16

Chapter 16: The Wizengamot

Thanks for all the reviews. They make my day.

Updates might be coming slower. The cold is playing havoc with all my arthritis which is everywhere on my body. Including my hands and neck (like I didn't have enough issues with them). I will endeavor to get them out as fast as my hands and neck allow.

I don't' know what the weather is like in your area, but we're in for a cold front, which here in the southern part of the USA is not normal.

If I don't get to writing before then, Good Yule. For those that are celebrating it now, Happy Hanukkah. I'm sure I'll be back before then, but if not, Merry Christmas.

Hphphp

Christmas was a fun affair with just them. They all exchanged gifts and when Neville came home on Boxing Day, they did it again. Neville was thrilled to tell them that his mum's pictures were now starting to be recognized as flowers and not just scribbles, and that his dad was now staring at the ceiling and blinking in response to questions. He couldn't answer them, as in blink once for yes, and twice for no, but he would blink a lot if you asked him one.

Everyone celebrated. There was talk of trying more things to get them stimulated more. They didn't know what yet, but they would be doing research to find out if there was anything else that could be done. Harry said he read that music and smell could trigger memories and they might try that.

Sirius' articles to the Quibbler and the Prophet were published, and the Quibbler did print it as the PR company had sent it. The Prophet had cut it up and rearranged it to something less flattering. Alex said they were going to sue them. They had sued the paper before, but the Prophet didn't seem to learn from these past endeavors. Sirius said he was going to try and by up shares until he was the greater holder. Then he'd go through it and get rid of those like Skeeter and Cuffe, who seemed to like it being a gossip rag, rather than a newspaper.

The boys went back to school after the holidays in better spirits, and the adults were wading through the mail fallout from both articles. It was still going through the PR company, but they got bagsful a day.

"I'm surprised we haven't received a howler from Molly," Remus said, knowing the woman was famous for them. She had sent them to her brothers often enough. The Order thought it was a great joke when they did something to piss the woman off enough for them to receive one. Fabian and Gideon had said that their sister was part banshee. They didn't know from where because their mum was a sweetheart.

"There's a no howler ward on the house," Sirius said like it should have been common knowledge.

"Oh, when did you add that?" the werewolf asked, placing yet another letter in the 'we hate you' pile. That pile would be burnt in the backyard in a burn barrel for the fun of it. After they sent the form letter telling them that they really didn't care what they thought. Sure, it might make a few angry, but they really didn't care. They didn't feel the need to personalize a response to them.

"When Harry first started going into public, and getting recognized," the dogman said, reading a flattering letter about how handsome he was and how well he had raised Harry Potter, and did he want to get in a contract with her? He loved these letters, there was a pile for them as well. "You were setting up your shop," he said absentmindedly.

"Oh," was all Remus could say to that. Those had been busy days for him. It had taken a lot for him to get things legal and going. There were trips to the goblins to get all the needed paperwork and licenses, so that he could get it through the ministries. Sirius and Lily had loaned him quite a bit of startup money, which he had since paid back, regardless of their denial that he didn't have to.

"The Wizengamot is meeting in a few days," Lily said, reading the official letter. She knew it was coming, but she thought it would be later down the line. Well, the sooner it's dealt with the better.

"Oh, is that one for me or Potter?" Sirius asked, putting the steamy letter in the 'marriage' pile. He held both seats for now. Harry would start holding the Potter seat on his fifteenth birthday, even if he couldn't really vote until he was seventeen, he could sit and listen to what was going on. Sirius wanted him to do that. He had already started training him in politics. Him and Neville. Augusta had done a great job in that with the latter, so Harry was playing catch up.

"The Potter seat," she said, handing it to him. She dug through the bag that held today's post. After a few minutes she found his notice. She handed that to him and wondered what the Wizengamot was meeting for. "Do you think it's about Harry not going to Hogwarts?" she asked, fretting a bit. She knew those old men like to do things that made them feel important, but did they have a legal leg to stand on?

"Probably. I had better call Alex," Sirius said, taking both letters and going to the phone. He had to admit out of all the muggle inventions, he liked the phone the best. It was much better than owls or the floo.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much. With Alex and Augusta on Sirius' side, they won't pass anything that will make Harry go to Hogwarts," Remus said, putting yet another 'we hate you' letter in the pile. "And like you said, we can always run for it. They can't force him to if we are not here in England."

"You mean Harry and Neville," Lily reminded him, sometimes they forgot that it was about Neville too.

"I'll bet he's not even mentioned," Remus said, opening another letter, this time it was a 'good luck' one. Those they wrote customized replies to. The only letters they didn't personally receive was the death threats. "Take these letters for example, they are all about Harry Potter, or the Boy-Who-Lived."

