Chapter - 44 : Hope on the Horizon

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Remus laughed somewhat hysterically and nodded his head. "It is. You should write to Harry, find out when your trial is."

Sirius suddenly leapt from his seat and snatched Remus from his seat. "This is really happening!" he said again, this time much more exuberantly, dragging the somewhat unwilling werewolf around the room in a celebratory dance. "I'm going to be free!"

Three days after receiving the news, Sirius appeared before the Wizengamot to receive the trial he was denied thirteen years ago. He was questioned under the effects of Veritaserum, and it was there, before the entire panel of jurists, dozens of witnesses, several reporters, and, most important of all, his godson, that he proved, beyond all reasonable doubt, that he was innocent.

The uproar the verdict caused was massive. How had the Ministry allowed an innocent man to rot in Azkaban for twelve years? How many more wrongfully imprisoned inmates were slowly losing their minds, if they weren't lost already, in Azkaban?

Immediately after being declared innocent, Sirius was escorted to St. Mungo's where he received a physical checkup and a full psychological examination. It was revealed that he was severely underweight and malnourished, though he was already recovering thanks to Remus stuffing him full every meal for the past few weeks. He was slightly anemic, his immune system was at an all-time low as a result of the malnutrition, and he had slight nerve damage, especially in his fingers and toes, due to the cold winters in Azkaban. The physical damage could easily be healed as long as Sirius stuck to a strict potion regiment, the psychological damage, however, was a different matter altogether. His wrongful imprisonment had led to paranoia and a deep distrust of all forms of authority, which explained his somewhat childish, and reckless behavior. The mind healer assigned to Sirius had been unable to find much else wrong with him psychologically, but until it was proved that he was healthy both physically and mentally, Sirius would not be able to gain custody of Harry.

He'd been incredibly disappointed by this piece of news, but Harry easily changed that by receiving permission from the Dursleys to spend the rest of the summer with Sirius and Remus at Grimmauld Place. The first few days had been spent trying and failing to put the house in some semblance of order, they had managed to properly clean out a bedroom for Harry and had even painted it in carefully neutral colors (Sirius had first tried to paint the room a garish red and gold in an attempt to sway his Slytherin godson to the "Gryffindor side", but after Harry had threatened to redecorate the entire house in Slytherin green and silver they settled on soft creams and light blues). But after that the three wizards lost all desire to clean and so spent the rest of the summer exploring muggle London, drawing all over the portrait of Sirius's vile, filthy mouthed mother, and generally getting into all sorts of mischief.

By the time September first rolled around, all three were reluctant to see Harry off to Hogwarts, those few months easily remained the best summer vacation any of them had ever had.

"Weasley, what in Merlin's name is that?" Ron dove for the ground, but Draco was faster. Before Ron could shove them back out of sight, Draco scooped up a pile of fabric that had fallen from his redheaded friend's trunk and darted to the other side of the compartment so that he could examine his prize undisturbed.

"Merlin, these are atrocious."

Though it was hard to tell at first glance, the pile of fabric Draco had snatched up were a pair of dress robes, and they truly were atrocious. They looked more like a long, maroon velvet dress with moldy-looking lace frills at the collar and matching lace cuffs than dress robes.

"Don't remind me," Ron groaned, sinking back into his seat. "Why do we even need dress robes? We haven't needed them any other year."

"There will probably be some sort of ball this year," Draco said, patting Ron sympathetically on the shoulder after tucking the robes back into his trunk. "It's supposed to be a surprise, but you all know my father, the man can't keep his mouth shut for anything, he told me the moment he found out. The Triwizard Tournament is being held at Hogwarts this year."

"Really?" Hermione exclaimed. "But there hasn't been a Triwizard Tournament in over a century."

"Because the death toll had been too high," Harry nodded.

"Death toll?" Neville repeated worriedly. "Why would anyone participate in a competition with a high death toll?"

"Because the winner of the tournament wins eternal glory and a thousand galleons."

"What I could do with a thousand galleons." Ron sighed wistfully.

"You could start by buying yourself a better pair of dress robes."

"Oh stuff it, Malfoy."

The Sorting ceremony, like every year, was a quick and efficient affair, each house had gained a respectable amount of first years to add to their numbers. Harry was amused to see that Gryffindor had gained yet another excitable Creevey brother; it was only because of their differing house that Harry wasn't constantly stalked by third year, Colin Creevey, and for that he was incredibly grateful.

After the sorting, Dumbledore stood to proclaim an odd collection of words that Harry suspected was the cue to the house elves to send up the food, and the feast began. Most conversation was put on hold as students and teachers alike began systematically devouring the hearty Hogwarts fare. It was only after the desserts had been demolished, and the last crumbs had faded off the plates, leaving them sparkling clean, did conversations begin picking up, only to once again die off as Dumbledore rose to his feet. The headmaster cheerfully went over the usual school rules and informed the students that Filch had, once again, updated his list of banned items and that said list could be found outside of the caretaker's office.

"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy. However, I am sure that you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts-"

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Loving the story so far? There's a whole world of magic and mystery waiting for you with over 85+ chapters still to come! By supporting my Patreon.

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(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)

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