51

Chapter 51 Suspension and Suspicion

Eyebrows raised when it was reported that Dumbledore had been suspended from the Wizengamot until all his legal matters were settled. Did these matters have some substance to cause concern? It was Albus Dumbledore, for Merlin's sake, how could anyone accuse him of doing wrong?

There was other news in the newspaper of interest. Sirius Black's trial was starting this week. Lily thought it was about time. It had been a year since Helen was murdered. If the Ministry had not let Black walk out to flee to France then, Sev's parents would be alive, Pettigrew might even be alive, and perhaps still in school with Potter. Heck, Black could have manned up to his crime and confessed that Lupin knew nothing of the plan. Yup, she thought sarcastically, Sirius Black was a real pal. Was his brother, Regulus, capable of being such a two-faced backstabber? He seemed close with Crouch, but he wasn't buddies with Sev.

Severus was not happy with Lily. He thought she purposely did not mention that Malcolm and Mary had spent the night in her room. They were seventeen, and it was none of his business, but why did Lily keep it from him?

By lunch the news had spread through the school. Slughorn had been suspended from teaching till his legal matter was resolved. Seems the Board of Governors were not as lenient as Dumbledore when it came to bullying and torturing students.

Lily had to wait till Tuesday to find out their substitute Potions teacher was the Muggle Studies teacher. He confessed Potions were not his forte so begged them to continue on with their lessons without any mishap. He used the threat of their NEWT in June to give them incentive to not decimate the dungeons.

Mundungus Fletcher had barely sat in the uncomfortable wooden chair when he was sentenced to two years in Azkaban, based on his prior record. He didn't even lay a finger on one precious object in that foul house. His eyes searched for Dumbledore, but he was not here. Where could he be? Was he already working on Dung's appeal to get him out?

Meanwhile, Dumbledore's solicitor came to Hogwarts to visit him. He was concerned that he had not been consulted yet about any defense regarding theft, attempted theft, or even abuse of students, in case Horace Slughorn tried to indicate that Albus approved of such things. Everyone knew he didn't, but Horace could turn quite glib when his ass was on the line.

Like many times before, Albus seemed unconcerned, and admitted he may not even need the services of his solicitor. He pressed Albus for some information. Albus was known for his truthfulness, but he had a definite flair for getting overly dramatic at times. Perhaps he should share his plans with someone? No, no … that was not to be the case. Albus thanked him for his concern and going through the trouble of stopping by, but told him nothing. He didn't even get to see the blasted cup that all this uproar was about.

There was someone who had absolute faith in Albus Dumbledore's ability to gold-plate a pile of shit, and that was his brother, Aberforth. He talked it over with Lizzie and Ethel while he was brushing them.

He reminded them that Albus had been tracking down Snape last Valentine's Day. This was not some sudden mad impulse of his brother's to take up a life of crime to pay off his tab at Honeyduke's; it was a plan of some sort.

However, if Albus was going to spend months on a plan, shouldn't it be defeating He Who Must Not Be Named, rather than breaking into empty houses? If You Know Who gave the key to his downfall to one of those loathsome Lestranges, why would Albus still think it was at their house? He had months to go retrieve it. He Who Must Not Be Named would not wait till an heir came forward and politely ask to retrieve his property.

Remus was thinking … one year. He had attacked innocent people and killed one a year ago. His friend, or someone who said he was his friend … his friend, what did that mean? James was his friend. But James did not warn anyone when he found out what Sirius did. He did nothing while people were in the Shrieking Shack with him.

James did eventually get him out of Azkaban, but did not visit or write till he found himself alone and then expelled, once Peter died. Was James his true friend, or was Remus just an afterthought? Someone to listen to James talk about quidditch. That last game hardly made an impression on James. So many people there to cheer for the Wigtown Wanderers because of Helen Parkin … the girl who was his murder victim.

People also talked about Sirius Black. Remus mostly listened, but really had no idea what Sirius was doing. How could he? None of them really knew Sirius. He may have only been sorted into Gryffindor because he did not think. He could be as nasty as any Slytherin, but Sirius just did it. There was no cunning or finesse, just attack, attack, attack, and then laugh about it.

The Daily Prophet listed horrible things for Sirius. They knew he attacked muggles with James and Peter. They knew he sent unknowing students to a spot where Dumbledore was hiding a werewolf. They knew Sirius fled to France, rather than be reprimanded or punished. While abroad, Sirius kept in contact with his family and Death Eaters. Sirius returned to England to secretly meet with his father and killed him. Then his plan to murder his younger brother went awry, and he was captured at Hogwarts.

Even though James disputed the attack on that muggle pub, so much of this was true, that Remus believed the rest of it was possible. Why else would Sirius go to Hogwarts? Why did he open the floo to James' parents? Was he looking for James to help him? Prongs may go for the occasional prank and could hot-headedly do some stupid things, but he wasn't a killer. Perhaps Sirius realized he ended up nowhere close to Regulus, and was going to escape to the Potters.

James interrupted Remus's thoughts, by cheerily greeting him as he came in from flying, "Hey, Moony."

"Prongs."

"I was thinking. I might want to give this place up since I'm no longer a Cannon."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I mean … it's kind of boring. There's only one place to go dancing 'round here, and the witches are kind of uh … homely 'round these parts."

"I hadn't noticed."

"Yeah, there's prettier witches down south. Maybe London. If we had a nice place there … bigger with guest rooms, we could have our friends visit."

Remus nodded. Even people that did not live in London visited it. His parents might find it convenient to stay with them when they went down to London. They didn't go there much, but they'd come more if Remus was living there.

"So," James continued, "if we move out the end of November, I was thinking of spending a month at my parents for the holidays. Mum's lonely without me home."

"Uh huh."

"And that'll give me at least a month to try out for more teams so I might find us a new place close to where I'll be playing."

Remus's eyebrow cocked. There was optimism, but James was deluded. Enough bad press came out over that Chudley Cannons game, and the Parkin family had plenty to say about James wanting their daughter off the Gryffindor team so badly, he went along with Sirius Black's plot to kill her.

"Um … so where am I going?" Remus asked.

"Don't you want to visit your parents, Moony? I guess my parents will be glad to have you 'round too."

He frowned at James. Was Remus just an insignificant detail for him?

