Albus scowled as he was raised through the floor into the ministry courtroom. It had been over a week since he'd been marched from his office and out of the castle, in full view of the student body and staff. It had been the most humiliating experience in his life. Amelia claimed it was because she didn't want to give him an opportunity to escape, but Dumbledore knew the real reason.
Molly Prewett sat in the cage beside Dumbledore, a broken woman. She'd always justified her actions by telling herself she was doing it for her family. That it was to secure Ginny's future but sitting in her DMLE supplied apartment had given her a lot of time with her own thoughts. And in that time, she'd reached some troubling conclusions.
On the other side of Dumbledore, Poppy Pomfrey sat glaring defiantly at the bench. She still believed she'd done nothing wrong, despite what she'd confessed to under the influence of truth serum. Dumbledore had told her why they needed to keep the Granger girl and Delacour away from Potter. It made sense then and it made sense now. She was relying on Albus to get them out of this mess and back to Hogwarts.
Dumbledore and Pomfrey were mounting a joint defence and being represented by the same lawyer. Molly's lawyer was provided by the ministry. Her file had bounced around the DMLE multiple times, no one wanted to take the case of the woman accused of trying to steal the fortune and title of the Boy-Who-Lived.
The doors to the chamber opened and Amelia, Connie, Moody and the newly elected Chief Wich Augusta Longbottom entered.
Amelia had quickly called for an emergency session of the Wizengamot, in the hours following Dumbledore's arrest. Dumbledore was dumped and Augusta elected in near record time once the charges against the old man were announced.
Once everyone reached their allotted positions, Augusta called the trial to order. "This court is now in session, Auror Moody, please read the charges as it pertains to defendants Albus Dumbledore, Poppy Pomfrey and Molly Weasley."
"If anyone wants to take a toilet break, now would be the time," Moody muttered as he held up the long sheaf of parchment in front of him. "Albus Percival Brian Wulfric Dumbledore, Poppy Pomfrey, and Molly Prewett you are charged with…"
Moody covered the charges related to Harry first before moving onto the ones related to the wider Hogwarts student body. Each student counted as a single charge, the writer of the charge sheet had wisely restrained themselves and gave a simple number figure beside each charge. Given the number of students that had passed through Hogwarts halls in the time since Dumbledore become headmaster, the number quickly reached into the thousands.
"Prosecutor Hammer, call your first witness," Amelia ordered.
Connie began by calling a series of current and former Hogwarts students to talk about their experience while Dumbledore was headmaster. Penny Clearwater and Colin Creevey spoke of confronting a basilisk, and their time petrified. Hagrid reluctantly talked about being expelled from Hogwarts for something he didn't do. And finally Fleur and Krum talked about participating in the Triwizard tournament, including Krum being imperious'd to attack Fleur.
As Fleur walked out of the courtroom, Amelia turned to Connie. "Call your next witness."
"The prosecution calls Ronald Bilius Weasley."
"You can't do that! I won't allow it!" Molly protested angrily. "He is my son!"
Connie frowned at the older woman. "Miss Prewitt, your son's legal guardian approved Ron's participation today."
"And who would that be?" Molly asked acerbically.
"Percy Weasley."
Those two words took the wind out of Molly's sails. She fell silent, while casting glares into the viewing gallery where Percy, Ginny and Percy's girlfriend Audrey were sitting.
Ron entered the room in his Hogwarts robes, he glanced timidly at his mother, and the headmaster before stepping into the witness box. The witness stand glowed, indicating the lie detecting rune was active. Once the formalities were dispensed with, the questioning began.
"How did you become aware of a plan to potion Harry Potter?"
"Mum told me she wanted me to help her."
"Do you know what your mother's intentions were?"
"She wanted Potter's money."
"She told you this?"
"Yeah, she talked to me about a bunch of stuff," Ron admitted.
"Did she tell you if anyone else in the family was involved?"
"Well, yeah, Bill helped, Charlie too, I know Fred and George made the potion and Ginny was supposed to help me feed it to Granger and Potter."
"This is Hermione Granger, Harry Potter's girlfriend?" Connie asked.
"Yeah, her," Ron replied sullenly.
"You didn't mention your father or older brother Percy, were they not involved?"
"Dad didn't want to know, he didn't help, but he didn't get in the way."