"You may be right. This will be about the Boy-Who-Lived," she sighed, going into the bag, and taking out a handful of posts and putting them on the middle of the table. "I just wish I could be there," she said, wistfully. She really hated Harry's fame. Almost as much as he did. The poor boy couldn't even go into Diagon Alley anymore. He had to wear a disguise now, and that didn't work, because they would recognize Sirius or Remus. Not to mention Neville.

"Why can't you be? Have Harry stay home from school that day, Neville too, and they can go to the meeting with Sirius and Augusta. Call it an educational day," Remus said, grabbing a few more letters to sort. It sounded like a simple solution to him. Parents did it all the time. At least he thought they did. It was educational after all.

Sirius came back in on that comment and said, "That sounds like a great idea. You can watch and see what goes on in these boring meetings." He grabbed some posts from the middle and started reading them, hoping to get some more for the steamy pile.

"What did Alex say?" Lily asked, looking up from what she was reading. It was a 'good luck' letter.

"That he'll be there early just in case they try something stupid. He suggests we do the same," Sirius answered, frowning as he read a 'good luck, you're going to need it' letter. Which was different than a simple 'good luck' letter. These had to be answered differently.

"Stupid, how?" Remus asked, not sure what they could do.

"They might start the session early and pass a law if they have a quorum, without me or Augusta there. It has happened in the past. We get a letter saying one time, while the rest of the Wizengamot get one for an earlier time," Sirius said, making plans to be there very early.

"I'll let Harry and Neville know. You write a note for the school," Lily said, throwing a 'we hate you' letter in the pile.

"Will do," Sirius said, drinking from a cup that Twinky just handed him.

They spent the rest of the morning going through the weekend's backlog of mail. The piles of mail were large, and they spent the afternoon answering them, and then burning them.

Hphphp

On the day of the Wizengamot meeting Sirius, Harry, Neville, and Lily, safe in Harry's head, arrived at the ministry early in the morning. It was around nine and they were in Sirius' chambers. They left the doors open so they could see the comings and goings of the other Wizengamot members. This way if the meeting started early, they'd see the members pass the doorway since Padfoot's door was near the middle of the hall.

"So, Sirius, tell me more about what we can expect," Harry said, bored out of his mind. His mum was too busy fretting over what was to come to hold a conversation with him, and he hadn't brought anything to play with. He had thought about bringing his Gameboy, but Sirius nixed that idea, saying that it was too distracting. The dogman had suggested bringing his homework, and now he wished he had.

"Mostly a bunch of windbags trying to sound important," Sirius said, making someone outside the door sniff. One of the said windbags glared at him as they passed the doorway. "They make up laws to try to seem like they are doing something," he continued as if he didn't see the man. "We spent a stupid amount of time on the regulations of the thickness of cauldron bottoms. And decided that they were fine the way they were," he finished with a sigh.

"Do they do anything exciting?" the preteen asked, leaning back in his chair.

"Sometimes they oversee trials. Criminal ones, not civil ones. That's why Dumbledore and the Minister didn't get canned, they really never stood trial here. I suspect bribes were given, but I have no proof," he said, once again loud enough for someone to hear and glare at him as they walked by. "That and they have too much political clout."

"That sucks," Harry said, twirling in the chair for lack of anything better to do.

"Did anyone tell Gran to be here early?" Neville asked, sitting at the side of the desk, flipping through a book on the laws of husbandry. He wasn't interested in it, but there was little to do here, and like Harry he didn't bring anything to play with, or his homework, which he was regretting.

"I think Alex did," Sirius said, trying to remember if the lawyer said he would or not. "Either way, your gran is smart. She'll figure it out," he added with a smirk.

"Right you are, Black," Augusta said, coming in the door with her plum Wizengamot robes already on.

"Gran!" the boys yelled as they got up to hug her.

"Boys," she said primly, holding up a hand in their direction. While she had loosened up a bit since she didn't have to raise Neville, she was still strict on manners. "Manners," she said, to them as she stopped them from their running.

They slowed down and started calmly walking and then waited their turn for a hug from the old woman. She hugged Neville first then Harry. She then took a seat that Harry held for her.

"Good to see you, Augusta," Sirius said, having stood when she entered, he sat now that she was seated.

"I will not be caught unawares. We are not going to be shanghaied into making the boys go where they don't want to go. We are their legal guardians, it is up to us to say where and when they are educated," she said firmly. While Sirius and Remus were raising Neville, she was still his magical guardian. She was in control of all his finances and his Wizengamot seat.

There was a flurry of activity going on outside the door and it looked like the members were starting to assemble. So, they started to follow. Neville would be sitting next to his gran, and Harry with Sirius.