Severus finally let his true feelings be known to Lily once they retired to his bedroom one evening, after the girls liberated his wireless to dance with a pajamaed Wilkes, who was staying over again.

"Has Wilkes made MacDonald any promises?"

"What kind of promises, Sev?"

"Any. She could be worse after he dumps her a second time."

"What makes you think he will?"

"I don't know, that's why I'm asking you. You are letting them use your bed with your blessing, Lily."

"Mary's lonely."

He huffed at her. Shagging was Lily's answer to that. MacDonald did not need Wilkes to shag. The school was full of teenage males.

"What?" Lily demanded. "Why are you bothering?"

"Because I don't want to be woken up by them fighting or more days of MacDonald crying."

"She's my friend, Sev."

"I do not understand why this is a good idea."

"You don't need to. Besides, now Malcolm's more mature. He's able to deal with things better. That werewolf attack last year was a big shock to all of us."

Severus made a face. If Wilkes dropped MacDonald because she was a werewolf last year, what was different? She was still a werewolf this year, and would be for the rest of her life.

He sat down at his desk to work further on his project.

Lily stared at him. That was it? Was that even like a fight? Or was Sev just dismissing her feelings on it? Why did he even bring it up? He should be happy for Mary. Now she wouldn't be batting her eyes at Sev and talking to him all the time.

She got onto the bed and lay across it watching him. Why was Severus so puzzling? Did he want Mary bothering him? Did her flirting with Sev make him feel better?

Albus wanted to help Horace, but his old friend was purposely altering his memory of what happened that morning with poor results every time Albus viewed it in the pensieve.

The memory was jumpy with omissions and cloudiness, and if Albus moved around the office while viewing it, there were distracting flashes of light with no explanation. He was even hiding the leather strap. It would start with nothing on the desk but then appear when the fellow from the Ministry picked it up.

Horace complained he was trying, but he would not withdraw the memory starting earlier so he could view it continuously. It started with Severus stiltedly stating something about Albus having his permission, but the fire was not green. It jumped to Horace talking into the floo, rather than Severus.

Addtionally, Albus knew Horace did not store his dragon's blood openly in his office for any student to steal, smash or accidentally knock over, so it was unlikely Severus found it and transfigured it into his own blood.

After a couple days of noticing Mr. Filch hanging around the library, Severus approached him and asked, "How are you doing, Mr. Filch?"

"Me? Uh, fine. Got my hands full with detentions again."

Severus nodded, then asked, "Do you need help with anything around the school, sir?"

"Help?"

"Yes, though I'd prefer not to land myself with detention, but I do appreciate everything I learned last year."

"You do?" Filch asked.

"Yes, my parents died so I have their house. It's old and needed repairs. I wouldn't have known what to do without you."

"Huh," was all Filch could think of by way of a reply to that piece of information. Students did not thank him for detention. Maybe Slughorn had hit Snape too hard in the head. Turning away from him, he decided to call, "I'll let you know if I come across any jobs that are interesting, Snape."

"Thank you, Mr. Filch."

When he met up with Mrs. Norris later, Filch told her, "I think you were right. Snape's all right. It's that Slughorn polluting the school with his favors that they mentioned in that …," Filch lowered his voice and whispered, "women's magazine." Resuming his normal phlegmy tone and shaking his head, Argus intoned, "Shameful, Mrs. Norris. Shameful."

At last, Sirius's day in court arrived. He didn't think it would take more than an hour or so, especially when he saw that his darling Apolline and her parents showed up to support him. He could only give her a smile because of all these chains. Stupid Ministry wanted to make a good show out of this.

Ugh, it was that ugly bastard from Law Enforcement, Bumboil. He was sitting next to a real jerkwad with a little mustache and slicked hair, parted down the center and wearing a pin-striped wizard robe. There was even a bowler hat on the table in front of him.

Sirius sneered at the sight of them. Ministry lackeys. Merlin save him.

He sat and rolled his eyes as they talked and talked and then talked some more. When were they going to get to the facts? Sirius had not done anything bad, and they should be in trouble for sending him up to Azkaban for a couple weeks without any sort of proof that he did anything.

Oh no, the pinstriped pinhead was going to ask him questions.

"Mr. Black, did you know where Albus Dumbledore had Remus Lupin transform into a werewolf each month?"

"Yes."

"Did you lead other students to that place?"

"No."

"Do you know how they ended up there at that time?"

"Severus Snape must have told them."

"You definitely know that Severus Snape knew that Remus Lupin transformed into a werewolf every month in the Shrieking Shack?"

"Nooo," Sirius replied in an exasperated tone. "I didn't tell him there would be a werewolf there. What would be the fun in that?"

Bartemius Crouch was not in the mood for adolescent games. "Let me rephrase it then. You told others about a secret passage to use on the night of the full moon, knowing that there would be a werewolf there?"

"Not others. Just Snape."

"Why are you making such a distinction, Black?"

"It's thanks to Snape those people got killed or hurt. Not me. I didn't tell them."

Once the murmuring died down, which Sirius attributed to their realization that the wrong person was on trial, Crouch asked, "Why would you think he would go for a walk alone to look at a rumored new secret passage? The passage is under a whomping willow. That is a very dangerous tree."

"So? It's their fault for going with him."

"Why did you run instead of answering these questions last year?"

"I answered these questions already. I didn't do anything wrong."

"You purposely left Great Britain."

"So what? I was marrying the most wonderful woman in the world, and she didn't live here."

"We'll get to Miss Apolline soon enough."

Sirius smiled, directing it at his beloved.

She looked shocked at his roguish behavior and covered her eyes with a white-gloved, dainty hand.

"You boasted to your comrades about informing one student about this secret passage then?"

"I couldn't exactly boast. We were in detention."

"Did you ask them to remain silent?"

"Of course."

"And that was Peter Pettigrew and James Potter?"

"Yes," Sirius replied in a bored tone. He couldn't well tell Moony that night.

"Their silence lasted long enough for your plan to come to fruition?"

"Huh?"

"Your comrades did as you asked, and did not warn anyone of the danger?"

"Of course. Snape's a pain in the ass."

"Was it entirely your plan, or did someone suggest it to you?"

"Suggest it? … No, it came to me during a fight."

"You lured at least one person intentionally to a werewolf because you were angry?"

"Why do you keep saying 'lure'? I didn't lure anyone. They walked there on their own."

