17

-Chapter 16-

-The Trial of Sirius Black-

It was early the next morning when Magnus entered the great hall, having gotten up extra early that morning to get though his morning run and routine beforehand. The great hall was sparsely populated at this time, with only a few students being up and they were scattered at the various house tables, and only a couple of the professors were at the head table, Andromeda being one of them.

Making his way up through the hall Magnus arrived at the head table and went straight to Andromeda who looked wide awake. "Good morning nephew, something I can help you with?" she asked as he approached her.

"An inquiry and possible request," Magnus told her with a smile, "Harry asked me last night if it would be possible for him to come with us to the trial today, I told him I'd ask you if it was possible."

Andromeda frowned but nodded in understanding, "I understand why he would want to go, but the only reason you can attend is due to your being Heir Black, and my allowing it and the fact that I will be accompanying you as your magical guardian." she explained though they both knew that because of the contract she signed that second didn't really apply and it was merely for appearances sake, "I don't think that it will be likely that the headmaster will allow for Harry to attend," she said shaking her head, "I can already predict several arguments he'd have against the matter."

Magnus frowned and nodded, he could think of just as many and sighed, "it's okay, I thought as much thank you anyway," he told her before making his way to the Ravenclaw table and let himself slip into his thoughts as he started to think on just how he could use Pettigrew's trial to the utmost of his benefit, only to be broken from his thoughts by Erebuse's voice in his mind.

'Those are some rather dark thoughts you are having' Ererbus thought in his mind, his tone not judging but at the same time with a note of worry in his words.

'I'm just trying to think of how to make the most of this whole situation, I wanted to make ripples and change things, if I'm giving up the advantage of my future knowledge in this area the most I can do is make sure that I get the absolute most out of it' Magnus defended those particular thoughts.

'Perhaps, but those particular ideas… are you sure you want to go down that route… are you sure you'd be capable of doing so?' Erebus asked, the concern clear in his tone.

Magnus swallowed and let out a slow breath, 'truthfully no, but what other options do I have,'

'You could just let things play out in the direction they are going and hope for the best,' Erebus voiced, though his words were hollow.

'Even you don't believe that,' Magnus said before cutting the conversation short as he looked up to see Harry and Neville coming into the hall.

Getting up from his seat Magnus made his way over to them and shook his head when Harry looked at him with a hopeful look in his eyes.

"Sorry Harry, I talked with my Aunt, she doesn't think it will be possible for you to go, the headmaster isn't likely to allow you out of school to attend a trial when you don't have to" he explained.

The hopeful look Harry had vanished and was replaced by one of disappointment, but he nodded all the same, "Okay Magnus, thanks for trying."

Magnus nodded but held his hand out to Harry, "even though you can't be there Harry, doesn't mean he isn't going to get what is coming to him, I'll make sure that he pays for what he's done, I swear it" he told him, his tone hard and set.

Their eyes met and Harry nodded once as he took Magnus's hand, "I know you will," Harry told him as he took his hand to shake in agreement.

"I'd say good luck," Neville commented, "but with all the evidence against him there really is no way for him to get out of this."

Magnus nodded as he and Harry broke the handshake, "I know," he said before turning to leave them as he began to make his way back to the ravenclaw tower and his trunk office, he needed to do some research on just what he had planned.

-Time skip-

Magnus sat at his desk in his office with three large tomes open in front of him as the air around him seemed to shimmer and his eyes were a blur to anyone looking at him. His hand then reached out to the desk drawer and took out the open pocket watch that lay inside it and closed it shut returning the air around him to normal as he closed off the time dilation effect.

'It's always amusing watching you with that pocket watch active,' Erebus voiced in his mind as he sat on his perch at the side of the room.

Magnus snorted and rubbed his eyes as he recalled everything that he'd just read in the past hour, his plan could work, there was nothing stopping him as it was all perfectly legal, but there would still be the drawbacks that he would suffer from it, but he could deal with them if they happened. He just needed to confer with Ted to get clarification on whether or not he was within his rights.

