7

Chapter 7: The Special Talk

"You mean..." Amelia began, eyes alight in amusement and a smirk firmly placed on her lips as she held up a thick packet of parchment, "This proof?"

Shouts of shock and outrage rang out through the courtroom as they took in the two standing before them Amelia confident, cool and collected, Albus looking as though he were trying to refrain from screaming.

"What exactly are those Amelia?" Cornelius Fudge asked as he leaned forward, eyes narrowed. It was not like Amelia to do things without good reason so he wanted to know just why his head of the DMLE seemed to be waging war against Albus Dumbledore.

"These, Minister, are official documents on the crimes previously stated. They consist of official documentation of all 'alleged' crimes. I would also like to take this time to formally request a trial for a prisoner in Azkaban who was never granted a trial previously and who, I have proof to prove, is innocent."

"And who might that be?" Fudge asked feeling slightly panicked. If someone had been done wrong it could be potentially catastrophic to his career! He could only hope that whoever had been wronged had been wronged before he took office!

Yes, that would actually be beneficial... Minister Cornelius Fudge rights the wrongs done by his predecessor... Yes, it had a certain ring to it!

"Sirius Black," The name rolled off of her tongue easily, with a ring of sure finality that showed just how confident in his innocence she was.

The noise level that met these words was deafening, people screaming in panic and outrage and the very walls causing these voices to echo until they became a cacophony of illegible words. In the midst of all this confusion Albus struck.

He could play off of these peoples emotions and bring himself back into public favor! All he had to do was...

"I highly doubt that Sirius Black is innocent!" He called over the chaos, his voice amplified and becoming the prominent sound in the room. "I myself am the one who cast the Fidelius charm that gave him control of who could find the property in Godrics Hollow. So-"

"So obviously you would have also known that the secret keeper was in fact Peter Pettigrew," Amelia cut in sharply as she unrolled a single scroll of parchment and held it up for all to see. "Deny it if you will Dumbledore but your signature on this document proves that you would be lying. For those of you who do not know what this is that I hold in my hand it is the will of James and Lily Potter which was signed by both Sirius Black and Albus Dumbledore. This will was also illegally sealed and hidden away, it also being the only concrete proof of Sirius Blacks innocence."

"Order!" Minister Fudge screamed as the room was yet again thrown into the chaos of reverberated screams. He was outraged at just what Albus Dumbledore had done and had been getting away with for so long. This was the man that everyone had thought could do no wrong and this is what happens? Well no more!

"Albus Dumbledore, upon reviewing the evidence provided by Amelia Bones, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement I feel compelled to grant her wish for an official enquiry and trial into all of your affairs. For the time being which will span from now until an official sentencing is given at said trial you will be stripped of all of your titles bar your position as Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It would do you well to realize that the only reason you still retain this title is because of the acts of Quentin Trimble. You are hereby dismissed of your stations. So mote it be."

Albus Dumbledore was incensed! How dare they treat him this way after all he had done for them! Could they not see that this was for the greater good?

Sometimes laws had to be broken for the greater good! Sometimes people had to suffer, good or bad, and there was nothing that anyone else could do to bring that same consequence about!

Yes, Sirius Black was indeed innocent and yes Albus was going to let him rot in that hell hole that they called Azkaban. The man was too strong, too sure of himself and since nothing Albus did could break that annoying habit of his he had to get rid of him.

That of course came with the added benefit of breaking Remus Lupin. The man, though timid, was strong as well. He would do anything for his 'family' and Albus couldn't have that. No, once Sirius was out of the way Albus was able to safely chip away at the man's self esteem until he believed he owed Albus! How else could he have convinced the man to infiltrate the pack of the monster who had created him? To leave behind the last member of his so called 'pack' willingly?

Yes, Albus had broken Remus Lupin and it was all for the greater good.

Of course once Sirius was released Remus would return and all of his hard work would be for nothing! The only thing that kept Sirius in Azkaban was the fact that Crouch had been corrupt and didn't care to give a 'Death Eater' of Sirius' calibur a trial so that had worked in his favor.

The only thing he had to do then was seal the will which was excruciatingly evil. Having his accounts managed placed in charge of the Potter accounts as well? Genious!

It had been all too simple to do in fact. A few well timed compulsions and James would do anything he asked of him and he had.

But now, now all of his hard work was ruined! Someone had to be digging, trying to bring him down but who? It couldn't be Harry. He had heard and seen first hand just what the Dursleys had done to him. That had all gone perfectly... Well, almost perfectly. Perhaps if the whale Vernon had acted on his desires more and actually raped the brat he wouldn't have squealed.

Hmm, now that's something to remember for later!