The Wizengamot members filed into Courtroom 10 and took their seats. There was a public seating for those that wanted to view the proceedings, which was usually empty, but today there were five people seated there. One was Alex.

Albus Dumbledore looked at the members and was dismayed to see Sirius and Augusta seated among them. He was even more disheartened to see Harry and Neville. He banged his gavel for quiet and said, "Sirius, why is Harry here? I see that Neville is also among us." He looked at the two guardians like they had done a major faux pas.

"First of all, it is Lord Black and Heir Potter and Heir Longbottom. Second of all, it is within my remit to bring Heir Potter here to see the workings of the Wizengamot. As are all guardians, such as Madam Longbottom," Sirius stated, standing to be heard and seen.

"Yes, but we were not informed that they would be here today," Albus tried to state as if that was protocol. Which it was not, it was asked of, but not mandatory.

"As we were not told the proceedings would be held at this time. I have the letter here that states they would be two hours from now. Want to tell me how that happened?" Lord Black asked, taking the letter out of his pocket, expanding it, floating it to the center of the room, and showing it to the rest of the Wizengamot, who all started talking.

"I am sure it was just a clerical error," Dumbledore said, looking at the clerk who was glaring at him.

"I sent them like I was told to," the clerk said, not one to take the blame for someone else's error.

"I'm sure," Sirius said snidely. He reshrunk the parchment and put the letter back in his pocket. "Well, we're all here, let's get on with why we're here," he stated sitting back down. He couldn't wait to see how Dumbledore handled this with him and Augusta here.

"It has come to my attention that some of our younger population has decided to homeschool this year," Albus started, only to be interrupted.

"That is no different than any other year," Madam Marchbanks stated. "I should know. I am a Governor of the Wizarding Examinations Authority. There is no law preventing homeschooling, and there will never be," she said, firmly. She didn't stand, but her voice was heard by all.

"Yes, but these young men are more predominant members of society. They should be held to higher standards," Dumbledore stated, looking at first Harry then Neville.

"That is not your call to make," Sirius said, standing again. His statement was followed by a lot of people shouting 'hear, hear'.

"I concur," Augusta said, also standing. "Where Neville is educated is up to me and Sirius," she said, looking fondly at her grandson.

"Mr. Potter has been on the books for Hogwarts since he was born. I am sure that his parents would have wanted him to attend," Dumbledore said, banging his gavel for silence. "They put his name there to save him a spot. Why now do you feel that he should not attend?" he asked Sirius.

"I explained this to the Quibbler and the Prophet, for all the latter misquoted me, Harry wants to be a doctor/healer. He can't be both with just a magical education. What is so hard to understand about that?" Sirius said, looking around the room at everyone.

There were some angry faces at that statement, but there were some understanding ones as well. There was no love lost between some factions of the Wizengamot, however many there didn't want the government to dictate how they raised their children, or grandchildren.

"Yes, but why does he feel the need to be both. A healer is more than enough to satisfy the calling of that vocation," Albus tried to reason.

"There are things that the muggle doctors can do that magical healers can't and vice versa," Harry said, standing to explain himself. "The muggles can do stuff with the brain that the magicals haven't even started looking into," he said as an example.

"How to you mean?" one member asked with genuine curiosity.

"They have machines that record what a brain is doing when you think of certain things. It will record how the brain reacts to certain stimuli. I don't know all of how it works, which is why I want to study it," Harry said, getting an excited look on his face and tone in his voice. "I want to see if I can't help Aunt Alice and Uncle Frank."

"A commendable endeavor," someone else said, sounding sincere. Everyone knew the plight of the Longbottoms, and they all wanted them to get better. Well, maybe not all, but a good majority. It was a terrible and tragic thing, that haunted quite a few to this day.

There was a lot of talking back and forth on the subject until Albus banged his gavel again. "Be that as it may, there might be a surge of homeschooling if these two young men don't go to Hogwarts," he said, glaring at Sirius. "I cannot have that," he added.

"That is not our problem," Sirius said, looking around the room as if trying to read it.

"The ministry pays for the school fees, it is the ministry's problem," Fudge said, speaking for the first time. His undersecretary was sitting there looking smug, dressed in pink. "We should be able to tell who can and cannot go to the school," he added importantly, which made Dumbledore cringe. That was not what he wanted.

"I will not be railroaded into making Harry or Neville go to your school," Sirius said, folding his arms firmly over his chest. Harry mimicked him.

"Me neither," Augusta stated, standing firm, while Neville stood by her side.

"What you are trying is illegal," Alex stated, standing from the public area.

"Alexander Preston," Dumbledore said warily. He had already dealt with this man in the civil courts. "Why are you here?" he asked, looking at Fudge who was just as nervous.

