Wednesday 28th June 1995, 11:45pm

The darkness of night enveloped the man. His flowing black robe blended into the darkness and if it wasn't for his sickeningly pale skin he would almost be invisible.

The cold and wet of the North Sea seemed to have no effect on the man as he surveyed the island fortress in front of him. The insistent rocking of the boat he was on would have distracted a lesser man, but such minor distractions had no effect on Lord Voldemort.

"My Lord. We are as close to Azkaban as we can get without the wards registering the boat. What would you like to do now?" Lucius Malfoy, the only other occupant of the boat, was looking more than a little seasick.

The ocean breeze was whipping his long blond hair around, the cold was biting through his thick coat, and Malfoy wanted to be anywhere else other than here. While it was an honour to be the only man chosen to assist his Lord this evening, it was something that the arrogant blond saw as below his station.

This mission was of such importance that Voldemort hadn't trusted it to anybody outside of his inner circle, even though a job such as guarding the boat would usually fall to the spell-fodder (wizarding equivalent to cannon fodder), and had chosen Lucius to aide him. The mission was so important that Voldemort had decided to undertake the main objective himself.

"Just keep the boat here and wait for my return, Lucius." The nasally voice of Voldemort pierced the night.

The recently re-embodied man drew his wand and fluidly twirled it around in front of him. Even a wizard as powerful and knowledgeable as Tom Riddle would not be able to break through the ancient wards of Azkaban without alerting those guarding the prison, but for his plan he wouldn't need to.

Going on alone rather than bringing an army, or even just Malfoy, would enable him to create a minute breach in the outermost wards and literally slip through them. The wards for Azkaban were set up to stop large groups of people getting in and non-ministry approved boats, but being in the middle of a large body of water a single person attempting to enter never entered the minds of those who laid the wards.

Voldemort assumed there were anti-broom wards in place to stop someone flying in, but he wasn't going to fly in. Tom Riddle was going to walk in.

While much of his time in the muggle world as a child was wasted the story of Jesus walking on water was one that he remembered. He had spent months of his 4th year at Hogwarts developing a spell that would allow him to copy the feat, and now decades later he would finally show it off. With the breach created he cast the necessary spell on himself and stepped off the boat.

"My Lord!" Malfoys fear as the man stepped off the boat slipped out in his yell.

Standing on the waves like they were solid ground Voldemort turned around and glared at the other man. "Quiet you fool! I know what I'm doing."

Lucius watched stunned as Voldemort walked through the wards, literally walking on water. He watched as the black of Voldemort's garb fully blended into the night and he lost sight of his Lord. Now that he was alone Malfoy took the time to cast several warming charms on his cloak.

He would have done it earlier except Voldemort didn't cast one on himself and Lucius didn't want to seem weak in front of the newly returned Dark Lord. After the shambolic night at the cemetery Voldemort had taken his anger out on his followers.

Lucius had received a double dose of the cruciatus curse, firstly for not searching for the disembodied spirit of Lord Voldemort and secondly for losing the diary that had been entrusted to him. Malfoy knew that it was a charmed diary that could possess unwary people, but that wasn't anything special. Lucius had seen dozens of similar items over the years in stores like Borgin and Burkes and therefore didn't understand why he had been punished.

Knowing that questioning why would lead to him getting further punishments, or worse, Malfoy had taken the unbearable pain and had since sought to prove himself to the Dark Lord. If that meant not applying a warming charm to himself in front of the man and 30 minutes of biting cold, so be it. That didn't mean he wasn't going to take the opportunity now to be comfortable.

With nothing else to do he turned the boat around and sat staring into the distance. The hulking shadow of Azkaban could vaguely be made out from among the fog but Lucius couldn't make out a hint of movement. What would he do it Lord Voldemort was discovered?

How would he even know? Even in the night air he was far enough away from the fortress that he might not hear spell fire, not to mention any effects the wards might have on allowing noise to escape. He might see flashes of light, but again who knows with the wards?

