Chapter 58
Chapter 57
“Severus you need to slow down,” Harry whispered as the Potion Master had managed to down nearly an entire bottle of Firewhiskey. Even Deidric was looking more worried now than when they first arrived. “We have 15 minutes left before the trial continues.”
“I’ll be fine,” Severus’s speech slurred a bit as he reached into his coat pocket to pull out a sobriety potion. Harry blinked; it was a rather bulky bottle, one that would have been noticeable in any coat pocket, yet it hadn’t been. “Are your pockets expandable?” Harry questioned while his lover downed the potion in one go. Harry made a face, he knew that potion, it was foul-tasting. The taste alone would have sobered a drunkard up.
“I- will handle the check,” Deidric uttered as he slid out of the booth.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Harry asked. He had asked before but Severus had just shaken his head and continued to drink.
“Once we are at home,” the other stated as the fogginess in his brain started receding. “Right now, I am trying my hardest not to march into the cells and wring that man’s neck,”
“Fair enough,” Harry nodded.
They got up when Deidric came back and made their way into the Ministry once more. “Remind me to ask Madam Bones for a favor after this whole debacle.”
“Do you really think she would even be in the mood?” Deidric asked with a raised brow.
“She will if it prevents my future from ever taking place,” Harry stated. “It’s probably the only chance we’ll have.”
“Oookay,” Deidric said softly as he knew some of Harry’s circumstance, but not the whole story.
Upon their return to the Wizengamot meeting room they could still observe the chaos this trial was creating. With Madam Bones and Lucius out of the room for the recess the rumors had started flying. It seemed even the normally strict Lady Longbottom was partaking in these discussions.
Harry and the others overheard snippets “-ear You-Know-Who died of a heart attack,” One whispered.
“You must be joking,”
“You’re thinking Dumb- I mean Grindelwald had anything to do with that?”
Now, that piqued Harry’s interest because he was as much in the dark as everyone else on Moldyshort’s demise. He turned to look where Lord Parkinson and Lord Snyde were conversing. He remembered him from his timeline, though much older. Snyde, particularly, had been a political thorn in his side. The only one from that family he respected was Miss Merula. He had thought her nothing more than a barmaid in Hogsmeade until they had been assigned a case together. Turns out she had been deep undercover investigating a possible human trafficking ring operated by Muggleborns and Muggles.
Harry had been deep in thought and hadn’t heard Madam Bones reentering the room until the gavel banged to call for order. He sat down next to a surprisingly quiet Severus. The man was glaring daggers at his former employer as he was being dragged in once more. Three drops of Veritaserum were administered, and Harry, even from their position, could see Grindelwald struggling before his eyes turned unfocused.
“We will continue with the questioning,” Amelia stated after the control questions had been asked. Her eyes were steely as she gazed at Grindelwald.
“Were you involved with the false imprisonment of Sirius Black the Third?”
“No,” Grindelwald stated monotonously.
“Were you aware of who the secret keeper was for the Potter family in 1981?”
“Yes,”
“Was the secret keeper Sirius Black the Third?”
“No,”
“Why did you not speak up and free the Heir Black from Azkaban if you knew all this?”
“Because it was convenient for me,” Grindelwald answered, however, to a lot in the room that didn’t make much sense, judging by the confused murmurs. Saving the Heir of a Noble and Ancient House could set one up for life.
“Explain your plan,” Amelia pressed.
“Harry Potter needed to grow up humbled, self-sacrificing, and with people-pleasing habits. That is not something that could have been cultivated with Sirius Black as the boy’s guardian.” Grindelwald stated, which caused an uproar through the room but settled back down with several bangs from the gavel. “Young Harry was a means to an end, and everything went smoothly until Black escaped. I still had use for the man, so I kept an eye on him with a plan to prove him innocent when it suited me, which resulted in him owing me a magical debt. A debt which I would use to appoint myself proxy of his Wizengamot seat and its voting power. But then he decided to derail my plans spectacularly and screw almost everything up,”
“You truly believe that Sirius Black screwed up your plans?” Lucius interjected as he leaned forward. “How?”
“By murdering Harry Potter.”
Gasps from several Wizengamot members could be heard as Lucius pressed, “So Harry Potter is truly deceased?”
“Yes,”
“Where is his body?”
“I saw to its disposal myself,” Grindelwald confessed, which elicited more gasps.
“Did you at any time collude with Dolores Umbridge resulting in the Dementor attack on number 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey?”
“Yes,”
“Why?” Lucius raised a brow.
“Because the Potter boy was getting mouthy and needed a good scare,” Grindelwald confessed.
“The attack resulted in the death of Harry Potter’s immediate Muggle relatives. Are you remorseful at all?”
