Chapter Fourteen – Hello Sirius
Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe belongs to JK Rowling, Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros and some other high falutin' companies. Me, I'm just a PR professional. I don't profess to own - and would never dream of making any money off - JKR's wonderful world. However, its her sandbox and she's left the gate unlatched so we can go in and play a bit. Which, I've done.
Chapter Fourteen – Hello Sirius
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In the end, Harry got what he wanted. It seems the Auror department have a two-way channel with a special department within the Metropolitan Police Service. Amelia would contact her counterpart in Scotland Yard and they would work out how to see justice done.
After the Dursleys were told their fate, they both visibly slumped in relief. However, they were also warned.
"Vernon and Petunia Dursley," said Madam Marchbanks. "Your nephew just saved your lives today. You would not have seen the sun set this evening if he had not spoken in your defence.
"Soon, you will be handed over to a special section within your own Scotland Yard. They will be filing charges against you. When you go to court you will plead guilty to all charges. You will accept all punishment and not negotiate for a lighter sentence.
"If you do not, we will come for you. On that day, you will not see the sun set. You will already be dead. Have I made myself perfectly clear to the two of you?"
"Yes - Ma'am," said Vernon in a quiet, defeated voice.
"Yes, Ma'am," said Petunia, once again sobbing.
Madam Marchbanks looked up from them both and called, "Aurors! Return them to their cells. They are to await there until such time as arrangements are made for them to be transferred to muggle custody."
A quick bang of her gavel and they were led out.
Standing, Madam Bones said, "Next case, Madam Marchbanks."
"Do we have time?" the elderly witch asked.
"I believe we must make it, Madam Marchbanks," Amelia replied. "We need to right a great wrong. We need to right a miscarriage of justice. A man sits imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. A man sits imprisoned having not faced trial. He was summarily dumped in Azkaban without even opportunity to defend himself."
"Then release him at once!" exclaimed Madam Marchbanks. "If the man has not even been given a trial, then he cannot be held. It's tantamount to kidnapping!"
"Yes, Madam Marchbanks," replied Amelia. "However, the man has specifically requested a trial because he believes it will not be believed he is innocent if he is simply released. He wants the trial so he is formally found not guilty and exonerated."
"Well, it sounds as if it's going to be a very short case," replied Madam Marchbanks. "Who is the prisoner? The one accused of a crime?"
"Lord Apparent of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. Sirius Orion Black," replied Amelia in a flat voice.
While Harry thought there were times during the trial of his aunt and uncle where the Members got a little rowdy; it was nothing compared to the noise that issued forth from the Members this time.
No amount of gavel banging allowed Madam Marchbanks to gain control again. It was Dumbledore firing off a bang out of his wand, who got it.
Once the noise levels abated to a quiet murmur, Madam Marchbanks said, "In that case, we shall delay not one jot more in giving the man his trial. Is he currently available?"
"Yes, Madam Marchbanks," replied Amelia.
"And, are you ready to proceed?"
"Yes, Madam Marchbanks."
"Then bring the man in," instructed the elderly witch.
"For the first time, Harry was able to look upon the face of his godfather. The man looked quite gaunt; his cheeks slightly sunken; he had bags under his grey almost dull eyes; he walked, almost shuffled, with a slight stoop; his hair was long, lank and dirty.
Once he entered the room he looked around in interest, straightening up slightly as he did.
"Well," he said in a slightly raspy voice. "I'm finally getting my trial, am I?"
Madam Marchbanks said, "Take a seat, please, Lord Black."
Sirius gave the woman a rather queer look before plonking down in the remaining chained chair. The other, having been removed earlier.
The chains rattled before almost lazily draping themselves over him.
Once he was seated, Madam Marchbanks looked at Amelia and simply said, "Begin."
"Sirius Orion Black," Madam Bones intoned, "you are charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit murder by leading the dark wizard known as Lord Voldemort to the home of the Potters, where he did then murder them; one count of murder in the first by chasing down and killing Peter Pettigrew; thirteen counts of killing muggles during the period you killed Peter Pettigrew; and being a member of a proscribed organisation, known as Death Eaters."
Madam Marchbanks asked, "How do you plead?"
"Not guilty to all charges," replied Sirius quite firmly.
"Noted," said Madam Marchbanks. "Madam Bones, you may begin."
Amelia then caused to be played through the projection feature of the court pensieve the memories Harry handed over of the night his parents were killed.
