Onto the Wizengamot - Part 2
“Rufus! Bring forward the accused!”
Cornelius Fudge nearly fell from his chair in surprise. Sirius Black was actually in this chamber right now. Merlin be damned, Amelia hopefully knew what she was doing. But if Pettigrew truly was the guilty one then this should be cleared up as quickly as possible. Sirius Black was the Head of the House of Black, back then probably already the Heir. Arcturus Black never really liked his children and chose to pick his grandson who didn’t inherit the madness - that was the rumour at least back in the day.
Rufus Scrimgeour stepped forward and next to him the wizards and witches with good eyes were able to see a distortion in the air before Sirius Black pulled off the invisibility cloak. Surprisingly, there were few exclamations or shrieks. Amelia was a very scary witch and had already yelled the honourable members into submission before. She wouldn’t like a chaotic Wizengamot.
The Head of House Black stepped forward and took a seat on the big chair in the middle of the chamber, but not before looking across the chamber, searching familiar faces and waving at Harry and Remus. He was looking healthy and sane, only barely resembling his prison picture.
“Lady Bones, Minister Fudge, Chief Warlock, honourable members of this body. I thank you for fixing the mistakes of the Bagnold administration. I, Sirius Orion Black, Head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, with sound mind and body, waive my right to refuse questioning under Veritaserum for the duration of this trial and under the condition that only Lady Bones and the Minister ask questions, and just questions solely related to matters regarding the events surrounding my arrest and the criminal allegations made against my person.”
Lucius Malfoy was the first to rise after listening to Black’s statement. This waiver was nothing unusual in the situations where Veritaserum was permitted. It limited the ways in which one could abuse the truth potion to find out business or family secrets while still giving the prosecutors enough leeway to discover the truth.
“House Malfoy requests the usage of Veritaserum on Lord Black to discover the truth. These allegations against the Head of my wife’s House have to be investigated thoroughly. No matter the political differences between him and me, he is the Head of House Black, one of the most powerful and ancient bloodlines this country has ever seen. This oversight disgusts me. And if it happened to the Black heir, then it could have happened to everyone in here. Not a precedent we want to set.”
“House Longbottom seconds that motion. We believe Sirius Black and Harry Potter, and my Neville and I want to see those two reunited in happiness. The war robbed us of so many, let’s not add Sirius Black to the list of casualties.”
A collective nodding went through the chamber, and neither dark nor light families disagreed with Lord Malfoy and Madame Longbottom. The vote passed unanimously and after Lady Bones gave the order to dose Sirius Black with the potion she started asking her questions. It didn’t take long for some members to start tearing up at his story.
Sirius told them of how he felt the wards fail, being keyed into them as a protective measure. And no, this was not because of them doubting Peter’s allegiances, this was from before the Fidelius. Not too far away and too shocked to apparate, he hopped onto his bike and flew to Godric’s Hollow. And no, apparition would not have changed anything, the ward failure only happened with the explosion of Voldemort’s spell rebounding, when James and Lily were already dead. Sirius was just keyed in to feel the final failure, not someone crossing the ward line or a curse being fired. Otherwise he would have gotten half a dozen notifications per day with James and Lily just working or training. Slightly irritating and not sensible.
He told them of Hagrid showing up and how insistent the half-giant was on taking Harry into safety. Dumbledore’s orders. He would never tolerate deviating from them. And since Peter knew the secret for a few other Order members and might actually be the secret keeper for some of them (all that was need to know), he decided to go get Peter and hand him over to Moody or one of their other DMLE members in the Order. It wasn’t really about vengeance - not really at least - but about keeping the Order safe. He didn’t want to kill Peter. And then the stupid little fucking rat (yes, Sirius Black said exactly that, as the protocol would show) decided to frame Sirius and blow up the street after cutting off his finger. Sure, he might have been in shock at the time of the arrest and might have said something like “It’s all my fault” but that was not a confession. He just felt incredibly guilty. After that, he didn’t remember much but Azkaban. Only a year or two later he began to return to sanity. And then he saw Peter in the newspaper.
Minutes later everyone understood what happened at Hogwarts and how he escaped. Fudge profoundly apologised for wanting to act rashly and execute him, but that simply was the law.