Yes, Harry was in, out and had gotten his supplies just as planned with Hagrid back right after lunch as scheduled. There was no time for a detour so that bumbling oaf had done his job to a 't', one of Albus' better investments if Albus did say.

Hagrid was naive enough to not question him, stupid enough to not realise if something were against the law and loyal enough to die for him or at his own hand if he told him it would help. It certainly didn't hurt that the fool was a half bred giant that owed him for his testimony all those years ago.

Yes, Hagrid would have kept Harry from asking questions so it certainly wasn't them...

But then who could have been behind this? Amelia wouldn't have had the slightest inclination to look so that must have been handed to her. Yes, it was someone else but who?

Oh, well. We'll come back to that later Albus, for now let's think about what all this has caused shall we?

He was now barred access from Gringotts, vaults or otherwise. Yet, that wasn't too much of a shock. After all, he did exploit the holes in their systems.

No, instead of entrance Albus had found an expanded sack thrown at his face with a simple note proclaiming that he 'STAY OUT!'. Inside of that sack held only his possessions, all of his well earned stolen items and funds gone!

If that wasn't bad enough he found that the same thing had happened at his manor as well as his office!

Where once the walls were cluttered with various silver and gold instruments as well as priceless tomes and scrolls now they were mostly bare. All his hard earned and prized knick knacks gone!

Albus knew he was lucky. If it hadn't been for the previous Headmaster Trimble he would surely be out on the streets and fully disgraced.

Yes, Quentin Trimble had been vastly paranoid, one of the things that made him such an accomplished Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. In his paranoia over his family dealings, with the head of his house being politically shamed, he had pushed forward a law that would prohibit any Headmaster from being sacked for political reasons unless the Board of Governors reached a full consensus during their annual meeting and not an emergency one or if the Headmaster was directly involved with the injury of a student.

And neither was the case now. Yes, Albus Dumbledore would not be knocked down from this! He would make his way back to the top, it was the only way for the world to continue down the right path and if people had to get hurt to see it done then so be it!

And so, with thoughts of how to regain his status running through his mind, Albus Dumbledore began to plot. There was much to do for the coming school year and less than a month to prepare...

A few days later...

Today was a rare and special day in the Weasley household. Today was Arthur's day off and, almost all of, the family were milling around the house. Both Bill and Charlie were out for some reason or another that no one really knew about.

Harry was currently sitting at the scrubbed table in the kitchen talking to Molly about his parents. When Harry had found out that the Weasley matron had known them he had practically pounced on her for information.

"So they were part of this... order thing too?" Harry asked in awe as he stared into Molly's amused gaze, he had never thought that she would have known them! If he had he certainly would have asked about it earlier.

"Yes dear, in fact I remember the first time they ever brought you to one of the meetings. You were so very cute!"

"You knew me as a baby?" Harry asked his awe growing even further.

"Hey," Ron said happily as he came into the room followed closely by a pouting Ginny. Harry had no idea why she kept playing chess with Ron! After all Arthur was the only one who could beat him most times with Bill being just as good as Ron with their matches usually ending in a draw. "Mum, do you mind if I get some pumpkin juice?"

That was yet another thing that seemed to have changed with Harry's addition to the family. Ron's manners had grown exponentially once he noticed how uncomfortable his behavior had made Harry and he understood. For someone who was constantly berated and had manners drilled into his head mercilessly it made sense that he would be uncomfortable around someone as lax as Ron was.

No one could really say that they minded really.

"Of course dear," Molly said with a smile as Ginny took a seat beside her. "Now, back to the story. Yes, your parents had brought you in to meet the others and I swear you were one of the cutest babies I had ever seen! You had such big green eyes and you smiled at any and every single person in the room, why I do believe that Mad Eye even held you for a while. You seemed fascinated by his eye."

And so conversation stayed along that track even after Arthur had come in from his shed and joined them at the table, that is, until one question...

"Hey mum," Ron began with a look of pure confusion on his face. "You never did tell me, where do babies come from?"

With that everything came screeching to a halt from the people sitting at the tables to the very wind outside.

Panicked looks were shared by the parents as the curios gazes of three adolescents bore into them.

"Well Molly," Arthur began with a slight cough, "We probably should tell the boys at least. They are going to have to attend the mandatory course before winter break after all. We might as well send them in prepared."

"Yes you're right Arthur but... Oh, alright. Come along you two," Molly finally said with a sigh and a heavy heart as she stood from the table.

"What about me mum? I want to know too!" Ginny said as she stood and looked at her parents with big pleading eyes.

"No!" Came the panicked answer from the two parents as they quickly started to shoo her away, "Why don't you go play with the gnomes Ginny dear? You'll get this talk next year."

With that Harry and Ron were quickly led from the room by the two flustered parents. They walked quickly, not knowing where they were going only following the gentle nudges that helped to direct them until finally they entered Rons room and were directed to sit on the bed.