Once the memory finished playing out, Amelia stood once more and asked, "Lord Black, do you consent of your own free will to the taking of Veritaserum, for the purposes of asking you questions regarding what happened on the night of the 31st of October 1981 at Potter Cottage; and what happened on the day of the 3rd of November 1981 in Covington, when you confronted Peter Pettigrew?"
"Yes, definitely," replied a now grinning Sirius Black.
With a nod of her head towards her aurors, one of the aurors came forward carrying a small phial of clear liquid. Sirius tilted his head back and three drops were dripped onto his tongue.
As the auror backed away, Sirius brought his head forward again and made a show of smacking his lips.
Amused, Madam Bones asked, "What is your name?"
"Sirius Orion Black"
"What is your date of birth?"
"14th of February 1960"
"On the night of the 31st of October 1981, were you the Secret Keeper for the Fidelius Charm placed over Potter Cottage?"
"No, that was Peter Pettigrew."
"Why would people think it was you?"
"I thought I would be too obvious a choice. I suggested to James he choose Pettigrew, another friend, instead."
"During the day of the 3rd of November 1981, did you track down Peter Pettigrew to a street in the shopping district of Covington?"
"Yes. It took me almost three days of hunting to finally find him."
"Did you kill Peter Pettigrew?"
"No."
"Did you kill any of the thirteen muggles that were in the vicinity?"
"No, that was Pettigrew."
"Who blew the hole in the street?"
"That was partly Pettigrew using a Blasting Curse to open up a hole in the street, and that he hit a gas main line when he did so."
"What happened to Pettigrew after he blew the hole in the street?"
"He cut off the little finger on his left hand using an underpowered cutting curse, changed into his animagus form of a brown common rat, and disappeared down the opened sewer pipes."
"Pettigrew is, or was, an unregistered animagus?"
"Yes."
"Are you, or have you ever been, a member of the organisation known as Death Eaters."
"No."
"Have you ever desired to, or wished you could, join that organisation?"
"No, never."
"Madam Marchbanks, I have no further questions for this man," said Amelia after first turning to the elderly witch. "May I have the antidote given?"
Madam Marchbanks sighed and said, "Go ahead."
The same auror stepped forward and pulled Sirius's head back. He carefully dropped a couple of drops of the antidote into the slightly open mouth. When he released Sirius's head it moved back to it's original position. A few moments later, Sirius blinked a few times and he became more animated. Clearly, the antidote had taken effect.
Amelia called, "Madam Marchbanks; based on the evidence presented this day, I move that all charges be dropped and Lord Black be exonerated of any wrongdoing in this matter."
Nodding, Madam Marchbanks called, "All those in favour of dismissing all charges and exonerating Sirius Orion Black of any wrongdoing, raise your wands."
A quick count and the court stenographer gave a small nod to the elderly witch.
"All those not in favour of dismissing all charges and exonerating Sirius Orion Black of any wrongdoing, raise your wands."
Only a few wands were raised.
"Based on the count," said Madam Marchbanks, "Sirius Orion Black, due to the overwhelming evidence in your favour, this court has dismissed all charges against you and exonerated you of any wrongdoing. You are free to go."
"Woohoo!" exclaimed Sirius. He was almost too jittery with excitement for the aurors to unwrap the chains from his emaciated body.
While they were doing so, Harry stepped down from the visitors' gallery a second time. This time he waited at the foot of the stairs facing his godfather. When the man, finally free of the chair's chains tuned towards the door, he spotted Harry.
With a look of surprise on his face he came forward and asked, "Harry?"
"Yeah, Pa'foo," replied Harry. "It's me."
Sirius took him into a tight hug and said, "I'm sorry I let you down, Pup. I should have been there for you."
"It's okay, Pa'foo," replied Harry, finally extracting himself from the man's arms. "We can discuss it later. For now, come up into the visitors' gallery. There's something about to happen you need to see."
With a frown on his face, Sirius followed after Harry and sat on the other side of him from Daphne. "What's going on, Harry?"
"Just watch and you'll see. This won't take long," he replied.
Madam Marchbanks had just asked Amelia if they were done.
"I have one further case to be dealt with by this body, Madam Marchbanks," replied Amelia. "However, I only wish to have it noted on the books today. And for it to come before us next Monday."
With a sigh, Madam Marchbanks said, "We're not going to be called once more to sit in judgement of Merlin, are we?"
With a smile, Amelia replied, "No, Madam Marchbanks."
"Let's hear it then," replied the elderly witch. "I'm quite looking forward to my dinner."
