Chapter 7: Training for The Trial

Harry spent the next few days teaching the doxies the fine art of espionage. He wanted them to be able to sneak out of the bag, even if it was still on his body, and gather information from whoever was around them at the time. He didn't think they were ready for long term spying, but immediate surroundings were doable.

He would have them creep out of the bag, down his body and crawl on the floor like a real bug. He then taught them to dodge and run. If they did it right, they'd be able to sneak up on anyone without being noticed.

"Come on, you guys," he said to the ones practicing, "you have to do it without me noticing. Use your wings a bit, so you don't have to grip so tightly. I can still feel you." It was four days before the trial, and he was getting impatient. He knew he needed to cut them a break, but…

The queen flew up to his face and snarled, "They are trying." She didn't like that they were working so hard. It was not in their nature to crawl around like bugs. They were magical creatures, now possessing a thinking process. They were doing the best they could, with what little they knew.

"I know, but we don't have time," he said, picking one up and placing him back in the bag. He found out that all the troops were male. The only female was the queen, so they were more like bees than he thought.

"Why are we so low on time?" the queen asked, standing in her usual stance, with fists on hips.

"I have a trial in a few days. I need you guys to do some things for me while we're there," was the casual answer as Harry put another doxy back in the bag to try again.

"What is this 'trial'?" she asked, not familiar with the term.

"Some blowhard said I broke the rules, and they are going to get together to see what my punishment is," Harry explained in loose terms. He didn't think she would understand the legal system. Heck, he didn't understand the legal system. All he knew was that a few people would talk to him and get his side of the story. If they weren't corrupt, then he'd be let go with a slap on the hand. He really hoped they were on the up-and-up.

"I can see that," she said, having to be the one to dole out punishment to her family. Not that they broke the rules much, however since they were smarter now, they did bend them. A lot.

"So, you see, I need you guys to seek out any new news for me while we're there," Harry said, giving a thumbs up to one doxy who had made it down his trousers without Harry feeling it. "There's an evil wizard out to kill me. I need more information," he added on, hoping she understood how important it was.

"I suppose," she said, then flew down to discuss it with her family. She had made the deal, after all. It was up to her to make sure it was fulfilled.

Hphphp

The twins were working frantically on making pint-sized weapons. So far, they had the bows and arrows, which were dipped in some of their prank potions. The receiver would not get the full effect, but they would sprout feathers, or some minor effect. Each doxy now had a set of daggers, which were also dipped. They were working on something they told Harry was top-secret. They didn't want to spoil the surprise.

Dumbledore was ignoring Harry, for which the boy was glad. At first, he was affronted, but now that he had something to hide, he was grateful. He didn't know why the headmaster was acting weird, but he wasn't going to question it.

Ron and Hermione were talking to him, but he was still mad at them, so it was stilted. Hermione fell on the old nagging of his homework, which he had to admit he still needed to do. But with the training and the trial, he was putting it off.

The rest of the Order simply acknowledge him but went about their business afterwards. He was okay with that; they wouldn't tell him anything anyway. Snape was among them, and Harry didn't see him enough to warrant his attention. Which was good because he didn't trust the git.

"Harry," Sirius said the day before the trial, "I have something for you." He held out a necklace that looked like a tiny snitch. He had taken him to a private corner. Here they could talk, yet they could still see who was about.

"What is it?" the teen asked, taking it, and looking at it closely. He could feel some magic coming from it, but it didn't feel bad, so he put it on. It wasn't like he didn't trust his godfather, but the man was a prankster.

"I know you have secrets now," the dogman said, his tone was firm, "so, I found this. It will protect your mine from nosy people." He made a gesture that mimed a long beard. His back was turned, so the only people who saw him where the twins, and Harry.

"Oh, thanks," the teen said, his tone grateful. He had been worried about that. He didn't know much about mind arts, but he did know that there were wizards that could read minds. He hadn't known the headmaster could, but it explained so much. Now, he'd have to be extra careful.

"So, big day tomorrow," Sirius said, changing the subject when Molly started in their direction. He was sure she was going to do something to break them apart. It was inevitable, she did it all the time. "I'm sure it will go okay," he said loud enough to be heard by the whole room.

