Chapter 14: Trial Time

The rest of the time until his trial Harry had cleansed rooms with all the others and after Kreature had told him two days later at night that he had cleaned a little, unused room and Harry had started to draw the necessary runes, circles and pentagrams on the floor and on the walls, that he needed for his first task.

When the twelfth of August approached, he finally had finalized the drawing and despite being a little sleepy he was fully prepared for the Ministry hearing. Of course, no-one else knew.

They all relayed on Dumbledore.

"Dumbledore was there last night, he will come" Molly Weasley had told him and Harry had well-behaved nodded and not shown his feelings about Dumbledore, the almighty.

Instead he had followed Arthur to the Ministry, and was finally informed about the changed time - a fact that let him grin inside.

The Ministry really tried to help him with all its abilities…

Finally he was brought to the courtroom - Harry grinned much more inside when he heard he would have a full trial - and left there.

So he stood there, in front of them, looking around in Myrddin's court.

The walls were made of dark stone, dimly lit by torches. Empty benches rose on either side of him, but ahead, in the highest benches of all, were many shadowy figures. They had been talking in low voices, but as the heavy door swung closed behind Harry an ominous silence fell.

A cold male voice rang across the courtroom.

" You're late."

Harry turned and looked at the speaker.

"I did not get a notice that the time was changed" Harry answered, crooking his head. "I also got no notice that the place was changed."

The wizards and witches of the Wizengamot looked at each other and murmured.

"We have been sending you an owl with the new time and place today" Fudge said coolly.

"You might" Harry answered. "The point is I did not get it - so how am I supposed to be on time without knowing it was changed?"

"We should not discuss that now" a witch beside Fudge said sweetly and Harry had the unproved feeling that she had something to do with his missing message. He said nothing and filled it away for later. This just would make it easier for him…

" Very well" said Fudge. "The accused being present - finally - let us begin. Are you ready?" he called down the row.

" Yes, sir" Percy. Harry had thought as much. He did not even bother to look at the treacherous Weasley- brother.

" Disciplinary hearing of the twelfth of August" said Fudge in a ringing voice, and Percy began taking notes at once, "into offences committed under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and the International Stature of Secrecy by Harry James Potter, resident at number four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey.

" Interrogators: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister of Magic; Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. Court Scribe, Percy Ignatius Weasley - "

" Witness for the defe -"

"You don't have to, Headmaster", Harry interrupted the entering old man midsentence. "I am fully capable of defending myself."

Dumbledore stopped mid-step and starred at the boy in front of him.

"Harry, my boy, this is the Wizengamot…" he began, but Harry interrupted him again.

"That's alright, Headmaster. I am fully aware where I am. I can handle myself" with that he turned to the minister and said in a non-saying voice. "Please continue, Minister Fudge."

The members of the Wizengamot were muttering. All eyes were now on Dumbledore and Harry. Some of them looked annoyed, others slightly frightened; but the most of them looked utterly flabbergasted. Harry guessed that the most of them had thought he would hide behind Dumbledore's robes. But Harry was not a child anymore. So, while the originally Harry maybe would have let Dumbledore manage his affairs, the current Harry was not willing to give the headmaster any power in his life.

"Minister Fudge? Minister Fudge, would you please continue, sir?"

Silence for another minute.

"Yes." Fudge finally said, still starring at Harry and Dumbledore who looked slightly undecided at his young charge. Finally he just flicked his wand and sat down on the squishy armchair that appeared out of nowhere.

Harry ignored him.

" Yes" said Fudge again, shuffling his notes. "Well, then. So. The charges. Yes."

He extricated a piece of parchment from the pile before him, took a deep breath, and read out, "The charges against the accused are as follows:

" That he did knowingly, deliberately and in full awareness of the illegality of his actions, having received a previous written warning from the Ministry of Magic on a similar charge, produce a Patronus Charm in a Muggle-inhabited area, in the presence of a Muggle, on the second of August at twenty-three minutes past nine, which constitutes an offence under Paragraph C of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, and also under Section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy.

" You are Harry James Potter, of number four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey?" Fudge said, glaring at Harry over the top of his parchment.

"Today I am", Harry answered pleasantly, knowing that the Chamber would show-cast it if he lied.

"Today?" Fudge asked, slightly annoyed with Harry's answer.

"I might change my name tomorrow" The boy replied, shrugging. "Or I might find out my parents gave me another name altogether."