It was the very next second that the mirror in his desk drawer began to vibrate making Magnus chuckle as he took it up and Ted's image appeared on the mirror front, "your ears must be burning, I was literally just about to try to get a hold of you" he mused.

"A happy coincidence then, because I just got some rather disturbing news from your grandparents' portraits that you need to hear" Ted told him before turning the mirror away from him and the next second the portrait of his grandmother appeared on the mirror.

"Grandmother, what's going on?" Magnus asked, concerned about what she had heard.

"Magnus," Walburga nodded, "Last night your grandfather and I were called to our portraits in the Black vault by Phineas, to inform us about a despicable plot that he has overheard against your uncle" she explained before she began to recount just what Phineas had told them he had overheard.

Magnus's frown deepened as he listened and he internally cursed, he should have expected the old goat to try to pull something like this. Since he knew he couldn't stop Sirius being found innocent he was doing the next best thing to make it impossible for Sirius to try to claim Harry's guardianship in order to keep his control over the Potter heir, by using his time in Azkaban to have him be declared mentally unfit and physically incapable to care for a child.

"Ted, what are the chances of this plan of his actually succeeding," Magnus asked as he hoped that things weren't as bad as he thought.

"Sadly they are rather good," Ted informed him, "I was allowed a brief meeting with Sirius yesterday when he was taken out of there, and he isn't in the best of shape, he's in a holding cell now and his health is being seen to but Azkaban has taken its toll on him, it could take weeks for him to even to properly begin a physical recovery, and that's not even taking into consideration any of the mental problems that he may now have."

"And there's no way for us to down play it?" Walburga suggested from her portrait.

Ted shook his head, "No, this may be a desperate play on the headmasters part but it's one that the Ministry will take seriously, there would be riots in the streets if there was even a hint of something wrong with someone who would be charged with the care of the boy-who-lived."

Magnus clenched his fists, he wanted to comment that there already was, he wanted to bring up the Dursleys disgusting treatment of Harry over his entire childhood but immediately scrapped that idea as he had no ground to stand on with it, as he had no way to actually justify his claims as to how he would know about his treatment.

But still following the same lines Magnus asked, "would it be possible to press the issue of his current custody? As I recall his current situation is in a muggle home, could we push to have him stay with his own kind rather than them?" he asked.

The mirror turned and changed again as Ted's face came back onto the reflective surface and he didn't look pleased, "I assume that you have a good reason for bringing up his current care situation, other than his family's status as muggles" he asked in a clipped tone.

Magnus internally winced, having momentarily forgotten that Ted was Muggle born himself, thinking for a moment he realized while he couldn't outright say he knew he could use his observations to some extent to justify things, "I have concerns about Harry's home situation, though they are currently unfounded and would have to be looked into, but it is my belief that Harry isn't getting the best treatment at his home."

That seemed to make Ted pause as he instead gave Magnus a worrying look, "what do you mean?"

Magnus took a breath as he took a second to think, "his appearance and mannerisms for a start, Harry is the smallest of our entire year group, he is shy and doesn't openly approach others and doesn't raise his hand in class to volunteer information, while it would have to be checked, both point to not being given enough food at home and having overbearing perhaps even abusive guardians" he pointed out, "then there are his clothes, other than his hogwarts robes, what clothing he has are all extremely worn out, along with being several sizes to big for him, like they are all hand me downs. Nothing he has seems to have been bought new for him and all have been given to him after being used by someone else, his cousin more than likely."

Ted was silent as he listened to Magnus and tried to put the pieces together as Magnus laid them out for him, and he wasn't liking the picture he was seeing.

"All signs point to an abusive home life at worst, an unpleasant one at best," Ted said after a moment of thinking, "have you spoken to your Aunt about this?" he asked

Magnus shook his head, "Not yet, I wanted to be sure before doing so, the evidence just keeps piling up, hell he didn't even know he was Heir Potter or any of his future responsibilities until Neville, me, Daphne and Tracey began to talk to him about it, he's only just starting to pick things up now."

