Magic Meet Mind

Nearly five months had passed since that night, and, in some ways, much had changed in the Hotchner household.

With Remus constantly invited over in the evenings, Hotch and Haley found their knowledge of magic growing in heaps and bounds. Haley herself was interested in the possible science behind magic and talked with Remus about various magical theories. Her favorite subject by far was potions, demanding that Remus teach her as well as Harry when he was old enough to start brewing. As Harry had progressed far faster in learning the necessary background knowledge than Remus had anticipated, they would be starting simple potions within the next few months.

Thankfully, Harry's study of magic didn't interfere with his normal studies. In fact, not only was Spencer and Remus teaching him, so was Derek Morgan. The men had all met and gotten along, even joining in with each other's lessons. Reid and Morgan's transition into that part of Harry's life had gone well enough.

After the chaos of the holidays, the family of three had quickly found a new rhythm.

Hotch and Harry still spent their time at Quantico just as they had before, though a MACUSA representative had visited them and gone over the terms of allowing the BAU to work with their aurors should it ever be needed. Chief Strauss had already known of magic, and no one could agree if that fact was surprising or made perfect sense. She didn't want any part of the magical world though, and wasn't thrilled that her superiors wanted to reallocate one of her best units. Strauss had no choice in the matter, so made it clear that even if they would not be under her command for any magical case, she was still their superior and in charge of them at any other time.

Gideon was given the honor of choosing who would get to learn of magic as he was the unit leader and could judge who could not only be trusted, but also react well with the knowledge. Spencer, of course, was immediately let in on the secret and conspired with Harry to learn as much about magic as possible. Agent Martinez had not passed Gideon's evaluation though, and she'd needed to be reassigned sooner than she'd wanted.

Derek Morgan had originally posed more of a question. He was new to the team and Gideon had wanted to know him more before deciding whether to tell him or not. While not as knowledgeable of profiling precedence or technical terms as the other members of the team, Morgan was excellent at reading human behavior. He was just as easily able to modify his own behavior to suit the situation, whether it was to connect, intimidate, or make another feel in control. Morgan was also a qualified field agent; "the muscle" as some would call it, which they had needed with the departure of Agent Bends.

On a more personal level, Morgan was very likeable. He had an easy air about him, quick to smile or joke. Spencer grumbled about him, but everyone knew it was all a show and that he actually was quite flattered the older agent wanted to be his friend. Because for whatever reason, Morgan had almost immediately taken to the doctor, forcing the far too serious young man to have more fun in life. Harry had also been taken under Morgan's wing, but only after Morgan had made it clear how he felt about letting a child loose in the bullpen. He was given the same arguments as Haley and Strauss and came to understand the reasoning and sentiment behind the decision. Morgan hadn't liked it, still didn't, but he accepted it and went one step further to actively take part in teaching Harry.

Unlike Spencer, Morgan's lessons were less academic and more interpersonal and cultural, teaching Harry how to interact with people. He and Harry – and sometimes Spencer – spent their time together doing things normal kids would do, from watching movies to playing games or pranking Harry's other honorary uncles.

It was Morgan's guidance that finally got Harry to open up around strangers, though he tended to act a lot like Morgan, which concerned Hotch at first. Then Harry explained how Uncle Morgan taught him to fake confidence until he felt it. Morgan apparently reiterated what Hotch had said about always being oneself, but explained it further.

"You don't have to trust people to be who you really are," Morgan told Harry. "I know you want to hide what you think and what you feel because you're afraid. You're afraid someone will see you and hurt you because they'll see your weak spots. But the thing is," Morgan said seriously, "by shutting down, you let them know you're afraid; that you have weak spots. If you really want to protect yourself, act like those weak spots don't exist, and no one will see them. Even if you don't feel confident, act like you do. I promise it's worth it. When you act confident, not arrogant," Morgan added sternly, "but confident, it makes other people feel confident too, because people tend to mimic the reactions of those around them. If you want someone to talk to you, ya gotta talk to them and give 'em a chance."