"And Percy?"
A sour expression crossed Ron's face. "Every time Mum got caught by Percy telling us something about her plan, she obliviated him. Mum said Percy would never help, he'd go to the Ministry or some junk. Mum became a lot more careful about what she said and when after the first couple of times. It was a lot easier after Percy moved out."
"When did you become aware of Albus Dumbledore's involvement?"
"After we all got back from school after second year, Mum said Professor Dumbledore would be helping us. I think she said he wanted a bunch of Potter's money, and all his family's books."
"Do you know what that help entailed?"
"Nah, and I didn't ask anyway. All I know is, Potter was hanging around with Granger and Delacour a bunch, and then one day he was interested in Ginny instead. And Granger wanted me," Ron explained as a cruel grin crossed his face.
"Was that part of the price for your help, Hermione Granger being your girlfriend and possibly one day your wife?"
"Uh, yeah, I was supposed to get a bunch of Potter's money and his bird, I, uh, mean, Granger."
"But you're testifying today. What caused your change of heart?"
Ron frowned. "Everything's gone to shit. Bill's disappeared, and Charlie, Fred and George are dead. Dad's going to Azkaban, and Mum's probably going with him. All chasing after Potter's money has done, is cause us suffering. Professor Dumbledore said he'd help us but he didn't do anything while my family was being murdered… I don't care what Pro… Dumbledore wants any more. I don't want to die."
"Thank you, Mister Weasley, I have no more questions." Connie said, sitting down.
The combined council for Dumbledore and Pomfrey stood up. "At one time, you were close with Lord Potter, weren't you?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"How did you become friends?"
"My family helped Potter get onto platform nine and three quarters and then we sat together on the train."
"I see, thank you. Now, did you speak to Professor Dumbledore or Matron Pomfrey about your mother's plan to steal Lord Potter's fortune?"
"No sir."
"Did they ever approach you about your mother's plans, or give you instructions directly?"
"No sir."
"So, you only had your mother's word that Professor Dumbledore and Matron Pomfrey were even involved?"
"Yes sir," Ron admitted reluctantly.
"Very well, I have nothing further for now, but I reserve the right to recall this witness later."
Molly's lawyer focused her questioning around Dumbledore's instructions to the family, and what Ron had done on his behalf. She wrapped up by asking Ron about his impressions of Molly as a mother and how she took care of her family.
"Thank you for your time, Mister Weasley, you're excused, for now," Augusta said.
Ron stepped out of the witness box and glanced guiltily at his mother. "Sorry."
Once Ron was gone, Amelia turned to Connie again. "Call your next witness."
"The prosecution calls Arthur Weasley."
A rattle of chains drew the gallery's attention to the entrance to the courtroom. Dressed in Azkaban prison robes, Arthur was shackled at the wrists and flanked by two Aurors. He was led to the witness box and his guards took their spots either side of him.
"When did you discover your ex-wife planned to steal Lord Potter's money and title?"
"After Harry stayed with us between his first and second year at Hogwarts. I think she always aspired to marry Ginny off to the heir of one of the old families. But Ginny has had a crush on Harry since she was a young girl. My wife knew Ginny would do anything to help if she knew she could be with Harry."
Arthur let out a long breath. "Once the children were back at Hogwarts, Molly told me her plan. She'd written to Bill to ask for his help finding a spell or potion that would make Harry cooperate."
"At what stage did you become aware that Albus Dumbledore knew of your ex-wife's plans?"
"At the end of Ginny's first year at school. After Harry saved her from the basilisk. Molly told me that Albus had approached her about her plans for Harry. He told her he needed Harry for something important, that the future of our world was at stake. But if we worked together, we could find a way to keep everyone happy."
"What was Dumbledore's idea?"
"Dumbledore wanted us to stick to our plan of potioning Harry. To that end, he convinced the owner of the Daily Prophet to let us win the Daily Prophet prize draw. That let us take a trip to Egypt to see our eldest son Bill. Albus believed that speaking to Bill in person would convince him to help us, and he was right."
"Did Dumbledore ever inform you of his wider plans for Harry Potter?"
"Not to my knowledge. If he ever shared that information with Molly, she never told me."