"You gave information that was supposed to be kept secret? Dumbledore trusted Lupin, you, Potter, and Pettigrew not to share that Lupin was a werewolf, nor where he could be found during the full moon."

"No."

"Dumbledore wanted you to tell that Lupin was a werewolf?"

"Nooo," Sirius moaned. This guy was a moron.

"You knew that Lupin was a werewolf. You also know that Dumbledore made the arrangements to hide him in the Shrieking Shack?"

"Yeeesss," Sirius tried replying slowly to see if it would sink in. These fellows were old and senile.

"What led you to believe that Dumbledore would want Lupin used, in his capacity as a werewolf, to get rid of students that were … as you said, 'a pain in the ass'?"

"What does Dumbledore have to do with it? It was Snape."

"Black, you are being given an opportunity to answer questions. If you choose not to answer them, the Wizengamot can come to its own decision," Barty warned. "Albus Dumbledore intentionally left a werewolf unguarded during nights of the full moon. You and your comrades knew this in advance. In a moment of anger, you chose to use Lupin to rid yourself of another student, Severus Snape. You told two other students of your plan, and by their silence, they agreed with you."

This fellow was trying to trick him by using a lot of words. The Ministry! Sirius chose not to answer anything. Where was Dumbledore anyway? Wasn't he one of the geezers that sat on the Wizengamot?

When Black also chose to use silence as assent, Barty continued, "And within two months, one of your conspirators, Peter Pettigrew, was also dead."

Sirius waited for a question, but when none was asked, he volunteered, "That was probably Snape."

"How would you know that, Black? Weren't you in ..." Barty pulled out the Blacks' itinerary of Europe, and continued, "... Rome, the night Pettigrew disappeared from Hogwarts?"

"I don't know."

"Miss Apolline was kind enough to keep track of where you two traveled. Since you were recently caught in the Gryffindor common room of Hogwarts, did you abduct Pettigrew from there?"

"That's nonsense … and why would you tell them anything, Apolline?"

Her father exclaimed something rude in French, and Barty added, "You are not to address your former wife, Black."

"Former?"

"We'll get to that soon enough."

"You have no desire to reveal what happened to Peter Pettigrew? His parents would like to know how he met his end."

"Why would I know?"

"You were also in Knockturn Alley to meet with your father. Did you have another moment of anger then?"

"You certainly knew my father," Sirius quipped.

"Is that a 'yes'?"

"No, you jackass."

"Did you ask someone to do in Peter Pettigrew and Orion Black?"

"No."

"You were in contact with Death Eaters while you traveled."

"No, I wasn't."

"All three Lestranges were Death Eaters. You knew that?"

"I suppose."

"You wrote at least one letter to Bellatrix Lestrange instructing her to attack specific muggles."

"I did not."

"Coincidentally the same muggle location you attacked in the summer of 1976 … along with Peter Pettigrew and James Potter."

"They attacked us."

"Yes, that's in the report. You three were demolishing a muggle pub for sport, and the patrons subdued you. Since one of the patrons was the muggle father of Severus Snape, he realized that the three of you were underaged wizards. The Ministry was contacted to pick the three of you up, but you used magic to escape, summoned the Knight Bus and due to the quick reporting of your crimes, Magical Law Enforcement was already waiting for you when you disembarked at Potter's house."

"They lied."

"The muggles had two of your wands. They didn't need any more proof than that that you were there. Along with this letter that was found at Lestrange Manor that has been verified as being written by you."

Sirius made a face, then said, "I may have written a letter, but they didn't need to do anything."

"Is that how you think this should go? You lie to students, leading them so they get attacked by a werewolf. You tell Death Eaters about muggles so vicious they attack wizards. You think that makes you as innocent as the day you were born?"

"Sure."

"You are no innocent, Black. You have caused the death of close to a dozen people, including muggles. You show not a shred of remorse. The longer you eluded repercussions, the more audacious your acts became. Your record at Hogwarts shows years of attacking students till someone was finally killed."

"Oh come on, that was only a bit of fun."

"In case you haven't noticed, Albus Dumbledore is not here to support that view. After attacking over a hundred female students at Hogwarts, you went to France and drugged Miss Apolline with love potion. You had her already marked as from a family that would help keep our Ministry of Magic tied up in negotiations, as long as you were not seen in Great Britain. You continually used that potion to have her provide alibis for your disappearances when you went missing for nights and for days at a time, while you took care of Peter Pettigrew and your own father, Orion Black, and who knows what else. You've been tied to having dealings with known Death Eaters. How many others did you join them in killing?"

"That's a lie. Apolline loves me."

"I do not! He lies! He uzed me!" Apolline exclaimed, then dramatically started sobbing while her parents comforted her. Every male in the room now knew what kind of animal Sirius Black was. How could he take advantage of such a beautiful and innocent young woman?

By the time the dust cleared, the crying ended, the fingers stopped pointing, and Sirius was further restrained, the decision was unanimous … life in Azkaban.

Severus was suspicious. The Wizengamot actually punished people? The professional thief that broke into his house got two years in Azkaban, even though he was a friend of Dumbledore's. Now Sirius Black was given life.

Although he should feel good about this, he feared that these initial successes would be balanced out by upcoming disasters with Slughorn and Dumbledore. They certainly wouldn't go to Azkaban.

Walburga Black had not gone to the Ministry to see her eldest son, Sirius. How could she have raised such a hateful boy? He was unnatural. Kreacher had been prepared for this eventuality and had the mistress's handkerchiefs all freshly laundered and pressed.

When Remus read the trial results in the newspaper, he did not know how he should feel. Sirius was thought to kill Peter too? He could be quite impulsive, but … no, maybe he did plan and the recklessness was all an act. James was mentioned in a bad light, however all of Sirius's associates were going to be written about that way.

James had gone home with his parents the day before. He attended the trial with them. They had sat high up in the back. This Sirius Black was a stranger to him. Could he have gotten Peter to leave Hogwarts? Probably, and his recently demonstrated ability to enter the school after expulsion at least proved it was possible. He could have shown up, found Peter, used that stupid portkey story asking Wormtail to help him get out, and then … poor Peter. What had Peter known that made such a terrible thing necessary in Black's eyes?

