Dumbledore's Trial (1)

After a very long day and an even longer night for some of them, the heirs were not looking forward to Dumbledore's trial today. Harry in particular knew that a lot about his own past was going to come out in this trial, and he had spent many hours with Helena and Cathryn Potter in the past discussing this. Cathryn was a healer, specializing in those suffering from battle fatigue or trauma, and with Helena's help translating from past to present, Cathryn was able to help Harry deal with the abuse he had suffered at the hands of the Dursleys. It was also wonderful for Harry to talk with Cathryn as a Potter, a connection to the family he had never known he had. They discussed his sudden fame, which as daughters of the founders both women empathized with. They also talked through Dumbledore's probable part in Harry's childhood, given what Helena could see, and Harry had worked past his anger.

That said, Helena didn't know everything, and all three had suspected that things would come up at the trial that Harry was unprepared for. Also, even though Harry had dealt with his feelings, that didn't necessarily mean that he wanted his family's dirty laundry aired on the front page of the Daily Prophet. But if that was what it took to get Dumbledore's own dirty laundry exposed, Harry was going to suck it up.

Still, he was quiet as he ate breakfast with the other two heirs, the ghosts, and Madam Bones, who had joined them. Fortunately the others kept the new Interim Minister occupied, and Helena never strayed far from Harry's side.

Madam Bones shared that her aurors had been up all night, and that dozens of witches and wizards had been arrested, all scheduled to be tried that week in the regular Wizengamot chambers. Some were suspected Death Eaters, some had been accused of bribery and corruption, and some had taken part in the wrongful imprisonment of Sirius Black. Sirius was currently in St. Mungo's, recovering from his imprisonment, but Harry would be allowed to visit him at any time.

Finally, breakfast was over, and the group hurried to the temporary courtroom next door. The Sorting Hat and its stool popped into place, and Scrimgeour and Shacklebolt went about setting up the Dictaquills and Veritaserum just as they had the day before.

Once the Wizengamot had assembled, with Interim Chief Warlock Greengrass again presiding, he called the session to order. "This emergency session of the Wizengamot is called to order on this day, Tuesday the third of September, nineteen-ninety-one," he declared. "I now turn the meeting over to the one who called it; Lord Slytherin."

Harry again stepped forward. "Ladies and Gentlemen. We are here for the questioning and trial of one Albus Dumbledore. Hogwarts, if you would…"

Dumbledore appeared as Quirrell had, with the shimmering blue ward around him, causing several in the chamber to gasp.

"Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore," the Hat announced calmly, "Accused of endangering the students, possession of illegal items, murder, attempted murder, wrongful imprisonment, conspiracy, abuse of authority in his position as headmaster, abuse of authority in his position as Chief Warlock, abuse of authority in his position of Supreme Mugwump, perjury, kidnapping, child abuse by proxy, child endangerment, withholding official Gringotts mail, withholding official ministry mail, performing illegal blood magic, mistreatment of a muggle, mind rape, mistreatment of a minor under his guardianship, attempted line theft against an Ancient and Noble House, theft, illegal use of the obliviate spell, embezzlement, founding an illegal organization, bribery, corruption, use of the imperius curse, aiding and abetting a terrorist, and aiding and abetting Voldemort."

There was barely a sound in the courtroom when the hat finished, until after several long moments one of the Wizengamot members whispered, "He's done all that?"

"Those are all the charges that we at Hogwarts can prove," the Hat clarified. "Questioning under veritaserum will likely lead to more charges"

Madam Bones eyed the blue ward around Dumbledore. "Is he also possessed?" she asked.

"Oh no," the Hat assured her. "The ward is a magic-nullifying ward. Since Dumbledore can use wandless magic, this was the best way to keep him from escaping or attacking those in this room."

"Right," Madam Bones shook herself gently. "Scrimgeour, administer the Veritaserum."

An opening appeared in the ward as he approached, allowing the auror to dose the still unconscious Dumbledore. He stepped back, and the opening tightened until there was just a small hole in the ward.

