chapter 19:Statements

"I hope this works." Harry muttered nervously as he looked at the stage being set up in front of the vacant building that had been appropriated by the DMLE for the occasion.

"It will." Stated the stern-looking woman who had been introduced to him as Amelia Bones and who was apparently the aunt of one of his yearmates (although the girl in question was in Hufflepuff, so he hadn't really encountered her yet). "I've chosen the most trustworthy Aurors for guard duty and the wards around the platform will magnify the voices of everyone on there while blocking out the sound from the watchers."

"Nev, you got the list?"

Neville nodded soberly, his knuckles white as he gripped the rolled-up parchment holding the questions that Harry, Madam Longbottom and DMLE Head Bones had quickly worked out.

"Just a quick scan first to check for possible allergies." The Healer (who had been shanghaid from St Mungo's) said, waving his wand, then he frowned. "Odd."

"What?" Harry, Neville and Madam Bones chorused.

"It's a very clear reading. No allergy to Veritaserum, but I haven't had a reading that clear before… can I check something?"

Harry nodded and the Healer waved his wand in a different pattern, then a third and a fourth.

"That's really strange." He finally said. "You don't have a normal mage's resistance to magic. Even a weak spell would affect you since it wouldn't need to overpower your natural defenses."

"So… learn to dodge?" Harry asked and the Healer nodded.

"Very much so, Mr Potter. In fact, I'd advise learning shield spells as a matter of urgency, as well as getting permission to wear runic-enhanced robes like the Aurors do. With no natural protection…" The Healer trailed off with a helpless shrug.

"And potions?" Madam Bones asked after a moment.

"They'll be… I'd guess about twice as effective. Either way."

"Two drops of Veritaserum then." Bones decided.

"Chief, the stage is set and the Wizarding Wireless Network have set up their equipment."

Bones nodded to the Auror, then looked at Harry.

"Last chance to back out."

"No." Harry said firmly. "Let's do this."

.

"Lucius, so glad that you could make it!" Fudge greeted the taller man warmly while at his side, a pink-clad woman made notes on a clipboard. Around them, several Aurors murmured greetings as well.

"I see you have assembled a most impressive team." Lucius said approvingly as he looked around him.

"Of course." Fudge preened. "Only the best for taking a criminal into custody. I have the Portkey prepared to whisk him off to Azkaban where he'll be put into a secure cell."

"Excellent." Lucius purred and Fudge motioned for the group to begin. One of the men stepped forwards, almost to the slight distortion of the protective wards, and began waving his wand. A moment later, he returned to the group, looking rather disturbed.

"What?" Fudge demanded.

"Them's strong wards, sir." The man stated. "It's going to take time to get through them. We may need to pull in some Cursebreakers as well."

"Hey!" one of the other men called. "You got to listen to this! Potter's at Diagon!"

"What?" Fudge and Malfoy chorused as they pushed their way to where the man was putting his portable radio down on a table that had been hastily transfigured from a nearby tree stump.

"…and now Madam Amelia Bones, Head Auror of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement is about to speak!"

The excited announcer's voice rose from the radio and Lucius ground his teeth together in suppressed rage as one of the few honest people whom he couldn't bribe started speaking.

"We are here at the request of Mr Potter in response to the accusations flung at him in the Daily Prophet, accusations

that neither he nor the DMLE were informed of prior to publication and which he has not been given a chance to refute.

Therefore, here in Diagon alley and live on the WWN, you will now hear Mr Potter's own testimony under Veritaserum,

meaning that it will be the truth and only the truth. Mr Potter, are you ready?"

"I am, Madam Bones."

"Healer Weatherwax, please confirm the potion you are holding."

"I swear on my honor as a Healer that this is Veritaserum, from a batch that I watched being brewed."

"Then please give Mr Potter the required dosage."

Fudge spluttered with shock. "But… but… He can't do this!"

"Obviously, he can." Lucius stated, caught between hatred for how Potter had thrown his plans off track and admiration for the same. "Obviously he can."

"We have to get to Diagon alley and stop him!" Fudge blustered, then he paused as Lucius placed a warning hand on his shoulder.

"No, Cornelius, any attempt to take action now would destroy you politically. We have to wait, to hear what he says and should he disprove the story, you can simply write this off as a training exercise and no-one will be any the wiser…"

.

Hermione Granger, trailed by her parents, managed to force her way through the crowds to where the warded dias had been set up. She had persuaded her parents to bring her to Diagon so that she could use the Post Office to send Harry a warning Owl, but seeing him on the stage had proven to her that her best friend (and the person she owed her life to) had beaten her to the punch.

"…and he's under." The Healer said, standing back. Amelia Bones nodded as she accepted a list from Neville Longbottom, who was standing beside a stern-looking elderly lady who had enough of a familial resemblance to him that she could only be his grandmother.

"These questions have been agreed ahead of time and are the only ones that shall be asked." Amelia declared. "Question one. Are you Harry James Potter?"

"I am…" Harry droned listlessly.

"Are you an emancipated wizard?"

"I am…"

"Where do you reside?"

"The Pottery."

"For those that do not know, the Pottery is the historical home of the Potter Family and has recently been rebuilt." Amelia supplied before turning back to face Harry. "Did you previously live with the Dursley family, that being Vernon Dursley, Petunia Dursley and Dudley Dursley?"