As the minutes stretched on paranoia and fear rose in the man. Had Voldemort been attacked and lost, or fled? There would be no guards who would be able to match the Dark Lord for power, skill or knowledge but Voldemort hadn't fully recovered yet from his years as a spectre and the ritual that re-embodied him.

Maybe Aurors were scanning the area looking for other assailants and were closing in on him, or even worse maybe the Dementors had been let loose and would be on him any second. Perhaps it would be best if he retreated home and waited for news. Malfoy was about to send the boat to shore when he remembered that currently his Lord was still annoyed at him and doing so could be his downfall.

Instead Lucius had to sit there, eyes straining under the effort of picking up anything in the dark, as his fear at what was lurking in the dark grew. The irony of that was completely lost on the man as he didn't think of the thousands who had lived for years under the fear of a Death Eater attack during the night.

It was those highly strung eyes that caught sight of a flicker of movement in the dark and focused on the area in question. A few seconds later Lucius caught sight of the pale, serpentine face of his Lord. What surprised Lucius was the bundle of rags he was carrying over his shoulder.

A little over a minute later Voldemort dropped the rags into the boat with a thump allowing Malfoy to make out what it was. "Augustus Rookwood? He is what you were willing to risk everything for?"

"Quiet Lucius! I do not have to explain myself to you. Get us back to shore so we can return to Malfoy Manor." The Dark Lord rebuked his servant.

With nothing else he could do, Malfoy set a course for home.

/

Saturday July 1st 1995, 6:15am.

The private airfield on the outskirts of London was almost deserted. A single lonely figure could be seen making his way from the carpark to the air traffic control tower. John Taylor was not enjoying his morning.

After 15 years working for Heathrow he had jumped at the opportunity to become the tower supervisor at this private airfield, not least because of the much more reasonable hours compared to a busy international airport. It didn't hurt that the paychecks were fatter either. Whatever the case this morning he had the fun of a 6:30am departure and wasn't looking forward to it.

Reaching the base of the control tower he found his underling, Stephen, waiting for him at the door. Unlocking it the pair proceeded in and up the stairs. A few flipped switches later and the control room was full of artificial light and the equipment was booting up.

"So why the fuck are we in so early this morning?" Stephen groaned out, not yet fully awake.

Grabbing his clipboard John scanned the document that he had printed out the day before. "You know that really nice brand new Gulfstream? Seems that the owner finally has found a reason to use it but that's all I know. Haven't bothered to file a flight plan yet have they."

The younger man, Stephen, laughed at that. "Private pilots for the rich and famous huh? Can't help the rest of us out can they?"

"You're always up to date on the gossip… Who owns the plane?" The supervisor asked.

The air traffic controller's face lit up. "I heard from Jan, who met the pilots when they delivered it a month back, that it's some hotshot mine owner. Supposedly he is some sort of minor nobility and owns land and made a fortune that way."

"Bloody nobles keeping all the wealth to themselves. Bet he hasn't worked a day in his life and yet he has a private jet, a Gulfstream no less. Where do you reckon he's going?" John usually wasn't this bitter, but he could be forgiven after his early start.

The response was interrupted when there came a knock from the door downstairs. "I've got this John, you finish setup."

A short time later Stephen returned with the flight plan he had just been handed by a pilot of the Gulfstream. "Johnie boy, I was right. The owner is in the mine business, has to be, he's flying to South Africa."

The pair set about fully focusing on the set up for both the morning flight and any other flights that were set for that day. Several minutes later when the Gulfstream was taxiing, ready to take off, everything was up and running. A few words later the plane was accelerating on its way off the ground and away from the United Kingdom.

/

5 Minutes Earlier.

Bronwyn Hodges was sitting in the cockpit of the Gulfstream IV-SP running through the final checklist while her husband, Pat, ran the flight plan over to the air traffic control tower. She was just waiting for her new boss to arrive and Pat to return and then they could be off.

Life had changed dramatically for Bronwyn last year when after 3 years of working as a pilot for British Airways a new boss had come in and made her life hell. He was a little 'old-school' and didn't appreciate BA having female pilots, and after months of suffering through him she had quit.