At this, Fudge starred unbelievingly at Harry, then he shook his head and continued.

" You received an official warning from the Ministry for using illegal magic three years ago, did you not?"

"I might" The boy replied.

"This is a yes or no question! Answer clearly." Fudge scowled.

"Then: for you, yes. It might have been three years."

" And yet you conjured a Patronus on the night of the second of August?" said Fudge.

" Yes." The boy answered clearly, one eyebrow slightly up his forehead.

" Knowing that you are not permitted to use magic out of school while you are under the age of seventeen?"

" Yes…"

" Knowing that you were in an area full of Muggles?"

"Of course I knew…"

" Fully aware that you were in close proximity to a Muggle at the time?"

"My cousin, Sir…"

This time the witch with the monocle spoke up.

" You produced a fully-fledged Patronus?"

Harry sighted. He had known, this question would come up. He himself might not truly be fifteen but the original Harry had been, so it was natural for these wizard and witches to question his ability to produce a Patronus.

"Yes, it is corporal." He answered coolly, "It is corporal since third year."

" Impressive" said Madam Bones, staring down at him, "a true Patronus at his age… very impressive indeed."

Harry decided to stay silence. It would do no good when he told them, that a Patronus was nothing. He could kill them all without even leaving a trace and without them knowing what was coming - even if they would look the whole time it took him to kill them directly in his eyes. Impressive - indeed.

" It's not a question of how impressive the magic was" said Fudge in a testy voice, "in fact, the more impressive the worse it is, I would have thought, given that the boy did it in plain few of a Muggle! Think about it! We can't let such behaviour unpunished. He broke the law - without even regretting it! When we let him roam, we can't know what he will do next!"

Those who had been frowning now murmured in agreement, but the boy in front of them seemed to be fully untouched by the accusation.

This time Dumbledore instead seemed to be unable to hold back. He stood, ready to defend Harry, if the boy wanted it or not.

But just when he sprang to his feet, the young boy in front of the Wizengamot spoke in a low, cold voice.

"Now, minister, tell me, what you are playing at?" The boy said and Headmaster Dumbledore, ready to defend the young boy, stopped in the middle of opening his mouth.

"What are you implying, boy?!" Fudge hissed, but his voice showed, that he was slightly taken aback by the emotionless voice of the teen. Cold, Avada Kedavra-green eyes pierced him, judged him and found him unworthy.

"I am implying several serious disregards of your own laws" The boy said emotionless and a whisper emerged in the crowd. Fudge turned his head from left to right, trying to stand still and being impressive. He failed.

Words run through the crowd. "Broken law? We?" He heard. "When?"

"Disregarding of the laws, Mr Potter?" A regal looking Lady finally asked aloud. "Pray tell what are you talking about?"

"About several things, Madam, several broken laws specifically" The boy replied, and when one of the Wizengamot wizards opened his mouth, he overrode his attempt to speak mercilessly.

"Let's start with an easy example: When I used the Patronus Charm to defend my cousin, I got a letter that I was expelled from Hogwarts. That was the first breaking of your laws. No-one except of the headmaster can expel a student from Hogwarts. Trying to do it without consulting the headmaster at first, ends in losing all the reminding control you have in school. Hogwarts has the right to take back the offending persons OWLS and NEWTS when said person just attempted such a crime."

"Is that so, lad?" Another, very old looking wizard asked coolly. "And pray tell, where do you think you read such an offending peace of text?!"

"In your law book, my Lord" The boy answered simply. "This is one of your own laws I have been quoting."

"Have you?" Another Lord asked sceptically. "I don't think that anyone of the ministry would ever be for a law like that."

"Well, they weren't" The boy in front of them answered and then send a steady glance across the crowd.

"This is law since 978 when Hogwarts started to open for all students in Great Britain. At that time there was no ministry. It were the Lords of the ancient and noble Houses who at that time were setting up the law. Some of their laws are still in use - like the one I mentioned."

"Is that so?" The first Lord asked interested. "So you really are able prove it."

The answer of the accused was not a 'yes' or 'no'. Instead he intoned.

" By the rights of the Lords Slytherin and Gryffindor and the Ladies Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, the school of witchcraft and wizardry, known as the respectable and noble school of Haugh's Wards, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, located in the Highlands of Scotland, next to the hamlet of Hogsmeade, is hereby declared as independent from the Lordships and states, so that in times of war it will be a neutral zone.