"I did…"

"How would you describe your interactions with them?"

"Minimal…"

A sussuration flowed through the crowd, but silence fell once more as Amelia asked the next question.

"Did you wish to kill them?"

"No…"

"Did you kill them or place either a request or order for them to be killed?"

"No…"

To the best of your knowledge, are they still alive?"

"Yes…"

"Do you know where they are now?"

"No…"

"Do you want to know where they are now?"

"No…"

This time the murmurs in the crowd were louder and lasted longer, but Madam Bones waited for them to quieten before continuing.

"Before you received your Hogwarts letter, were you aware of the Wizarding World?"

"No…"

"Before you received your Hogwarts letter, had you received any communication from the Wizarding World?"

"No…"

"Before you received your Hogwarts letter, were you aware that you were seen as a hero in the Wizarding World?"

"No…"

"Who introduced you to the Wizarding World?"

"Uncle Fil…"

Amelia blinked. "Who?"

"Filius Flitwick…"

"And… why do you call him Uncle Fil?"

"He told me I could as my mother asked him if wanted to become one of my honorary uncles…"

Amelia paused, then looked back down to her list.

"I seem to have got distracted. Back to the questions. To the best of your knowledge, what happened to the letters and gifts that people tried to send you?"

"They were redirected by a Mail Ward… probably destroyed as the ward affected Secure Gringotts Statements… I never saw them…"

"The Statements would have combusted and burned everything around them." Amelia confirmed. "And why did you ask for this public interrogation?"

"So people would know the truth and not believe the lies the Daily Prophet prints…"

"I think that covers everything important." Madam Bones said with a brisk nod. "Healer Weatherwax, the antidote, please."

"Harry…" She whispered as the Healer moved forwards with a small vial of the antidote in hand.

.

"This is a disaster!" Fudge whined, wringing his hands.

"Almost a disaster." Lucius corrected him, hiding his own rage with consummate skill. "Remember what you decided to do? Declare this a training exercise that needs to be kept quiet?"

Fudge paused for a moment, then he brightened. "Oh, right! Yes, a wonderful little exercise. All finished, no need for any reports as I watched it all myself. Everyone'll be paid, isn't that right, Dolores?"

"Of course, Minister." Simpered the pink-clad Witch. "I'll see to all the details for you."

"Thank you, Dolores." Fudge said, brushing his hands as if wiping away responsibility for the near-catastrophe. "Well done everyone, you performed wonderfully and Dolores will see to your payment. No need for reports as I saw what I needed to see. Well done all of you! Lucius?"

"Of course, Minister." Lucius smiled genially. "May I escort you back to the Ministry?"

.

"Harry!"

Harry half-turned from his conversation with Madam Bones and smiled as he spotted the waving figure.

"Hey, Hermione!" He waved back. "Um, Nev?"

"Sure thing, Harry." Neville chuckled as he walked over to tell the Aurors blocking the eager witch's path that she was a close friend and should therefore be allowed to join them.

"Sorry about that." Harry apologized as he turned back to the DMLE Head.

"Not at all." Amelia responded with a gentle smile. "I assume she's a friend of yours?"

"The first friend I made in the Wizarding World and one who wanted to be my friend, not the friend of the Boy-Who-Lived."

"I understand." Amelia nodded, then she glanced at where Hermione was hovering anxiously nearby. "However, I still have other tasks to see to, so I hope the rest of the day goes well for you."

As Amelia turned away, she heard Hermione start to scold Harry for not warning her about his recent decision. Chuckling, she made her way off the stage and headed back to her office.

.

Draco switched off the radio and slumped back into his seat, hate and satisfaction warring for supremacy within him.

Potter had managed to pull off the impossible and in one move, had undone all of his father's hard work. Oh, the miasma of the murder allegations (now revealed to be without any foundation at all) would remain for years at the edge of people's awareness's whenever they thought about the so-called Boy-Who-Lived, but it would only be a slight hint, not the stepping-stone to undo all the changes that the muggleborn had achieved despite the efforts of their betters and superiors to preserve that which made the Wizarding World so much better than the collection of muddy hovels that all Purebloods knew that mudbloods hailed from, whatever they may claim.

After all, the Chronicles of Slazar Slytherin proved that Muggles were unlettered, unwashed and ignorant. While they may have learned to put up proper buildings (probably under the direction of Squibs and those wizards who, for some reason far beyond his understanding, chose to leave civilization and slum with those things), at best they were trainable beasts barely worth noticing.

Draco frowned as he thought through the recent events. Normally, he simply relied on his breeding to carry the day (and why not? He was a Malfoy after all…) but even he could see that his father's plan had just collapsed quite spectacularly.

The question that tugged at his mind was whether it was simply luck or actual intelligence which had allowed Potter to put his father's work to naught.

While he wanted to believe the former, Potter was in Ravenclaw, the House of Wit and Knowledge.

And if it had been intelligence, would that mean that it really had been Potter who had knocked the desk and thrown off his aim rather than him just being a convenient scapegoat?

Draco steepled his fingers like he had seen his father do.

He had much to think about.

His father's reputation would not be enough any more.

He needed… something else.

Something more…