"Yup, I'm sure too," Harry said, nonchalantly. He wasn't really worried, yet. He knew he was in the right, and he would do whatever it took to make sure his story was heard. While Hermione was looking up laws, he had been studying some other things. He knew how to project his memories, and if Fudge tried to bulldoze him, then he'd use that.

It was an obscure Romanian spell, arată memorie, that he had found in the library here. The Blacks took precautions for everything. They were a paranoid bunch. Harry was sure that Sirius knew of the spell too, and if he had had a trail, he probably would have used it.

He did wonder though, perhaps the man didn't know it, or he would have told Harry about it. Of that Harry was sure. He remembered hearing that Sirius had runaway from home at sixteen, so maybe he hadn't learned it by then.

Now that he thought about it, he, Harry, could kill three birds with one stone. With that thought, he started to fret. How would he be able to pull it off? It would be a huge risk. He knew he was to be seen by a tribunal of three, one being the head of the DMLE. He only hoped they listened to him. He might have to make them.

"Fred," Harry said, stepping away from his godfather, who was being harangued by Mrs. Weasley for something or other, "I have a request. I need it tonight," he finished, waving the twins over.

"Oh, and what can we do for you Harrykins?" Fred asked, putting his arm over the younger teen's shoulder, and leading him away from their mum. He had no clue why Sirius put up with her, but for some reason he never fought back. maybe he was leading her into a false sense of security.

"I need something that will paralyze a human. Not for long, maybe about five minutes," Harry explained in a very hushed tone. "Not fully either, I just need them to stay still."

"We have just the thing," George stated, moving towards the stairs, and leading them to their room. His mum calling after them to not stay up too late, Harry had to go to bed early. All three boys rolled their eyes and continued on.

Harry had never been in the twins' room. It was a sight to behold. There were cauldrons everywhere, covering the tables that lined three of the four walls, and they were all bubbling with different potions. There were boxes of orders all over the place, stacked so high, that Harry was sure only magic was keeping them from falling. There were unfinished projects littering the floor, the beds, and the chairs.

"How do you keep your mum from destroying all this?" he asked, knowing the woman had thrown all their products away from the Burrow. There were times when he really didn't like Mrs. Weasley. Sure, she treated him like he was special, but the way she harassed her children… well, it didn't bring kind thoughts.

"She thinks we're sleeping in the room next door. Well, sometimes we do. It stinks in here. Anyway, Sirius put a charm on this one just for us," Fred said, smirking at getting away with this. They had a lucrative business, and he wasn't going to let her destroy it. They only had one year left at Hogwarts, then they could open their own shop.

"We have to keep it all hidden," George added, going over to a cauldron, and stirring it three times clockwise. "You know what she did at home," he said, echoing Harry's thoughts.

Fred moved to the corner of the room and grabbed a few potion bottles. "This is from our self-defense line," he said, he held the vials up and showed the bright purple concoction inside.

"You have a self-defense line?" Harry asked, taking the vials, and studying them, like he knew what to look for, which he didn't. He was pants at potions, thanks to Snape. Which was sad because he had been looking forward to learning that art. It was too bad the man was such a dick.

"Yeah, with times being what they are, we felt it was needed," George said, still attending the cauldrons. "We've got some other stuff that we're working on. It should all be ready by the time we get to Hogwarts," he explained, waving an arm to indicate the cauldrons.

"I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with," Harry said, with a huge smile. He really was. Anything these two came up with would be nothing short of brilliant. And if it gave him a leg up, well he was all for it.

"This will paralyze a person, from the neck down, for ten minutes. We'll coat some mini arrows with it tonight. What are you planning?" Fred asked, bringing out a bag of miniature arrows. He took one and dipped the tip into the vial. Then set it aside to dry.

"Daggers too," George added, knowing that the doxies weren't good with bows yet.

"Wait, before I tell you that, how much of the potion will need to get into the bloodstream?" Harry asked, knowing that the joke potions weren't strong with only a little bit on the arrowheads.