"Certainly, Madam Marchbanks," replied Amelia. She then referred to her notes and said, "I hereby charge and commit to trial Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore of the Minor House of Dumbledore with: abuse of authority of the position of Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot for using his position to have the Will of a Noble and Ancient House sealed; abuse of authority of the position of Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot for using his position to claim guardianship of a minor, namely Harry James Potter, contrary to the wishes of his parents as stipulated in their Will; abuse of authority of the position of Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot for using his position to improperly place the orphan of a Noble and Ancient House, namely Harry James Potter, contrary to the wishes of his parents as stipulated in their Will; abuse of authority of the position of Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot for using his position to have sealed the Ministry records of a minor, namely Harry James Potter; child neglect of a minor of whom he had claimed magical guardianship, namely Harry James Potter, by placing him with his abusive muggle relatives and failing in his duties by checking up on the child to ensure he was being treated well; conspiracy to commit child abuse of a magical child, namely Harry James Potter, by having him raised, contrary to the wishes of the parents as stipulated in their Will, by a magical family; and kidnapping of the Heir Apparent of a Noble and Ancient House, namely Harry James Potter, by failing to hand him over to his rightful guardian when required to do so."
As soon as Amelia started with naming Dumbledore as the recipient of criminal charges, the ruckus started. By the time she reached the third charge there were already calls for him to be removed from his position as Chief Warlock. When she started in on the neglect and similar charges she doubted anyone had really heard what she said. So, she immediately sent a copy of her charge sheet to the court stenographer so he could properly write them down.
What Harry was watching was Dumbledore's expressions. As soon as the name was read out, Dumbledore looked back in shock. As each charge was then read out his face went from surprise to sadness to a look of pain to anger. Harry could see the old man probably knew his tenure as Chief Warlock had just come to a screeching end. But, Harry could also see the old man was thinking furiously.
Before Madam Marchbanks could finish getting the chamber noise back down to murmurs again, Dumbledore stood.
Once the murmurs were down, Madam Marchbanks asked, "Yes, Chief Warlock Dumbledore?"
Dumbledore replied, "I, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, hereby step down from the position of Chief Warlock pending my successful defence against these charges."
"Thank you, Mister Dumbledore," replied Madam Marchbanks. "And I'm closing this session of the Wizengamot in case I face any more surprises. Session closed."
With one last bang of her gavel on the bench before her, she rose and immediately left the chambers followed by the entire body.
As they were all walking out, Sirius turned to Harry and asked in a quiet voice, "Where did he put you, Harry?"
"With the Dursleys," replied Harry.
Harry then swore he could hear his godfather growl.
While they were waiting, Harry had to again glare at the reporters to make them back off. He only had to do it once this time, though.
A few minutes later, Cygnus came back into the room and motioned for them to come down from the gallery. As soon as Sirius stepped down he held out his hand to the ravaged man and said, "Congratulations, Sirius. I'm very glad to have helped in finally getting justice for you."
Looking back in surprise, Sirius asked, "I have you to thank for this?"
"Only as a small part," replied Cygnus. "It's your godson, here, who got the ball properly rolling. The others were Amelia Bones and Augusta Longbottom."
"Now," said Cygnus, "the kids have to get back to school. You're invited to Greengrass Estate where we can work towards getting you back to health. Interested?"
"I want to spend time with my godson," said Sirius, a little warily.
"And, I promise you, that will happen," said Cygnus. "For now, it's best we get you back to the Estate, get you cleaned up, and get some decent food into you."
"He's right, Pa'foo," said Harry. "First things first."
"Alright, then," said Sirius. "I admit I really do want a bath."
The four of them then headed out of the court and straight into the lifts. The two journalists dogged them all the way. When they had to wait for the elevator, with a look at Harry, one of the journalists asked, "Are you happy to be free, Lord Black?"
"Don't you think that's quite the idiotic question?" asked Sirius in response.
"Will you be staying at Greengrass Estate for long, Lord Black?" asked the second journalist.
"Maybe," replied Sirius.
"And what is the first thing you're going to do now that you're free, Lord Black?"
"Take a long, hot bath," replied Sirius.
The lift arrived and all six piled into it.
A few minutes later and they were passing back out through the security checkpoint where the two journalists were delayed in retrieving their wands.
That gave Harry the chance to say, "We've still got time before Daphne and I have to get back to Hogwarts; what say we go to Greengrass Estate first? Give Sirius a chance to ask us a couple of questions before we have to go back?"
Sirius gave Cygnus a hopeful look.
