"How has it taken this long for Parkinson to get a trial?" Hermione asked Charlus as they signed into the new ministry house. This one was on loan from the British government.
"Bias amongst the Wizengamot. Nearly every sitting member of the Wizengamot currently has a close relative or even an Heir attending Hogwarts. It has been difficult to find anyone who can be objective. They even wanted Amelia off the case due to Susan being a target. However, not having a better person to step in without further decreasing the Wizengamot representation and Amelia's role as prosecutor and her obvious anger at Parkinson align together she was able to lobby to be allowed to try the case."
"That doesn't sound like a great situation." Hermione said as her mind ran through the potential implications.
"It isn't." Charlus confirmed.
"So how are the Wizengamot handling it?" Harry asked.
"Like a tribunal only with seven sitting in judgment, not just three. Four need to agree to convict, more extreme punishments need more people to vote guilty. All seven are required to vote guilty for execution to be on the table. The rest of the Wizengamot will also be watching the trial from the jury box to monitor that everything stays above board.
They were shown into the courtroom where the seven judges were sitting on what had to be a magically expanded bench and there they joined up with the other witnesses. Susan, Hannah, Ron, and Headmaster Greengrass. Mr Weasley, Amelia Bones, and Hannah's father were all sitting back in the visitors gallery watching their children.
Of the seven judges two surprised Harry, one was Dumbledore, someone Harry hadn't seen for quite some time and the other Harry hadn't seen for even longer. It was Minister Fudge. Fudge was still somehow the Minister of magic despite everything having blown up in his face. Nobody was one hundred percent sure how but when Harry had asked around the few people he knew who might know, the impression he got was that the Minister was already out the door in all ways except officially.
From what Harry understood, Fudge just rubber stamped whatever he was told to and by doing it this way they didn't need to worry about trying to win a Ministerial election during a civil war. On one hand it kept them from needing to worry about a Voldemort supporter getting the job at the worst possible time. On the other it was a complete mockery of the political process. They had basically sacrificed the one thin veneer of democracy that wizarding Britain had for convenience.
They went through a process of identifying themselves to the court and going through a mountain of paperwork, then all the witnesses were shown to another room where they would have to wait to be called. It wasn't much, just a room with some relatively comfortable chairs, a few side tables and a stack of old, out of date magazines. The mundane location only had three benefits over the magical equivalent. First was that the magazines were muggle. That meant no matter how out of date they were they were new to all of them. Second was the old TV in the corner. Unfortunately it only had the regular channels that were free. Lastly there was a vending machine that offered a selection of tea, a few different types of coffee, hot chocolate and for some reason chicken soup. Of course it only took British pounds rather than wizarding money but both Harry and Hermione had thought to bring some with them.
They day dragged by. The TV and the magazines helped a little but none of them were called yet and it quickly became a bunch of people sitting in a room with nothing to do.
During the break for lunch Charlus took Harry to try and speak with Amelia but they weren't able to do much more than tell her that they needed to have a conversation before they were reminded that the lunch break wasn't exactly long and was nowhere near long enough for the conversation they needed to have.
After lunch the first of the witnesses started being called. Susan was the first to be called and she was gone for three hours until she came back and told Hannah that she was up next.
After her three hours away Susan practically collapsed back into the chair she had been using that morning. "Any idea who will be called after Hannah?" Harry asked.
"Auntie said she was doing things in order of events so Hannah and I were there at the beginning and I suppose it could be any of you next because you all came in at the same time. I think it will likely be Ron though. Then Professor Potter, then Harry you would normally be next as the first to step out but I think they will save you for last, the whole boy who lived thing. So it will be Hermione before you. Though I suspect you will all be called tomorrow now. It's gone three o'clock now. Even if they finish with Hannah today it will probably be around five and they will probably want to break for the day."
Susan's prediction of no one else being called that day and ending at around five was practically spot on. The court ended its day at five-fifteen and they all made their ways home. The only surprise for Susan and Hermione was that Amelia and Susan accompanied Charlus, Harry, and Hermione back to Potter manor.
After sharing Harry's and Hermione's portkeys to get to the Manor they soon found themselves sitting in the kitchen sipping tea. They were after all British and hard discussions where best had over a mug of boiling hot tea. Susan was surprised that whatever it was they were going to talk about didn't need her to be sent to another room, something she was used to with her aunt being so involved in a lot of things she couldn't talk about. Harry had already told Hermione the basics because of the possibility he was going to be involved.
"So what is this all about Charlus?" Amelia asked as she added sugar to her tea.
"I may have a way to end this war." He said carefully.
"And what's the catch? Nothing like this ever happens without a massive catch waiting just around the corner." Amelia sounded cautious but not uninterested.
"We, that is to say the witches and wizards of Britain would need to surrender our claim to the old ministry of magic location. The tunnels under London would go back to their original owners, Harry said carefully.