“Oh, I do understand, Minister. I don’t like it, but you had the word of three disheveled looking kids who were just hunted down by a werewolf, said werewolf and me, all claiming that a dead wizard wasn’t dead and that I was innocent. Even if you would have checked them for the confundus… Blacks are notorious liars and manipulators, knowing my family I understand the doubt. And since this chamber voted on the kiss-on-sight order, the whole thing was by the books, just messy.”
In truth, Sirius was quite pissed, but this was politics and Fudge hadn’t acted unlawfully. In some ways he understood, but he sure as hell didn’t like it. At least he had managed to contain the extent of his frustration under the Veritaserum.
“Thank you, Lord Black. Just to finish this interrogation I would like to know your intentions regarding your godson Lord Potter. Simply because the Ministry’s concern for him was one of the main reasons for the kiss-on-sight order, no matter how much it backfired.”
“I understand. I do not have any negative intentions regarding Harry and I sure as hell am not going to be a danger to him. He is my family, my heir, my godson. And even if he is emancipated, I still see him as my responsibility. As long as he agrees, I will take him in and care for him. We have been getting the Black Townhouse ready so Harry could safely come and visit over Christmas maybe. I just want him to be safe, and I hope that the whole mess with the Tournament and potential Death Eater threats or any other meddling will be resolved. We’ve had enough stress and worries for more than one lifetime.”
Amelia Bones smiled. That was a nice answer.
“And this concludes the interrogation of Lord Sirius Orion Black. Does the Wizengamot want to hear further testimony from Lord Potter, Remus Lupin or maybe Miss Hermione Granger, who would have to be summoned?”
“I don’t believe that to be necessary. I suggest that we vote upon the dismissal of all charges, sentence Lord Black to register his animagus form within the month and grant him compensation for every day spent in Azkaban and as a fugitive, hunted by Dementors. The usual custodial rights and welfare obligations regarding emancipated minors regarding Lord Harry James Potter will be given to him on the basis of the late Lord and Lady Potter’s wishes. He is his godfather after all. And I believe that stripping Peter Pettigrew of his Order of Merlin, convicting him of the same crimes Lord Black was accused of, as well as trespassing, tax evasion, false accusation of crimes and causing wrongful imprisonment is more than appropriate. I would add this to the vote.”
Many members of the dark side were surprised by Lucius Malfoy’s suggestion, but it was clear to everyone that he didn’t want to risk Lord Black’s anger and have him as an ally who wasn’t all too happy with Albus Dumbledore.
“House Ogden seconds Lord Malfoy’s proposal. It is good to see all sides of this chamber working together.”
The elderly Lord, a light wizard with neutral tendencies, who openly voiced his issues with both sides of the spectrum on a regular basis, noticed the change in the chamber immediately. He had seen a lot in this chamber, so he knew when the centre of power was beginning to shift.
It did not take long for the Wizengamot to vote on this matter, and Sirius was acquitted with a very high majority of the vote. Only very few abstained, no one voted against Sirius.
“Lord Black, it is my honour to be the first to shake your hand to congratulate you. I’ll make sure that Cornelius will get you your restitution.”
Lady Bones spoke laughingly and stepped forward to do as she said. Flashes from the press ranks told her that a picture of the handshake would probably be on the front of the next Daily Prophet. Minister Fudge was next, but before Albus Dumbledore could try to make his way to Sirius, Harry rushed past him and practically jumped into his godfather’s arms. And yes, some of that was him being very calculating and making sure public opinion would be on their side.
“So much for my front page picture, Harry.”
“Sorry Amelia. Well, not really.”
“Sirius, I hope you know your godson is a cheeky one.”
“Oh yes, and I couldn’t be happier about that.”
Remus was the next to join them, having walked down here with a bit more decorum. Sure, the two had left the house together this morning, but Remus was helping them create a picture for the public.
Slowly more and more people came up to them and wanted to congratulate them. Minister Fudge, Lady Bones, Harry, Sirius and Remus formed a close circle and chatted, with other members joining briefly. It was obviously all about appearances.
Augusta Longbottom even hugged Sirius - but then scolded him for being a reckless idiot, and that he’d better look out for Harry. Lord Ogden was ‘looking forward to the collaboration’ with a strong Lord Black and a Lord Potter, worthy of following in Henry Potter’s footsteps.