"What!" Walburga yelled in shock making Ted jump from her outburst, "the rightful heir to a Most Noble and Most Ancient House didn't even know of his heritage and responsibilities, just what in the seven hells is that headmaster playing at, if he's his magical guardian it's his responsibility to ensure that his charge learns these things."

Ted rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed hearing the portraits ranting, but he knew she was right, that was half the reason why the magical guardian role was made. Firstly to ensure traditions and history was passed down. That was why normally the lord of any house was made the de facto magical guardian of any child in his house.

The second reason was due to muggle borns, if they got sick or needed to be represented in court due to any reason. Their muggle parents wouldn't have the necessary knowledge to make informed decisions best for their children, and so the role was needed.

And yet Dumbledore had clearly not done so, if Harry didn't know what he needed to and was in the state he was, Dumbledore was failing severely in his duties, the question was why. And the answers he was coming up with were not pleasant in the slightest.

"Alright, I'll bring this up with your Aunt after the trial, needless to say she'll have some choice words and will want to talk with Harry about this and want to give him a complete medical check over to see just what damages have been done if there are any," Ted voiced, "but as for your idea about bringing up Harry's guardianship in that way, I would think that it would be unwise, not only would it cause riots if it was even suggested that he was being abused, but to do so in that way would open the metaphorical floodgates for everyone with even the smallest claim to his guardianship to try their hand to get him, and there are some with claims that would be less than genuine behind their reasonings"

"Cousin Narcissa you mean," Magnus guessed right off the bat.

Ted nodded, "Indeed, Lucius Malfoy wouldn't hesitate for a second to use his wife's blood relation to Dorea Potter to try and get control of Harry, and by extension the Potter votes in the Wizengamot."

"Couldn't you bring up his past as a death eater?" Magnus suggested, "Get his claim thrown out."

"Accused Death eater," Ted corrected, "while he may have been accused he was acquitted on the charges, and while that might muddy his claim some it still wouldn't stop him from making it, and as it would be through Narcissa's connection that he would make the claim overall it would still make his claim about as strong as Sirius's without his position of being Harry's Godfather."

Magnus frowned, "and I assume there would be others to try as well?"

Ted nodded, "yes, the first that comes to mind would be Dowager Lady Longbottom, as Alice Longbottom, her daughter-in-law, was listed as Harry's Godmother, she would be able to make a claim for Harry's guardianship in her stead, just like she is looking after her Grandson Neville in the same way."

Hearing that Magnus grinned, "That might just play to our advantage," he said with a glint in his eye, "Do you think she would be amenable to shared custody, if you and Aunt Andy were to file the same claim through Sirius, surely if we combined our claims we would have a stronger claim than Lucius would."

Ted blinked, but slowly nodded as he thought, "yes, that might actually work, though you would have to bring Sirius back into the house, as he was disowned but if you did it before we made our claim and Dowager Longbottom was agreeable to our terms it would give us a stronger stance." he said with a smirk, "Can you ask Heir Longbottom what the floo address is for their manor so I can speak with his Grandmother to arrange things."

Magnus nodded, "I'll go down and ask him in a bit but there's one more thing I need to talk with you about before I do so."

Ted blinked before sighing, "ah right, the reason you were going to call me, what is it you need my advice on?" he asked

Magnus then gave Ted a serious look, before asking his question. After hearing it, Ted first was confused as to why Magnus was asking about it but then as the realization dawned on him his eyes widened in shock.

-Time skip-

It was at precisely one hour before noon that Andromeda and Magnus flooded from Hogwarts Deputy head mistress's office to the public floo entrances in the ministry. Stepping out of the floo Magnus was brushing the soot off of his shoulders, he had taken to wearing a set of black robes with silver trims and the Black Family crest emblazoned over his heart. Andromeda was wearing the same only in a shade of light gray, with her plum coloured Wizengamot robes hanging open over her shoulders.