Connie went on to ask about the roles the rest of the family were supposed to take in the plan, before wrapping up with one last question. "Finally, Mister Weasley, if you allowed all of this to go on under your nose, for years. What made you decide to accept a plea deal and turn witness for the prosecution?"
Arthur bowed his head. "I've been a coward, I should have stopped this years ago. But I didn't, and my family is suffering for it. I've lost four sons, I don't want to lose anyone else. I deeply regret not doing anything to stop this nightmare. The only thing I can do now is try to make this right."
"Thank you, Mister Weasley, I have no more questions."
Dumbledore and Molly's attorney's reiterated the same questions they'd posed to Ron earlier before ending their questioning, handing back to Connie. "I call Lord Sirius Orion Black the third to the stand."
Molly froze as the blood drained from her face. Sirius entered the courtroom dressed splendidly in black acromantula robes, as befit the lord of house Black. He sent a withering glare towards the defendants, as he took to the stand. Augusta had to fire off a cannon blast from her wand to end the gossiping in the gallery.
Sirius testified about having his memories altered by Dumbledore and then being betrayed by Molly. After Sirius it was Hermione's turn to recount having her memory altered and being potioned by the Weasley's.
Connie left the biggest hitter among her witnesses for last. She wanted to leave the jurors with a lasting impression. "The prosecution calls Harry Potter."
The excitement in the chamber reached fever pitch. Percy and Audrey had to clamp their hands down on Ginny's arms to stop her leaping from her seat down to the floor below, when she saw Harry. He was similarly dressed to Sirius, in black acromantula robes emblazoned with the Potter and Black family crests.
"Lord Potter, can you describe your life between nineteen eighty one and nineteen ninety one?"
Harry took a deep breath and began recounting his life living with the Dursleys, much as he had with Amelia weeks before. By the time he was finished the gallery looked venomous, their hero had spent a decade being abused by magic hating muggles, and Albus Dumbledore had done nothing. Worse, he wanted to steal the boy's future and fortune and he was willing to go to extreme lengths to do it.
"Let's talk about your first year at Hogwarts. Miss Granger spoke of the troll attack from her perspective, what are your memories of that night?"
Harry told the story of saving Hermione from the troll and how it forged a bond between them. He expanded by telling everyone listening about who let the troll into the castle and why. Leading to the story about the third floor corridor and his confrontation with Quirrellmort.
Connie and Harry covered second, third, fourth and fifth year as well as everything in between in similar fashion. By the end, even Ginny was forced to realise Harry would never love her, at least not in the same way he loved Fleur and Hermione.
"Thank you, Lord Potter, your witness."
Mister Stone let Molly's lawyer go first. "Lord Potter, you spent multiple summers staying with the Weasley's, is that correct?"
"Two," Harry confirmed.
"How were you treated while you were there?"
"I was treated well."
"Would you say you were treated like a member of the family?"
Harry frowned. "Whether I was or not, I'm not part of Molly Prewett's family. I never wanted to be part of her family. Ron was my friend, that's it."
"Did Molly know that?"
"I have no idea."
"Is it possible Molly thought what she was doing was in your best interests? That she was trying to protect you from people who wanted to use you?"
Harry's eyes narrowed. "I don't see how, Molly tried to rip me away from all the people I love. And tie me to her daughter. Without my knowledge or consent. You'd think if Molly Prewett was worried about me, she'd talk to me about it. Or speak to my godfather, she knew where to find him."
Molly's lawyer frowned and turned away from Harry, towards Stone's desk. "Your witness."
Stone smiled and stood up, approaching the witness stand. "Harry, may I call you Harry?"
"No," Harry replied firmly.
Stone faltered before resuming his smile, walking away from Harry. "Ah, yes, Lord Potter, my apologies. I would like to revisit an earlier part of your testimony, where you described boarding the Hogwarts Express for the first time. Were you told how to get onto Platform nine and three quarters?"
"No, Hagrid, uh, failed to tell me."
"I see, now while I don't mean to cast aspersions on Hagrid's character, we can agree that was somewhat of an oversight. Would you agree?" The lawyer asked, turning around to face Harry again.
"Yes, reluctantly."
Stone nodded. "How did you find the platform then?"
"I heard Molly Weasley, uh, Prewett, asking her children where they were going. Ginny said it was Platform nine and three quarters. So I asked her for help."
