This chapter primarily deals with Sirius. If any of what is included regarding the night Harry's parents were murdered is incorrect, I can only apologise and say that for some reason I have misplaced my copies of Philosopher's Stone, Prisoner of Azkaban, Order of the Phoenix and Half Blood Prince. I literally cannot find them anywhere and it is doing my head in!
Anyway, I have Sirius turning up at the ruined Potter House before Hagrid and although I have a feeling that may be wrong; I think it makes a little more sense this way. And let's face it, if there is one thing in that has never been explained to a satisfactory extent without a mass of contradictions and very dodgy timeline, it is the events of Halloween, 1981.
I've also slightly expanded Sirius' encounter with Pettigrew before the latter faked his death. I think it makes a little more sense the way I've done it because as far as I can tell from canon, Sirius randomly happens upon Peter on a street in Muggle London a relatively short period of time after James and Lily are killed – again the timeline of events between 31st October and 2nd November 1981 are as complicated as hell, so this is just me trying to make some sense of it all!
Anyway, enjoy!
Harry Potter: Junior Inquisitor
Chapter 32: The Fate of The Order of the Phoenix
Part 1: Sirius Black
The highest security prisoner cells were located so deep below the Ministry of Magic that most people thought that their existence was only a rumour. After all, everyone knew that level ten, where the courtrooms were located, was as low as the Ministry floors went.
Unless, of course, you were one of the select few who knew otherwise. Entry to those cells could be found on level ten, though the entrance to the stairway down to level eleven was magically concealed from all those who did not know the secret. In fact it was a lot like the barrier at Kings Cross Station that granted access to Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Just as any passing Muggle could lean on that barrier all day and never fall through, anyone who did not know where the entrance to level eleven was could lean against the spot in the wall where the entrance was concealed and never actually find their way down.
The secret was known only to the top level of staff found within both the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the Department of Mysteries, as well as the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and the Minister for Magic.
John Dawlish and Bertram Savage were two of very few Aurors high ranking enough to be allowed access to level eleven and as such it was they who were given the task of escorting the newly recaptured Sirius Black to his new home.
With magic-suppressing manacles locked securely around his wrists and ankles, chains linking them together, Sirius was in no position to resist as he was dragged along the corridor between the cells. Every so often he got a look at those imprisoned behind bars and was dismayed to see that many of them were either members of The Order of the Phoenix of staff of Hogwarts.
He caught sight of Tonks' purple hair, Moody's electric blue magical eye and though he didn't see him it was obvious which cell contained Mundungus Fletcher just from the smell.
To Sirius' surprise he was not immediately thrown into a cell. He had been under the impression that he would be chucked behind bars for the amount of time it took them to get a Dementor from Azkaban. Instead he was taken to the opposite end of the corridor where a large, heavy door made of iron stood slightly ajar. The door was pushed open and Sirius was shoved into the room beyond.
"He's all yours, boss," said Dawlish before closing the door with a clang. Having contacted their Head of Department after capturing Sirius in Hogsmeade their instructions had been to bring him straight to the interrogation room at the end of level eleven.
"Well, well… Sirius Black, finally back in the hands of the Ministry of Magic."
Sirius wheeled around to find Amelia Bones and Rufus Scrimgeour sitting behind a wooden desk in the centre of the room.
"You seem surprised, Black," observed Scrimgeour.
"Just trying to work out why I am not currently being fed to a Dementor," replied Sirius.
"Oh, believe me," said Amelia "if you had been captured just a few short months ago then that would indeed be the case. However, since then I have had the opportunity to speak with a couple of people, namely one Harry Potter, and the story that they tell is an intriguing one to say the least. I find myself compelled to hear your side of it."
Sirius' eyes widened in surprise "You've spoken to Harry? What happened to him? Why did he vanish over the summer?"
Amelia gave a flick of her wand and the lone chair on the opposite side of the desk slid back.
"Sit down, Black. We have some talking to do."
Sirius sat.
"The first thing we need to establish," began Scrimgeour "is what role you played in the demise of Lily and James Potter on Halloween night, 1981."
Sirius bowed his head sadly. "I suppose you could say it was partly my fault. When they went into hiding beneath the Fidelius charm, James asked me to be their secret keeper. I was honoured that they would trust me with such an important task but I felt that I was too obvious. James and I were best friends… almost brothers. I thought that if anyone wanted to find their secret keeper, I would be the first one that they would look for."