Morgan then smirked. "Once you master the art of small talk, then I'll teach you how to talk to people like a profiler," he promised. "I'll teach you every trick I know on how to get the kind of reaction you want."

Harry had grinned wide. "Will you teach me to tell when people are lying?"

"I'll teach you how to read their body language so well, they won't have to say a word for you to know the truth."

Morgan's teachings had the unfortunate – for Hotch – side effect of Harry's hidden sarcasm and pithy wit coming out more frequently, something Gideon found endlessly amusing.

With Harry's seal of approval, Gideon had made the executive decision that Morgan should know about the magical world only a month after he started. Finding out his unofficial nephew was a wizard had taken some adjusting, but Morgan had adapted, remaining firm in his protective role over Harry and teaching him how to protect himself.

The final change for the BAU team was their new member, a public liaison. Their deal with the MACUSA meant that they would be responsible for covering up any magical case with the No-Maj media, and because their unit had been dealing more and more with local police agencies, Chief Strauss had decided to assign one exclusively for their team. Hotch had found the first candidate incompetent, and none of the boys had liked her. Gideon also found her too argumentative, especially for someone who was supposed to smooth over the working relationship of the FBI with local law enforcement.

The new recruit, Jennifer Jareau, was doing a much better job. Harry and Spencer seemed to have a bit of a crush on her though, not that Hotch could really blame them. When Haley was told, she snorted into her coffee and alternated between laughing and cooing over how adorable it was. It was acknowledged that JJ would probably be told of magic, the sooner the better. Hotch wanted to ask her for advice on how to handle the trial of Sirius Black in regards to the ministry and media.

After months of late nights studying British Magical Criminal Law and consulting with Remus, Hotch felt he knew every nuance involved with a magical trial held in the Wizengamot. It was time to contact the British Ministry of Magic.

…

Amelia Bones had held the title of Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement for about four years now. Ever since Barty Crouch Sr. had been forced to step down and transfer departments, Amelia had taken up the position with competence and determination. Little had occurred in the last few years that she had not been able to handle swiftly and in accordance to the law.

That's why the letter sitting on her desk on a Monday morning in early May shook her to her core.

If it was true that Sirius Black may be innocent, that he had never even had a trial, the Ministry would face horrible backlash.

"Get me the court records for Sirius Black," she demanded of her assistant.

Once the assistant left, Amelia sat and thought. The Black family was a prominent wizarding family. Though most of its members had either died, been disowned, or imprisoned in recent years, the Black name still held power. It was one of the sacred twenty-eight and Sirius Black, as the former heir and now Head of the Black family, held a seat on the Wizengamot.

Please, thought Amelia with crossed fingers. Please let there be records of a trial or sentence hearing or SOMETHING!

The Ministry could not have illegally incarcerated a Lord for over five years. Yet, when her assistant timidly reported that she could find no record of Sirius Black's trial, Amelia sighed and hung her head. Not one to be defeated, Amelia quickly sucked in a breath and straightened her spine.

Time to call an urgent meeting with the Minister and Barty Crouch.

…

It took another few weeks of constant letters being sent back and forth between Washington D.C. and London, but Hotch finally managed to convince the Ministry of Magic to hold a trial for Sirius Black once he took JJ's suggestion of telling them he'd go to the media with the story.

JJ's acceptance into the magical world was the easiest so far, as she easily accepted the truth without asking unending questions.

"I've always believed in magic," she told them. "Really the knowledge doesn't change much. People are still people and I know exactly how to handle them."

JJ had taken almost sadistic pleasure in writing up a press release about Sirius Black. Hotch sent it to the Ministry warning that copies would be sent to the Daily Prophet and Wizarding Wireless News Station, the two premier British news sources Remus had told him about.