Charlus shot Harry a look for jumping in but Amelia asked. "Who are the original owners and what do they offer in exchange?" It was impossible to tell if she was interested or if she was gathering evidence for a potential conspiracy against the Ministry charge.
"The goblins were the original owners of the caves. The goblins then carved out and turned the caves into a small city that they called 'tas'ak'un'. It was their, well, capital isn't the right word but it was where their largest and strongest and normally in charge clan lived. Then some time in the eleventh or twelfth century war kicked off between humans and goblins. That's non magical humans. The mundane people asked for the help of the wizards as this was before the Statute of Secrecy and the wizards seeing how zealous some of the mundane population were getting against magical people took not only the opportunity to have a more positive relationship, but also took the opportunity to secure themselves a stronghold that no mundane army could breach. The goblins lost, treaties were signed and eventually most witches and wizards forgot that they didn't build the Ministry complex, they just took it over." Hermione said.
Harry, a little stunned, asked, "Where did you learn all that? That's way more than I told you. Hell, that's more than I knew."
Hermione gave him a little eye roll before saying. "I read it in a history book our second year. Binns is always going on about goblin rebellions and I was looking for what actually was the source of friction between us."
"What exactly are the goblins offering in exchange?" Amelia asked.
"Warriors and a way into the Ministry building that isn't the main entrance for a joint force of goblin warriors and Aurors. Any more specific would be decided between you, as the head of the Auror force, and Ragnok, who is leading the goblins side of things. The biggest issue is what happens after." Charlus explained.
"After?" Susan asked curiosity, pushing her to speak up.
Harry answered. "After the Ministry is cleared of death eaters and the wizarding public sees not us taking the Ministry back over but goblins. Add in what most witches and wizards think about goblins and you have a potentially volatile situation. That's where I come in."
"How can you help with that?" Susan asked.
"I will have to give a lot of press interviews. Help the public see it as a good thing. The end of you-know-who, better relationship with the goblins and all it cost us was a building."
"Along with that I, and hopefully a few others, would need to be a strong voice in the Wizengamot. Help keep them from over reacting." Charlus said.
"What about all the ministries assets? The building is full of our things." Amelia asked
"When I spoke to Ragnok he started on about giving us 30 days grace after they took possession and anything left after that they would start charging us rent. I don't think we need to worry about them letting the ministry retrieve their things." Charlus told her.
"I believe it could work and all the Ministry would 'lose' is something they have already lost. We can build a new Ministry. The American wizards have a skyscraper, the Indian wizards have a palace, the Japanese a castle. There are plenty of options to choose from." Harry said. He had asked around about other countries and their hidden Ministries. The only other place that used underground tunnels was France and that was because the Paris catacombs were readily available real estate.
"There is the problem of who is going to pay for it." Amelia pointed out not quite managing to keep all of the condescension from her voice.
"And some of the richest families in wizarding Britain are terrorists. Take their gold in reparations and use it to employ witches and wizards to build a new Ministry. Use it to build a new building and at the same time put the money into the hands of working people who will spend it in wizarding Britain's business. It will stimulate the economy faster than any other policy the Ministry could try." Hermione pointed out not exactly happy with the condescending tone Amelia had directed at Harry.
There was more discussion and it wasn't too long until they got to the point where all talking about it more would do is sour people on the idea. "I'm going to need some time to think on it." Amelia finally decided.
"That's fair. Why don't we drop the topic until after the trial. We can touch base then and see if anyone needs more time." Charlus said.
"Were is Sirius by the way?" Amelia asked.
"He is helping out a team of curse breakers." Was all Charlus would or could say without bringing up the Horcruxes and while that may be necessary eventually it wasn't yet and best kept under wraps.
-ϟϟϟ-
Back at the court the next day Harry and the rest were shuffled into the witness waiting room almost as soon as they had arrived. Susan and Hannah were there as well because nobody knew if they would be recalled as witnesses. Susan spent as much time looking at Harry and Charlus as she did Ron only with very different expressions on her face. It was noticeable enough that Ron even asked Harry what was going on. Not in an accusatory way, more a 'what did I miss' way. Harry explained about how there had been a rather heavy conversation the night before and it had left them with a lot to think about.
Ron had just about enough time to accept that before he was called into the courtroom to give evidence. The rest of them settled into wait, only the mindless daytime television to keep any of them from going insane. Ron spent the most time in the witnesses chair of them all so far. That made some sense to Harry as Ron was the one who uncovered the plot and there would be questions about how he was able to recognise that Pansy wasn't Susan even under polyjuice.
Next it was Hermione's turn. It was a surprise to Harry that she was called before grandfather Charlus but maybe they wanted to keep the adult until last. There was more waiting. The few court dramas he had seen on TV before his first year of Hogwarts had been boring enough. Though that might have been in part because he was a child. Yet nothing he had seen had prepared him for just how boring it was to be a witness. It was just constant waiting followed by more waiting. At least the courtroom dramas had been in the courtroom where things were happening.