"So you weren't their secret keeper?" asked Scrimgeour, looking for clarification.
"No. I convinced them to change it to Wormtail."
"Wormtail?"
"Peter Pettigrew. Wormtail was the nickname we gave him at Hogwarts. We thought it was the perfect plan. Peter wasn't all that smart or skilled. He wasn't powerful. We thought that Peter would be the last person the Death Eaters would go after. Of course, we didn't know the truth…"
"What truth?" pressed Amelia.
"That he was already a Death Eater."
"Pettigrew? A Death Eater?" exclaimed Scrimgeour.
"Dumbledore formed The Order of the Phoenix to try and combat Voldemort. We knew that someone was leaking information, had been for around a year. I am ashamed to admit that I thought it was Remus Lupin. I thought that perhaps the stigma of being a Werewolf had finally become too much for him and he had joined the other werewolves who had already aligned themselves with the Death Eaters.
"That night when everything went wrong, I sensed something was wrong. I don't know what it was, but something told me that I had to go and check on Peter. I went to the little apartment we had secured for him in Muggle London, where he was supposed to be laying low and found it empty. There were no signs of a struggle but I still feared the worst and took my flying motorcycle straight to Godric's Hollow. The house was wrecked, James and Lily were dead, and Harry was in his cot, crying his eyes out."
"Was there any sign that anyone else had been there?" asked Amelia.
"I don't think so…" replied Sirius. "There was a pile of singed, black robes, all that was left of Voldemort, I suppose."
"Yes, records indicate that much," said Amelia. "Was there any sign of a wand?"
"Not that I can remember," answered Sirius, honestly. "Why?"
"We scoured that house from top to bottom looking for that wand. The conclusion we came to is that it either vanished along with Voldemort's body, or –"
"Or somebody else came along to take it," finished Sirius. "I suppose there is a chance that Wormtail was there that night…"
"Why didn't you take the Potter boy?" asked Scrimgeour, trying to get the conversation back on topic. "You were his Godfather. Why leave him there?"
"It was my intention to. I took him out of his cot and held him close. He quieted down in the presence of someone familiar. I bundled him up in some blankets and salvaged some of his things from the rubble… a few changes of clothes, his favourite teddy bear, that sort of thing. Anyway, I got downstairs and out the front door, only to find my way blocked by Hagrid."
"Hagrid?" asked Scrimgeour. "Rubeus Hagrid? What on earth would he be doing there?"
"He said something about being sent by Dumbledore. I don't know… so much of what happened is a haze… Dumbledore must have had some sort of way of getting alerted in the event of the Fidelius charm falling, though why he didn't come himself…"
"Did Hagrid say why Dumbledore had sent him?"
Sirius shrugged his shoulders. "Dumbledore wanted Harry. Wanted to take him somewhere safe I suppose. Dumbledore didn't know about the change in secret keeper you see, I suppose he wanted to get Harry away from me in case I was a Death Eater. I didn't want to hand Harry over, but Hagrid had his orders. Our arguing got a bit heated and in the end… I don't know, I guess I just handed him over. I told Hagrid to take my bike and told him to make sure Harry was safe. Then I went after Pettigrew."
"I tracked him down him down to London later the next day. The stupid idiot had rushed to Diagon Alley for some supplies and I spotted him coming out of Gringotts. He never got the hang of apparition so when he saw me he ran for it. Lots of people were out in the Alley that day, knowing that Voldemort had been defeated, and I had to push my way through a large crowd of people in order to try to get to him. He managed to stay ahead of me and got to the Leaky Cauldron well before I did. By the time I got there he was just disappearing through the front door into the Muggle world. I had to chase him down several muggle streets before he finally took a wrong turn and I cornered him.
"He started shouting that I had betrayed James and Lily. I shouted back that is was him and threatened to kill him for his betrayal. That's when he blew up the street, killing twelve muggle bystanders in the process."
"And what happened to Pettigrew?" asked Amelia.
"He cut of a finger in order to trick people into thinking that that was all that was left of him and then he transformed and disappeared into the sewers, leaving me standing there, borderline hysterical. Moments later the Aurors showed up and arrested me."
"You say he transformed…" began Scrimgeour.
