Remus nodded thoughtfully before turning his attention towards the other members of The Order. He had never thought of it that way, but now that he was he could not believe that he had not spotted it before. Most of The Order did feel that they owed Dumbledore in some way.
It was strange. Back when they were at Hogwarts, Mary MacDonald had once mentioned how she thought Professor Slughorn and his little Slug Club was a bit distasteful. Slughorn would throw little parties and dinners together for those few whom he considered to be promising students in some area or another. He would then use his contacts to help those students out, getting them in with the right people for the right career path, that sort of thing. Graduates would then remember Slughorn fondly and sort a few things out for him, such as free tickets to Quidditch matches, or a nice bottle of Oak-matured mead and the like. They would also be open to listening to his recommendations about upcoming students.
Was Slughorn's style really all that different to Dumbledore's? Well, in a way it was. Slughorn made no secret of what it was he was doing, after all.
The rest of the trials looked like they would be interesting.
Amelia called for Mr and Mrs Weasley together. Madam Bones quickly explained that, like Lupin, they could find nothing to suggest that Arthur and Molly had done anything illegal as part of The Order other than failing to report Sirius' whereabouts. Again this was forgiven.
The interesting part came when Amelia began to explain why the senior Weasleys had joined up with The Order of the Phoenix.
"During our questioning, both Arthur and Molly Weasley attested to the fact that Albus Dumbledore had personally decided to allow all seven of their children to attend Hogwarts, despite their being unable to afford the tuition fees required to do so," explained Madam Bones to the engrossed courtroom.
"Faced with the prospect of having all seven children attend Hogwarts, as opposed to just the oldest son, as has been tradition for the Weasley family for generations, Arthur and Molly promptly snapped up the offer and have felt indebted to Dumbledore ever since."
Everyone in the courtroom was on the edge of their seats, waiting for the bombshell that they were all suddenly sure that Amelia was about to reveal.
"Unfortunately, there is more to this story than meets the eye. Sledgerock, if you please?"
The door off to the side opened up once again to reveal a very important looking Goblin, accompanied by a standard Law Enforcement Officer. As the Goblin marched purposefully into the courtroom, everyone noticed that he was carrying a number of rolled-up scrolls under his arm.
"For those of you here who may not know," said Madam Bones to the room at large "This is Sledgerock. He is Gringotts' official liaison to the Wizengamot."
Madam Bones drew her wand and conjured a small wooden desk and chair beside the seat of the Court Scribe. The Goblin placed his things down on the desk, after getting a nod of approval from Madam Bones, he unrolled one of the scrolls.
He cleared his throat importantly and then announced "The following is the last will and testament of one Ginevra Lucinda Prewett, who died 9th October, 1981, shortly after the birth of her youngest grandchild, Ginevra Molly Weasley.
"For the sake of privacy, I shall only read the part that relates to this trial.
"I leave G210000 to my seven grandchildren born from my only daughter Molly and her useless husband, Arthur Weasley. This is to be divided evenly between the seven of them and used to pay their seven years' worth of tuition to Hogwarts. Merlin knows that their father will never be able to pay it."
The courtroom was silent as Sledgerock unfurled more of the parchment, until he got to the end.
Then he dropped his second bombshell.
"This will and testament was witnessed by one Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore and was signed off by him on 5th October, 1981."
Amelia turned to the Weasley parents. "Molly, Arthur, I know that this cannot be easy, but would either of you care to elaborate?"
Arthur looked at his wife, who had tears streaming down her cheeks, before answering. "Molly's mother did not approve of her marrying me. With the Prewetts being an Ancient family while the Weasleys are a Clan, she felt that her daughter was marrying below her station. She and Molly argued about it and did not speak again following our wedding."
"And you knew nothing about this will?" prompted Amelia.
Arthur shook his head. "No. As far as we knew, Molly was not included in any will of her mother's."
"That is interesting," said Sledgerock. "Our records show that Albus Dumbledore attended the will reading of Ginevra Prewett in your stead. He had written permission by you, Mr Weasley, and your wife, stating your wish to have him act as your representative during the reading."
The truth of the matter was already revealed, but Amelia clearly wanted to make sure that it was hammered home.
"I'm curious," she said. "Did Dumbledore offer you any forms to fill in so that your children could attend Hogwarts?"
Arthur's shoulders sank. "Yes," he replied. "We arranged it a few days after Molly's mother died."
"And, presumably, a few days before the reading of the will…" ventured Madam Bones.
.....
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