Shifting nervously Harry couldn't help but glance over at Rons confused face. Surely this was a bad thing? After all Harry had never seen the two parents so flustered before.

Molly and Arthur were currently sitting on top of the camper bed that was pushed against the opposite wall of the room for Harry, though more for options sake seeing as he slept with Charlie and Bill.

"Alright..." Arthur began as he rubbed at the back of his neck nervously, "Well, I suppose it would be best to start with the... differences. There are, as you already know, men and women and they are built... Differently. But, there are also two different versions of men. Now, I'll only give you an overview for now. You'll learn more about it at Hogwarts, so I'm, we're, just going to um... Tell you the basics. Well, Molly?"

By now Arthur looked desperate, his eyes wide and pleading as they stared at Molly until, with a sigh, she finally gave in.

"Oh alright. Now, There are men and there are women but there are also what we call carriers which are men who can have babies just like women. Harry, you just so happen to be a carrier. Which means-"

"You mean Harry's a girl!?" Ron asked suddenly with wide eyes as he looked at Harrys shocked form. "Then why don't you force him to share a room with Ginny? Wait, if Harry's a girl that means that he's a she right?"

Harry looked panicked at the very thought of being forced to move into Ginny's room, he could still remember her reaction to learning his last name, the sound of squealing still hadn't faded from his ears...

"No Harry is not a girl!" Molly said as she lightly slapped the back of Arthur's head. Honestly, now was not a time for laughter! "It just means that of the two of you only Harry can have a baby-"

"So Ron can't have kids?" Harry asked in horror.

"No, no that's not what I meant!" Molly said quickly as she tried desperately to figure out just how to explain this delicate topic. Perhaps they should have just let them wait until they were at Hogwarts! "What I mean is that only Harry could carry a child-"

"So I wouldn't be able to hold my baby?" Ron sounded almost heart broken.

"No! I mean yes, you will be allowed to hold your baby but of the two of you only Harry could get pregnant."

"Oh!" Said Harry and Ron at the same time as they finally realized what Molly had been attempting to say as Arthur tried desperately not to laugh.

"Wait!" Harry said suddenly and Molly wanted nothing more than to go and hide in a closet so that she wouldn't have to go through that again. "How would I get pregnant?" He sounded so innocent, so naive and suddenly Molly took it back. She would much rather try to explain what a carrier was than explain this. Wait a second...

"Arthur dear, your turn," Molly said smugly with a grin as the boys' eyes zeroed in on Arthurs now panicked form.

"Um, well..." Arthur began as he began to look around before inspiration struck in the form of tissues. With a wave of his wand the tissues became a pile of plastic plugs and outlets which he then picked up.

"Now, um well, the outlet is the female and the plug is the male. When they want to have a baby they will join like this," he began as he fumbled slightly to connect a prong and an outlet before he continued, "Now, in your case Harry you would have both but most carriers don't really like to use their prongs to go into outlets, no... Well, um, molly?"

"What your father is trying to say is... Well, lets put it this way. When a bird and a bee want to have a baby the bee will... 'Sting' the bird and the bird will then lay an egg-"

"We're bee birds!?" Ron shouted at the same time Harry firmly proclaimed, "I don't want to lay an egg!"

"No, that's not what your mother is trying to say... Ah! I got it!" Arthur finally said happily as he remembered how his mother had phrased it for him oh so long ago.

"There is a magical bird called the stork who, when he determines two people who are in love are ready for a child will deliver a baby to them and-" Yet again he was cut off by Rons confused shout.

"So we are birds!? So is that why we can fly? But then why do we use brooms instead of wings? Wait! Can I fly without a broom? I wanna try!" And with that he began to run from the room towards the stairway only to be caught in the surprisingly strong hold of his fathers arms as both parents yelled 'No!' over and over again.

"Alright fine!" Molly said exhausted, "Babies come from two people. One gives the other a very special hug meant just for them and the other returns it and gets pregnant. The end. I'm going to go start lunch."

With that both parents fled the room quickly, desperate to leave the conversation behind them in the hopes that the two eleven year olds would let the subject drop.

Bill and Charlie came through the kitchen fireplace just in time to greet the family before lunch began.

After dusting the soot from their robes they had quickly made their way with hugs for each of their family members before heading towards their seats beside Harry.

Bill was the first to give Harry a hug before playfully ruffling his hair and taking his seat as Charlie then moved forward and enveloped Harry in a hug while saying the exact wrong thing.

"And here is a special hug for you Harry!"

Before anyone could so much as move Harry was up and running towards the stairs his words echoing in the shocked room long after his footsteps had faded...

"I don't want to have a bird baby!"