"He was an animagus," replied Sirius. "A rat. I'm one too, a dog. James was a stag. We learned at Hogwarts so that we could safely keep Remus company while he was transformed during the full moon."
"I assume that this animagus form has something to do with how you escaped from Azkaban undetected?" asked Amelia.
"Yes. For some reason the Dementors could not sense me when I was in dog form. One day they let open the cell door and I was able to slip right by them unnoticed."
"Why wait twelve years to try?"
"I didn't want to risk it. I knew that if I was caught trying to escape I would be sentenced to the kiss. So I stayed in my cell hoping that someone would come through and realise that I had never been given a trial. Then one day Fudge turned up for a look around and left a copy of The Daily Prophet behind. Right there on the front cover was Pettigrew in rat form."
"How did you know it was him?" asked Scrimgeour.
"To be honest I was never completely sure," said Sirius. "Pettigrew's animagus form didn't have too much about it that made it significantly distinct from any other rat, but when I saw that there was a toe missing on its front paw… In the photograph he was being held by a young boy with red hair and the article said that the five youngest children of the family were all at Hogwarts. That rat being at Hogwarts while Harry was there was too much of a coincidence for my liking. I had to do something."
Silence filled the room for a few moments, broken only by the sound of a blue dictation quill as it furiously scribbled out a transcript of the questioning.
Finally Amelia asked "What can you tell us about the night you were captured at Hogwarts?"
"Getting to Hogwarts was relatively easy. I remained in my animagus form for most of the way and made it there by early October. Getting inside the castle and getting my hands on that rat was a completely different matter. Then, one day, I happened to find Harry and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger out on the grounds of the school. Ron had the rat in his hands. Pettigrew realised I was nearby and ran so I went for him. Ron tried to stop me so I grabbed him and Pettigrew and dragged them both into a secret passageway beneath the Whomping Willow. I knew that if Harry was anything like his father he would follow us and I wanted to talk to him away from prying eyes.
"The passageway leads to the Shrieking Shack. Once there I only had to wait for about a minute for Harry to turn up with Hermione in tow. Luckily for me, no matter how much he might have wanted to kill me on some level, Harry doesn't have the killer's instinct. I thought that he might give me a painful hexing though, before Remus turned up."
"He saw you going after them?" suggested Scrimgeour.
"Yes, though not in person. When we at school, James, Remus, Peter and I developed a map of the school and grounds which could show where people were at any given time. We were pranksters and developing that map helped us to evade capture. During the time that Remus had been teaching at Hogwarts the map had found its way into Harry's hands. Remus confiscated it out of fear that I would somehow get my hands on it. He was looking at it on the evening in question. He saw me on the map clear and anything. Then he spotted Harry, Ron, Hermione and a fourth name. The moment he saw Pettigrew's name he pieced everything together and came running just as I was dragging Ron and the rat into the passageway.
"Together Remus and I convinced tried to convince Harry of the truth, but then Snape turned up. He had gone to Remus' office moments after he left it and saw the map. He completely missed Pettigrew's name and locked onto mine. He was so overjoyed at the prospect of being the one to capture me and at having what he saw as being proof that Remus was helping me. Add in the added bonus of having caught Harry out of bounds and he was in no mood to listen to anyone. Harry wasn't particularly in the mood to put up with Snape's behaviour and hit him with a disarming hex at the exact same time as Ron and Hermione did. He spent the rest of the encounter out cold.
"In the end we had to forcefully reverse Pettigrew's transformation, but it worked. Pettigrew was exposed and, most importantly, Harry believed me."
"I was rather determined to commit one of the crimes that I had been imprisoned for and by this time Remus shared that same sentiment but Harry wouldn't let us kill him. He said that Pettigrew had to be taken by the Ministry and questioned so that I could be free properly.
"Unfortunately the reason that Snape went to Remus' office was that he had brewed the Wolfsbane potion for Remus and was bringing him a dose. In his eagerness to capture me he left the potion in Remus' office. Within moments of us leaving the Shrieking Shack, Remus transformed. I turned into my dog form to fight him off and somewhere along the line Pettigrew escaped. Remus ran off into the forest and my last memory is of being slumped over at the edge of the lake with Harry and Hermione standing over me trying to cast the patronus charm.
"So Snape never actually saw Pettigrew?" prompted Amelia.