As the Ministry wanted to keep the trial as quiet as possible, they ceded to Hotch's demands, and Sirius's trial was scheduled for June 15th. In the meantime, Hotch had been sent copies of every piece of evidence the Ministry had in regards to Sirius Black. There was very little, but he made use of what he was given by calling in some favors and promising some in turn with Auror Hawkins. The hardest piece of evidence to obtain was the finger of Peter Pettigrew, but Hotch demanded it. The law was on his side, and Madame Bones was forced to write up a warrant to exhume Pettigrew's finger no matter how upset Mrs. Pettigrew was.

Hotch got permission from the BAU to take leave and headed to London a week prior to the trial. As neither he nor Haley wanted anyone to know of Harry's whereabouts, the two would be staying at home. They'd have to wait to meet Sirius until he was freed and arrived with Hotch back home.

…

Sirius Black was confused.

He had no sense of how long he'd been in Azkaban, but he knew from the length of his hair that it had been several years at least. His mind was still clearing of the effects of the dementors as he sat in a small, windowless room on one of two chairs with a desk in between. He thought he was in the Ministry of Magic, but he honestly couldn't be sure. His mind was still foggy. One minute, he'd been lying in his cell in dog form when he heard footsteps headed his way. After he'd changed back, his door was thrust open by two guards who'd handcuffed him and dragged him from the cell down several flights of stairs until the salty air hit his face. He was practically dumped into a boat with four aurors, and once they'd reached the mainland, they apparated him directly to this room.

Now he was alone and wondering what was going on; if he would finally be able to tell someone what really happened.

A click sounded from the door and a man in a plain black muggle suit walked in with a briefcase, an auror closing and locking the door behind him.

"Sirius Black," the man said in a deep baritone with an American accent. "My name is Aaron Hotchner. I'm here to talk to you about your upcoming court trial."

"I didn't betray James and Lily," Sirius croaked out immediately.

"I know."

"I didn't kill anyone!"

"I know."

"I didn't – wait, you know?"

Aaron simply inclined his head and sat down across from him. "I also know the true culprit is Peter Pettigrew and that both of you are unregistered animagi."

Sirius blinked.

"Mr. Black," Hotch began, "there's much we need to discuss. I have managed to convince the ministry to give you a trial. I would like to be your defense attorney. Before we go any further, you need to agree to that."

"You got me a trial?" Sirius asked, coughing slightly to clear his throat.

Hotch reached into his bag and pulled out a bottle of water that he offered to Sirius. He eagerly took it and gulped half of it down.

"Why?" he asked after. "Who are you?"

Hotch scrutinized him with narrowed eyes, making Sirius shift in his seat.

"Do you accept my offer of defending you?"

Sirius only took a moment to think it over. "I suppose if you're the reason I'm out of Azkaban right now, then yes."

"Before I say anything else, I need you to tell me everything that happened on the night of October 31st, leading into the days following and the confrontation between you and Peter Pettigrew."

Sirius began speaking, at first stopping his story to explain who everyone was. Hotch told him he already knew all the background information and to just say what happened from his viewpoint. Sirius agreed and told Hotch the very story he had been able to deduce, including the fact that Peter Pettigrew may still be alive, as all that was recovered was a finger.

When Sirius fell silent, Hotch steepled his fingers in front of him in thought.

"I'm going to be honest with you Mr. Black."

"Sirius, please."

"I'm not certain I can win your case," Hotch stated bluntly. "I firmly believe in your innocence and may very well convince others of the same. If this trial were held in a muggle court in the Unites States, I would have no worries about your exoneration. However, this court will be held in the Wizengamot where I have never practiced and with rules and laws that I am new to. The fact that this is a high-profile case which will undoubtedly gain media attention no matter how much the Ministry wants to hide it doesn't help, especially as your original capture and jailing gained the Ministry favor among the magical community. The government will be highly unwilling to admit they've incarcerated an innocent man who just so happens to be a high-ranking wizard for more than five years."

Sirius's face fell as the reality of his situation set in.