Pat, who she had met during her training, had been a pilot for Virgin Atlantic at the time and had tried to get her a job at his company but nothing was available. Just when she was giving up her dream of being a pilot her Auntie Marian had phoned her up.

Marian had heard about what had happened from her sister, Bronwyn's mother, and had been complaining about it to Bulby when Harry overhead. Before she knew what was happening Bronwyn was receiving a job offer to be the pilot on a private jet, something she had never expected. Things snowballed from there and soon both her and her husband had contracts to be the flight crew for Harry Potter.

Rather than one being pilot and the other co-pilot, which could cause problems for their marriage, Harry was paying them both the same and they were both 'pilots'. The pay was comparable to what it had been when she worked for BA, but now her and her husband had much more time together and were able to take up hobbies.

Bronwyn had just finished her preflight check when Pat walked into the hanger, along with a small group. Her passengers had arrived. Making her way into the cabin to greet them, she stood near the top of the stairs.

Harry Potter came bounding up the stairs grinning. "Morning Bronwyn. We will get settled quickly and be on our way. Did you decide on the best place to fuel up on the way?"

"We did the calculations and decided the best place to stop is Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. We have to travel further across Africa than we would like, but it is more stable than anywhere in Western Africa. Plus I hear the local cuisine is delightful and we can have a late lunch while we fuel up." By this time Harry was seated in one of the forward-most chairs and three others had climbed aboard.

A minute later 9 of 14 seats were full and the pilots had returned to the cockpit, and the group of 11 were on their way.

/

Sunday 2nd July, 8am local time.

"Please Daddy, can we wake him up?" The high pitched voice of a child drew Harry out of his dreams.

The different smell and cold hit him simultaneously and the realisation that he was no longer home made the boy's eyes shoot open. Where the hell was he?

Memories of the day before flooded through him, of the many hours stuck in the plane, the amazing injera and his new favourite food tibs, the further flying down to Pretoria South Africa, and the final journeying of a two hour drive north from there. In the dark he hadn't seen anything of the drive but he was looking forward to the coming days as he spent time in a different country for the first time. (Technically he has been to both Wales and Scotland, which are separate countries to England, but the UK is weird so he sees it as one country.)

Climbing out of bed, through a mosquito net, Harry quickly got dressed and exited the bedroom he had been assigned. Opening the door sent a small boy, who Harry guessed was 4 or 5, scuttling for cover while a slightly older girl hid behind a grinning man standing there. Harry vaguely recognised him as the driver from the day before.

"My Lord Potter." The man bowed, his accent thick. "I didn't get the chance to introduce myself properly last night, I am Trevor Potter. Your cousin, several times removed."

"Pleasure to meet you Trevor, please call me Harry. And who are these two?" Harry indicated at the children.

Trevor's face lit up. "My daughter Nadine, and son Andrew. Say hello to Harry kids."

"Hello." Nadine said, now standing beside her father. Andrew simply let out a squeak from the doorway that he was peeking around.

"Charles is the man I have been communicating with so I am sorry if i caused any offense by not knowing you Trevor. Is Charles your father?" Harry tried to not let his embarrassment at not knowing show.

Trevor let out a big, booming laugh. "No, lad, Charles isn't my father. He is my Great-Grandfather. He was the brother of your Great-Grandfather Henry unless I am mistaken. Come, we can talk about it later, first; breakfast!"

The kids cheered at that and took off running through the hallways, leading Trevor and Harry who followed at a much more sedate pace. Coming to a large dining room the pair entered to find the children climbing into chairs at the table, which already had a half-dozen occupants.

Shacklebolt was seated there along with Daphne, an elderly woman, a younger woman, and a middle-aged couple. Pulling out the seat next to Daphne he greeted her. He also wished a good morning to Shack and Trevor introduced the rest of the table.

After introductions were made a house-elf popped in and took Harry's breakfast order, before returning with a plate of scrambled eggs and breakfast sausage for him. His hunger overtaking him, the boy dug in with gusto.

/

Harry got his first appreciation for the size of the house when Trevor led him to Charles' office after breakfast. "Just go on in, Grandpa Charlie is waiting for you. I have to head off to work."