Then Lucius Malfoy politely asked for a word.
“Sure, Lord Malfoy. You may drop the courtesy, we are family after all.”
“Thank you… Sirius. You may do the same. I am glad to see you taking your place in this chamber and as Head of your House.”
“Thank you for your help, Lucius. I hope we can work together on future issues?”
“If certain puppetmasters stay away, we gladly can. I hope to be able to meet with you and your godson soon - there are many things to talk about and apologise for.”
Sirius nodded and briefly glanced towards Dumbledore.
“There is more than just one puppetmaster. Neither is acceptable.”
“I don’t want to see the end of my line, or of any other pureblood lines like in the last war. We will disagree on a lot, but let us prevent unnecessary bloodshed.”
At that point Harry chimed in.
“Then you better tell that to Draco. You should really ask Snape about his latest stunt just before the Weighing of the Wands. Stupid, insulting buttons saying “Potter stinks” and when I pointed out just how pathetic they were he started off with a Diffindio. Thankfully I expected it, so I used a Dissipating Barrier Rune Stone, which is clearly legal, and an heirloom on top of that. Once Snape was there, yelled around and threatened me, I lowered the barrier. You want to guess what your idiot son did?”
Lucius sighed. He hadn’t heard about that.
“I hope nothing that will ruin the relationship between our Houses permanently?”
“He immediately went for a class three classified curse, Densaugeo. I ducked, but it hit Hermione in the face. Snape started claiming that I provoked Draco and that he didn’t see a difference, but I shut him up and Nott, Zabini and Greengrass turned on your son. They didn’t want to embarrass Slytherin House and partake in his reckless nonsense.”
Harry was almost certain that he heard Lucius say ‘that idiot’ under his breath before apologising for his son and promising that he would speak to Draco and issue a proper apology to Miss Granger.
“Then we can work together. Oh, and did you ever ask your wife about the strange letters you received, Vicomte? Sirius, what were the names of Dad’s parents?”
Without hesitation, Sirius said “Fleamont and Euphemia. Poor guy.”
Before Lucius could react, Augusta Longbottom chimed in.
“True, wasn’t that because of one of their ancestors? I believe old Henry’s mother Anne was born Fleamont, the last of their name. Thank god James was more sensible. Henry is a proper name.”
“I actually believe it is officially Harry, that is not a nickname. James wasn’t that prim and proper. But he is named after Henry.”
“Wait… you are the Marquis the Fleamont?”
Harry just grinned.
Then Lucius bowed. Just a little bit, and just for a moment, but he bowed to Harry James Potter, a snake in a lion’s fur.
“You are not really a Gryffindor. Cunning of you to hide in plain sight. Thank you.”
And then Lucius just turned around and walked away, he needed to think about this revelation. He wasn’t furious or anything, just completely surprised that Potter would help him. Well, in his letters he stated that he didn’t like him, it was just about the influence that he brought along. And it was true. With House Malfoy aligning behind a neutral House Black, against an antagonistic Dumbledore and for stability in the centre, he could sway many of his allies. Sure, others were closer aligned to the dark side and would never dare risk the Dark Lord’s wrath, but whatever was left of their Lord was weak. Even those that speculated about the Dark Lord’s return were doubting his potential strength. Many of them had done quite well for themselves and realised the negative impact of the slaughter of magicals of every blood status. And if Sirius Black turned out to be a powerful leader for the centre, then many of Lucius’ friends would follow.
He put a smile on his face while leaving the chamber, sending very obvious signs to his allies and the press. Which was convenient, because Rita Skeeter had somehow managed to get into the chamber - again, one might add - and headed towards the Lords Black and Potter.
“Look out, Sirius, Dumbledore is on his way. Looks like he lost his patience listening to Lady Marchbanks. Oh and send her a thank you note once you’re back at Grimmauld Place.”
And indeed, the Headmaster finally managed to fob off Griselda Marchbanks, who claimed to require his assistance for some very important matters regarding some educational decrees and laws. She obviously just tried to give Sirius and Harry time to catch up and to thank their allies in peace and quiet before Dumbledore would mess everything up.
“Sirius, my boy. Harry. It is good to see you. What brought this on?”
Sirius was furious. He was finally free and no longer a fucking fugitive. As if it was so surprising that he wanted this. Idiot.