The ministry was just as hectic as Magnus remembered from the movies, with people bustling everywhere, Magnus made sure to stick close to Andromeda so as to not get lost in the crowd.

After ten or so minutes and a rather stomach turning elevator ride later, he didn't care how cool they looked in the movies or the fact that Willy Wonka has one, elevators should only go up or down not side to side or backwards and forwards, they were stepping out onto the floor where Andromeda told him the Wizengamot session was due to start shortly.

Still sticking close to his Aunt, Magnus followed until he was led into a room that he recognised was similar to the room where Harry would have been given his bogus trial in the fifth movie.

Looking around as he followed Andromeda up into the stands, Magnus could see that they weren't the first to arrive as a number of others in Wizengamot robes were mulling around, and up above Magnus could see that there was an area for the press to attend and it was quickly filling up as well.

"Cousin Sirius' trial has caused an even bigger stir than we ever thought possible," Andromeda mused as she took her seat and Magnus took the seat beside her, "I'd imagine Sirius would find this whole thing funny if it was someone else in his position."

Magnus arched an eyebrow as he looked at her, "What do you mean?" he asked in a low voice.

Andromeda gestured with her chin towards some older members of the Wingenamot that had gathered, "it's not often that such older lords come in for sessions, take Lord Weasley there, he normally leaves things to his proxy to vote in his stead, after having reviewed things before and passed on his desires if he has any" she said as she eyed the old wizard with short cut ginger hair that was half faded to gray and white, and the older man he was talking to.

"Who's that he's talking to?" Magnus asked as he saw the pair.

"That's Lord McLaggen, another rare face to see here, he usually leaves it to his Heir to vote in his stead," Andromeda informed him before glancing to the doors as more people came in.

"Mind giving me the layout?" Magnus asked curiously and Andromeda nodded in response and began to subtly gesture around to the various people that came in.

Magnus for his part listened intently as he compartmentalized and organized the names and faces of everyone he was told about, filing it all away in his mind, making note of possible allies and measuring up those he suspected would be enemies at a later date when House Black returned to power.

As the last members trickled in taking their seats, Magnus could see the room was practically packed, he could see Andromeda eyeing various people and giving various nods to some, clearly the chambers weren't this full on all occasions.

It was a couple of minutes after everyone was seated that Minister Fudge and his Toady, Umbitch, made their appearance from a second door in the back, nodding to various people in greeting as they made their way up to their seats with a pair of aurors behind them and another pair taking position at the doors.

That was precisely when Magnus finally noticed the dozen or so blue robed aurors that were already dotted about the room against the walls as if they had already been there.

Noticing his reaction to them Andromeda smirked slightly, "Disillusionment charms, they've been here the whole time, another rarity, usually it's only half these numbers." she explained.

Magnus gave a single nod of his head to show he understood, Madam Bones was taking no chance for anything to go wrong, that made him feel a little better.

Once Fudge and Umbridge took their seats, Dumbledore began to rise and moved up to take the podium for the chief warlock position and nodded to Fudge who lifted the parchment in front of him and began to read from it.

"This emergency session of the Wizengamot has been gathered to hear testimony and evidence of the events that took place during Samhain of nineteen eighty one and the days that followed, to judge the guilt or innocence of one, Sirius Orion Black." He read out, and immediately the courtroom was thrown into chaos.

As a number of Wizengamot members rose from their seats and began to cry out in denial, while others rose up to yell at them, clearly there were alot of mixed feelings about this trial, and whether it was even justified at all. The sight made Magnus' left eye twitch in irritation.

The yelling continued for a full two minutes before finally Dumbledore raised his wand and Magnus had to cover his ears as he released several loud cannon blasts from its end in order to gain silence in the chamber.

"That will be quite enough," Dumbledore stated as he looked around the chamber, "now while a grave many may feel that this trial is unjustified, and others may feel that it should have happened a long time ago, it is neither here nor there, it will be happening now regardless" he said plainly, his expression blank as he gave one more passing look around those seated before nodding to Madam Bones who was seated in the front row.