"Thank you, Trevor." Harry then turned to the door in front of him.

He knocked before opening the door and entered the smaller-than-expected office. It was tidy, with several schematics adorning the walls and a desk that was clear, several chairs and a filing cabinet taking up most of the space.

Standing in front of one of the schematics was an old man who seemed to be surveying the paper intensely. "Come over here Lord Potter."

Not knowing what to do, and surprised by the Welsh accent, Harry crossed over to the man. Looking at the plans that the man was studying Harry couldn't make heads or tails of it. Whatever it was there were multiple levels, but it looked unlike any building Harry had ever seen before.

"This is Potter1, the first spot that I dug in when I moved here at the end of 1902 after the Boer War (The Second Boer War is often referred to simply as the Boer War.) and brought this large plot of land. I found my first diamond after a month and never looked back." The man was still staring at the schematic, but he pointed at the next schematic along. "That is Potter2, it's on the other side of the property and is much smaller and unfortunately hasn't produced nearly as many stones as Potter1. My sons started mining it during their teens, trying to make me proud, and they did. It took the two of them 4 months of hard work before they found anything, and persuaded me to turn it into a proper mine."

"It's very impressive. A credit to you and your family." The young Gryffindor didn't know what else to say.

The old man smiled at that and turned to Harry for the first time. "It is impressive. And it is a credit to my family; the Potter family. It was Potter money that paid for my education at Hogwarts and then supported my desire to make my own way in this world. The Lord Potter of the day brought me this land, brought me tools, kept me and my young wife fed. This property is as much yours as it is mine, Lord Potter, so I hope that you feel at home during your time here."

"Thank you. You must be Charles, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." Harry shook hands with the man.

"And you are Lord Harry Potter. Carry that name proudly young man, the original Harry Potter, my brother Henry, was a great man." Charles indicated for the pair to be seated. "I am sorry for the loss of your parents. I never met your mother, but did meet your father on a couple of occasions. He had a great sense of humour."

With pleasantries completed Harry wanted some answers. "Please don't take this the wrong way, but why did you never try and take me in after my parents death?"

The sudden change in tone made Charles frown. "Quite simply I didn't know. During the war with Voldemort the Death Eaters cut magical international communications in and out of Britain. To re-establish these links it requires both countries to work together, which was easily achieved in Europe but much harder the further afield. It was further complicated by the Apartheid regime and it wasn't until after that fell that we rebuilt those communication networks, more than a decade after they were cut. You were in Hogwarts by that stage and I assumed some of the extended family in England had taken you in and I wasn't needed."

Deciding that there was nothing else to be gained from this line of enquiry the boy let his eyes scan the room. "The other plans around the room, what are they of?"

"My second son wanted to follow in my footsteps, leave home and become successful, and of course mining was all he knew. He spent 5 years touring around Africa before legends sent him to the Island of Madagascar. He and his family have been quite successful with several mines. Tours of all our mines have been arranged for you over the coming days, starting with Potter2 this afternoon. Is there any other questions you have for me that can't wait? The children are going to show you around the property." Charles pride in his descendants was obvious.

Harry stood up to leave and Charles followed suit. "One thing, if you don't mind. You said early that a previous Lord Potter brought you tools and everything, but that you also went to Hogwarts… Couldn't you just use magic to mine? Why did it take you a month and your sons 4 months to find gems?"

"Because of something your namesake once told me; if you are unwilling to do the hard work with your own hands, you don't deserve to be able to do it with magic. While there are obviously things that are impossible to do without magic he was talking about work ethic, and how individuals willing to do the hard yards will always achieve more in life than those who sit back and rely on waving their wands. I instilled that in my sons, and they have to their children. While we use magic quite liberally in the mines, each and every mine we started by hand and kept going the muggle way until we found our first gem. You will learn more this afternoon." Harry couldn't help but feel like a child learning a lesson from his elder throughout the explanation, so could do nothing but nod.