"I'd have them shoot someone at least twice," George said, finally done stirring the cauldrons. He took up another vial and started lacing the arrows. "Worst case, scratch the daggers along the skin. Only one stab with them."

"Well, I guess that will work," the younger teen said as he took up the daggers, which were only the size of his little finger. The doxies were about the size of his hand, so that worked. They were like small swords to them.

Harry told them his plan as they worked, and they crowed in delight at the cleverness. They only wished they could be there to see it. Alas, only Harry was going to the Ministry tomorrow. Still, they knew he could project memories, they could too, now. So, he could show them later.

Harry finished his set of weapons, and he left them to their projects and went back to his room. He then called the queen out and told her about the change in plans.

She was not happy. They had not practiced anything resembling what he was talking about. She dived back into the bag and started bringing every viable doxy out. There were some that needed to tend the nest while others fought.

They spent the rest of the day training the troops with the arrows. While they weren't perfect, by any stretch of the imagination, they didn't need to be. Their targets were huge to them, they just had to hit skin. The arrows were too small to go through clothes, unless said clothing was thin or loose knit. So, ankles, hands, necks, or faces.

They worked more on speed than proficiency. If they needed to hit the target twice, it had to be in quick secession. Not even in the same place, just the same target. With four arms, they could load an arrow quite fast. They couldn't shoot two bows, but they could load with two arms.

Harry conjured up an adult, human-sized dummy, and they used it to train. He made sure to clothe the dummy, so they knew the targets better. What he was doing, training so many, was overkill, but better prepared than not.

He figured he could get the others to scout, they could use the arrows to get away if they were seen.

They did a few ground maneuvers, where they could crawl up a person's foot and scratch the ankle with the dagger, but that was a last resort thing.

Hphphp

The next morning, after making sure his doxies were ready, willing, and able, Harry went down to breakfast. He was now nervous. He only hoped that the little guys were up to the task. They had trained hard, and Harry made sure to put a rat in the bag as a treat. He also got them some old curtains too. He made sure they were nice and dusty.

He only had some toast and tea for his meal. Mrs. Weasley tried to get him to eat more, but it wasn't to be.

Mr. Weasley was escorting him to the Ministry. The older man decided to go the muggle way. Why? Harry didn't know, but it was quite an experience to get the clueless wizard through the underground. How could someone in charge of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts, not know what muggle money was. The numbers were printed on the bills, for Merlin's sake.

"Mr. Weasley, not to be rude, but how do you not know this?" Harry really wanted to know.

"I don't come across money often," the older man said, studying a ten-pound note. "We deal in artifacts. No one jinxes money. They are more likely to hex a doorknob to bite, then a piece of paper," he finished his explanation and handed the boy back his money.

"Oh, I guess I can see that. Maybe you should venture out more," the teen suggested, putting the bill back in his pocket.

"I think I will," Arthur said, not liking being showed up by a child. It was embarrassing.

"I'll help in any way I can," Harry said, putting his hand on Mr. Weasley's arm.

The man just smiled at him and went back to visually exploring his surroundings.

They made it to the Ministry just in time to find out the trial had changed time and location.

"Arthur, you need to hurry. They've changed the trial time to nine. That's in ten minutes," Kingsley said, grabbing Harry's arm and shuffling him to the lift.

"Where?" the redhead asked, hurrying along besides them.

"Courtroom 10," was the answer as the other man all but shoved Harry in the lift.

"But…" was all Arthur said before the doors closed.

"What's courtroom 10?" Harry asked, not sure what the deal was.

"That's where criminals are charged," Mr. Weasley stated, sweat forming on his brow. He didn't want to say more, he might upset the boy.

"I see," Harry said as the lift doors opened.

They hurried to Courtroom 10, and Harry went in alone. He made his way casually to the center of the room, where a chair with chains sat. There was a table, which Harry figured was for him or his attorney, of which he didn't have. The floor was circular and was surrounded by seating, which right now held the entire Wizengamot.

This was no mere trial for underage magic. This was a kangaroo court.

Well, he'd just show them not to mess with the Boy-Who-Lived.