Hotch continued speaking in his blunt manner. "Your case is not hopeless though. Far from. I have been preparing your defense for the last five months and feel that there is a very good chance I can prove your innocence. I have multiple back-up plans in place and have managed to obtain warrants to view and examine all evidence against you by an independent third party. Best case scenario is that our motion to use veritaserum or make use of a pensieve is approved. However, any Wizengamot member can object to the use as there are ways to resist truth serum and modify memories." Hotch paused. "Considering the reluctance of the Ministry to give you a trial at all, I believe someone will object and the motion denied. That just means we'll have to do this the muggle way, without magical means. We can prove your innocence," Hotch said. "The problem will be forcing the Wizengamot to accept it and take the hit to their reputation."

Sirius nodded slowly and breathed out. "Okay. I…I trust you. I think. Which is odd because I don't even know you." He shook his head slightly. "I'm sorry, but I just don't understand who you are or why you're defending me."

Hotch's face softened. "Two reasons. The first is that I'm a big supporter of justice. I couldn't live with myself if I knew an innocent man was locked away and I did nothing. The other is because my son deserves to know his godfather."

Sirius blinked. "Your son?"

Hotch nodded. "It's a bit of a story. I don't know if you've managed to figure it out or not, but I'm not a wizard."

Sirius sat ramrod straight in his seat. "You're not?" he exclaimed.

Hotch grinned ruefully. "No. I'm a muggle, or No-Maj as they say in America. I live in Washington D.C. and I work for the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI. I investigate crime and criminals for a living. Before that I was a criminal prosecutor, so this is a bit new to me – keeping someone out of jail instead of trying to put them away. Still, this just means I know every argument that'll be used against us. As for how I got involved in your case, well, it started with the murders of an English family. The Dursleys."

Hotch watched Sirius's expression carefully as he connected the name. He added, "All three were killed, but Petunia Dursley's nephew survived."

"Harry!" Sirius exclaimed with fear shining in his eyes. "Is he okay? Where is he? Can I see him? Wait. Why was he with the Dursleys? Petunia hated Lily!"

Hotch held up his hands to calm Sirius. "Harry is fine. He's back home with my wife, Haley. I had been granted temporary guardianship of him until the case was solved, but neither of us could give him up to go into foster care when it came time, so we adopted him."

Sirius blinked, face falling again. In a whisper he asked. "You adopted him?"

"Yes. He's been with us for nearly a year now. I understand that you were supposed to take care of him after his parents died, but I need to make it clear that he is my son now; mine and Haley's. I love him and want what's best for him. If I thought being with you was best, I'd let him go, but I know it's not."

Sirius opened his mouth as though to argue, but Hotch cut him off. "Harry was abused by the Dursleys."

Sirius gasped quietly.

"There are things about Harry that you don't know and wouldn't be able to help him with," Hotch stated. "Harry is happy with us. He calls me dad. He calls Haley mom. I don't mean to say that we replaced your friends. I know we haven't because he'll call Lily and James mum and dad as well. But he considers us his parents and if we fight over him, it will only harm him, as would you taking him away when he finally has a happy and stable home life."

Sirius frowned in thought.

"I'm here trying to get you free." Hotch leaned forward. "Harry is my son, but you are still his godfather, and Harry needs you. Remus visits almost every day. He and Harry have formed a close relationship. They're family again just as they always should have been. I'm hoping you'll agree to something similar."

"Remus is with Harry?" Sirius asked in a small, hopeful voice.

Hotch nodded. "He's 'Uncle Moony' and Harry's magical tutor."

Sirius smiled slightly as silence descended. Hotch broke it by explaining how he came to learn of Harry's identity and the magical world. That led to him obtaining the Potters' will and reaching out to Remus Lupin, who told Hotch more about the people in the Potters' lives. Sirius was chagrined to learn that Hotch knew right away that there was more to the story of himself and Peter Pettigrew. He truly was the only reason Sirius was granted a trial. By the end of the explanation, Sirius couldn't begrudge the man for adopting his godson and doing the job he was meant to do. He'd blown his chance, but now he was given the opportunity to rejoin Harry's life. Really, Sirius could only be grateful to the man.