Charles led him out of the office and back to the dining room, where the kids from earlier that morning were still seated along with their mother, Abigail, who Harry had met during breakfast. They had been joined by Lord and Lady Greengrass who had since woken up and were enjoying breakfast.

"Grandpa Charlie!" Little Andrew yelled out before running up and embracing the elder.

Charles laugh was full of genuine joy as he picked up the boy. "Have you been good Andrew? Did you eat all your breakfast?"

"Yes Grandpa Charlie, and mummy says I don't have class today." Andrew said as he cuddled into his Grandfather, several times removed.

"That's because you, your sister and your mother are going to show Harry here around the house. Can you do that for me?" Charles asked the boy.

The child looked shyly at Harry before nodding. "Yes Grandpa Charlie."

/

Saturday 8th July, 8am.

Harry had had a great week in South Africa, despite the cold, and was looking forward to returning that afternoon. Unfortunately the unpleasantness of the Dementor attack was not quite resolved and he had to appear in front of the Wizengamot for a trial.

For last minute prep he had 'flamed' back to the UK the night before and was happy for the work his solicitors had done during his absence. The ministry would be in for a world of hurt. And so would certain people who Harry had a target on.

Knowing that even if all the facts were on his side politics would have a part to play, Harry had amassed allies to ensure his victory. Instead of trying to bribe, buy or trade favours for votes he had decided to go a different route. Instead of allies in the Wizengamot he had gained allies in many areas of wizarding life.

It was with one of these allies that Harry was visiting before the trial at 10. "I have acquired all the relevant documents to ensure the validity of your counterclaims Lord Potter."

"That's great, Madam Bones. If you would hold on to them until they are called for as evidence that will be great. Do you have names or is that something that we still have to work out?" Harry asked the host.

A confident smirk flittered across Amelia Bones' face. "I got in and got copies before they were destroyed. They have since been destroyed, which you should leave to me as I know what to do about it. I think it's best if you don't know who until the trial and I produce the documents."

Any further discussion was interrupted when the Ministry Internal Mail System alerted the pair to the arrival of an urgent message for the Head of the D.M.L.E. She apologised for the interruption before going over to read what she had been sent.

Her scowl concerned Harry but he knew not to ask about confidential Department business. She read through it twice, her scowl deepening, before turning towards him with an appraising eye. Harry just sat there passively waiting on her.

"It seems our illustrious Minister has decided to shift the time for your trial forward to 8:30, rather than 10. I assume he's trying to catch you out, but I don't know how he plans to sneak it past you given that you are a member." Amelia handed over the memo.

Harry raised an eyebrow and scanned the memo. It seemed that Fudge, or his advisers, were trying to pull a fast one on him. "You go. I'll make an entrance."

She led Harry out of the office. "Oi Black! Get away from that desk! If anything happens to any of my Aurors I'll be coming for you."

"Who me? Wouldn't dream of it." Sirius' face was the picture of innocence.

As it was a Saturday morning there were only a handful of Aurors scattered around the office, along with Shack and Tonks, so Sirius had been hoping to take advantage of that and cause some chaos. All good-natured of course. Now with all eyes on him he gave up on his quest.

"What's going on?" He whispered to his godson as Bones swept out of the room.

Harry handed over the memo while pulling out a hand-mirror. "Daffodil. Grab Alest and get here now they have tried to hold the trial in my absence by moving the time forward."

"On my way." His solicitor told him before blinkering out of the mirror.

"We going to make an entrance?" Sirius enquired.

Harry smirked. "What do you think?"

Three minutes later Alest and Daffodil came rushing in, slightly winded from running. Tonks was nice enough to give each a glass of water.

"The secretary knows to alert us the second that we get told about the change of time, the problem is there is no way of knowing when they send us the letter and they can just claim the owl must have taken too long." Alest didn't seem surprised about this cheap tactic.

"Well you could know…" Tonks started before she caught herself. On guard duty you are meant to be seen, not heard.

As his solicitor Daffodil knew about Harry's Auror guards. "Don't be shy Auror, what do you recommend?"

"Well if an Auror was posted in the mail room they would be able to find out if it had already been sent or what time they send it." The young Auror shared.