At the nod Madam Bones stood up from her seat clearing her throat, "Due to the state of affairs at the time among other things, there is was server lack of physical evidence that was collected at the time, no witness statements were taken, no spell signatures record or memories recovered from any near by muggles before they were obliviated, and as it has been well over ten years since the time of the events it is next to impossible for any new evidence from those days to be gathered" she said as she leveled a disgusted glare at Minister Fudge, and she wasn't the only one, everyone knew it had been him to capture Sirius Black all those years ago, it had been one of the things that had started his rise to power it had bolstered his reputation at the time and began his assent.

Fudge seemed to shrink back a little the number of glares being sent his way and perhaps wisely decided to remain quiet.

Getting no response from Fudge, once more Madam Bones cleared her throat and recentered her attention, "Still despite the abysmal detective work done at the time, there are still two avenues open to us to explore" she said before looking to the main doors, "Bring in the accused"

At her command the doors to the room were opened and for the first time Magnus laid eyes on his uncle as he was escorted in between four aurors, two in front of him and two behind him, all four with their wands drawn and at the ready, with Ted following them in a few feet behind.

From what Magnus could see of him, he looked just as rough if a little less so than what he would have when he would have broken out in two years, gaunt and weak, filthy but all and all still standing.

There was a lot of unpleased grumbling from around the chamber as Sirius was lead to the middle of the room where the accused chair was stood, and he was moved to sit down in the chair, where chains immediately sprouted from its body and wrapped loosely around him, making the grumbling grow several octaves.

"Well that should go a long way," Andromeda mused next to Magnus.

"Explain?" Magnus requested as he looked around at a few of those muttering.

"The chair is spelled, it reads the intent and emotions of those who sit in it, judges them in a way, those who are innocent rarely find themselves bound by it, those who regret their actions will be bound but loosely so, and those who are guilty and do not regret their actions in the slightest will find themselves bound the tightest" Andromeda explained, "rumor has it that dear sister Bella was almost strangled by the chains when she sat in it, they bound her so tightly, broke a few bones during her trial though still sat on the chair like it was a throne" she said shaking her head.

"So with Sirius only loosely being bound?" Magnus asked as he tried to work it out, he knew Sirius wasn't guilty.

"Suggests that he is guilty, or feels guilty for something, and regrets his actions" Andromeda stated as Dumbldore quieted the room once again.

As silence was once again achieved Ted stepped forward beside the seated Sirius, "Representing the defendant, Edward Tonks," he announced himself.

Dumbledore nodded from his position, looking rather serious. Magnus noticed there was no twinkle in his eyes as he gazed down at the scene.

"Read the charges if you please, Madam Bones" Dumbledore requested.

At the request Madam Bones stood up from her seat with a shief of parchment in her hands, "the defendant is accused of multiple crimes, aiding in the death of James and Lily Potter, aiding in the death of a Lord and Lady of a Most Honorable and Most Ancient house, being a member of an terrorist group, the murder of Peter Pettigrew and twelve muggles" her tone bland, as if reciting them was a meer formality.

"How does the defendant plee" Dumbledore said once Madam Bones was finished listing the charges.

"Not Guilty, and council moves to have the charge of the murder of Peter Pettigrew stricken from the charge list as it has become known that the individual is still alive and is in custody" Ted stated.

With that statement mutters began to circulate the room and Magnus could see various people in the dark section whom he knew were death eaters begin trading glances.

"So noted," Dumbledore said and gestured to Madam Bones to begin.

"Given the lack of physical evidence of the alleged crimes, the prosecution moves for the application of Veritaserum for questioning" Madam Bones stated openly before looking to Ted, "Does the defense consent to its use."

"It does," Ted replied with a nod, having expected such.

"I'd insist on it," Sirius openly remarked from his seat with a slight chuckle in his voice.

