Chapter 9
Thankfully they were not keeping Sirius at Azkaban during the trial. James had had a moment of terror when the Minister of magic announced that they would finish the proceedings for the night, but she announced that he would stay incarcerated at the ministry as carting him back and forth would be too inefficient. James suspected that she just did not want to deal with the dementors, but he knew better than to say anything.
The trial had started back up early the following morning, and he was exhausted. He knew that starting at seven in the morning was being done intentionally. They had finished at ten the night before, and the minister was hoping James would be too tired to keep track of his arguments. He was not experienced with trials and was already at a disadvantage, but he had not been Head Boy on looks alone. James Potter was clever, and he was determined. He was also well stocked in Pepper Up potions, thanks to Lily.
James had arrived at the ministry at five in the morning to meet with Sirius before the trial began. He had witnesses and evidence to disprove everything other than the claim of Sirius being a death eater. He knew it was impossible, but the court would need more. When he first approached Sirius about using Veritaserum, he was not surprised by the hard no. Sirius was not someone who enjoyed opening up, especially to strangers. He did not love the idea of being forced to answer by a potion.
It took James an hour of pleading his case and promising that nobody would be able to ask Sirius questions but him, at least while the potion was influencing him. It would be the only way to prove to the court that Sirius was not and had never been a death eater. Once Sirius had given his written consent, James had hurried away to prepare the rest of his arguments in his friend’s defense.
Now that the trial was finally starting, he found himself once again nervous. He had started with the easiest aspect of the case to refute. Nobody could argue that Lily was lying. Her son had nearly died; she would never willingly let the person who betrayed them go. Today he would take on the issue of Sirius being a death eater and Sirius murdering Peter Pettigrew and the twelve muggles. And he had just proved that Sirius had the motive to do so.
“The court is called to order to continue the trial of Sirius Black. He is accused of the murder of Peter Pettigrew, the murder of twelve muggles, endangering the international statute of wizarding secrecy, and being one of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’s death eaters” Minister Bagnold’s voice rang through the court. “Mr. James Potter is speaking in defense of the accused. Mr. Potter, to which charge will you be speaking?”
“I will first address Mr. Black's charge of being a death eater, Minister,” James spoke calmly, feeling as though his heart was going to beat out of his chest.
“You may call your first witness.” James’s heart rate spiked again as he prepared to ask the court to deviate from precedent.
“Minister, I ask the court for permission to question the accused under the influence of Veritaserum.” a quiet roar of whispers made its way around the room, which was just as full as it had been the day before. “I have here the written consent of Mr. Black to be questioned under the influence of Veritaserum under the condition that he is administered only enough for one question at a time.”
“This is highly unusual, Mr. Potter.” Minister Bagnold spoke calmly. “Who will be providing the potion?”
“That would be me, minister.” A gruff voice broke through the courtroom, and James turned to find Alistair Moody standing behind him, brandishing a bottle of Veritaserum. James let out a small sigh of relief. Moody was known to be the most respected and paranoid auror in the department of magical law enforcement. His supply of Veritaserum would be beyond question.
“Very well, the court will allow for the questioning of Mr. Black under the influence of Veritaserum by Mr. Potter.” The minister did not look pleased. She could feel the trial slipping away from her.
Moody made his way to where Sirius sat, chained to the chair in the center of the room. He pulled out a small dropper and dipped it into the potion. At his direction, Sirius opened his mouth, and Moody dropped a single drop of the potion onto his tongue. He then handed Sirius a shot glass of water to bring the brew into his bloodstream faster. After a few moments, Moody nodded to James, indicating that the potion had taken effect.
“Mr. Black, are you now or have you ever been a death eater of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?” James asked. He decided it would be best to get the most important question out of the way quickly.
“No,” Sirius answered proudly. James nodded at Moody, and he repeated the process of administering the potion.
“Mr. Black, are you now or have you ever been loyal to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?”