"If you would enervate him through that opening," the Hat explained, "the ward will then close, containing the prisoner."

At a nod from Madam Bones, Scrimgeour did as instructed, casting the enervate spell and then leaping backwards. The ward sealed as soon as the spell was cast, containing Dumbledore again.

With the list of charges and further details provided by Hogwarts, Madam Bones began her questioning.

Under veritaserum, Dumbledore admitted to everything. He told of his affair with Grindelwald and the heinous acts, including murder, that he had committed during the war. Dumbledore had not been a soldier on the front lines of Grindelwald's army, but a spy on the light side, sending others to their deaths and changing the curriculum at Hogwarts to impress Grindelwald's beliefs onto the next generation.

He admitted to freeing Hagrid from Azkaban after he was proven innocent in the Chamber of Secrets fiasco, but not fighting to get the young man reinstated at the school, because the half-giant was more useful to him without a wand or education.

Dumbledore admitted to engineering the death of then Headmaster Armando Dippet so that he could assume the position. He also explained how he had betrayed Grindelwald by attacking him in the back; not because he disagreed with anything the Dark Wizard had said or done, but because Dumbledore had realized that the true path to global domination was through being the hero, rather than the villain.

When questioned about the school, Dumbledore admitted to tinkering with the wards, taking out several of the defensive and warning wards, allowing Voldemort's curse on the Dark Arts office, and introducing a ward that fried muggle electronics. He also confessed to encouraging Inter-House rivalries to escalate to bullying, removing classes, hiring incompetent teachers, allowing equipment to degrade to unsafe levels, and slowly changing the curriculum to fit into his world-view.

Many of these things had been subtle, or had happened off the grounds, so Hogwarts had not taken advantage of the presence of the two heirs of Gryffindor when Harry and Neville's fathers were in school.

However, as Dumbledore confessed, once they graduated and Voldemort rose to prominence, that was when most of his crimes occurred. Dumbledore founded the illegal vigilante organization, the Order of the Phoenix, embezzling funds from Hogwarts to do so. He also rose to the position of Chief Warlock and began to corrupt that system.

Dumbledore also admitted to several crimes during the war. When attacking Death Eaters, he had a policy of non-lethal fighting, which he also forced the Order to adhere to. The reason for this was that, when Death Eaters were captured, Dumbledore quickly Legilimized them, then took anything of value that they had stashed away. He couldn't steal anything from those with heavily warded manors, like the Malfoys, but the boltholes and homes of the lesser Death Eaters were fair game.

The victims of the Death Eaters were also fair game, as far as Dumbledore was concerned. For those who were too far gone, he would Legilimize them to discover where their most valuable possessions were hidden, and then return in his capacity as Chief Warlock to seize the items. He estimated that he had obtained hundreds of valuable items and several thousands of books in this manner.

So much time passed as he explained these things that they had to take a short break to readminister the Veritaserum, while the Hogwarts House Elves passed snacks around the chamber.

Once the questioning resumed, the crimes against Harry and his family came to light. As the one to cast the Fidelius spell on the Potters, Dumbledore was well aware that Pettigrew was the secret keeper. He was also aware that Sirius was innocent. It was revealed that a prophecy had been made, which could refer either to Harry or to Neville, and indicated that as long as they lived, only they could kill Voldemort. Dumbledore's plan was to send the madman after both boys, with the intention that he would kill the children, thus making him killable again. Then Dumbledore would swoop in and off him, once again becoming the hero.

To that end, Dumbledore admitted to deliberately suggesting Pettigrew, whom he knew was a mole, as the Potters' secret keeper. He could not convince the Longbottoms to go with anyone but Augusta, so he mis-cast the spell on them so that anyone given the secret could pass it on. Once Dumbledore had it, he was able to give it to Snape, and through him Voldemort.

According to what Dumbledore had gathered from Snape and others, Voldemort had believed that the Potters were the more likely candidates, and so had seen to them personally. The Lestranges had been sent to kill the Longbottoms and retrieve their son, as a backup plan.