"Where is he?!" Fudge shouted. "Where is the madman? Where are the Dementors?! Has he already been Kissed?"
"Calm yourself, Minister, before you give yourself a heart attack," Amelia commented dryly. "Lord Sirius Black is right here." She waved her hand and Sirius flashed the man a grin and gave a little wave from his spot at the table beside Remus.
"Ah!" Fudge proved his intelligence by screaming and jumping back. It was all Tonks could do to not slam her head into the table. She couldn't believe this man had ever been elected. "Aurors! It's Black! Kill him, quickly!"
"Really, Cornelius?" Amelia groaned and shook her head. "Drop your wand, Dawlish. Stop being an idiot. If Lord Black was going to injury anyone don't you think he would've done so long before you arrived? Scrimgeour wipe that scowl off your face!"
"Madame Bones, I don't know what Auror Tonks has told you or how she convinced you of the filing error but we need to take that man into custody to deliver the Kiss immediately."
"This, Harry," Sirius said with a shrug, "is why I didn't tell you sooner who I was. Nothing much has changed since they tossed me away and I rather like having my soul."
"Give Amelia a chance, Sirius," Harry said giving him a tired grin. "She and Tonks are good at their jobs at least."
"Thanks, squirt," Tonks said. She leaned over to ruffle his hair earning an annoyed glare from Harry and a snort of amusement from Shiva and Daphne.
"Head Auror Scrimgeour," Amelia said drawing herself up. The woman may not have been tall, but she was certainly intimidating. "The situation is under control. Auror Tonks informed me of your lack of investigation into the 'filing error'. A 'filing error' that would have proven impossible to occur had you taken the five minutes required to talk to personnel in either the Wizengamot or Hall of Records. Be that as it may, I and these witnesses – with the exception of Albus Dumbledore – personally all heard the testimony of Peter Pettigrew earlier tonight."
"That's impossible!" Fudge shouted turning an impressive shade of red. Tonks only managed that color when she was using her powers.
"Mr. Pettigrew is very much alive, Minister. Or we have a worrying case of a new breed of Inferi that can talk. I prefer the former don't you?" her smile was all teeth. "Pettigrew informed us that he was the one who betrayed James and Lily Potter as well as being the actual culprit behind the murders of the Muggles on that street. Lord Black was falsely accused."
"There is no proof of that," Fudge snarled. Scrimgeour at least appeared to be cowed as he sighed and hung his head. Dawlish simply nodded along with Fudge.
"Pettigrew did escape during the confusion of the mass Dementor attack. I will be bringing up the lack of oversight of those creatures with you later by the way. That the Quidditch incident wasn't enough for you; now you nearly had seven soulless students, two soulless professors and two soulless Aurors to explain," Amelia snarled. Tonks shifted back slightly. This was the first time she had actually seen her boss lose her temper. "But that conversation is for later. In private. For the moment, I assure you we all have memories of the confession which we are able to submit either upon return to the Ministry with the use of the court pensieve or right here borrowing Headmaster Dumbledore's."
"Impossible!" Fudge scoffed. "He's obviously confounded you all. Scrimgeour, Dawlish, arrest Black and stun the others until the curse can be lifted from them." Tonks gaped at the man. Did he honestly believe that or did he just not care?
Before anyone could react to Fudge's order, seven wands were pointing at the three men. All the school students were on their feet with wands in hand. Tonks' eyes widened, Harry had been right when he told her off months ago – these teens were not kids. "Madam Bones," Harry said his voice quiet but dangerous, "we've tried your way. Would you let me try mine?"
Amelia sighed. "Please don't hex the Minister of Magic, Mr. Potter. I can't overlook an attack like that."
"I have no intention of starting a fight, Madam Bones," Harry replied.
"Your actions are pointing to the contrary, Harry," Dumbledore said as if he was commenting on the weather.
Harry completely ignored Dumbledore and made to step forward. Shiva laid a hand on his shoulder. "Harry, don't get yourself arrested."
"Like, I said, Shiva," Harry said, "none of us intend to start a fight. Only if we are attacked first will we start sending spells back." She let go of his shoulder and Harry stepped forward. Daphne fell into place on his right, while the others took up offset positions in formation behind them. The Auror in Tonks was impressed. It was a good battlefield formation, able to provide both cover and support as needed.
"Minister Fudge," Harry said, "Sirius Black is my sworn godfather. He is the Lord Black. We have both circumstantial evidence and physical proof in the form of memories and/or veritaserum testimony to his innocence. On top of that we have proof from the Ministry itself that he received no trial and has been unlawfully held in Azkaban for the past 12 years. I don't know why you are unwilling to admit to this error and I don't particularly care."
Harry shrugged nonchalantly and grinned at Fudge. Tonks was glad that grin wasn't directed at her. It sent shivers down her spine. "I am Harry James Potter. I am The-Boy-Who-Lived. I am Heir to House Potter. I am allies with House Longbottom, House Greengrass, House Davis, House Bones, House Lovegood, House Abbott, House Patil, House Li. I have the backing of the Heir Zabini, Heir Bulstrode and Heir Brown. I call several of House Weasley friends and allies. If you truly wish to bury my godfather for crimes he is innocent of then I will call on my allies and bury you for crimes you are guilty of."
"I am the Minister for Magic boy!"
"Crimes such as," Harry continued completely ignoring Fudge, "abuse of power, subversion of justice, attempted murder of a Lord, attempted Line Theft…should I go on?"
"How dare you," Fudge was practically spitting at this point. Scrimgeour had subtly moved to the side, separating himself from the man. Dawlish on the other hand only scowled and tightened his grip on his wand. Everyone else just watched.
Daphne smiled at the man and took up where Harry had left off. "Even if only one or two of the charges stick, Minister, your career will be over. We aren't asking for much. We're simply asking that you finally see justice done," she said shrugging. Then she held up the carrot in place of the stick. "After all, this miscarriage of justice certainly wasn't done on your watch was it? All you've been doing was pursuing an assumed madman, an escaped fugitive. Now that you know the truth of the matter…well it would certainly reflect well on you to have righted such an old wrong. A wrong perpetrated against a Noble House at that! You aren't the responsible party here; that would be former Minister Millicent Bagnold and former DLME Head Bartemius Crouch."
Fudge stopped sputtering and looked at the girl. He started twirling his bowler hat in his hands and narrowed his eyes. "Yes, yes it was them wasn't it…" he muttered. "Amelia, you are certain, Black is innocent?"
.
.
.
.
🎉The novel is available in PDF with more than 400 chapters, visit us in our Ko-Fi store🎉
🎉ko-fi.com/gokublack444🎉