"I need a little bit of help, Lord Potter, how many of Miss Prewett's children had or were attending Hogwarts by nineteen ninety one?"
"Six; Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George and Ron."
"So by nineteen ninety one, Molly Prewitt had been taking her children too and from that platform for nine years. Why would she need to be reminded? Did Molly Prewett ever strike you as a forgetful person?"
"The contrary, I always thought she had an excellent memory, especially for people who she thought slighted her."
"Can you think of any other reason she would need to announce herself?"
"Is there a point to this?" Connie asked.
"I am wondering about that myself, Mister Stone." Augusta said.
"I am building to a point, your honour," Stone assured her.
"Reach it soon."
"In light of your more recent experiences with Miss Prewett, do those initial interactions strike you differently, Lord Potter?"
"Yes."
"I have no further questions for this witness. At this time I recall Ron Weasley to the stand."
Once Ron had returned, Stone resumed his questioning. "Earlier, you spoke about how you and Lord Potter became friends. And we just heard his view of that encounter. Tell me, Mister Weasley, was that meeting purely by chance?"
"Y-yeah, of course…" Ron replied nervously, he winced when the navy blue aura of the witness stand turned an angry shade of crimson.
Stone couldn't help but smile a little. "Shall we try that again, Mister Weasley?"
Ron groaned and hung his head. "No, it wasn't, not exactly. Mum wanted me to find Potter on the train and become his friend. But she happened to spot him trying to find the platform. After that, all she had to do was put us in the same compartment. Then it was on me to make friends."
"Did you want to be Lord Potter's friend?"
Ron shrugged. "It was cool until Potter started attacking trolls, and hanging out with stuck up muggle chicks…"
"Ah, yes, thank you, Mister Weasley. I am done with this witness."
"You're excused," Augusta said, leveling a glare at Ron.
Connie rose from her seat. "The prosecution rests."
"I think this is a good time for a ten minute recess," Augusta said with a bang of her gavel.
Harry, Hermione, Fleur, Sirius and Amelia gathered in one of the meeting rooms, near the courtroom. Harry sat between Hermione and Fleur, running his fingers through his hair. "I'm glad that's over."
"You ok?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, I guess." Harry said.
Harry glanced at Amelia. "What's Dumbledore's lawyer doing? Why is he focusing so much on Miss Prewett?"
Amelia pondered the question for a moment. "I think he's trying to pin the worst of the charges on Molly. He knows Dumbledore and Pomfrey will be found guilty of something, his goal is containing the damage. He wants to minimize the amount of time they're going to spend in Azkaban."
Harry nodded. "Yeah, ok."
"You don't seem that bothered by that, Harry?" Amelia observed.
"I'm not, Dumbledore's reputation is what matters to him, and it's ruined forever. He'll be a pariah for the rest of his life. That's enough for me."
"I see."
-X-
"Mister Stone, you may call your first witness."
Stone proceeded to call practically everyone Molly Prewett knew. The line of questioning centered around Molly's obsession with money and manipulative tendencies.
"I call Headmaster Albus…"
"Objection, Albus Dumbledore is no longer headmaster of Hogwarts, he was dismissed from that position upon his arrest," Connie protested.
"I am aware, Prosecutor Hammer, I was there…" Augusta replied, with a small smile.
"Uh, yes, ma'am," Connie replied sheepishly.
"Let's try that one again, Mister Stone."
"Yes, ma'am. The prosecution calls Albus Dumbledore to the stand."
The blue aura around the witness stand disappeared and reappeared around Dumbledore's cell. Stone went over Dumbledore's time at Hogwarts going charge by charge. Dumbledore had an explanation for it all.
Standing at the back of the viewing gallery, Harry could see how serene Dumbledore looked. He expected to be found not guilty and Harry worried, even after all the evidence and testimony, that he might.
"Arthur Weasley said Molly told him, you had a plan for Harry, could you enlighten us?"
"Harry has an important role to play in the war against the dark lord and his death eaters. More than that I cannot say, lest I endanger Harry further."
"But You-Know-Who is dead, the ministry confirmed it, do you believe otherwise?" Stone asked.
"Sadly, yes, for reasons I cannot say, I have reason to expect he will return eventually."