"Alright," Sirius said with forced cheer. "Tell me what I need to do to win my freedom."

…

The Daily Prophet

SIRIUS BLACK INNOCENT!

By Rita Skeeter

In a stunning turn of events, Sirius Black was proclaimed innocent this afternoon in a secret trial held by the Wizengamot that started early this morning.

How could this be when the history of Sirius Black and his crimes in support of the Dark Lord are so well known to the wizarding world?

Ladies and Gentlemen, the truths that I am about to reveal are so shocking, I myself can hardly believe the story of secrecy, betrayal, and cover-up. In fact, the only reason I can reveal it at all is due to luck. Whilst visiting the ministry several days ago, a source revealed that the old courtrooms that hadn't been used since the time of He-Must-Not-Be-Named would be in use once again. Following this lead, I showed up to the courtrooms this morning, and had to point out that any trials held there were open to the public. Only then was I grudgingly allowed inside, as the ministry desperately wished to conceal the grave error they made years ago, and with good reason.

For the last five years, the world has believed that Sirius Black was a Death Eater and one of the biggest supporters of You-Know-Who. We believed the story that he betrayed his long-time friend, James Potter, to the Dark Lord, which led to both his and Lily Potter's deaths, leaving their infant son, Harry Potter, an orphan. The subsequent defeat of You-Know-Who at the hands of the Boy-Who-Lived drove Sirius Black to flee as followers were being rounded up by the ministry. However, another friend of theirs from Hogwarts, Peter Pettigrew, tracked Black down and confronted him about what he'd done. Black, in a fit of rage, destroyed an entire street full of muggles, killing twelve innocent bystanders along with Peter Pettigrew. The aurors were called and Black was apprehended, apparently too busy laughing at the damage he'd caused.

Afterwards, Black was found guilty of the murders and thrown into Azkaban as he rightfully deserved. This was supposed to be fact.

I am sad to report that a grave miscarriage of justice occurred in November of 1998, which resulted in Sirius Black never receiving a trial and being falsely imprisoned for five and half years.

Are you ready to learn what really happened that fateful day my dear readers?

I had no knowledge of who would be present when I entered the courtroom, so I was rightfully taken aback at the sight of Sirius Black, notorious mass murderer. The last time his face was seen, it was of his mugshot, released to the press shortly after his incarceration (see pg. 4) in which he looked quite deranged. The man sitting in the center of the courtroom, however, was the opposite. Black presented himself as a handsome man, well-dressed, well-groomed, and with a pleasant smile on his face despite the magical chains binding him to his chair.

Strange as Black seemed, what's perhaps stranger was the lawyer representing him. Mr. Hotchner, a handsome American wizard with a deep, commanding voice dressed in muggle fashion, would prove throughout the trial a force to be reckoned with. The proceedings began as normal. The trial was called in session and the charges listed, including murder on thirteen counts, treason, and conspiracy. Sirius Black pleaded not guilty on all counts. Immediately after, Mr. Hotchner made a motion to release Black from his bindings while he remained in the courtroom, providing such sound reasoning that the Wizengamot could not refuse.

Mr. Hotchner than made a motion to administer veritaserum to Black, which he would willingly ingest. The motion was denied. Mr. Hotchner's second motion to use a pensieve to view Sirius Black's memories of what occurred five years ago was also denied, as memories can be falsified.

These failures did not deter Mr. Hotchner.

I'm unable to write the full details of what occurred in the following three hours. To do so would take a novel. I will instead write that Mr. Hotchner defended Sirius Black with intelligence and unarguable evidence. So much so that the Wizengamot could not refute the truth that was revealed.

It seems that the root of Sirius Black's "crimes" started with one piece of misinformation: Who was the Potters' secret keeper?

As we all know, You-Know-Who had been hunting the Potters for over a year before their deaths. After their son was born, they went into hiding, eventually making use of the Fidelius Charm, which will confine a secret inside an individual, known as the Secret Keeper. Once enacted, the knowledge of this secret, such as one's location, will be unknown to anyone unless told by the secret keeper under their own free will. (For more info, see pg. 10).