“What… Headmaster, just leave us in peace. You were the one ignoring my illegal imprisonment despite having the power to do something. You kept everything important from Harry and his treatment… How could you do that? Leave us be, and if you bother him with anything but school related things then I will head up north and drag you out of the castle and make you feel the entire reputation of House Black.”
Dumbledore flinched. Sirius had always been such a faithful ally and follower, but it seemed like his trust was broken. He would have to know about the Horcrux and the Prophecy one day, but this day was obviously not now. Sirius would one day begin to understand - and until then he should try to undermine his potential political power and influence. And maybe he should go looking for the Horcruxes. These had to go as well after all. Convincing Sirius and Harry to help him was a lost cause right now - and they had effectively removed themselves from his influence. Everything short of an Imperius or a heavy dose of potions would certainly fail, and even those would probably fail, knowing the usual protections those Lordship rings carried. Especially Henry Potter’s genius and the Black family’s viciousness scared him. He wouldn’t be able to escape retaliation.
Better go and attempt to bring as many old Order members together as possible. They could probably help him.
While the Headmaster walked away, shaking his head in disbelief, Rita Skeeter came closer. Fudge already rolled his eyes and Amelia wanted to give the order to have an Auror remove her, but Harry held her back.
“Don’t worry. I made a deal with the devil to keep her from slandering me after the Tournament mess. We just have to give her a nice interview.”
“Oh yes, don’t think I forgot your promise. Harry Potter, always ready to surprise me. Lord Sirius Black, betrayed by a close friend and the wartime Ministry, ready to shake up Wizarding Britain with an interesting repertoire of allies. I see the Minister and Lady Bones, several esteemed members of this chamber, both neutral and light including House Longbottom and House Ogden, and apparently Lucius Malfoy. Oh and don’t think your spat with Albus Dumbledore was left unnoticed.”
Sirius laughed.
“I hope so. Should we go find a more private setting for our interview? In the middle of the chamber is probably not ideal.”
Before Rita could nod and point them towards the meeting rooms the press could usually use, Fudge chimed in.
“Take my meeting room, the one next to my office. Oh and Miss Skeeter, do highlight my delight to work with these two and the wonderful Lady Bones to resolve a mess the previous administration created and buried. It is great to now have people with the same aura of authority as Arcturus Black and Henry Potter in this chamber and working together for the good of our country, beginning with clearing up an unbearable miscarriage of justice.”
Gosh, Fudge was a politician through and through. He might lack some knowledge regarding the dynamics between the old houses, but he knew how to twist words and make the press happy.
“For once I find myself in full agreement with Cornelius. And let the record show that Sirius Black is, despite past rumours of his immaturity, great to work with. We have been working on finding Pettigrew and trying to find out who is behind the Triwizard Tournament mess.”
“You were working with a fugitive of the law, Lady Bones?”
Amelia rolled her eyes.
“Well, he was never sentenced, let alone charged prior to today. And with evidence of his innocence like a magically verified statement of James Potter, naming Pettigrew the secret keeper, we were at least acting in a grey area. We don’t have a precedent for such a situation, so we acted on my authority and with my judgement.”
“Wonderful, just making sure what to write so you won’t get accused of something. Don’t want to harm this dream team here of course, especially if you keep on giving me good articles. Any ideas regarding the Tournament disaster?”
At that point Amelia hesitated, but then decided that the truth was better than a “no comment.” Especially when Skeeter was on her side.
“Not entirely clear. Crouch Junior spoke of bringing his old master back and giving him a body. This would correlate to darkening Dark Marks and several sights of spectres or leeches in the past years. There is testimony that you-know-who is non-corporeal, yet not entirely dead. Some dark magic I will definitely not elaborate on. We are working on it.”
Rita Skeeter and several Wizengamot members within hearing range flinched, only the Minister forced himself to keep calm.
“You want to tell me you-know-who is not dead?”
“Oh no, he was certainly eliminated in 1981, I just question whether some small part of him might be around as a non-corporeal being. We’ve all heard the reports from Albania back in 1989. And Crouch Junior at least believes it. Currently we see no danger for the public and work on clearing up those rumours. You know how hard it is to clear up rumours about leeches and similar beings.”