“No.” Once again, Moody administered the potion.
“Mr. Black, have you ever been given the opportunity to join the forces of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named or become one of his death eaters?” James asked. He knew that Sirius would hate him for asking this. Still, he knew that he needed to preempt any questions the minister might have if he was going to protect Sirius from being questioned by her under the influence of the potion.
“Yes.” Sirius spat, glaring at James. James simply nodded again to Moody, and the potion was administered again.
“What did you do when you were presented with the opportunity to join him?” James watched as Sirius let go of a deep breath.
“I said no, then fought my way out of my parent's house. I moved in with Fleamont and Euphemia Potter that night and never went home again.” James could see the relief evident on Sirius’s face as he realized that the potion would not force him to say more on the matter. James indicated to Moody, and the brew was administered once more.
“Mr. Black, have you ever been sympathetic to the cause of the death eaters or wanted to help them achieve their goals?” James felt his heart race at the question. This one was risky, as he knew that Sirius was never a blood supremacist, but he had wanted to save Regulus from his fate.
“No, I only wanted to save my brother from the death eaters.” James nodded to Moody to administer the potion again.
“In your attempts to help save your family from the death eaters, have you ever helped them with their assignments or passed on information, however harmless, to them?”
“No, I only begged them to escape and offered to help them to hide from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.” James nodded at his friend encouragingly before turning to address the Wizengamot.
“Minister, I move to have the charge of Sirius Black being a death eater dismissed in the face of the evidence.” Just as it had been the night before, the vote was unanimous. Now James just had to prove that Sirius Black had not murdered anyone and that he had not intentionally exposed the wizarding world to the muggles.
“The court will recess.” The irritation in the minister’s face was evident. She was losing face in front of the wizarding world as James methodically proved that Sirius had been wrongfully imprisoned.
James fought the urge to go directly to Sirius during the recess and instead moved quickly to address Alistair Moody before he could leave the room.
“Auror Moody!” James called out as he hurried after the wizard.
“What do you want?” Moody responded roughly.
“Do you know which auror oversaw the arrest of Sirius?” James asked. He knew that the auror in charge would be essential to proving his friend’s innocence.
“Of course I do,” Moody responded, “It’s me.” James was unsure if he felt more relief or fear at the response. He might be making powerful enemies during this trial.
“Great!” He said, trying to sound upbeat, “Did your aurors retrieve the memories of the muggles before they were obliviated?” It was standard procedure, but James needed to be sure.
“Of course they did. They’re good men; they also collected the last ten minutes of Sirius Black’s memory before he was thrown in Azkaban.” James let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.
“I will need to present those memories as evidence in the trial,” James said confidently.
“I will go get them. I don’t like this any more than you do, Potter.” Moody said. “I like catching death eaters. Cases like this make that hard. Sirius should have never been locked up without a trial.”
“Thank you,” James said sincerely.
He was grateful to know that this man at least did not hate him for ensuring his friend’s safety. Moody had never seemed to be that interested in the politics of the auror department, and he was grateful to have that confirmed. As Moody left to gather the evidence James needed, James made his way to where Sirius was sitting.
“Never do that to me again,” Sirius said before James could get a word out.
“I wish I could promise that, Sirius, but the ministry wants to make an example out of you. They are going to do everything they can to keep you in Azkaban. I have to remove every possible doubt from their minds if I am going to get you home.”
“I know. I’m sorry, James, I just hate this.” James fought the urge to embrace his friend. He knew he wasn’t allowed within three feet of Sirius until the trial ended.
“I know, Sirius. I will try to get this over with as quickly as possible.” Sirius nodded, and James stepped back as the room began to fill once more in preparation for the next set of questioning.
“The court will come to order. Mr. Potter, to which charges will you be speaking?” The minister seemed far less interested in the proceedings at this point. As yet, she had not even had the chance to ask a single question. The evidence was as overwhelming as the embarrassment.