Sirius Black was believed to be the Potters' secret keeper. Albus Dumbledore even confirmed this years ago after Black was arrested, but it seems it was all a ruse.

When called to give testimony, Black explained that, while he had originally been chosen to be the secret keeper, at the last moment, they used another. Black explained how he had realized that everyone would believe him to be secret keeper and would come after him. Though he firmly declared that he would never have given up his best friend, he wanted to add another layer of protection.

And so, the Potters switched secret keepers and told no one, making everyone believe Black was the only one who could tell of the Potters' whereabouts and thus making him the target. Meanwhile, the real secret keeper would be someone know one would ever think to go after.

Who was this secret keeper?

It was none other than Peter Pettigrew, given the Order of Merlin First Class after he bravely confronted Black for his betrayal and killed.

Or so we believed.

Black and Mr. Hotchner had quite the time convincing the Wizengamot of the switch in secret keepers. In truth, they had no evidence, but they called in several character witnesses, including Madame Rosemerta, owner of the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade. Everyone who knew James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew all said the same thing: Potter and Black were as close as brothers from their very first year at Hogwarts, never having one without the other. Pettigrew was always just an afterthought, never being exceptional in any regard.

Mr. Hotchner used this to paint a picture which is hard to argue against despite the lack of evidence. Because of Black and Potter's bond, everyone would think Black would be their secret keeper, but who would ever suspect Peter Pettigrew? Yet, why would Pettigrew betray his friends in a way that would lead to their deaths? As Mr. Hotchner pointed out though: Why would Sirius Black?

It was then Mr. Hotchner submitted evidence from an auror in America. Law enforcement across the pond has been making use of a new technique called "Criminal Profiling" which analyzes a criminal's background and behavior in order to understand their actions in the past and predict their actions in the future. Though untested here in Britain, the case files given to the Wizengamot showed the success of the technique. After the court accepted that there was value in "Criminal Profiling", Mr. Hotchner submitted the profiles done by Auror Hawkins of the MACUSA for both Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew.

The profiles were astounding.

To sum up the reports, Sirius Black was least likely to ever betray his friends and had no motive to do so. As Black had never been formally disowned, he was still quite wealthy and powerful, both magically and in society. And while his family had supported You-Know-Who and the Dark Arts, Sirius Black had vehemently denounced the Dark Arts from a very young age and fought against You-Know-Who's reign. Testimony from character witnesses proclaim he had no contact with anyone supporting You-Know-Who, so could not been convinced to join the Death Eaters. To prove this, Sirius Black simply rolled up his left sleeve to reveal his forearm.

Sirius Black does not have the Dark Mark.

His arm was examined physically and magically, and Black had never been branded with the sign of You-Know-Who's followers.

The profile of Peter Pettigrew was not as kind. It claimed that Pettigrew would have been likely to join You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters if given the right incentive. Witness testimony supported the claim that Pettigrew had always gravitated towards those who had the most power and would act in his own self-interest. In addition, the lack of recognition compared to his friends could have given Pettigrew an inferiority complex, driving him to feel jealous and bitter towards his childhood friends.

Yet, this did not prove Sirius Black's innocence. At this point in the trial, most of the evidence was circumstantial. However, irrefutable evidence was brought up with the next part of the tale. Evidence that forced even the staunchest believers in Black's guilt to admit he was innocent.

As Black proclaimed that Pettigrew had been secret keeper, so too did Black proclaim that he had been the one to track Pettigrew down for his betrayal, not the other way around. After being trapped into a corner, Pettigrew shouted about how Sirius had betrayed James and Lily for all around to hear, setting him up to take the fall for what happened next.

