Freedom is fleeting || Prisoner of Azkaban || Ch 4
"Now, lets take about your trial, yes?"
~
The day of the trial, Harry is terrified, He knows he did underage magic and in front of muggles; even if the majority of the on lookers knew it existed, the one he expanded did not. Apparently his aunt is fine by the way, Arthur told him while they were discussing his trial the day they arrived.
Now Harry is in his room with Hermione, picking out his outfit. ‘Smart but sorry’ Mione had said.
What does that even mean?
They dug and dug through his clothes that used to be folded nicely in his chest-of-draws. Eventually finding something suitable. Black muggle pant suits trousers and the white shirt from his Hogwarts uniform under a plain black wizarding cloak he’d gotten in case his uniformed one was dirty or ripped as it had a habit of being.
“Right, that looks good enough.” She said with a teasing grin, “I’ll be outside the door. If you hear shouting, wait till I give you a knock.” A smile, she was hiding how sad it made her to be fighting with Ron but she knew he couldn’t keep acting out like this without consequence.
~
Harry walked into the Ministry of Magic looking as confident as he could, he was planning out what to say to them in his head but he really hoped they would just say it wasn’t a big deal, he didn’t want to have to tell them what happened because that means playing the sad orphan.
Although.. harry though, that’s a good plan B.
He found himself facing a whole lot of Ministry workers and some toad looking women who seems ecstatic to be there. The room a large circle filled to the brim with workers, It looked a tad excessive for a trial of underage magic, but he is 'the harry potter' as people keep reminding him. The Minister Fudge walks in and he looks frightened, “Harry Potter. You shall be cleared of all charges but this is your final warning.”
Whispers brake out and everyone is confused, why gather this amount of people just to clear him straight away? “Minister, if I may?” She doesn’t let him speak, “Harry Potter has had a warning before. Why should he get another?” She wasn’t confused, that much was obvious to Harry, she wanted him locked up.
“Well, Dolores, Because we are still looking for Sirius Black this hardly seems like the time, especially if he is after Mr Potter like we all assume.” He flinched as he said the name like Sirius Black was Voldemort himself. She sat back down, no further questions, seemingly pleased with his answer and they all disband. Harry on the other hand is very much not pleased. Did everyone know about Sirius before me?!
Yeah he get’s off scott free but that’s to be expected, it hits him quickly that he isn’t meant to be aware of who or what Sirius Black is so he makes himself look confused (an easy enough job, he’s always vaguely confused anyway). They exit the Ministry and walk back to the Leaky Cauldron. Harry thinks about what he should ask, Though his face must give him away, when they’re back in his room Mr Weasley points it out. “Harry, you must be very confused and I should have told you sooner, I’m sorry.”
Harry knows what he’s referring to, obviously, but he is expected to, so “What do you mean? What should you have told me?” Yes, very stupid question, well done. He thinks to himself.
“Sirius Black dear.” Mrs Weasley offers uselessly.
“Yes, what about him? I’ve seen the posters. What has he got to do with me?” How much of the truth are they going to tell him? How much do they know?
“You, He… Uhm, Harry. He- Sirius, is one of You-Know-Who’s most devoted followers. It landed him in Azkaban.” Arthur says, his tone quite and almost begging for forgiveness like he’s praying Harry won’t be mad for not telling him more, like he knows and he knows Harry knows he knows.
“Okay? That’s not new, remember Professor Quirrell? I’m sorry Mr Weasley but what has any of this got to do with me…?” Look stupid and confused, sound concerned. Harry knows he shouldn’t be lying but he also wants to know how much they know, what will they tell him what will they hide? To what extent can Harry trust them? Besides, He needs to act like he would’ve with the compulsion charms so no one can tell what’s up, It’d be bad if any of them where working for Dumbledore and told him Harry was acting weird.
“Oh harry dear, that’s not important. What’s important is that he’s after you and you need to be in a safe place for the last week before Hogwarts, so pack up your things because you’re coming to The Burrow!”
~
Harry thinks the week flew by but that could be because he was meditating by a tree a bit away from The Burrow most of the time. Most of the Weasleys thought he was practicing for quidditch and trying to think of plans to find Sirius Black before the latter found him first, insulting really, he may of before because of the charms but still. The twins were the first to find him. He’d been out there for 4 hours before lunch and Molly told them to get him back inside for food.
“You alright there Harry?” George asked, mildly amused by the thought of Harry meditating.
“Calms a good look on you mate” Fred said just after, he was also mildly amused.
Harry told them some half-truths: about the compulsions but not the family blocks, about the reading he did over summer but not about how he was trying to connect himself to his core better. They knew he was hiding somethings but didn’t push, he was grateful and decided then that he could trust them with a bit more in the future.
He spent a lot of time talking to the twins and Ginny when he thinks about it, Ron was always picking a fight with Hermione so he refused to get involved with either to avoid future confrontation. Ginny also enjoyed meditation, she didn’t even want an explanation when she found him a day after the twins. He’d been gone for 2 hours and she was bored, instead of asking questions or disturbing him, she sat down a foot away and joined him. The twins had to get them both a few hours later for food but it became routine over the week. Now they were all travelling to kings cross, to platform 93/4, saying goodbye’s and be careful's.
~
Now Harry finds himself on the train, a tad late because of some traffic on the way here, and looking for a compartment. They all seem to be full so he finds one with, what seems to be a lump of clothes but is probably a sleeping person and sits down inside followed by a still arguing Ron and Hermione.
“Oi guys,” Harry whisper shouts to get them to stop, “Be mindful yeah? Someone’s trying to sleep.” He’s not mad, not really. He just really wants them to shut up.
“Sorry Harry…” Hermione is looking sheepish and honestly a little upset that he had to stop them at all.
Ron on the other hand “Yeah sorry mate.” Was mad. He’d rolled his eyes as he said it and pushed himself closer to the door’s wall.
It’s cold, it’s freezing cold. Harry vaguely wonders if he’s going to get frostbite. He see’s Malfoy walk past their cart but quickly talked to the Slytherins in the compartment across from them, He watched them get up and lock the door when Malfoy had walked away, That was weird… , He gets up to do the same when he gets colder and a shadow floats up to the door. Its black, cut around the edges like a sheet had been dyed and ripped. It’s face, or lack-there-of was hollow, the sheet like skin was being sucked into where its skull would be.
The door clicks open, Harry can hear the scream of a women he hopes its not Hermione. Everything goes black.