Lily was saddened by all the terrible things Sirius Black had done. Was this what He Who Must Not Be Named did to people? Or was this the type of person that used He Who Must Not Be Named as an excuse for his own abominable behavior? Helen, Mary, and Severus might have been on the side of light, except they had all met Albus Dumbledore. Lily did not know about now. She knew it was the right side, but she could not agree with how they went about things.

Regulus was happy his older brother was going to spend the rest of his life in Azkaban. Sirius had been bullying him before he was even out of the crib. As a boy, Sirius had even 'accidentally' killed Kreacher's father, Beest. He was a really old house elf that had taught Regulus a lot of naughty words.

He also applauded Miss Apolline's cunning move to rid herself of the liability. Anyway, if Sirius was a Death Eater, there was no way Regulus would be one, even if that is what his father and uncle wanted. Even if the rumors about the muggle and squib were false, the rampant mayhem that his brother carried on with for the past year was not for someone as civilized as Regulus.

The sudden loss of wages was unexpected by Horace so he contacted a few people he knew and got some other cases moved down the docket so he could get this over with. It was merely a formality, he knew the whole Wizengamot socially after all. Unlike Magical Law Enforcement, Severus Snape would be questioned and forced to tell the truth.

Rita Skeeter had seen the trial and had written a number of accompanying articles expressing what the public wanted to read about. Her curiosity piqued again about the supposed 'pain in the ass', Severus Snape. Had he thwarted earlier plans of Sirius Black? Did he know of a connection not only between Black and He Who Must Not Be Named, but also Black and Dumbledore? How did he feel about Dumbledore's insistence that anything that belonged to Snape was his for the taking? She wrote his solicitor … it appeared Hogwarts' head boy needed to appear as a witness for Horace Slughorn's turn before the Wizengamot.

After their defense group Friday evening, Regulus and Barty wanted to practice questioning Snape. Regulus found the whole idea of Horace Slughorn having to defend himself and his favoritism hilarious.

If they could not send him to Azkaban for seducing and hurting his mother, Regulus could settle for this. Besides, he did not want his mother questioned about things like that. She was a Black for Merlin's sake. Better to use Snape.

They all knew Horace Slughorn was the head of Slytherin so it was best to rely on unspecific answers. Couldn't say something as absolute as Prof. Slughorn beat me every Friday night, and then have him caught doing it on Saturday morning, or he'd get the whole thing thrown out.

Lily found the whole thing disturbing. She had seen for herself when Sev came out of Slughorn's office. He was not lying. Slughorn really was a terrible person like Sev had told her for years. But why had Slughorn gone to such an extreme? Beating Severus was not going to get gifts or gold from him when he had nothing, and with Slughorn denying that Severus was any good at anything, there would be no bottles or tickets from him once he graduated. Besides, with Severus being a Slytherin, couldn't Slughorn predict that there would be revenge? Lily suspected that it would not be beneath Sev to get a job mopping floors at St. Mungo's, and lay in wait for however long it took till Slughorn was a patient.

Albus was not getting a good feel for how things were going to go for Horace. Suspecting Horace was going to try to cobble his memories to put together something that was entirely false, Albus would not loan Horace his pensieve to prepare for his trial.

Horace verbally denied he ever touched Severus, but Albus was not sure if he was telling the truth. His old friend was difficult on that.

Albus even tried to contact Barty to clear up the little misunderstanding regarding the abuse allegation from St. Mungo's. Barty had closed it on his own. Albus had told him it was due to someone mixing up the medical records, as Poppy reported, but he had not insisted it be closed. The more recent injuries that St. Mungo's found with the potion spill and the concussion were due to students, not Horace.

Additionally, Albus was concerned he would not be able to work on Dung's appeal for release until he was reinstated on the Wizengamot. Perhaps Severus would simply forgive them like he did with poor Remus Lupin? It was worth a try.

When he reached the fourth floor door to the head boy and head girl's rooms, Albus entered to find guests from all four houses present. Not even restricted to prefects. There was music, food, drink, and books. The music stopped along with all the quiet discussion when everyone looked in his direction.

"Good evening," Albus greeted them.

There were muttered replies of 'professor' and 'headmaster'.

Miss Evans was here, but he did not see Mr. Snape, so he asked, "Is Severus in?"

"What for?" Lily asked. Severus could probably hear for himself from his room. He had some arithmancy brainstorm that was occupying him at the moment.

"I want to discuss something with him, Miss Evans."

Lily made a ridiculous face in response, then said, "I'll look." It was obvious she only walked over to the door that was partially open and called, "Sev, the headmaster wants to know if you'll have a word with him out here."

Albus approached the door and corrected Miss Evans, "I meant in private."

"Why?" she asked.

Severus repeated the question, "Why?" He had gotten up to see what Dumbledore wanted now. Did he wheel in an ornate cart laden with everything he needed for his traveling tea party? The shock of that sight might explain the sudden silence.

"Regarding matters we have between us," Albus replied.

"That's entirely your doing. If you chose not to discuss any of it in advance with the property owner, that's poor planning on your part … sir."

Both Lily and Dumbledore backed up as Severus stepped forward and closed the door to his bedroom behind him. The old man might set his project aflame for kicks. His favorite Gryffindors would have.

"Have I caught you at a bad time?" Albus inquired.

"Any time I see you, it's a bad time."

Albus sighed at the snickering of the other students. "I would like to resolve things, my boy."

"Give me that cup then."

"You know I can't do that."

"I don't believe that."

"It's dangerous."

"It's not so dangerous that I was able to pick it up and hand it to someone else for evaluation. I knew it made some claims that it was the key to power, but maybe that's why it was stolen. Is that what you're going to claim? That I simply possess more willpower than you? That Prof. Sprout has more willpower than you? Go ahead. Being weak-minded and covetous does not excuse stealing."

"You don't understand, Severus."

"I understand you are a self-centered, greedy glutton who wants others to adore you and believe every word you say. I do not believe you. Your actions continually prove to be contrary to your words."

"There's a bigger picture here than just you and me."

"Is it? Because everyone else is dying, while you sit around popping another sweet into your mouth or adding a twelfth lump of sugar to your tea. You were licking sweet cream off your grasping fingers while my mother starved to death because you judged her meaningless. I may be looking at the smaller picture, but I am entitled to think more highly of my mother than you ever did."

