The Demonstration

"That depends on your intention, Mr Potter." Amelia said impressed by the eleven years old boy.

"I want your auror to shoot a blasting hex on a dummy with a normal wizard's robe that can be bought in every clothing shop. The one I brought for this demonstration was charmed with a few protective spells that are normal in the higher price segment to make sure nothing can be overlooked." Harry stated, holding out a plain black robe.

"That can be done, Mr Potter. Auror Dawlish, please do the demonstration." Madam Bones ordered and conjured a wooden dummy.

Harry placed the robe on the dummy.

"Auror Dawlish, please give it your strongest blasting hex from a distance of fifteen feet away." Harry asked the auror.

Dawlish aimed. "Bombarda." He said and a bright red beam shot at the dummy, destroying it and making splinters fly around.

The robe was torn to shreds. Harry walked up there and took the robe. He held it out for all members of the Wizengamot to see.

"This is the effect of Auror Dawlish's best blasting hex from a similar distance that the witnesses stated Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew were standing away from each other. As you can see, the robe was torn to shreds. Now think about this. If Sirius Black shot a similar blasting hex like Auror Dawlish just demonstrated at Pettigrew, and if additionally the gas explosion increased the effect, proven by the state the muggle corpses were in, how could the robe stay in the state Minister Fudge described in his report and just reported in more detail?" Harry asked.

He let the Wizengamot think a moment about this. He heard many whispers wondering how that could be. His strategy required that they doubted the conclusions that had been drawn based in flimsy evidence. For that they had to realise just how flimsy the evidence was.

"The next part of my defence for the accused is based on the reports of the warden of Azkaban prison, Walter Kensington. Such a report is the routine procedure when a new prisoner is sent there. This one is about the placement of Rastaban, Rodolphus and Bellatrix Lestrange." Harry said, holding up a parchment before he started reading out loud.

We took all their personal things and placed them in the boxes in the security storage. There were their wands, a few galleons, sickles and knuts, two handkerchiefs, three wristwatches, their robes, a witch's hat and their shoes. On each of their left forearms we found the dark mark branded. The prisoners were given the normal prisoner's attire and placed in single cells in the high security tract.

And now the report from the health inspector that examined all prisoners in June 1991.

Even after a decade the Dark Mark is still present on the Lestranges' left forearms. It is much fainter than before, but clearly visible in a dull grey instead of a strong black like when they were arrested.

"Now from other reports I could ascertain that all the closest followers of the Dark Lord Voldemort bore that mark on their left forearm, am I correct, Madam Bones?" Harry asked.

"Yes, you are, Mr Potter. What are you trying to achieve with that question?" She asked.

Harry simply went to Sirius, pulled up the left sleeve of his prison uniform and pointed at the bare left arm.

"If Sirius Black was a follower of Lord Voldemort, more so his second in command, wouldn't he have the same dark mark like the others?" Harry asked, getting more talking from the ranks.

"Now I have given you two pieces that make the guilt of Sirius Black appear not so certain as it was seen in the past. Alone the missing Dark Mark should have led to a deeper investigation of the case. My question now is: Why didn't the Department of Magical Law Enforcement get proof that he did what he was accused of?" Harry again made a dramatic pause and looked around and into several people's eyes. "I can go on. The report of Bartemius Gregorus Crouch, the former head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and responsible for the order to send every prisoner to Azkaban, stated that based on the findings of the Department of Magical Catastrophes there was no doubt about Sirius Black's guilt and he signed off the transfer to Azkaban. Why wasn't there a proper investigation?

"Madam Bones, I read the basic Auror Manual in preparation for this trial, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it says, and this article hasn't been changed since 1947:

If a suspect is arrested for a crime, the first thing any auror or hit wizard has to do starting the investigation is confiscating the suspect's wand and perform the spell 'priori incantatem' to see the last spells done with the wand in question. The suspect is to be searched for any other magical foci and wands which have to undergo the same test. All spells that are found having been performed by the wand or other focus have to be noted and added to the official report."

Harry cited and got a nod of confirmation from Madam Bones.

"None off all the reports on the Sirius Black case ever states the spells that his wand has performed last. But procedure demands that the spells are documented in the report. As it is common procedure, I asked for the wand to be brought here to have the charm performed. If you would do the honours?" Harry said.

Madam Bones took the wand, looking more and more displeased with how this trial was going. Potter had brought up many good points. There should have been a proper investigation and until now she had believed that was the case. She knew Rita Skeeter was sitting in the audience. If this would continue the Ministry would be made a laughing stock. She pointed her wand at Black's wand.

"Priori incantatem." She said.

The wand performed a shield charm, a stunning spell, a lighting charm, a point-me spell and two levitating charms. No exploding hex.

"That's not possible." She said shocked.

"Now that we have confirmed that many things don't add up and could have easily been found out if just the basic steps of investigation would have been followed, after all, Sirius Black didn't put up resistance against the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol when they arrested him, so performing this little spell would have been an act of seconds and wouldn't have endangered the investigation and arrest of the suspect at all, I think we can say with relative certainty that Sirius Black didn't kill the muggles and Peter Pettigrew. It is impossible to get the described effects on the site of the explosion with any of the spells that the wand performed. The most aggressive spell would be the stunning spell. The team from Magical Catastrophes didn't find any other wands on site and Sirius Black also didn't have any others on his person. Concluding from the spells the wand performed, the suspicion of Sirius Black not being the one who has been found by Pettigrew, but it being the other way round comes up.

"I will come back to that thought later. The second part of the accusations was that Sirius Black was made the secret keeper of my parents. Chief Warlock Dumbledore, what was the base for your statement of Sirius Black being the secret keeper?" Harry asked.

....

Join my P*atreon for early access to 60+ chapters ahead of the public release. 

Free members also get 4+ advanced chapters for free.

Link: pa*treon.com/MysticVerse (Remove the *)