Sirius shook his head ruefully. "We should have bound him in ropes and forces him to wake up and see the truth for himself."
"And what of your escape?" asked Scrimgeour.
"I woke up locked inside Professor Flitwick's office. I knew that the Dementors were being sent for and I didn't have a lot of hope of escaping. So, you can probably imagine my surprise when Harry and Hermione turned up outside the window on the back of a Hippogriff. They broke me out and we flew up to the Astronomy Tower where they got off. We said our goodbyes and I flew off with the Hippogriff."
"Would that Hippogriff be the same one that just hours earlier had escaped before the execution order against it could be carried out?" queried Scrimgeour.
"Correct," answered Sirius. According to Harry, Buckbeak was only sentenced to death because Lucius Malfoy's son didn't pay attention in their Care of Magical Creatures class and got himself hurt as a result. Lucius then threw his name around along with a bit of gold and bullied the members of the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures into doing what he wanted them to. Harry doesn't take too kindly the innocent being sentenced to death."
"Well, Mr Black, your story corroborates with what Harry Potter told us so I believe we have enough evidence to get your case heard before the Wizengamot." explained Amelia. "Just to be sure we will also be getting testimonies from Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. We will also be getting a full and truthful account out of Severus Snape. If he does indeed confirm that he was unconscious during the majority of the events in the Shrieking Shack then we can add more charges to him when his trial comes around. I would also like to speak with Remus Lupin about that night and contact both Rubeus Hagrid and Albus Dumbledore about their actions on the night that James and Lily were killed. However, those three appear to have vanished off the face of the earth."
"Madam Bones, I have answered all of your questions," replied Sirius. "Please return the favour. What is going on with The Order of the Phoenix?"
The sun had not even begun to think about rising in the sky when Harry was shaken awake from his slumber by Sarah.
"We got an owl from Amelia," she said by way of explanation. "Sirius was captured earlier in Hogsmeade. She and Rufus Scrimgeour are interviewing him now. They're hoping to get him a trial tomorrow morning, before the rest of The Order of the Phoenix get their trials."
Harry sat up in his bed and grabbed his glassed off of his bedside cabinet.
"Good," he replied as he put them on. "It's about time he was freed."
"I woke you up because once they're done with Sirius they want you to go to the Ministry and provide your own testimony." said Sarah. "I know that you have told Amelia everything you know about Sirius already but this time it will all be official. Go get yourself cleaned up and then I'll take you to the Ministry."
When Amelia finished telling Sirius exactly what had been going on, the former Azkaban inmate was seething.
"How dare that whiskered old wanker do this? Who the f*ck does he think he is?"
"All questions that we would like him to answer as well, I can assure you," said Amelia. "In many ways The Order of the Phoenix is just as bad as the Death Eaters. Although we have no evidence that any of them have ever committed murder, some of their actions are equally vile and while the Death Eaters justify their actions with claims of the importance of Blood Purity, The Order carry out their actions in the name of Dumbledore's nebulous Greater Good. Not only that, but many of them follow Dumbledore because he has something on them that he could use against them. They do his bidding rather than face up to what they did."
Sirius slumped forward in his seat and buried his face in his hands. "But this is Dumbledore we're talking about…"
"That's the mentality, Sirius," said Rufus. "I see it has been getting to you too. Think about it Sirius, Dumbledore knew of your innocence over a year ago. Until a few months ago he was the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. During that time he did not once come to either myself or Amelia to present any evidence of your innocence."
Amelia then added "Kingsley Shacklebolt was the Auror in charge of the mission to track you down. He knew of your innocence once he joined the Order and yet rather than bring this to our attention he instead chose to waste Ministry time, money, manpower and other resources by sending Aurors on a wild goose chase in Tibet. Dumbledore knew you were innocent and that you did not get a proper trial and yet he has done nothing to push the matter with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Cornelius Fudge would not have had the authority to order my Department to stop any investigation and Dumbledore knows it. Instead he chose to keep the matter quiet, leaving you officially a criminal on the run and therefore unable to attempt to have yourself declared Harry Potter's guardian."
Sirius was silent for a few moments before speaking again. "Remus Lupin is trying to make contact with the werewolf packs. Dumbledore wanted him to try and convince them not to side with Voldemort's forces in the coming war. Hagrid is somewhere in France. He was working with Madam Maxime of the Beauxbatons Academy in order to try and make contact with the Giant colonies, for the same reasons as Remus was sent to the Werewolves."