Eventually Hermione came back looking a little shaken telling Harry it was his turn. It was obvious what had happened, the defence had probably grilled her about what happened to Malfoy in an attempt to shake her and weaken her testimony. Unfortunately Harry couldn't stay and comfort her as he was being summoned to the courtroom. He handed her off to Charlus and Ron asking the two of them to look after her while he was away.
He made his way to the courtroom and Fudge directed Harry to the mundane witness stand. The normal spot that was supposed to sit twelve jurors had been magically expanded and now held about thirty five members of the Wizengamot. Considering that the Wizengamot consisted of forty-nine Warlocks, that was a bit low. Then Harry realised a lot of who were missing were from death eater families, they were probably siding with Voldemort and giving his false government a veneer of legitimacy. That was probably why the ICW had cut Britain off, with a few legitimate Wizengamot members there was no way for them to know which government was legitimate. So without bothering to send investigators they had just locked the door and told the British magicals to sort themselves out.
There was some quick faff where they had Harry confirm that he was indeed himself and then one of the Warlocks who was on the panel of judges addressed Harry. "Heir Potter due to the previous history between you and Warlock Dumbledore to avoid any interference of lingering animosity you are both under orders to keep to the topic at hand. If either of you directly talks to the other about anything outside the relevance of this case you will be fined one thousand Galleons. Is that clear?"
"Yes, I understand uh… sorry I'm unsure of the contract term of addresses for a Warlock sitting on a panel of judges."
"Don't trouble yourself, it happens. It's just Warlock like in the Wizengamot. After all a panel like this is just a scaled down version of the Wizengamot. Now, Director Bones you can begin."
"Heir Potter, Harry if I may?" Harry gave her a nod. "Harry, can you please explain in detail the events that happened on the Express starting just before the train stopped."
"Well it was the end of the School year so naturally we were all discussing our summer plans…" Harry went on to explain what happened on the train. He told them his point of view of the attack, how he, Charlus, Hermione, and Ron had made their way down the train and how Hermione had worked out how to restart the engine that had been reconfigured and enchanted so that it was easier to run with magic. He told them how they set the train in reverse and how they had provided covering fire so that the Aurors could get back on the train.
Harry explained how the Aurors were busy trying to deal with the injured and working out what to do with the train and everyone on board considering there was an ambush waiting for them between them and the train station they needed to go to. He also explained that from what he understood of you-know-who that the attack would only be a distraction. With the Aurors too busy to investigate a hunch that would likely just sound like paranoia, Harry's group had decided to search the train. He explained finding Pansy and how he was fooled into believing it was Susan, he told them about how Ron had worked it out and he told them of being attacked by Draco Malfoy.
When Harry was finished it was time for questions. Amelia as the prosecutor got to ask him questions first. "Harry you claimed to just know there was more going on after getting the train moving again can you please explain that."
"Sure. You need to understand that wasn't my first time dealing with Voldemort's plans. A good example was how much he over complicated pushing me into the Triwizard tournament to kidnap me for his restoration. A straight forward attack on the train isn't his style. I have no doubt that the attackers had their own goal to accomplish but the attack seemed tailored not to success, but to drawing everyone's attention to the front of the train. Once I worked that out, it was just a matter of finding what was happening while our attention was elsewhere."
When Parkinson's law wizard had the opportunity to question Harry his questions weren't what Harry expected trying to discredit him or shift the focus on to what happened with Malfoy. No they were all about what Harry didn't see. "Mr Potter, did you at any time witness Miss Parkinson attack anyone?" "Mr Potter, did you at any time witness Miss Parkinson use an unforgivable curse?" "Mr Potter, did you at any time witness Miss Parkinson destroying Miss Bones property?" "Mr Potter, did you at any time witness Miss Parkinson force Miss Bones into a trunk?" "Mr Potter, did you in fact at any time on the train witness Miss Parkinson commit any crime whatsoever?"
And the worst part was Hardy had to answer "no" to all of those questions. Parkinson was just sitting there when they found her and despite the compromising situation she was in, Ron had stunned her before she could do anything. Still director Bones didn't look worried by the questions so Harry decided to try not to worry either.
It was only about an hour after Harry was called in and he was let free with a message to the witnesses that they were breaking for an hour for lunch and that they required Warlock Charlus Potter to report to the courtroom when they restarted.
Lunch was easy enough, Harry and Charlus just apparated them to a place where they could buy a few bags of chips and sandwiches before apparating them both right back into the waiting room. A few quick conjuration spells provided them with plates and cutlery and soon everyone was eating their fill.
"So is everyone ready to go back to Hogwarts in two weeks?" Hannah asked.