Augusta glanced away from the trial for a moment, causing Dumbledore to divert his attention from his lawyer. Augusta suddenly banged her gavel, drawing the attention of the room. "I am ordering this court into a confidential session for the next ten minutes."
Augusta waved her wand and opaque sound proof screens appeared around the public gallery and lords benches, obscuring the floor of the court from view.
"Madam Longbottom, I protest, I was still in the middle of questioning," Stone said angrily.
"Mister Stone, I have been informed that Mister Dumbledore has out of date information. There is someone here to correct the record before we continue."
"And who would that be?" Dumbledore asked, confident he still knew all.
"That would be me, Albus," a distorted voice stated as they emerged into the light. They were dressed in bulky black robes, their face hidden by a plain white mask and a hood that covered their head.
"Croaker, I haven't seen you in some time," Albus commented.
"And who would you be?" Stone asked.
"My name is Croaker, I am the head of the Department of Mysteries. You don't need to know anymore than that."
"And what information do you have to share with us?" Connie asked.
"Voldemort is dead, the bomb that tore apart the Malfoy manor was the final step in the plan to truly destroy him. He is gone."
Dumbledore gave his old friend a condescending smile. "I'm afraid you're wrong about that, he has ways to return."
"The horcruxes? They're gone, burned away in fiendfyre."
Dumbledore's eyes widened. "How do you know about that?"
"The one in Potter's head was destroyed, one of our agents was able to collect some of the viscera that poured out of his head. Using the residual dark magic we were able to track down the other horcruxes he'd created."
"How… how did Harry survive, tell me, please?!" Dumbledore begged, straining his against his chains.
"No."
"What is a horcrux?" Stone asked.
Croaker glanced towards Stone. "You don't need to know."
"You can't know if you got them all… He could still have more!" Dumbledore said desperately.
"We can and we're certain. He's dead, Albus, you lost," Croaker said, they glanced at Augusta. "I am finished here."
Croaker faded into the darkness as Stone rushed to speak to Dumbledore who sat slumped in his chair. Augusta waited a couple of minutes before lifting the screens. "Mister Stone, you may resume your questioning."
"One moment, your honour," Stone said before returning his attention to Dumbledore.
"Albus, Albus! Say something?!" Pomfrey demanded angrily, pulling at her restraints as fear filled her eyes.
Dumbledore sat mutely staring into nothing, his dreams had shattered. Someone had saved Potter's life and destroyed his plans for retirement. There was nothing left for him now, only death.
"N-no more questions…" Stone finally said walking away from Dumbledore.
Both Connie and Molly's lawyer tried to ask Dumbledore questions but he remained mute and unresponsive. Eventually they both gave up and moved on.
Poppy was next on the stand, she denied having any ill intentions towards Harry. Instead blaming everything on Dumbledore and Molly.
Finally it was Molly's turn to testify. She was a shell of herself, Dumbledore's capitulation had made it worse. "Molly, could you tell us about the first time you met Harry Potter?"
Molly let out a long breath and hung her head. "I intended to have Ron befriend him on the train. When I saw Harry trying to find the platform to Hogwarts, I knew it was a sign that magic was on my side. At least that's what I thought at the time…"
"A-are you admitting you…" Molly's lawyer began before Molly interrupted her.
"Yes, I intended to potion Harry Potter and his girlfriends so I could steal his money and title. When Dumbledore found out he demanded money and the Potter library for his silence. When my children told me that Harry began dating Granger and Delacour during the Triwizard Tournament, I demanded Albus do something about it. He altered their memories and made them forget about their relationship."
Molly's lawyer pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation. Her father wanted her to join the family business, but she'd aspired to be more than a baker. Now though, getting up in the middle of the night to bake bread sounded like a wonderful career path. "Was there anything else?"
"Once Harry and Granger were with us again for the summer holidays, I began dosing their food with the loyalty and love potions my sons brewed for me. The plan was to continue potioning them through this school year and the next, while also mixing in a potion that would make them hate each other. Bill took care of the Veela, he was very excited to bed a creature who looked like Delacour. But it's over now, I want this to end."
Molly's lawyer shook her head and turned away from her client. "I have no more questions…"
"Mister Stone?" Augusta asked.
"No questions."
"Prosecutor Hammer?"
A smiling Connie shook her head. "No questions."