“I will be addressing the charges concerning the murder of Peter Pettigrew and twelve muggles,” James spoke calmly. He noted that fewer reporters had been allowed into the courtroom, and those in attendance were hanging on his every word.
“Very well, you may call your first witness.”
“I call Auror Alastair Moody to the stand.” The minister nodded her assent, and Moody made his way to the witness chair.
“Auror Moody, were any memories gathered at the time of the arrest of Sirius Black?” James asked calmly. A shadow fell over Minister Bagnold’s face at his words.
“Yes. We gathered the memories of the seven muggles who witnessed the magic and the last ten minutes of Sirius Black’s memory.”
“Do you have those memories?”
“Yes, I have them here.” Moody pulled eight vials out of his pocket and showed them to the court.
“Minister, I ask for the memories to be presented before the court as evidence.” The minister nodded and called for the court pensieve to be brought forward. It was a fascinating piece of magic capable of broadcasting the memory to the entire room instead of the typical method of immersing your face in the memory.
One by one, the memories of the muggles were presented before the court. They all showed similar accounts, Sirius Black charging after Peter Pettigrew, drawing his wand, and then an explosion. The statements from the muggles were most likely why the aurors felt so confident in arresting Sirius. James had started to wonder if this was a good idea when the last muggle memory showed a new angle. This muggle had seen Peter draw his wand and had heard a faint “reducto” from Peter before the explosion.
Whispers broke out through the courtroom once more as the crowd took in the information. A muggle had seen Peter cast the spell. This was vital if James was going to prove that Sirius had not murdered anyone. It took several minutes before Minister Bagnold could once more call the court to order. Then it was time for the final memory, that of Sirius Black.
They all sat in absolute silence as the memory showed Sirius apparating into a deserted back alley, an approved apparition point, and racing down the streets of London on foot. They watched as Peter Pettigrew exited a pub, loudly shouting about the fall of the Dark Lord. James noted with interest that he had not said “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.” He focused once more on the memory as Sirius shouted Peter's name and chased him down the street. He pulled out his wand but kept it concealed as he looked for a place to drag Peter. The room sat in awe as they all watched Peter pull out a knife, cut off his finger, and cast reducto, blowing up the street and killing the nearby muggles.
James had initially thought that he would have to question several witnesses to prove that Sirius had not killed anyone. He had brought Remus and Victoria to testify and had a list of questions. He was prepared to argue for days, but the memory had disproved every remaining charge. James had not even been aware that it was standard procedure for the Aurors to collect memories. He had received a memo that morning after his meeting with Sirius.
The memo had read, “James, Aurors are supposed to collect the memories of all witnesses when they make an arrest. Find the auror in charge and get him to provide the memories. Fabian was an auror; he told me all about the procedures. - VW” Victoria Weasley had once again saved his family. If he had not been so focused on saving Sirius, he might have wondered why Victoria cared so much about them.
James allowed the silence to stretch before addressing the minister of magic again. “I move for a dismissal of all charges laid against Sirius Black in light of overwhelming evidence.”
Hate shone in the face of the minister of magic as she called for a vote. James knew that she did not have a vendetta against Sirius personally, but this would not look good for her. The ministry needed the trust of the wizarding population, and James had destroyed that. He could not help but feel a twinge of concern even as the charges against Sirius were unanimously dropped.
“Sirius Black is hereby proclaimed not guilty on all charges. Aurors, you may release him.” The minister quickly made her way out of the room after announcing the verdict, desperate to avoid being interviewed by any of the reporters in the room. James looked toward his friends and noticed that Victoria had done the same; he had not even been given a chance to properly thank her for all she had done.
James shook the thought from his head and turned toward Sirius, who was grinning broadly as the chains released him from the chair. He flew into James’s arms a moment later, and the two laughed as they embraced. A moment later, another pair of arms crashed into them as Remus joined the celebration. Sirius Black was a free man.