"I can understand that you felt your mother's loss at a deep personal level, but there is no need to allow your private feelings to cloud your perceptions."

"That's what the Wizengamot will decide, won't it? It already sent your partner to Azkaban for entering my property without permission, so perhaps my misconceptions are not without merit."

"These actions are only strengthening Voldemort's position."

Severus sneered, "Is that your defense? You stole Helga Hufflepuff's cup because it was He Who Must Not Be Named's key to taking over the world? Is Slughorn too caught up in his own troubles to help you come up with something better?" In his heart, Severus knew Dumbledore was not going to express his real reason, nor what he was going to say to the Wizengamot, because then he could prepare for it. Using the Dark Lord as a reason for Dumbledore to take and horde whatever caught his eye was a flimsy excuse at best. He might convince a few gullible witches and wizards who believed Dumbledore was helping them, but most people would not throw open their homes and vaults to be picked over by this man.

"Prof. Slughorn is not a young man, Mr. Snape."

"I know, he's also dreadfully unfit and gets winded easily by repetitive arm movements. However, since I was a minor at the time, all I did was catch dragonpox. The Ministry handled the rest, and then when Prof. Slughorn chose to exhibit his disciplinary methods to them, they didn't really need me. Any student would do."

"Why are you being so stubborn and unwilling to see my side of things?"

"You are a liar. A phony. A cheat. And a con artist."

"That is not true."

The Ravenclaws and a couple Slytherins smirked at the irony. If one is a liar, what he said was not true. Therefore if the person who never tells the truth says something is not true, than it is.

Severus shrugged at the headmaster. He felt he had made his own position clear. It was Dumbledore that was being stubborn and unwilling to see that if someone holds you accountable for killing his mother that Severus was not going to invite more injury, but was going to fight back. The man's ego was immeasurable.

"An evening's detention for being disrespectful, Mr. Snape."

"Yeah," was all Severus replied with a smirk to goad the old man further. Severus could have asked that house elf to starve Dumbledore to death, but there were witnesses. He also did not suspect that the headmaster would be strolling into that house to loot it. Now he knew better. Dumbledore would get his hands dirty with stealing and killing, rather than advising others to do it or sitting idly by.

Mary and Lily did not share the confrontation with the Gryffindors, but eventually word trickled from other houses about Dumbledore trying to convince Snape to be … more of a Slytherin. Stay quiet. Plan revenge for years. Don't be so hasty. Where had the headmaster been all this time? Severus Snape fought the Marauders tooth and nail. He'd even fight with them when he wasn't their chosen victim. He helped young Ravenclaws in the gents'. He helped harassed Hufflepuffs who were propositioned and had their skirts and robes wrapped around their heads. He may have helped Slytherins, but they did not recount any stories of being embarrassed or rendered helpless by Gryffindors.

Slughorn and Dumbledore were simply bigger bullies. Having that thief sent to Azkaban, followed by a life sentence for Sirius Black, might have the bullies rethinking their strategy of bluffing and blustering their way through a defense. The Wizengamot did not fall for any of that nonsense Sirius Black said.

What Lily wanted to know is why everyone acted so weird? Why couldn't Dumbledore be more like the headmaster he was in earlier years? Well, not so much cheering the school bullies for being clever boys, but some kind, old man that would protect them? Now he was the enemy, and Severus was not afraid to tell him that. Usually Severus was more cautious, but his mother's death seemed to have pushed him to directly confront Dumbledore and Slughorn. Lily did not count Mundungus Fletcher because neither of them knew who he was.

It was Lily's nights that were sleepless now, while Severus fell asleep quickly beside her.

Horace Slughorn tied up the Wizengamot for days with dozens of character witnesses that swore that Prof. Slughorn was as gentle as a lamb and would never harm anyone.

Everything was going perfectly as far as Horace could tell, but to 95% of the British wizarding population that attended Hogwarts and were never invited to dinner by Horace Slughorn, it appeared to be a circus, including a Miss Rita Skeeter, journalist, who could not get any articles printed in The Daily Prophet at the moment thanks to Barnabus Cuffe, but she did get a nice piece into Witch Weekly that included a witch's viewpoint by including quotes from various witches from around the country, such as Molly Weasley, a young mother who was concerned since her young children would attend Hogwarts.

Finally, the morning arrived that they were going to force that lying louse, Severus Snape, to answer some questions. Horace looked forward to it immensely. He could collect his lost wages, and perhaps a judgment for slander.

Gumboil had tried to speed through the other 'witnesses' as quickly as possible, but knew he was going to take his time with Snape. Mr. Crouch would be handling Dumbledore, in addition to all his other work. Snape was not listed as a witness for Dumbledore's hearing, but the same wizards of the Wizengamot would be judging that case. And helping Barty Crouch helped Alastor Gumboil.

Severus entered the court, wearing his Slytherin uniform, head boy badge and also a Wigtown Wanderer pin. He was asked to take a seat in the center and was introduced to the Wizengamot.

Horace could not have staged it better himself. Snape had poor posture, scuffed shoes, looked at the floor as he walked with his long, lanky hair hanging over his face, except for that nose, and simply uncomfortable and out of place among the cream of wizarding society. This was someone that looked like a criminal.

Gumboil started, "Mr. Snape, I think we should get a small matter out of the way. You have a criminal record?"

"Yes."

"Underaged wizardy?"

"Yes."

"Please speak louder, if you will … so they can hear you clearly in the back. I was the officer that gave you the warning so will describe what I recall for you to either agree or disagree. Is that all right with you, Mr. Snape?"

"Yes."

"You live in a muggle town. This town was chosen one summer for its lack of wizarding kind and remoteness by Sirius Black, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew for a bit of fun. They were also underaged wizards. As the court already heard during the trial of Sirius Black, they entered and practically demolished a muggle pub. Patrons had been watching a sporting event on the muggle televisions, and your muggle father was among them. He recognized that young men causing the devastation were using wands, and they were able to subdue two of them by taking their wands away. At that time, he asked one of the other fellows to go to his home and request you come to the pub. Correct?"

"I was not there yet, but that is what my father said later."

Gumboil nodded, then continued, "Your father asked you to perform underaged magic to fix things?"