"No." Ron answered. "Mom is being extra paranoid and hasn't let us go to Diagon yet. Because of that neither Ginny or myself have robes or any of the books we need. And the less said about the state of our potions kits the better."
"I was able to owl order most of the books I need but I need robes as well and I'm running short on ink and other necessities." Hermione agreed.
"I can restock your potions kits for you. I have plenty of the standard ingredients at the Manor. I already did Harry's and Hermione's." Charlus offered and I have
"I'd never turn down your help professor, but it still leaves us needing to get robes and for that we are all going to have to go at some point." Ron pointed out.
"True enough. So which of you are planning on continuing with potions?"
Harry wasn't surprised at all when all of them: Harry, Hermione, Ron, Susan, and Hannah all said they played to continue. Harry didn't mind either way about potions but it was his grandfather teaching and he had to have solidarity there. Plus Charlus was a brilliant professor and that made potions a relatively easy NEWT. Hermione wasn't ever going to quit a core class as long as she had the grades. Ron and Susan both needed it for their chosen career and that only left Hannah. Harry wasn't sure what she planned to do, but potions was one of the N.E. that kept a lot of options open.
After lunch it was Charlus's turn as a witness. As a sitting member of the Wizengamot, Charlus's testimony would be given the most weight out of all of them so it wasn't surprising that his trip into the courtroom was the longest out of all of them. It was gone five o'clock by the time he was let go and the trial was once more over for the day.
Luckily for Harry and the people he considered family none of them were required back the next day because it was the start of the defence and the only witnesses that the defence were interested in were Hannah and Susan.
It was understandable, they were the only two who had actually seen Pansy do anything illegal. The rest of them only provided context. If the law wizard defending Pansy had any hope of getting her off or even getting her a reduced sentence it would be by discrediting the two Hufflepuffs and probably dumping as much of the blame on the late Draco Malfoy as possible.
Nobody believed it was going to work, the case against Pansy was too solid. But it didn't stop them from feeling for Hannah and Susan. The defence law wizard was going to do everything in his power to tear the two of them down. Of course with Susan's aunt being the prosecutor he wouldn't be able to go too far.
With the next day free Charlus took the opportunity when they took Ron home to arrange taking their annual trip to Diagon alley. Mrs Weasley was sceptical but as Charlus explained. "The death eaters won't be expecting us to be there tomorrow. We are scheduled to be in court, that means it's the one opportunity we have to go when they won't be expecting us and we can assume they won't have an ambush waiting for us. And I doubt they are going to make a random assault on the ally. There are two many people who can fight back. Don't forget that a lot of his followers were killed the night he kidnapped Harry for the ritual. That's why he is reliant on inferi this time around. He doesn't have the manpower. And never forget, inferi are almost useless in the day."
Harry added. "I actually think that is one of the reasons he decided to focus on taking the Ministry. Because it's underground it's one of the few places he can use his guard dogs twenty-four hours a day. Besides Mrs Weasley, Ron, and Ginny need new robes so you're gonna need to take them eventually. Wouldn't going together where we can help if anything happens be best?
-ϟϟϟ-
The next day had Charlus portkey to the burrow to join up with the Weasleys and then the whole group portkeyed to the Grangers back garden where Harry and Hermione were waiting having not long finished breakfast and seeing the doctors Granger off to work.
They took two mundane black cabs from the Grangers front door to just a few buildings down from the Leaky Cauldron. There was no way they were going to risk losing Mrs Weasley on the London underground and if they were honest the cabs were easier.
There was only one customer in the Leaky Cauldron when they walked through. Not surprising as it was too early in the day for most people, including the British, to consider drinking. The alley was just as dead with some of the shops still going through the process of opening. A trip to the bank and visiting a few vaults had coin purses refilled and they hit the shops.
Mrs Weasley wanted to hit Madam Malkin's first but Charlus disagreed. "We will be spending the longest in there. If we go there last we can portkey away as soon as we are done. If we do malkin first there will be a much bigger crowd as we shop everywhere else." Mrs Weasley accepted the logic there and so they hit the stationery supplies first, then the book store and finally the robe shop. The only thing that slowed any of them down was popping into a few stores to grab owl order catalogues.
Robes did indeed take a while. All the teens wanted a completely new set of three school robes each and they each wanted a few casual robes as well. And when you added in that Weasleys wanted complete new sets of underwear as well, Harry and Hermione preferred mundane and had already ordered what they wanted from a catalogue to be delivered to the Grangers home, it all added time.
They were just finishing up when there was the sound of a bell indicating someone had just opened the shop door. Everyone looked out of casual curiosity if nothing else but when they saw who walked in, it was like someone had poured ice water down their spines.
"You won't survive this time you filthy mudblood." Narcissa Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange were standing between everyone and the way out.