"Objection," Came a voice Magnus recognised from the stands as Lucius Malfoy stood up from his seat, "It is well known that Veritaserum is only fully effective on those who do not know they are under its influence, and that it can even be fooled by those skilled in mind magics."

Magnus recognised the ploy that Malfoy was trying to pull to cast doubt on Sirius' willingness to take the truth potion, and wasn't going to take it lying down, he stood up from his seat with a scowl.

"I hope I have just misheard you Lord Malfoy." Magnus said as he glared at the platinum blond, "It wasn't that long ago your former heir accused myself of being a liar, and we all know how that ended. Surely you aren't making a similar mistake by accusing another member of my house of the same thing. One would think you would choose your words more carefully."

Lucius' grip on his cane tightened as some chuckles were heard in response to Magnus' comments coming from the light side of the court, and he glared at Magnus before responding.

"Heir Black, that matter has been resolved, and I fail to see the connection, this man, while still bearing the Black name, was cast out of house Black long before you were born, as such.." he went on to continue before Magnus cut him off.

"As such, he still bares the proud name of Black, and the same Blood runs through his veins as dose my own, regardless of past grievances, the past is in the past and I will not allow you to openly slander him much like your former Heir did to myself" Magnus stated heatedly as he flicked his wrist and drew his wand, "So let me make this clear to all who are present," he added as he held his wand up, "I Magnus Rorak Black, Heir to the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, do hereby lift the banishment placed on Sirius Orion Black and welcome him back into the Black Family, may the family magics welcome and embrace him as a Black forever more, so I say I do so swear, so mote it be"

At Magnus' declaration both he and Sirius began to glow as magic accepted Magnus' call, and almost immediately Sirius began to look much better than he had before, his skin gaining color, his hair becoming thicker, and his eyes becoming much more lively as the family magics returned to him and he breathed in a breath a new.

Sirius looked at Magnus as he lowered his wand, taking in his features and a glint of recognition shown in his eyes covered up by the shock as if he was looking at a ghost.

Lucius for his part looked as if he had just swallowed a full lemon as he sat back down, clearly not willing to openly risk another verbal insult given how the last time went.

Magnus nodded as he returned his want to his sleeve before looking to Madam Bones, "Can we please get on with this farce Madam," he said as he sat down getting several looks as more mutters began to circle the court.

Madam Bones nodded and with a gesture to one of the auror's on the courtroom floor stepped forward and produced a phial from inside his robes and showed it to Ted who looked upon the phial and nodded, "The defense has verified the phial is sealed and has not been tampered with" he said as was procedure as he gestured to Sirius with a nod.

Sirius nodded back before tilting his head back and opened his mouth as the auror stepped closer to him and took off the wax seal from the lid and opened the phial before letting the three drops within fall into Sirius' open mouth before stepping back.

Once Sirius closed his mouth the potion began to take effect, his eyes glazed over and his posture relaxed, his shoulders slumped and a blank look came over his face, the tell tale signs that the potion was working as intended.

Seeing that everything was normal Madam Bones began the questioning, "what is your name?"

"Sirius Orion Black" Sirius responded, his voice a drone.

"When were you born" Amelia continued not at all bothered by his tone as it was expected.

"November third, nineteen fifty nine" Sirius continued his tone not changing in the slightest.

With the beginning questions out of the way to confirm he was under the effects Madam Bones continued, and with each answer that followed the volume in the room grew with various people muttering to one another in shock.

"Did you betray Lord James and Lady Lily Potter to the Dark lord?"

"No"

"Were you or have you ever been a death eater or follower of the dark Lord?"

"No"

"Were you the secret keeper for Lord James and Lady Lily Potter?"

"No, I thought it would be too obvious as I as James best friend"

"Do you know who it was?"

"Yes, Peter Petigrew, we trusted him and I suggested him to take my place, I thought no one would suspect him"

"What happened on the night of October thirty first nineteen eighty one, when the dark Lord murdered Lord and Lady Potter?"