While Black was distracted with Pettigrew's words, Pettigrew cut off his own finger behind his back and then shot a blasting curse at the ground between them. The blast inadvertently hit a gas pipe that was underground, which exploded on impact and destroyed the street above, causing the deaths of the twelve muggles. Black cast a shield charm to protect himself, but the explosion allowed Pettigrew to escape. When the dust cleared, Black was surrounded by numerus bodies and with the knowledge that his former friend had tried to kill him.

Telling this story, Black's eyes had teared up. He ended his testimony by saying that as he stood in that street after all the loss he'd just suffered, he could only laugh at how Pettigrew had outsmarted him, for if he didn't, he might well have gone insane with grief.

While this is all a good story, Mr. Hotchner prove it to be fact with three key pieces of evidence.

The first piece of evidence Mr. Hotchner provided proved who cast the spell that caused such damage. He brought forward the photographs of the street taken by the Ministry's own aurors and pointed out the gas pipes and sewers exposed by the blast. Until now, it was unknown how a street could be destroyed by a single spell, but Mr. Hotchner had the testimony of explosive experts on hand that detailed where the blast originated and the directionality of the explosion, lining up with the effects of a blasting curse hitting a gas pipe cast from where Pettigrew was known to be standing. Mr. Hotchner had gone so far as to hire an independent party to recreate the event, and the results perfectly matched what happened five years ago when Pettigrew cast the blasting curse. Had Black done so, the explosion would have radiated in the opposite direction.

The second piece of evidence provided was Black's wand. The Ministry had kept it along with all the other evidence they'd gathered all these years in storage. Using the Reverse Spell Effect, it showed that the last spell cast was the shield charm, backing up Black's story, especially as he had not resisted arrest when the aurors arrived. Using priori incantatem to go further back through the spell history, we saw many spells used to either track or trace, again, supporting the story that Black had been hunting Pettigrew and not fleeing for his life.

The final bit of evidence was an autopsy of Pettigrew's finger, the only part of his body found at the scene. First Mr. Hotchner argued that there would have been more of Pettigrew found had he died in the blast. He provided several reports detailing the heat needed to disintegrate a body fully, heat that was not reached in the explosion. Then Mr. Hotchner provided photographs of the finger bone, focusing on where it was cut. The autopsy report, done by a specialist in the MACUSA, clearly stated that the bone was cut using a lightly serrated knife, most likely a pocketknife. It was not burned off or cut using any magical means.

The Wizengamot could not reconcile the proof in front of them with the story they had believed all these years. The only story the evidence supported was the one Sirius Black had given; a story where he was innocent of the crimes he was accused of.

And so, when the vote came to clear Sirius Black of all charges, nearly all members of the Wizengamot voted to release Sirius Black with recompense of five thousand galleons for every year he was falsely imprisoned. That number was reduced however when Mr. Hotchner declared that Sirius Black would like to turn himself in for being an unregistered animagus. They then informed the court that Peter Pettigrew was also an unregistered animagus who took the form of a rat.

Sirius Black was fined five thousand galleons and would need to register his animagus form, but no jail time would be served as he had already fulfilled the maximum sentence during his illegal imprisonment.

Peter Pettigrew has been stripped of his Order of Merlin, and a warrant has been issued for his arrest (See pg. 3).

While I applaud Madame Bones for doing her duty as Head of Law Enforcement and bringing about this trial to correct a horrible injustice, there are still several questions that remain. Among them is how an affluent member of our society could simply be thrown into Azkaban so carelessly without any attempt to prove his guilt. Does this mean the Ministry can incarcerate anyone should they choose? Where is the accountability? Are there more like Sirius Black, rotting away in Azkaban when they are innocent? Are there more like Peter Pettigrew, who have committed vile and heinous acts and yet are walking free?

This reporter urges its readers to stand up and demand the Ministry of Magic to review all cases handled under Bartemius Crouch Sr.'s administration to make sure that no other misuse of power occurred.

As for what Sirius Black will do now that he is a free man, I am afraid both he and Mr. Hotchner gave no comment and left the Ministry immediately following the verdict. Wherever you are now, Lord Black, we at the Prophet wish you the very best in life.