The murmurs died down, Amelia Bones’s words managed to calm them enough. Currently it just sounded like the words of a crazy Death Eater and speculations about a spectre or leech. And those weren’t really dangerous. Nothing to worry about. Giving a leech a body was just as absurd as giving a ghost a body. And besides, everyone remembered the last panic, back in 1989, which turned out to be nothing - or nothing dangerous at least. Most wizards and witches were pretty easy to convince that nothing was wrong for now.
Well, most wizards and witches. Sirius and Amelia knew that Voldemort was not an ordinary leech, he was a leech, held back by the Horcruxes. This being could certainly be brought back into a body.
While Cornelius Fudge pulled Amelia Bones into his office to inform him about the you-know-who situation and anything else she has been hiding from him, Rita Skeeter sat down with Harry and Sirius. The meeting room offered to them was quite fancy actually, and Harry certainly didn’t mind a comfy chair and a glass of juice. He had faced down a dragon just a few hours ago after all.
And then Rita began asking them some questions - well, mostly Sirius, because Harry was dozing off after his long day. All he managed to get out were some statements about how glad he was to be reunited with his two uncles and finally have some connections to his family and their legacy. But that wasn’t a problem, the focus of the interview was supposed to be Sirius either way, and they were promised two front-page articles for the following day already, one for each of them.
At some point Sirius gently touched Harry’s shoulder, causing the boy to wake up again and reach for his wand before realising that he had simply fallen asleep.
“Sorry, long day. I hope you got what you wanted, Miss Skeeter?”
“Oh yes, don’t worry. You and your friends and family are safe from my vicious quill. I hope we can do that again in the future… I am looking forward to the chaos you are going to bring to Wizarding Britain. Thank you for the interview, Sirius. If I can be of any use for you and your friends when it comes to legislation or whatever else, just send me an owl. I believe I’ll see you at the Yule Ball, Mr Potter. Probably another front-page article? I’d be surprised if you and your Miss Granger won’t be the stars of the night - I remember how your parents were. Just let me know what you want in the paper, and what should be kept under wraps. Ask Sirius about that one Yule Ball in 1979.”
She smirked, grabbed her notes and strolled out of the room while Sirius had to hold back his laughter. After a confused look from Harry he elaborated. James and Lily had been caught during a very unfortunate moment at the Longbottom Yule Ball. The front page picture might have been James Potter with a just halfway buttoned shirt and a very disheveled Lily Potter leaving a Longbottom Greenhouse after having been interrupted by two elderly ladies who just wanted to see Augusta’s new flowers - and got more than they bargained for.
Harry couldn’t decide whether to blush or to laugh, so in the end he did both. Honestly, he didn’t manage to stop laughing until flooing to Minerva McGonagall’s office (Amelia had arranged that), where his Head of House just raised an eyebrow.
“Oh, Sirius was just telling me a funny story of mum and dad - Yule 1979. Thank you for letting me use your floo, Professor.”
“Not a problem, Mr Potter. I presume everything went well?”
“Yes, it did. It went fantastic. I’d tell you all about it, but I think I need to sleep now.”
The Deputy Headmistress nodded, the boy looked like he was just barely managing to stay awake.
“I’ll send for Miss Granger to meet you on the way with your cloak. There may or may not be an unsanctioned party going on in the Common Room. Oh, don’t look so surprised. I can be lenient, I am just not obvious about it. Good night, Harry.”
After a mumbled “Good night, Professor” he left the room, smiling. Today was a good day.
As soon as her door closed, Minerva McGonagall called her personal House elf to inform Miss Granger that her help would be required. This was much less conspicuous than a Patronus. And now, now it was time for a nice dram of whisky, to celebrate Sirius Black’s freedom - and apparently Harry Potter’s happiness. She had never seen him that delighted.
It took her a few more minutes and some alcohol to be able to recall the story Sirius must have told Harry. Merlin be damned, this better not inspire Harry to enjoy the ball a bit more than he should.
On the other hand, they had enough sixth and seventh year students who would most certainly do that. Harry Potter was the least of her worries - for once. And she could rely on Miss Granger. Probably.
There was a reason they didn’t hold formal balls anymore. Spiked beverages, tipsy students with dates and staying up way too late. Sometimes she hated boarding schools.
Time for another drink probably.