"To protect the interest of my clients. Why else?" Alex said, pulling out some papers from his ever-ready briefcase. "I have here the charter of Hogwarts, and in it, it states that all enrollments are to be voluntary. They are never to be coerced in any way. You, being the headmaster of the school, should already know this," he said, making magical copies of the paper and floating them to everyone in the Wizengamot. "Oh, and to what Fudge just said, there is a clause for that too," he added, pointing out said clause. It stated that the government had no ruling on who attended the school.

"Why would the Founders put such a clause in the charter?" someone asked, not sure why it was there.

"Hogwarts was built in such a time it was normal to send troubled children to a school as discipline, the Founders did not want their school used a such. They wanted everyone there to be there free of expectations," Alex explained what he thought the Founders' reasoning was.

"Be that as it may, I still feel that Harry's parents would be so disappointed in you, Sirius," Albus said, seeing he wasn't going to get his law passed, he would try for guilt.

"I feel comfortable enough to say that Lily and James would approve of what I am doing," Sirius said, sharing a smirk with Harry.

"Why don't you ask me yourself?" Lily said, materializing next to Harry. "Because the only person I am disappointed in is you, Albus Wulfric Percival Brian Dumbledore," she said, her tone icy cold.

"Lily Potter?" Albus said, dropping his gavel on to his lap. He had heard the rumors that she was back, but he never believed them. No one he knew had seen her. Arthur had told him of their run-in in the Alley, but there was no mention of Lily at all.

There were many cries of her name as many tried to get a good look at her. They all wanted to know what she was doing there and how she got here in the first place. She was a muggleborn after all, not to mention dead. Yet they could see that she was there, and not quite a ghost. She was see-through, but colorful.

"Yes, Dumbledore, and I am very pissed at you," Lily said, stamping her foot and putting her hands on her hips. She floated down to the center of the room where the defendants usually stood.

"I know your grievances with me," Albus said, being reminded of his empty moneybag.

"Yes, it was my doing that got you sued," Lily said, confirming his suspicion. "You kidnapped my baby and set him up to be abused. I will never forgive you for that. I'm disappointed in a lot of you for letting him and the ministry get away with a swat on the wrist." she added, looking around the room. "Not to mention, for even thinking you could force my baby to go to Hogwarts. It is not your place to say where a child is educated unless they are in an abusive situation, which my Harry is not."

"And even then, you can only do that if the child agrees," Alex added, gesturing to the charter.

"Right," Lily said, sheepishly. "Neither Neville nor Harry want to attend Hogwarts," she stated definitively.

"Well, now that we've established that this was a huge waste of time, can we call it a day?" Sirius said, looking around the room one more time. He did that a lot today. This time, however, he was getting a lot of nods of agreements.

"But… Harry must go to Hogwarts," Albus said, like it was a matter of life or death, which in his eyes it really was. He had plans that revolved around Harry Potter being at Hogwarts. If he was not there, then all his plans were for naught.

"No, he really mustn't," Lily stated, floating back up to her son and putting an arm over his shoulder.

"He has a destiny," Dumbledore said, banging his gavel to be heard. "There is a prophecy!" he yelled.

"I heard that prophecy, and nowhere in it does it say that I have to attend Hogwarts," Harry said, his face a mask of confusion.

"You know the prophecy?" Albus said, his voice perplexed. "How do you know this?" his tone got hard.

"I went to the DoM and listened to it?" Harry said, his tone questioning like he didn't know there was another way to know a prophecy.

"How did you know there was one?" Dumbledore reiterated the question to get the answer he wanted.

"Oh, well, Snape told my mum," Harry said, now that the question was clarified. He giggled a bit, remembering the story his mum had told him about that encounter.

"When did you meet Severus?" Albus asked Lily. Severus never told him about this. Had his spy been hiding things from him? That would not do. He was going to have to have a talk with the man.

"None of your business," Lily said, because it wasn't. "Nothing I, or my family, do is any of your business," she added, glaring at everyone. "Unless we break the law, which we have not, we are free to do what we want to do."

"Can we please go now? I'm hungry," Sirius whinged, making some chuckle. "This session has obviously been one big waste of time," he stated again.

"We really should stop it here. I'm not going to Hogwarts," Harry said, with finality. He hugged his mum, well used to the chills by now. To him it was a sense of comfort.

"Very well," Albus said, banging the gavel and saying, "This session of the Wizengamot is closed." He may not have gotten his way this time, but there were other avenues of approach. He just had to find them.

"Come on, Harry, let's go home," Lily said, not wanting to wait around and mingle with the Wizengamot members.

"We have to wait for Neville," Harry said as a few members came up to Sirius, who knew how to do the political dance. So, they danced and waited for Madam Longbottom to come to them. It was an hour before they got out of the courtroom.