"Yes. I also knew that a muggleborn witch that lived in the same town was given a telephone number for emergencies to contact the Ministry. I felt it was best that the Ministry be contacted as soon as possible because it was too much for me to repair. I could fix tables and chairs easily enough, and once the patrons remaining had someplace to sit, and more pints were served, they seemed willing to wait."

"Did your father strike you to get you to fix the tables and chairs?"

"No."

"Did you tell him it was illegal for you to fix the tables and chairs?"

"Briefly, but I did not want my mother bothered over something like this."

"Why not?"

"She was ill, and had not left the house in years. I did think mother could fix more than me, but once they were willing to wait for the Ministry to sort it out, I saw no reason to suggest getting her there. It was good that I didn't because it the Ministry that figured out that there were pieces of the televisions and other muggle devices missing so they could not be fixed properly in order to work. You did a lot of transfiguration to repair things, and new electronic muggle equipment needed to be purchased."

Horace sighed in impatience. He knew Snape was a criminal. Now everyone else did.

"Shortly after that, you contracted a life-threatening case of the dragonpox, even though you are only a teenage wizard. You were admitted to St. Mungo's. While at St. Mungo's, you were examined. Still being underaged at the time, St. Mungo's filed a complaint with Magical Law Enforcement alleging you were physically abused in the past with more scarring on your body than most of my long-term colleagues in the Auror department display. Were you asked who did that to you?"

"Yes."

"Who did you name?"

"No one."

"Why?"

"I felt it would only make things worse."

"Why's that?"

"People at Hogwarts do as they like."

"They are willing to be punished?"

"No. At that time, no one was punished. It was not until I returned to school that two students were expelled for killing another, but their fellow conspirators were welcome to stay at the school."

"I believe the Wizengamot is familiar with that. Moving on, you felt that with two years remaining at Hogwarts that you would be further punished if you accused anyone of hurting you?"

"I did initially report fellow students, but hardly bothered with that as time went on because there was hardly any punishment and the students responded by escalating their abusive behavior."

"Due to your unusually severe case of dragonpox, to which I note you still have a heavily pockmarked complexion over a year later, St. Mungo's checked on you weekly for a couple months after you returned to school?"

"Yes."

"Were you beaten during that time?"

"No."

"Did St. Mungo's find any new injuries on you?"

"Yes."

"Could you elaborate?"

"I received scalds in Potions class when two cauldrons were overturned on me, and a concussion from a fight that broke out in an upstairs hallway when one a female student was jinxed so her skirt and robe were pulled upward trapping her arms and blinding her."

"Did you jinx the girl?"

"No, I reversed the jinx. She could have fallen."

"You were injured in Potions class while Prof. Slughorn was present?"

"Yes."

"Could you describe what happened?"

"I didn't see most of it because I was concentrating on my potion."

"What you do know may be sufficient."

"I was pushed into my cauldron and the flame beneath it by James Potter. A second cauldron belonging to Sirius Black fell onto my table and additional hot fluid splashed on me. I rolled over on the floor to put out my sleeve that was on fire."

"What did Prof. Slughorn do?"

"He sat at his desk."

"Did he say anything?"

"Yes, he asked me to clean Black's cauldron and awarded him full marks. He excused Potter to go to the Infirmary."

"After you cleaned Black's cauldron, were you excused?"

"Class was let out early."

"Did you go to the Infirmary?"

"Yes."

"Were you treated by the school matron?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I'm not sure."

"Did she say anything to you?"

"Yes. Potter had been there earlier and said he was the only one hurt."

"Did she examine you?"

"No."

"Are you aware there was a note written by Prof. Slughorn while you were a first year asking the school nurse to deny you medical care?"

"No."

Horace frowned as copies were distributed to the Wizengamot. The original note in Poppy's file and the copy in Snape's file at St. Mungo's had been destroyed. Where did the Ministry find another copy?

"What was your OWL score in Potions?"

"Outstanding."

"You have been attributed with two discoveries in The Practical Potioneer already, before you even sit your NEWT. Are you allowed to work on your own in the potions lab at Hogwarts, like other students do?"

"No."

"Have you asked?"

"Yes."

"You were denied?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I was not turned down directly. My outside research so far is applying arithmancy to hard to acquire ingredients, or ingredients that would be detrimental to a potion if incorrectly collected. I had requested through my arithmancy instructor, Prof. Abstractus, for the chance to do practical experimentation. He could confirm that my theoretical work was sound."

"Did Atlas Abstractus find your theoretical work so sound that when you were denied the chance to go further, he contacted another Potions Master, other than Horace Slughorn, for a second opinion?"

"Yes."

"If Prof. Abstractus did not have this faith in your skills, do you feel that we would not now know of an easy to produce substitute for rare and legally acquired unicorn lung?"

"I agree with that statement."

Horace rolled his eyes. What did that have to do with this case?

"When your father was killed by Death Eaters, what did you do?"

"Then?" Severus replied.

"Well yes, when it happened."

"Nothing."

"Why did you do nothing?"

"The Ministry had informed Prof. Dumbledore."

"Did he tell you?"

"About a week later, by then I had already knew and had gone home."

"How did you know?"

"My mother's obituary appeared in The Daily Prophet. It said she was a widow."

"Without your father, your mother could not care for herself?"

"No."

"That was part of my report from the previous summer that was supplied to Hogwarts whenever there's underaged magic used. Did either Prof. Dumbledore or Prof. Slughorn admit they knew that Sirius Black, James Potter and Peter Pettigrew attacked muggles over the summer?"

"Yes."

"All right. So not until your mother's obituary was in the newspaper … your mother was in Slytherin also?"

"Yes."

"So Prof. Slughorn expressed his condolences, took you home and attended her funeral?"

"No."

"Which of those did he miss?"

"All of them. He never said or did anything."

"I thought we've heard testimony over the almost past week about what a caring man Horace Slughorn is … let me look at my notes … ah yes, goes to funerals, weddings, baby and bridal showers … all the time. A real rock for a person or current student or former student in need. I'm not understanding how you could have not seen Prof. Slughorn … do you know of any other students that received this treatment?"

"Oh yes, Regulus Black's father died soon after my parents. Prof. Slughorn took him home within hours of his death, and may have stayed over a week. Regulus returned before Prof. Slughorn was able to return to school. I can only guess he knew Orion Black closely to be so affected. He even went to the Black home for Easter vacation too, and spent part of the summer there."