"I see," said Amelia. "Are you sure Dumbledore was trying to get them to stay out of the war and that he wasn't trying to recruit them for his own cause?"
Sirius shook his head. "As far as I know, it was just about keeping them out of things. We were getting a bit worried about Hagrid though – he was supposed to return before the new school year started so as to not arouse suspicion. We heard from Madam Maxime a few weeks ago. She had returned to Beauxbatons but she had Hagrid had been forced to part ways."
"Has Dumbledore sent anyone to look for Hagrid?"
"No,"
Rufus pinched the bridge of his nose wearily. "Everyone was so disparaging of Ludo Bagman last year for not sending someone to look for Bertha Jorkins and now Dumbledore has gone and done the same thing."
"I'm afraid that we don't have the resources to do anything about it now," said Amelia. "We're stretched thin as it is. We've got people here organising the trials, we've got others on the lookout for Dumbledore and we've got people looking out for Malfoy and his ilk."
Sirius looked up at that. "Malfoy? Lucius Malfoy?"
Amelia exchanged a look with Scrimgeour before answering "When Snape was arrested for trying to murder Sarah Abbott it evidently set off a few alarm bells. Lucius Malfoy, his wife Narcissa and their son Draco had all disappeared before we could get Snape to name Lucius as a Death Eater under truth serum. By the time we got there they were long gone. The same can be said of the Notts, Crabbes, Goyles, Carrows, Yaxley, Averys, Jugsons and the more unpleasant branch of the Parkinson line, amongst others."
Sirius frowned and said "You know, a mass disappearance like that indicates that someone must have been in charge…"
"We realise that, Mr Black," said Amelia. "However it is the official position of the Ministry of Magic, based on the testimony offered by Harry Potter, your Godson, that the dark wizards who calls himself Lord Voldemort has not returned."
Upon seeing Sirius' uncomfortable expression, she added, "There are, of course, those within the Ministry, myself and Rufus included, who know otherwise. However we are unable to chance the Minister's stance on this issue and find that it is best to work covertly instead of trying to rock the boat. As it happens, Dumbledore's recent actions, along with the disappearance of so many Death Eaters who claimed to be under the enchantment of an imperius curse has proved to be a massive boon for us. Just a few short hours ago the Minister approved a twenty five percent budget increase for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, a twenty percent increase of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, a fifteen percent increase for the Department of International Magical Cooperation, a twelve percent increase for the Department of Mysteries. We most certainly will be using this boon to track down Dumbledore, the Death Eaters and Voldemort himself."
Sirius breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, that's something at least."
There was a knock at the door.
"Come in," called Amelia.
The door opened and Dawlish stepped inside. "Harry Potter has arrived to give testimony on the Black case." he said, gruffly.
"Excellent," said Amelia. "Show him to the Aurors' break room. We'll be up to see him as soon as we've finished here. It shouldn't be too long."
Dawlish nodded and left.
"Harry's here," said Sirius once the door had closed behind Dawlish. "Who has he been staying with?"
"He has been staying with myself and my niece Susan at Bones Manor," relied Amelia as she collected her notes together. "Though most of the time Sarah Abbott has been the one taking care of him, and her daughter is determined to help in any way she can."
Despite his nervousness of his upcoming trail, Sirius could not help but grin roguishly. "So my Godson is spending his time in the company of the heiresses of the Bones and Abbott families is he? I'm so proud."
Amelia couldn't help but chuckle before saying "I don't think that there is anything romantic going on between them Sirius. Right now Susan is just happy being his friend while Hannah is quickly establishing the brother-sister dynamic that they would have developed growing up together had Dumbledore not interfered."
"Yeah, about that," said Sirius. "On the one hand Dumbledore lets me be put into Azkaban without a trial despite being Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and then doesn't see fit to talk in my favour once the truth is out. On the other he succeeds in getting a Wizengamot ruling banning Sarah from contacting Harry. Seems to be overstepping the boundaries a bit, don't you think?"
"Our thoughts exactly," said Rufus, now packed up and ready to go. "Dumbledore wanted Potter as isolated as possible, no doubt about it."