"Well it would work. Could you do it yourself Tonks?" Her assignment asked.

The one day that Tonks and Shack hadn't been guarding him was the day when he got attacked by the Dementors and ever since they had been reluctant to leave his side. The only reason they had been gone is they had been testifying in front of the Wizengamot about an arrest of theirs.

Because of that attack and the trouble Harry always seemed to get himself into Tonks hesitated. "I guess I could, but I'm sure one of the others in the office would be willing to do it."

"I know and trust you. Some of the others loyalties might lie with the Minister and not the Ministry." That second part was said under his breath.

While her first instinct was to defend her colleagues, the more she found out about the Dementor incident the more she became concerned with the state of the Ministry. "Fine! I'll go I guess."

"The letters could be sent to any of these; Smith and Welch Law Offices, Lord Potter, Lord Black, Lord Peverell, the counsel of Lord or Harry Potter, or simply Harry Potter and Sirius Black. You need to keep an eye out for any and all of those." Alest added his 5p worth.

Tonks nodded before exiting the room to get to it. The rest of the group decided to spend the last couple of minutes relaxing before making their way down to the courtroom.

/

Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge was feeling quite happy with himself, as was his Undersecretary who was seated beside him. When his adviser and supported Lucius had suggested this tactic he had been hesitant, but Dolores had insisted that she could make it happen. Her ability to make his wishes happen her a real blessing.

Looking at his pocket watch the Minister smiled as he saw that it was only a minute to the trial start time and when he could legally seal the door to the room. It didn't matter how much the accused knocked on the door after then, the trial would proceed without him.

Cornelius was just turning to congratulate his Undersecretary when the door were flung open and in walked Harry Potter, Sirius Black, those pesky lawyers from Smith and Welch, and trailing behind them Auror Shacklebolt. Black walked over to his hereditary seat while Harry and his solicitors walked into the center of the room. Kingsley took up his position in the doorway as the Auror guards often did.

"Minister. Chief Warlock. Madam Bones. Members of the Wizengamot. Good day to you all." Harry greeted the room.

He then looked down in disgust at the chair that had been provided for him. He simple shook his head at Alest. "Can more appropriate seating be provided for my client? As you all know a Wizengamot member on trial does not have to sit in the convict's chair."

With obvious disappointment on his face Cornelius waved for a court worker to switch the chair over for simple, but more comfortable, chairs for the three of them and a desk. Harry sat in the middle with Alest on his right and Daffodil on his left. The pair placed briefcases on the desk in front of them.

"Lord Potter you have been summoned here in front of the Wizengamot accused of serious crimes, how do you plead?" Albus Dumbledore, in his role as Chief Warlock, began.

Alest slowly took to his feet, obviously not in a hurry. "Sorry Chief Warlock, this unexpected change in trial time has caught me on the back foot, as the saying goes. In fact I am lucky to be here at all given that my client, myself or our office has not received a summons alerting us to the change of time."

"This morning the notice of change was sent to you by owl, the Ministry is not to blame if you haven't received it yet." Undersecretary Umbridge responded.

Alest fixed the woman with her gaze and held it until she looked away. "That does not explain why the time was changed, or why that decision was not made earlier in the week. It most certainly should not have been made with such a short period to the new start time."

"I made that decision, and I do not answer to you I think you will find!" The Minister bit out.

Alest looked at Harry who waved for him to move to the next item. "Of course Minister. The Chief Warlock mentioned serious crimes, my client cannot enter a plea either way without knowing what charges the Ministry is bringing."

With his piece said, for now, the solicitor returned to his seat. After sitting back down he gazed up at the seated Minister, Head of the D.M.L.E and Chief Warlock stoically. It was obvious that he was not looking to rush through the trial.

"The charges are two accounts of breaking the Statute of Secrecy. Two of performing magic outside of Hogwarts by an underage Wizard. And one charge of being an unregistered animagus." The Minister informed the trio, looking down on them in scorn.

"Lord Potter pleads not guilty on all charges, just as he will be found by the end of this farce of a trial." Daffodil answered on Harry's behalf.