There was an outcry from Slughorn while Snape spoke. The Black family was a special case.

"I think you misunderstood my question, Mr. Snape, but I think it's answered. Do you believe Horace Slughorn singled you out for this poor treatment?"

"I don't know."

"Did other students discuss it with you?"

"There would be an occasional joke."

"Such as …?"

"Uh, since I had two parents die, I was allowed to miss two classes of school, or a whole morning. They weren't witty or funny. Not really worth repeating."

"How about the physical injuries?"

"What about them?"

"Was there any discussion about them?"

Severus looked uncomfortable and asked, "You mean like beating the ugly out of me, or because I'm a half-blood that if the bad half was bled out I'd then be a wizard?"

"How often were you injured at Hogwarts?"

"A lot at first. I got better at avoiding it. Hardly any since I had dragonpox."

"Would you say that the incident that was witnessed in the floo was the first time this school year?"

"Yes."

"Would you please review the report from St. Mungo's last September and confirm its accuracy regarding the descriptions of your physical defacement?"

Alastor Gumboil approached with a copy from the top of the stack for the Wizengamot. Severus made a face at it, but took it. He glanced at it, and said, "I guess. I don't spend time looking at my backside in the mirror."

"Let me get these distributed and thank you for your time, Mr. Snape."

"What?" Slughorn yelled, standing. "Why aren't you asking him any real questions?"

"Like what?" Gumboil asked.

"Like get him to say who really hurt him. I never touched him."

"Other than your recent floo call to the Ministry?"

"That was … made up!"

Severus sat where he was, waiting for more questions.

"I'm not following you, Slughorn. You want details of every beating since Mr. Snape entered Hogwarts? He's not the one on trial here. St. Mungo's cataloged the results thoroughly enough that I'm willing to use those. Although he's seventeen now, all this started when he was eleven. That's when you, as his head of house, instructed the school nurse to not provide medical treatment to this particular student."

"No! I don't want any more details than for him to say who did it."

"Mr. Snape already said sometimes students injured him."

"Not that."

"Can I ask for a recess to discuss with Prof. Slughorn what sort of technicality I can provide for him?" Gumboil asked in an exasperated voice.

The wizard currently presiding looked to each side of him before replying, "I do not believe that will be necessary. If I may ask a direct question of Mr. Snape … Prof. Slughorn is suggesting other staff at the school injured you. Have any members of the Hogwarts staff other than Prof. Slughorn injured you, Mr. Snape?"

"No."

Horace exclaimed, "That's not what I meant!"'

"We understand the sort of students Sirius Black and his cronies were, Horace." Looking at the list of prior injuries from St. Mungo's, he admitted, "There's no reason to itemize every scar or burn on Mr. Snape's body."

"How could you believe any of this?" Horace exclaimed. "It's all lies."

"Please be seated, Horace. You are excused, Mr. Snape. Thank you for your time."

Horace glared darkly as Snape got up and walked towards the door with his shoulders hunched and his head down.

Rita had filled up pages with notes and thoughts of possible questions. She could only hope that Severus Snape stuck around long enough till there was a recess.

Slughorn kept interrupting proceedings with his views and anecdotes. She hoped the old fool spent a couple years chatting with dementors about his dear favorites, Bella Black and Barnabas Cuffe. The only good thing about Cuffe at the Prophet was that no negative comments were being printed about his mentor, and Slughorn only read the Prophet.

When Slughorn rubbed his hands together and smiled when the council decided to recess before private deliberations, Rita considered carrying sharpened quills to accidentally flick at these sort of proceedings. What did Horace Slughorn know that she didn't? No matter how many people he paraded through here, he had opened a floo to Magical Law Enforcement for them to witness it firsthand. That is what this entire case rested upon. He may know people, he may be slippery, he may like to pull the strings, but Horace Slughand's hands were bloody.

In the lobby of the Ministry, Severus Snape waited beside his solicitor on a bench in the corner.

"They've recessed, and will deliberate this afternoon behind closed doors. How do you think it went this morning?" Rita asked.

Severus barely lifted his head to cast his eyes at his solicitor, who could also did some sort of wizarding barrister work too. He was not sure why they were not two separate professions for wizards, or if this fellow hated letting someone else earn his gold.

"I'm not sure I followed the line of questioning entirely, Miss Skeeter. Everything Mr. Snape said was true, just not relevant to this case."

"And how do you feel, Severus?"

He shrugged, then said, "Unsure. Prof. Slughorn knows a lot of people. If the Ministry did not put this case together, I don't think I would have gone forward with it. I live in Great Britain and if I want to work in the field of Potions, I should not be making enemies like this."

"Is that why the questions were intentionally vague?"

"I was not the person asking the questions," Severus reminded her.

"Wouldn't you consider Horace Slughorn your enemy nonetheless? He did injure you."

"I do recognize people that have injured me, such as Horace Slughorn, Sirius Black, James Potter, and Albus Dumbledore. However, leaving Hogwarts with a list of enemies to spend my life plotting revenge against them seems unproductive. I can do better things than that with my time."

"If you make a success of yourself, you'll show them, eh?" Rita prompted.

"I suppose."

"If your parents were still alive, that's what they would want. If they were here today, what do you think they'd advise you to do?"

Severus seemed hesitant, then responded, "That was not something they did. Give advice, I mean. My mother would tell me stories about things and tell me what made her happy. I think she gave me direction in that manner. My father … he was more of a leading by example sort, rather than a talker. He did say things, but it was usually to point out that a task got done quicker by doing it, rather than complaining about it. He did things, and didn't waste time talking about what he did in the past."

"Sirius Black mentioned your name repeatedly at his trial. Did you thwart his earlier attempts at hurting or possibly killing other students?"

"Besides me? I don't know. He may have talked to his mates James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew about his plans and how they were progressing, but he did not indicate in front of me what his … ultimate goal was."

"I heard you were present when he reappeared at Hogwarts to celebrate the anniversary of killing Helen Parkin. Were you frightened?"

To Severus, that was a new interpretation of why Black would show up at Hogwarts. He responded, "Yes, actually. I don't know if he saw me so I got behind a sofa and hid. He did something that darkened the room and he was calling for James Potter. At the time, I thought that Potter might have been there with him. Later, I found out he was using the floo in the room to try to contact him."