" It hereby will be declared that Haugh's Wards, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, will never be part of any legal constitution. The rights and rules of Haugh's Wards will solely be constructed and upheld by the Headmaster, Teachers, Founders and acknowledged Heirs of Haugh's Wards. Any interference from legal constitution may be punished severely. The right of punishment for interference will be by the school. By severely interference such as expelling student, the person who interfered will be held responsible and might lose their right to bear a staff because of deprivation of his school examinations.

" In contrast the school will have to take in all children of magical heritage from their eleventh until their seventeenth birthday and teach them to be respectable and noble wizards and witches. That is the law from 978, stated in the law book as Paragraph 20 A-E."

Fudge snorted unbelieving. "And pray tell, how would a mere boy like you know something like that?!"

"I can read, Minister" the boy answered and pierced the man in front of him with his eyes. "Look it up for yourself, when you don't believe me."

The answer was shuffling of paper when Percy Weasley searched for his copy of the law book. When he found it, he started thumbing through it, until he reached the named paragraph and starred at it.

"Well, Weatherby?" Fudge asked, clearly expecting the boy in front of him to be proven wrong.

"He… he is right, minister." Percy stuttered, still starring at the - for him offending - text in front of him.The boy continued and his glare got as cold as ice.

"The next broken law is that no-one came to Privet Drive to investigate. Since April 1146 there is a law to investigate before taking charges. Paragraph 38 A-G. This law was established after there where incidents of wrongfully imprisoned persons because of lacking investigations. The Gathering of the Lords found this absolutely unacceptable and established a rule of handling the broken secret-status and performing magic in front of mundane people. The law was never altered after that. So that would be the second broken law in a row. The third was preventing the accused getting a legal backer for court. Instead I am standing in front of you without anyone." Now the wizards and witches of Wizengamot shared uneasy glances.

"You… you had Dumbledore… but you turned him down!" Fudge cried, still staring at the uncanny teen.

"He is not, nor will he ever be a legal backer. He might be my headmaster at school but he has no training in legal rights. So even if he would back me up, he would still be another civilian, who does not know all the Paragraphs of the law." The boy replied coolly.

"You could have asked someone…"

"When? You changed the place of the hearing today. Formally it had been an unofficial hearing - where I wouldn't have needed a legal backer. But now it is a trial. A legal backer needs time to know the facts - also, I am a minor. I am legally not allowed to search legal backup without my guardian. My aunt is mundane - she has no access to a magical lawyer. And I had no time to contact her and asked for legal backup. As the court, you have had a duty to see to my needs when you force me to go to court without time to contact a legal backer.

"This might be a newer law of the 19th century but it is still law. As it is established in paragraph 95 A: Every person accused of a crime has the right to send for legal back-up in court. The legal back-up might be self-provided or in case it is impossible for the accused to get one, there has to be a chance to be provided of a lawyer by the Wizengamot. Well, I had no time to brief a lawyer with my situation - also counting the change of time and place so that it would have been difficult for my legal back-up to arrive in time - yet there is no alternative to go to." The boy continued.

"Because of breaking these laws, I have no-one who would speak for my behalf. I am accused but unable to defend myself because of your lack of following your own laws. You did not investigate. There is no recording of the scene of crime. There is no asking for witnesses. There isn't even a simple use of truth-serum to investigate if I lie or if I am telling the truth.

"So. How will you be able to judge me, when you have no witnesses except the evidence that I used magic in front of my mundane-cousin?! How will you judge if my use of magic was rightfully if there is no other evidence except of your recording?"

"There is no need of a witness except of our recording. You broke the law, you will pay for it!" Fudge intercepted at that moment.

"I did, didn't I? Or is there a possibility that I didn't break the law?" The boy said and his killing curse eyes were blasting.

"You are underage! You are not allowed to use magic in your holidays! And no-one is allowed to use magic in front of a Muggle!" The minister spluttered. "As long as I am the minister, you will be punished for your crime! Even if you're celebrity I will not let this stop me to follow the law!"

"To follow the law?" The boy starred at the minister, as if said person had said something absolutely stupid. "Which law, Minster Fudge? Clause Seven of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery states that magic may be used in front of a Muggle in exceptional circumstances, and as those exceptional circumstances include situations which threaten the life of the wizard or witch him- or herself, or any witches, wizards or Muggles present at the time of the -"

" We are familiar with Clause Seven, boy, thank you very much!" snarled Fudge.

