," Sirius said, shrugging off the apology nonchalantly. Harry couldn't tell for sure, but he thought he could see a little bit of pain and guilt in his eyes.
Dumbledore came over, greeting them warmly. "Sirius, I'm happy to see you free. I'm sorry for not helping you sooner. I should have looked into things when you didn't get a trial. I should have known something was wrong."
Sirius waved him off as well. "Like I told Remus, you had no reason to believe I was innocent, I was the one that told you I was the secret keeper after all. I don't blame anyone but myself for this mess."
Pettigrew's trial ended up being far simpler. The Wizengamot brought forth charges against him, listing the crimes and the evidence they had. Some of the members would ask questions to clarify, like "why did the Potter's switch the secret keeper to you?" Or "how long were you a death eater?"
All the while Pettigrew stood sniveling fearfully against the bars of the cage.
In less than an hour, Pettigrew was sentenced to life in Azkaban. When the aurors led him away as he was weeping.
Sirius breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally."
Harry reached over and patted the man on the shoulder. "Come on, let's get you out of here."
They said goodbye to the Tonks family, thanking Ted especially for his help, and him, Remus, and Sirius made to go out. They were stopped outside the courtroom by an old stern looking man, in a black suit wielding a black walking cane that had a black diamond or onyx on it.
"So, you didn't do it after all," the old man said, looking at Sirius.
Sirius gaped at him. "You're still alive?"
The old man wacked Sirius in the shins with his walking cane. "You brat! Of course I'm still alive! I'm 20 years younger than Dumbledore and you don't ask him that!" The man huffed irritably, but his anger drained away. "I'm glad to see you're well, Sirius. I thought that… nevermind. Come and see me when you're done recovering. I'll go and get Grimmauld back in shape for you. The bloody place fell into disrepair when your mother died."
Sirius seemed to swallow a sour pill at the thought of his mother, the hag. "And why should I? I was kicked out of the family!"
"That harpy Walburga didn't have the power to kick you out! Only I could do that." The man bit out angrily, before continuing in an almost regretful tone, "Besides, you seemed happier with the Potters anyway. Merlin knows I would be too, if Walburga was my mother."
Sirius swallowed some of his anger, and nodded. "Fine then, once I've recovered. Though don't expect me to rush back to that horrid house."
"That's good enough." The old man turned to Harry. "And you must be the brat that set all of this in motion, Harry Potter. You're a fine young man, watching out for your family like this. Come with Sirius to visit me."
"I will, sir. But who are you?" Harry had a suspicion but he had to ask anyway.
"I am Arcturus Black. Sirius' grandfather, and your grand uncle."
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