"How do you think he entered Hogwarts castle?"

"Well … that's certainly been speculated upon. I have no proof, but I think if someone wanted to enter the castle that was not a student, they would need permission from the headmaster."

"Really?" Rita asked.

"It's only a thought. I mean … when we had apparition lessons in the Great Hall, we were told that the headmaster was allowing apparition in the castle for that class just in that location. To me, that means Prof. Dumbledore can allow other areas at other times be accessible by apparition."

"Yes, he could," Rita agreed with a smile. "The headmaster did not say he did that did he?"

"No, I don't think he answered any questions from the students on how Black got in. They are still concerned that anyone can enter the school at any time."

"Especially since Sirius Black associated with Death Eaters. That is very troubling."

"Yes."

"Dumbledore has made other mistakes. We already know about his scheme to leave an unguarded werewolf on the grounds, or just outside the grounds next to Hogsmeade, with no warning to anyone except a small handful of people, who were not the least bit trustworthy. But today … he intentionally withheld information about Death Eaters killing your father. Why do you think he did that?"

"I don't know. My father was a muggle," Severus suggested.

"Mr. Gumboil also pointed out that the school knew your mother was infirmed."

"Yes."

Rita thought for a moment before asked, "So your mother was not someone who would write a letter of complaint to the Board of Governors, the Ministry, or the Wizengamot?"

"I do not think she was actively corresponding with anyone. We did not own an owl."

"No owl? And you lived in a muggle town? There were no holiday gifts sent to the school for your teachers?"

"Definitely not."

"That would all be different now, I suppose. If things had not turned out the way they did. Do you think so?"

"Of course. Even with my recent good fortune, I realize I would have needed to leave school to care for my mother, and that might have set me back a year from my age group. Between missing a month for dragonpox, and then I guess from February till June. I'm not sure how quickly things would have gone … and I wouldn't want to leave my mother with only house elves, now that I, or we would, have some, but hire some people too."

Rita nodded in understanding, "One cannot measure their wealth in gold alone."

"That's true."

After dinner, Lily knocked on Severus's door. She knew he had gone down to London in the morning, but had not seen him the rest of the day. She had not told Severus anything, but she had her doubts on how things could go. Severus was supposedly only a witness, but with Horace Slughorn, who knew what he was capable of with all his connections.

The door clicked open, and she heard Severus ask, "What is it, Lily?"

She opened the door to look into the dim room and saw Severus was already in bed. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Lily closed the door and got closer. "What are you doing in bed?"

"I didn't feel like doing anything so I went to bed."

"Did it go bad?"

"I don't know."

She sat down next to him and said, "Did they ask you things that uh ... you didn't want to answer?"

"I'm not sure why they asked some things. Like why I did underaged magic to fix things at the pub. About my father and mother dying … what does that have to do with Slughorn?"

Lily's mouth screwed up. Underaged magic … did they want to make Severus out to be some sort of criminal like Sirius Black who needed a good beating? She put her hand on his arm and rubbed it. "So you are going to stay in bed all night?"

"I guess."

"Did you want me to get something for you to eat?"

"No, I'm not hungry."

"What about your homework?"

"I'll do it tomorrow or over the weekend."

"Can I sleep here tonight?"

"If you don't, where would you sleep? Hasn't MacDonald taken over your room?"

"Well … I could use the seventh year room that Mary's not in."

"You can stay here."

"You sure, Sev?"

"Hmm."

"Maybe I'll work on a little Divination so I can catch you up on what you missed tomorrow."

"All right."

Elphias Doge paced about the headmaster's office as his old friend, Albus Dumbledore, refused to give credence to his suspicions. "Albus, things could have gone much worse for Horace, but I guarantee they did not go as he planned. Ninety days in Azkaban. His supporters tried to whittle it down, but ninety was as low as … was decent."

"Decent, Dogbreath?"

"That report, Albus. That boy's taken more than a beating. He's been … tortured. If it's not by Horace, than someone else. Horace tried to say Black and Potter did all of it, but if that's the case, why didn't Snape say so? Besides, Horace … I don't know what he was thinking with that floo call."

"He got a bit carried away. I'm not entirely sure what he was doing, but Horace was attempting to help me."

"Help you? I mean, of course Horace would help you … and he's normally the cautious sort. Never one to get his own hands dirty. That note to your school nurse I can believe … but then again, why put such a thing in writing? Was this Snape such an uncontrollable monster as a first year?"

"Not at all. He fought but it was with Gryffindors."

"Don't call them that. I'm a Gryffindor. You're a Gryffindor. Sirius Black is … not a Gryffindor." Turning, he pointed at Albus, "And that's another thing that won't be in your favor, Albus … Sirius Black. This Snape had Black pegged from day one."

"I'm not sure I'd say he was astute. They can't stand the sight of one another."

"Uh … they're different. Snape did mention them today, but only to answer questions directly relating to them and what they did. Black … Black … he'd pin anything he could on Snape. He'd declare that He Who Must Not Be Named is really Snape. That's his answer to anything bad that happened. Snape did it, or he made Black do it."

"No one believes Black."

"So … back to why I'm here. What are you going to do?"

Albus rolled his eyes and chided, "Dodgy Doge ..."

"I'm not interested in buying that stolen cup," Elphias growled.

"Oh, that's not for sale. No, no, I'm going to have to tell the truth."

When he got tired of waiting for it, Elphias urged, "Which is …?"

"I can't tell all the details, but maybe I should let Barty know … considering your high state of agitation. The cup's gone."

"Gone? Someone stole it from you?"

"Oh no, I destroyed it."

Doge's mouth dropped open.

"I hope you'll act properly surprised when I tell this to the Wizengamot."

"Surprised? Surprised? What is wrong with you?"

"I did what needed to be done. Oh that reminds me, uh, how's your Potions? Do you want a teaching position?"

"What? No. Get a potions fellow."

"Don't you remember a single thing you picked up in Egypt?"

"Yeah, camels spit. Seriously, Albus, I don't know if you need to worry about Hogwarts staffing shortages much longer."

Albus waved his hand, "There's no need to get all dramatic."

"No, that's what you're good at. Though that's going to be some show you're going to need to put on. Man, I tell you, you are going to have to outdo your Transfiguration and Charms NEWTs combined."

"Are you ever going to stop raving about them?"