" Of course you are" Harry answered courteously. "So why have you done nothing to exclude this Clause. There might have been Dementors in Little Whinging, for all you know."

"There were no Dementors!" Fudge spluttered.

"Evidence, Minister, evidence." The boy said coolly. "You have not sent your people to investigate the scene of crime - like you should have - and now you come and say that 'there were no Dementors'. But you yourself can't prove it. So how come that you think, that you are right?"

Fudge stared at the boy in front of him with hatred in his eyes.

"You…" He started, but was interrupted by Madam Bones.

"The accused has a point, Minister" she said. "How do we know, he had not have to defend himself?"

"The Dementors are under the control of the Ministry. There is no way that a Dementor would come to Little Whinging! The boy just tries to escape his punishment. As an underage wizard he has to follow the rules like everyone else - no celebrity status here!"

"Underage?" The boy questioned in this moment. "That is also something I am laughing about. This is also a law, you have been breaking."

"What are you talking about now, boy?" Fudge hissed, losing his cool. But there was fear in his eyes. Harry knew what the Minister feared. He feared that Harry knew about his Lordship - and the freedom that could come with it when he had turned fifteen…

But Harry said nothing. He definitely would not play that card if he did not have to do it…

"Think about it! I'm fifteen, minister. As you told the court - I am not an adult. But whatever you are telling the Court, you yourself seem to forget that pretty often!" Harry argued instead.

"What do you mean by that, by Merlin?!" Fudge roared, staring at Harry as if he had gone crazy. Maybe Harry had…

"As a minor, I don't just have duties, Fudge - I also have rights. You seem content to forget these every time I am in a situation I do need those rights."

"I am fully aware about your rights, boy!" Fudge cried.

"Are you? In front of the whole court, do you declare you are aware of my rights?"

"Of course I am!"

It maybe would go without…

"And the Headmaster - is he also aware of my rights?"

"What has this to do with anything, boy?!" Fudge growled.

"Just let the Headmaster answer my question" Harry said shrugging.

Dumbledore looked at him with confusion.

"Of course I am aware of your rights, Harry" He said finally softly. "You know that this discussion will bring you nowhere…"

It really would go without… !

Harry ignored him, instead he looked at the rest of the Wizengamot.

"What's with you, Ladies and Gentlemen? Are you aware of the rights of a minor?"

Amelia Bones had witnessed the whole spectacle until now. Now, addressed as a part of the Wizengamot she felt obliged to answer with a "Yes". Of course she was aware of his status - she was the Head of the Law Department, she had to be aware. She just didn't know what use it had for the boy if they were aware…

She stared at the young boy in front of them, looked at his cool Avada Kedavra-green eyes and saw the determination in them.

And suddenly she could piece the pieces of the puzzle together.

Oh this uncannily cunning little boy!

He was playing them like pipes!

"So you are all aware of my rights. All three. The Minister, the Supreme Mugwump of the ICW and Chief Warlock and the Wizengamot" Harry said triumphantly, but then stopped. His expression of triumph fainted to nothing except of cool calculation.

"Then you know that there is a creative precedent from 1753." He continued with less triumph in his voice.

"Thomas Avery, orphan and last of the House Avery at that time, was permitted the rights of an emancipated wizard after he had been treated like that by more than one law-institution. In his case it had been the Minister, the Head of the Magical Law Department and the Head of the Aurors. This creative precedent was established as Paragraph 261C in the law book."

Fudge glanced at Percy Weasley. Said secretary was thumbing through the law book in front of him until he found the paragraph.

"There is in fact a creative precedent from 1753, minister" Percy finally confirmed, while starring absolutely stunned at the text in front of him.

"Well, now after you have your proof, minister, let's continue." The boy in front of them said. "Last year I have been participating in the Tri-wizard-tournament, a tournament solely for wizards beyond their seventeenth year of life. I participated and I was able to compete with the other, seventeen year old participants.

"So, as this Tournament is solely for adult wizards, a guardian on my behalf had to enter me in this Tournament. My guardian, as I am aware of, is my aunt. She did not enter me or permit me to enter. In school, you could say, it is the Headmaster who is my guardian - and he permitted it. But seeing, that the Tournament is solely for adults he also recognized and therefore treated me like an adult.

"So he knowingly ignored my rights as a minor and forced me to participate in something a minor had no right to be in."