With a grin Cygnus replied, "Wonderful idea. But I'll definitely be getting you back before curfew tonight."
Before the two journalists had a chance to catch back up to them again, the four quickly floo'ed to Greengrass Estate.
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Stepping out of the fireplace at Greengrass Estate was, first, Cygnus. He immediately went to the ward control book and wrote in the name Sirius Orion Black. As he was writing Daphne was next through. About fifteen seconds later came Sirius, quickly followed by Harry.
"Damnable journalists!" muttered Harry. Looking at the others, he said, "They'd just caught up to me as I was waiting to come through."
He quickly used his own wand to vanish the remains of the soot that covered his robes.
Sirius was looking around in a bit of a daze. Once Harry stepped through he looked at the other three before turning to Cygnus and asking, "Not that I'm not grateful, Cygnus; but, why?"
"Because you're Harry's godfather, you're the fellow Head of a Noble and Most Ancient House and we look after our own, you needed help and I could provide it, what does it matter?" replied Cygnus.
"That's part of what I don't understand," replied Sirius. "I was disowned. And what about my grandfather?"
With a sigh, Cygnus said, "Your grandfather passed a few months ago, Sirius. You were never disowned. Though apparently your mother was determined you would be, your grandfather never did it. So, as you were his Heir Presumptive at the time of his passing, the Head of House Black passes to you."
Sirius collapsed into a chair and sighed, "Arcturus might have been an - not nice man - at times, but even he wouldn't want to upset the rules of inheritance that much." Looking up, he said, "Lord Black, eh? That's going to take some getting used to."
"And you've got plenty of time to do it," replied Cygnus.
Giving himself a bit of a shake, Sirius looked up at his godson. "So, Harry," he said. "You're a lot bigger than I remembered."
Harry gave a snort and said, "Droll, godfather."
I take it the young lady with you is Cygnus's oldest," said Sirius. "Daphne, right?"
Daphne just nodded while Harry just looked back at his godfather. "You should know," snarked Harry. "After all, because of what I suspect was one of your pranks, Daphne and I are betrothed."
"Huh?" replied Sirius, not a little confused. "What'd I do?"
"Now, let's see," said Cygnus, enjoying the moment. "Baby Harry is barely a day old. Someone gets the bright idea for the wizardfolk to get together to 'wet the baby's head', so to speak. Lots of firewhiskey gets tossed back. Someone gets the bright idea to betroth infant Harry to my infant daughter. Hilarity ensures. Someone draws up the contract. Someone thinks it's a great idea to use a blood quill. I think you get the general idea."
"Oh, Merlin," moaned Sirius. "I forgot about that."
"Yes. Well. Eleven years later I receive a nice little formal letter from one Harry James Potter, Head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter; that, while formally written and with the right prose, basically asked, 'What in Merlin's name is this?' concerning the contract."
Harry grunted and said, "I had only just returned to the wizarding world after escaping the clutches of my aunt and uncle. I had very little money on me, and hoped there might have been money left for me from the estate of my parents. I went to the bank, Gringotts, and they informed me of the accounts, the fact their Will had not been executed, and that - surprise, surprise - there was an unbreakable betrothal contract between me and Daphne Ophelia Greengrass, the eldest daughter of Lord Cygnus and Lady Isabel Greengrass. I was both furious and scared out of my mind.
"I didn't know what to do, at the time, so I just asked to have a look at the family vaults. In there, I found two letters addressed to me; one each from Mum and Dad. Dad's letter told me how the betrothal contract came about.
"After leaving the bank I went to the bookshop and bought books on living life in the wizarding world, noble etiquette, a history of the ancient Houses and some others. I then studied up on what I had to do over the next few weeks. Eventually, I wrote to Cygnus and things moved from there."
"But, surely Frank and Alice would have helped you out with all this," said Sirius, quite confused. "You were supposed to go live with them if anything happened to your parents."
Harry grunted again and said, "That did not happen. I'll let Cygnus tell you what happened and why, as it's a long tale to tell. However, I was - raised - by my muggle aunt and uncle, Vernon and Petunia Dursley."
"No!" cried Sirius. "You were never to go anywhere near those people! What happened to Frank and Alice? They were alive, healthy and living under a Fidelius when I - when I went after Peter."
"That's part of the tale for Cygnus to tell you," replied Harry. "All you need to know for now is that, as per my father's wishes, I accepted the Headship of House Potter on my eleventh birthday. Since a few days before I started at Hogwarts, I've been effectively living here. I'm currently a Ward of the Ministry; but Cygnus, Aunt Amelia and Gran - Madam Longbottom - are sorting that all out. I activated the betrothal contract and, as per the old ways, and the ways of the Potters, both Daphne and I wear matching betrothal rings.