As the two senior members of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement got to their feet Amelia added "Oh, and Mr Black, the next time you see Harry, do yourself a favour and don't crack jokes about potential girlfriends. He was starting something with one of the daughters of the Patil family. Unfortunately Dumbledore's recent actions convinced her parents to send their children to India to complete their education. Harry is quite upset about it."
"Got it," replied Sirius, giving her a thumbs up.
Outside the interrogation room Amelia turned to Dawlish. "Please escort Mr Black to a holding cell until his trial tomorrow."
Dawlish nodded and went into the interrogation room while Rufus addressed Savage. "Please go to the residence of Muriel Prewitt and obtain Mr Ronald Weasley for questioning. Then go to the Granger family house in Winchester and collect Miss Hermione Granger. They are both eyewitnesses to an event that we need to have verified."
"Of course, Ma'am," replied Savage before hurrying off.
"Rufus, could you please arrange a team to go and pick up Remus Lupin? If what Black told us is true then he should be somewhere near the Werewolf dens in Suffolk. A team of six should be enough. I'm going up to meet with Harry."
Rufus have a nod of acknowledgement and left.
Courtroom ten was a roar of chatter as people waited for the trails to begin. Harry looked around from the seat he had been directed to near the front. As one of the key witnesses to the recent actions of the Order of the Phoenix and its allies he had been directed to one of the seats closest to the action. Sarah and Hannah were with him as was Susan.
Scanning the crowd, Harry could see a good few other students and their families; Neville, Katie, Daphne and Astoria, Tracey, Lee, Bianca, Geoffrey, Pansy, Luna, Natalie, Seamus, Dean, Ernie, Justin, Hermione, Terry, Michael, Anthony, Ron and all of his siblings except Bill… It had been easy to get wound up in how Dumbledore's actions had affected him, but now he realised just how far reaching the consequences of those actions were.
Harry had, of course, been affected most, given how it was his memories that were obliviated and his behaviour changed so that he would listen to Dumbledore again, but hand in hand with that went the mass-drugging of all of the students of Hogwarts so that they would just automatically believe that this change in character had happened and not question it.
Those who had escaped the initial dosage had been hunted down by The Order…
The people gathered were clearly furious and wanted answers. Through their actions The Order of the Phoenix had directed the ire of nearly every single Wizarding Family against them. In some sections of the muggle world, there would be people on the Wizengamot who would be asked to step aside for the duration of the trial so as to avoid a conflict of interests in determining a verdict. To Harry's mind however, if they were to undertake such a practice here today, the entire Wizengamot would have to step aside. Worse, there likely would be no one that they could ask to step in in their place; such was the far reaching scope of the Order's actions.
There were reporters too. Already they were scribbling furiously with quills on parchment, no doubt determined to paint a clear picture of the atmosphere in the courtroom before the trail had even begun.
Looking up to the Wizengamot seats, Harry noticed a few empty spaces. He asked Sarah about it.
She chuckled ruefully. "Noticed that did you? Well, some of those seats are empty in reverence for some of the old families that are no longer around. At the back there are the seats belonging to the Ancient and Noble houses."
Harry directed his eyes to the back and saw Edward and a few others sitting in that row, though some of the seats were empty.
"Amelia is the chief prosecutor today," explained Sarah. "That's why the Bones' seat is empty. Edward is acting as her proxy. You can see Augusta Longbottom up there as well."
Harry nodded upon spotting the elderly matriarch of the Longbottom family. It had taken him a moment to realise who she was because he had never seen her without her trademark hat with a stuffed vulture perched on top.
Sarah went on "The other seats with people in them belong to the houses of Crickerly, Evermonde, Lufkin, McPhail, Minchum, Moon, Spavin, Spencer and Stump. The other empty seats are the Black seat, which Sirius should be able to reclaim once he is officially cleared. Then there are the seats for the Founders of Hogwarts; Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Slytherin. Then there's the Gamp seat – Ulick Gamp was the first Minister for Magic, you know? He founded the Department of Magical Law Enforcement during his time in office. And then of course there are the McKinnon and Meadowes seats. Oh and there's one left… Of course, it's the Potter seat. You'll be able to claim that once you're of age."
"So does someone vote by proxy for the Potter seat?" asked Harry.
"Yes," said Amelia. "Unfortunately it used to be Dumbledore."
"Damn," muttered Harry. "What about those other vacant seats?"