"It had just been a regular day, I went to check on Peter, but when I got to his place he wasn't there, I got a bad feeling and immediately went to check on James, Lily and Harry, but when I got there it was already to late," Sirius explained, his voice breaking slightly, "I found James first at the bottom of the stairs, and Lily in the nursery in front if Harry's crib, Harry was still alive, crying with a nasty cut on his forehead. I immediately went to pick him up to help calm him, but my mind was racing. I had just lost two of my closest friends and realized that we had been betrayed. Peter's home was untouched, as pathetic as he was, I didn't think for a second that he would have been taken without at least causing a mess. I began to leave with Harry, I had to get him out of there. When we were leaving that was when Hagrid arrived via portkey, he said he had been sent to collect Harry, I didn't question him and gave Harry to him, I'm ashamed that I did so, but the only thing on my mind at that moment was revenge, and so I went to hunt Peter down to get it. It took me some time but I managed to find him, I began to chase him as he fled, but I finally caught up to him in the early hours of the next morning, but before I could kill him the rat fired a over powered bombarda maxima at the street, the explosion blasted me back and opened up a crater in the street, when I started to come to Peter was gone and I just broke down, I had failed them, James and Lily, they were gone and I couldn't even avenge their deaths, it was all my fault"

The room had fallen into silence as Sirius had spoken of the events that happened following the deaths of James and Lily, revealing a lot of facts that had been previously unknown.

"At this time the defense submits the interrogation transcripts of one Peter Pettigrew, which confirm that events transpired exactly as testified," Ted announced as he took the parchment from his folder and presented it to madam bones having already been given it in advance.

"So noted," Madam bones said as she took the parchments before her eyes flicked back to Sirius, "do you know who it was that cast the Filidus charm on the Potter's home"

Magnus sat forward in his seat, this could be it. But much to his disappointment Sirius answered in the negative.

"No, I wasn't present for the casting, Dumbledore had suggested the spell, and had offered to cast it, but Lily bring Lily wanted the challenge so began to study the spell to cast it herself, I assume she succeeded"

Magnus wanted to curse someone, that would have been a smoking gun if ever there was one. It had never been confirmed that Dumbledore had been the one to cast the spell, had it, it would have revealed he had left Sirius to rot away in Azkaban for his plan to work.

Though Amelia herself was not finished, "do you know who was present when Peter was made their secret keeper" she asked, trying to get answers.

"No, I wasn't there, and I was only let in on the secret by Peter after the spell was cast" Another dead end.

Seeing no use to further questioning Sirius Amelia nodded and gestured for the antidote to be administered.

"The defense moves to have all charges dropped, in light of the evidence and proven testimony of my client proving his innocence of all charges" Ted spoke up as the antidote was given, "the defense calls for a vote."

Magnus let himself fall back in his chair and sighed as he closed his eyes to reign in his anger and annoyance at not getting his answers, he knew he would need a clear head for what was to come.

Seeing things as they were, Dumbledore nodded and rose to his feet, "All in favor of clearing the defendant of all charges, please raise and light your wands now." he intoned.

Magnus opened his eyes for this and watched as wands were raised throughout the chamber and ends were lit with non verbal spells, Magnus didn't need to count to see it was well over half of those in attendance.

"Those against," Dumbledore spoke again once the votes were counted by the court scribes.

Again Magnus watched as no wands were raised in response, clearly it would have been a fool's errand at this point to vote against Sirius being freed after things had gone as they had, all it would do would have labeled them as idiots.

"So be it," Dumbledore said as he struck the gavel to his left with the mallet atop it, "the Defendant, Sirius Black, is hear by cleared of all charges"

Magnus had to fight back his grin when he heard that, he'd done it, Sirius was free, two years earlier than in canon, it was official canon was officially dead and buried, but Magnus knew he wasn't done yet, oh no not by a long shot, and this was only confirmed when Amelia rose from her seat to declare the next point of order.

"The prosecution will now begin the trial of Peter Pettigrew!"