"While I was in seeing the goblins, Bloodfang was trying to tell me something but legally couldn't. However, what he did tell me was that the goblins recognised you as Lord Apparent of House Black. Of course, that should not have been possible seeing as you were in Azkaban for life. That got Cygnus, Amelia and Gran looking into why. Which, of course, led to discovering you'd never received a trial. Your name did not appear in the Book of Convictions."
"I wondered why," said Sirius softly.
"Alright," said Cygnus before he looked at Harry and Daphne. "I promised Professor Flitwick I would return you two promptly to Hogwarts. I'll go and see if we can use his fireplace to floo the pair of you direct to his office. You'll have plenty of time to catch up with your godfather next weekend."
"Sorry?" asked Harry.
"With Dumbledore's trial set for next Monday afternoon I cannot see any reason for me not requesting, and getting, permission for the both of you to spend the weekend here, catching up," replied Cygnus.
Walking across to the fireplace he grabbed a small handful of floo powder and, dashing it into the fireplace, called "Hogwarts, Professor Flitwick's office," before sticking his head in.
While Cygnus was talking through the floo, Sirius turned to Harry and softly said, "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, Harry. I - I should have been."
"The time for recriminations is later, Lord Black," said Harry. "For now, you have other priorities. For starters, you stink! You need a bath. Then I suggest getting into some comfy duds, enjoying a healthy meal and relaxing long enough to get your head around the fact you're currently free. And talk to Cygnus. We'll talk next weekend."
Pulling his head out of the fireplace, Cygnus said, "Alright. I caught Filius just as he was leaving for the Great Hall for the evening meal. He's now waiting for you."
Looking at Harry and Daphne, he said, "The address is 'Hogwarts, Professor Flitwick's office', let it connect and then call the password, 'Wingardium'. Then you can step through."
"Thank you, Cygnus," said Harry, while Daphne gave her father a big hug.
Picking up a little floo powder he dashed it into the fireplace and did as instructed. A few moments later he was standing in the office of Professor Flitwick. Daphne joined them a few moments later."
"Enjoy your visit?" asked the Professor.
"Yes, Sir," replied Daphne.
"Thank you, Sir," said Harry.
"Well, come along then," said the Professor. "We do not want to allow our dinner to get cold, do we?"
The three left, headed for the Great Hall.
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While Harry and Daphne were spending time with Sirius and Cygnus at Greengrass Estate, Dumbledore was sitting in his office. He had a bottle of muggle brandy and a clean glass on his desk. However, he'd not touched the stuff since his return.
Since his return he'd been staring out the wide office windows and across the grounds of the castle. Aware of his bond-mate's thoughts, Fawkes had been softly crooning to him. It didn't seem to help. Occasional tears had almost stained tracks down the old man's face.
'What have I done?' thought the old man. 'How could I have been so blind? I should have checked. I should have listened to Arabella. I cannot understand how someone could do that to their own flesh and blood! It's no wonder he clearly hates me now! At least I now know what led to that fury on the night of the Sorting.'
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For dinner, Harry and Daphne sat together at the Ravenclaw table. Of course, quite a few of his fellow 'Claws wanted to know where the couple had been all day. Harry just smiled and said, "I have a feeling everything will become public knowledge at breakfast, tomorrow morning."
Harry noticed and pointed out to Daphne that Dumbledore had not joined the staff for the evening meal. His place at the table conspicuously remained vacant. Neither cared, but it was an interesting factoid.
After the meal, the two remained at table for a little while as their friends joined them. After a few questions, they gave the highlights about what had happened that day: Harry's aunt and uncle found guilty and handed over to the muggle police, Harry's godfather finally got his trial and was freed, and Dumbledore's charges.
After about a further half an hour the group left the Hall and split to go to their different common rooms. Class would restart the next day. Monday.
Returning to his common room and dorm, Harry set on filling out an owl order form for Flourish and Blotts for the book 'Wizarding World Etiquette and You'. Which he was supposed to have already ordered but it was the weekend, anyway. Plus he requested a list of similar books in their stock.
Harry browsed the shelves of his memories of Flourish and Blotts in his mind and added to the list a couple of books on Occlumency for beginners. He knew he would soon be asked by the others about his memory skills so decided to keep the books handy to offer to them.
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