Unraveling The Evidence
Surprises in Court
People wore unpleasant and angry looks on their faces. They didn't want to be here today, they thought this was a waste of time. But because one boy, even if it was Harry Potter, had asked uncomfortable questions and the Minister feared for the reputation it would get him if Harry Potter gave more interviews like the last one that had appeared in the Daily Prophet as an exclusive of Rita Skeeter two days ago, there was now a trial for the right hand man of You-Know-Who taking place in five minutes. Why didn't they let the bastard just rot in Azkaban?
The dementors glided into the room, projecting gloom all around them. They just had to look at the man to see that he was no good. He had that evil glint in his eyes. Black was placed into the chair and chains sprang up around him. Then the dementors left the room, which confused some. Normally they stayed. To the utter surprise of all assembled members of the Wizengamot, not a barrister at law, but Harry Potter himself entered the room, clad in a formal black robe, taking the position of witness for the defence. What could an eleven year old boy do?
Well, Harry had tried for weeks to get a good barrister for Sirius, ever since his plan to force the Ministry to finally grant the trial had been set up, but the only one willing to do the job was Professor Dumbledore and he had to preside the trial as Chief Warlock. Still, Harry wasn't somebody to simply let something like that stand and had therefore buried himself in law books for the last three weeks and looked up everything concerning this case. His performance in class had suffered a bit and he had got less sleep and cut back on his work-outs, but he was prepared now. His classmates had quickly learned to not disturb him while he was reading the books and dotting down important parts.
"Order in court!" Dumbledore shouted, silencing the members. "Trial of 8th December 1991 for Sirius Orion Black on the charges of murder of one wizard Peter Lufanus Pettigrew and thirteen muggles after the fall of the Dark Lord Voldemort. Further charges are betraying the Potter family to Lord Voldemort as the secret keeper for the Potters. Presiding Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister of Magic. Representing the accusation: Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, representing the Defence: Harry James Potter, heir to the Ancient and Noble House of Potter. How does the accused plead?" Dumbledore called out ignoring shrieks of fear and flinching of the Wizengamot members for him using the name.
"Not guilty." Sirius said hoarsely, getting enraged shouts from the Wizengamot members.
"Noted." Dumbledore shouted over the chaos. "Madam Bones, your turn." Dumbledore said, hoping Harry knew what he did.
He had been against the boy doing this, but Harry had stubbornly demanded that if no qualified barrister would do the job he would. He had got a three hour meeting with Sirius and had come out, saying Sirius was innocent.
"Thank you Chief Warlock. The accused was made secret keeper of the hiding place of James and Lily Potter in October of 1981. Being secret keeper means that the secret, in this case the place where the Potters lived, is hidden in the very soul of a person by enacting the Fidelius charm, an ancient and very complicated charm. We have the statement of Albus Dumbledore from November 1981 to back this up. After the Dark Lord was defeated by Harry Potter on Halloween 1981, Sirius Black knew he had to flee with people being after him, now that he had shown his loyalty to the Dark Lord. Sadly he didn't count on Peter Pettigrew finding him in the afternoon of the 6th November 1981. Pettigrew cornered Black and shouted at him how he could have betrayed Lily and James Potter to the Dark Lord. This can be confirmed by the statements of the by-standing muggles, which were obliviated later on.
"Black, being the more powerful wizard than Pettigrew, shot a blasting hex at Pettigrew, hit him and killed him. The hex also hit a muggle gas line in the ground, which led to an explosion that killed thirteen muggles, ripped open the ground and left nothing more than a finger of Pettigrew's body. For these crimes the accusation demands that the accused is send back to Azkaban for the rest of his natural life." Madam Bones ended her statement.
"Mr Potter, your turn." Dumbledore said.
Harry stood up from his seat with a natural looking grace and gave Dumbledore a nod from his head.
"Thank you, Chief Warlock. First I want to turn your attention to the reports of the members of the squad the Department of Magical Catastrophes who were sent to the site. I cite from the report that was handed in by our current Minister Cornelius Fudge:
The ground was ripped open down to the sewers; all over the place were charred corpses of the muggles that were caught in the explosion lying around. People were screaming in fear. When we reached the site, Black stood there laughing. In front of him a blood stained robe and a few fragments. We closed off the area so no other muggles could get close. The muggle witnesses were questioned on site over the incident and then obliviated. Black was taken away by twenty members of the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol while the Obliviators took care of changing the memory of the muggle witnesses.
"Minister Fudge, as you have been on site, would you please tell the members of the Wizengamot what kind of fragments you found of Peter Pettigrew?" Harry asked politely.
"Of course. There was a bloody finger, nothing more. We were unable to find more remains, no matter how hard we looked for them." Fudge said.
"And how far away from the corpses you mentioned in your report were the bloody robe, the bloody finger, and Sirius Black?" Harry asked.
"Most about thirty to thirty-eight feet perhaps. The closest one fifteen to twenty feet." Fudge said pondering the question.
"What state was the robe you found in despite being bloody?" Harry asked.
"Well, there were a few cuts and stains on it." Fudge said.
"Thank you, Minister Fudge. I raise one question. How would it be possible that with a small distance like Minister Fudge just described the closest muggles being away from Black and Pettigrew's robe, their bodies were complete? While for those closer to the gas line that was hit that ripped open the ground, some limbs were ripped off, they were all found on site. Minister Fudge stated further that only a bloody finger and some bloodstains on the robe of Pettigrew were found, the robe being cut and stained but otherwise intact. How would the robe survive a blasting hex like that?" Harry asked, making a pause to have them think about what he had said while turning to Madam Bones. "Madam Bones, would you please allow me to borrow one of your aurors for a small demonstration for the Wizengamot?" Harry asked.
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