“Why? They were just Muggles,” Grindelwald stated monotonously, though you could still hear the contempt in his voice. “All the better, really; they couldn’t keep the boy in line anymore, and he needed firmer discipline. Their deaths gave me the perfect excuse to move Harry under closer observation.”
“Madam Bones, I petition that three counts of Murder be added to the accused’s list of crimes,” Lucius proclaimed with a smirk.
“So noted,” Amelia quickly agreed.
“I still have some questions regarding the late Mister Black,” Amelia stated as she looked directly at Grindelwald. “After Sirius Black’s attack at the Ministry floo entrance, the Unspeakables examined his corpse and found traces of unidentified dark blood magic. Did you cast this magic?”
“Yes,”
“Which ritual was this?”
“The Catamite Blood Ritual,”
Harry’s brow shot up while Severus let out several expletives under his breath, along with the much older Wizengamot members.
“I am confused,” Deidric whispered.
“It’s a despicable ritual,” Harry hissed while Severus leaned over to explain that the ritual was used on young male prostitutes in Magical Rome centuries ago, making them susceptible to suggestions from the caster and finding pleasure in their Master’s orders. That the ritual was nearly labeled an Unforgivable as it took away some free will of a person.
“The truly despicable part is how such a blood ritual had to be finalized,” Harry added as his eyes shot the former Headmaster so many daggers that looks might just literally kill. “The blood ritual is very specific in that it only takes effect once the caster and the castee have intercourse.”
“You mean...” Deidric made a face.
“Yes,” Harry nodded.
“Him and-”
“Yes,”
“Ewww,” Deidric said while shuddering.
“This is,” Amelia mumbled, more to herself than the room, while she held a hand to her forehead. With her frustration and disgust clearly showing. “I am nearly loathe to ask, but have you attempted line theft on the Gaunt and Slytherin lines?”
“Yes,” Grindelwald stated simply.
“Perhaps the scope is too narrow,” Lucius interjected. “Since line theft has been mentioned, I have to ask: List all the Heirs you have attempted this on,”
“Gaunt, Riddle, Scammander, Smith, and Creevey.”
Lucius and the other purebloods looked very disturbed.
“I am loath to ask, but sadly I must.” Lucius’s voice felt resigned. “Explain in detail, per family.”
“The Creevey’s are Muggleborn, but they are a branch family of Ravenclaw,” Gellert stated rather impassively. “It didn’t take much to lure the eldest Creevey brother into drinking tea laced with compulsion potions. It will be subtle at first, but once he hits adulthood, he will start to feel… overwhelmed with the obligations of the Ravenclaw Lordship and sign them over to me.”
“Smith was easy. Lazarus Smith was a foolhardy man who gambled away his inheritance. The Hufflepuff seat was mine in no time.”
“Scammander, simply because I could,” Grindelwald admitted. “Newt had been a close confidant of Albus. It wouldn’t do with him poking his nose into things he shouldn’t so I took matters in my own hands,”
“The Gaunt and Riddle lines were the trickiest,” Grindelwald confessed. “No one would have suspected any potions tampering as Merlope Gaunt was quite insane already due to all the inbreeding, however, I misjudged the timing of my love potion, and Merlope ended up becoming obsessed with a Muggle named Riddle.”
“You were… going to have relations with Merlope Gaunt?!” Lucius asked with a strained voice.
“If it was not for Ominis Gaunt’s restrictions on the inheritance, I would clearly not have been willing to lay with her,” Grindelwald declared. “However, I misjudged the strength of my potion and the timing of my appearance because when I arrived, Merlope had already become besotted with the Riddle boy.”
“Then you set your sights on their son,” Lucius stated.
“Manipulating the events that did away with both parents was easy; the boy, however, was not,” Gellert stated impassively. “He was put in a Muggle orphanage, and I went to visit him when I deemed it right to influence his nature. What I had not accounted for was his magical power and his sheer lack of emotions. At first, I thought it a phase, but as the Riddle boy grew older, he started boldly trying to undermine me with Headmaster Dippet. The boy needed to go. Considering who he had been related to, him going insane due to Dark Magic would raise no one’s eyebrows so I secretly supplied him with darker and darker books.”
“He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’s actual identity was Tom Marvolo Riddle,” Amelia declared to the stunned audience. “Are you confessing to having a hand in creating the Dark Lord Voldemort?” Many flinched at the use of the name, but it was not enough to deter their eyes from the scene.
“Dark Lord? That welp was no Dark Lord,” Grindelwald stated monotonously. “He thought he could play with the big boys, but I could have snuffed him out like that. He was a good distraction, though. All eyes were on his actions while no one batted theirs in my direction. It's sad really, that a heart attack is what got him in the first place. I would have expected at least going out in a blaze of glory.”