"I believe there was a stalemate over the Black seat," explained Sarah. "Narcissa Malfoy has tried claiming it several times but some argued she was too far removed from the main line while others were opposed to having the seat effectively in the hands of the Malfoy family. Dumbledore tried to claim proxy over the seat, but that wasn't popular either. In the end it was left as an abandoned seat. For the others, their family lines have ended and no one can currently claim to own the seat so it is determined that they do not need a proxy.
"What about the other empty seats?" asked Harry.
"Some of those are also from extinct families; Gaunt, Dippett, Leech, Fenwick, Crowdy, Flack… The Crouch Family only became extinct a few months ago. Some of the other empty seats are ones formerly owned by people who are in Azkaban; such as the Lestrange seat and the Rookwood seat. Then there are the Malfoys. They used to have a seat, but one of their ancestors was caught engaging in a bit of Muggle baiting. It is to the never ending shame of Lucius that his family were kicked out of the Wizengamot over it.
"And then there are the more recent vacancies. The capture of Severus Snape caused a lot of people to panic. No one have seen anything of the Avery, Nott, Montague, Higginbottom, McGhie, Rowle and Yaxley families in several days. Their failure to show up here only proves that they've decided to run for it. Then we have those who are on trial; the Doge and Vance families are down to just one member each and both were arrested at Hogwarts. The McGonagall family also have a seat, but Minerva has always refused it and allowed Dumbledore to vote for her by proxy."
"Really?" asked Harry in surprise.
"Of all the people loyal to Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall's level of devotion concerns us the most," Sarah explained. "She has already been sent to the care of the Mind Healers at St Mungo's Hospital and I wouldn't be at all surprised if a few more members of The Order end up going the same way once is said and done here."
Any further questions that Harry may have had were stopped when the voice of The Minister for Magic called out loudly.
"Order! Order, please!"
The courtroom quieted down. Harry looked up at the Minister and saw that Dolores Umbridge was back at his side, something which Harry found oddly comforting.
"Now," began Fudge, standing up so as to make sure that everyone in the courtroom could see him. "As you are no doubt aware, a little over two years ago a prisoner by the name of Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban Prison and has been on the run ever since. However, new evidence has been brought to light, evidence that I was heretofore unaware of. It has been brought to my attention that under the actions of my predecessor, Minister Millicent Bagnold, and the former director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Bartemius Crouch Snr, both now sadly deceased, that Sirius Black did not receive a proper trail before the Wizengamot, as is his right as a wizard, and as the heir to a Noble and Ancient House.
"Last night, Senior Aurors John Dawlish and Bertram Savage happened upon Sirius Black in Hogsmeade and apprehended him. Black willingly complied with a questioning session carried out by the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Amelia Bones, and Head Auror Rufus Scrimgeour. They now have reason to believe that he may in fact be innocent."
As shocked murmur rose in the courtroom, causing Fudge to raise his voice in order to be heard as he went on "Therefore, our first order of business for today is to carry out the trial that my predecessor denied to Mr Black. Aurors, bring him in!"
Harry noted the Minister's political spin, making sure that any blame that should arise should Sirius be found innocent would be directed at Millicent Bagnold and Bartemius Crouch Snr. Though to be entirely honest, Harry agreed that the blame did lie with them. Fudge could only act on the information that he had, after all.
The doors at the back of the room were opened and Sirius, his arms locked in chains though his legs were free, walked inside, surrounded in a ring of seven Aurors led by Dawlish.
Harry and his godfather managed to make eye contact with each other as the older man passed and Harry tried to convey the message that everything would be ok.
Sirius was sat in a wooden seat in the middle of the courtroom and the chains attached to it wrapped themselves around his arms and torso.
It may have been fourteen years overdue, but the trial of Sirius Black had finally begun.
A/N: And the next chapter will start with the Wizengamot's verdict! (Sirius gave all the evidence he could at the start on this chapter, so I won't be repeating it!)
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this. The rest of The Order and their allies will be getting their trials in the next chapter. I've got some really good things lined up, including an in-depth analysis of just how the hell Molly and Arthur Weasley could afford to send all seven of their kids to Hogwarts on Arthur's wages (and no, nothing was stolen from Harry) and an explanation as to why Filch is the way he is!
See ya next time and thanks for reading!