"Even if he did - this has nothing to do with your case!" Fudge spluttered. Amelia Bones snorted at this.

"But it does, Minister" the boy answered. "It is an essential part in this trial."

"And pray tell, how should your participation in the Tri-Wizard-Tournament have any meaning in your case?" Fudge growled and Amelia Bones knew the boy had him. There was no escaping now.

"Simple" the boy answered. "He started what you finished. He treated me like an adult like you are doing now. I asked you if you are aware of the rights of a minor. I asked the Headmaster and the Wizengamot the same. You all answered the positive - and still are breaking this rights without even to hesitate when it comes to me.

So basically, you both - and with you the Wizengamot agree that I am no child!"

"Now, see here, boy!" Fudge grumbled. "I did no such a thing. So there is no way…"

"You did not?" The boy intercepted. "But you suggesting, that you did!"

"How dare you to state such a lie!"

"But it isn't a lie, Minister", the boy answered emotionless, "Paragraph 40 E states that ' only an adult is to be tried in front of the whole Wizengamot. ' And here we are. Me as the accused and you - you who are trying me with the whole court ! A simple case of underage magic is never tried with the whole Wizengamot, so why, when I'm not an adult yet, is this different for me than for the others?"

This question roused another ruckus in the audience. Fudge opened his mouth just to close it again. His eyes seemed to budge out of their holes.

Harry stared back at him, his death-eyes fixed on him.

"I still wait for an answer to that question, Minister." He said coolly. But Fudge stayed still, still staring at Harry as if he saw him for the first time.

Finally Madam Bones took petty on the flabbergasted man and spoke up herself. She had understood a while ago that the boy would take this route - she just didn't know why…

"That is a good question, young man" she said. "Still, even if you are today treated like an adult in front of the law - what use is this for you? You still have performed a Patronus in front of a Muggle."

"It is simple, Madam Bones", the boy answered her. "When I am treated like an adult I am allowed to give you my memory of the event. Then you would be able to see the facts behind my spell. Memories can't be forged without seeing the change, and displayed in the Courtroom of the Wizengamot they can be freely seen by everyone."

When the boy answered this question, Madam Bones hesitated for a moment, then she nodded.

"Do it. The Minister has been treating you like an adult, so why not looking at your memories. Do you know how to extract memories?" she asked.

"Of course" The boy replied with an experienced tone. Something Amelia Bones never had expected from a boy of fifteen years.

The boy extracted a memory from his mind and stood up. Without hesitation or the need of instructions he stepped forward to a deepening in the floor. In it he dropped the memory.

Then he nodded to Madam Bones and returned to his seat.

"Show" Madam Bones instructed and suddenly the whole wall behind the boy lit up and built a visible scene.

The first, that they could see, was absolute darkness. Then a memory of coldness began to creep into the courtroom and not just a few of the wizards and witches shivered.

Dementor-cold.

Then you could hear the breathing, the rasping and rattling breathes. A human cry could be heard in the darkness, the panic in the voice filled the air.

" DUDLEY; KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT! WHATEVER YOU DO; KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT!" Then there was a muttering and a short light where the wand lay. The boy in the memory clasped the wand.

A panicked "Expecto Patronum" Just white fog, bright enough to show the Dementor creeping near the boy. Then it hit the Dementor and broke. Again an "Expecto Patronum " and again just fog, the Dementor now just a few inches away from the boy, its hand reached for the boy. Blackness again.

Shuffling, running steps in the darkness.

And then a loud " EXPECTO PATRONUM!" A phoenix erupted from the wand of the boy, now a few feet away from the Dementor. The phoenix golden light filled the alleyway and showed another Dementor, clasping another boys wrists and wrestling with him. The boy was losing. And then the phoenix took over, drove away the Dementors with so much force, that the Dementors seemed to be harmed by the creature.

The memory ended and the whole court fell silent.

"Dementors", Madam Bones finally said. "Dementors in a Muggle suburb."

"That… that can't be real!" Fudge cried. "It is a lie! Mr. Potter is using forged…"

"You know as well as I that a memory can't be forged without everyone recognizing it, Minister Fudge!" Madam Bones interrupted him. "The young man has been telling the truth to this court! And don't forget: he showed us what happened. He did not just tell us - he showed us! How can you argue against that?!"

"But… but…" Fudge stuttered.

"I would be quiet, if I were you, Minister" Madam Bones interrupted. "I am not happy with you! You took this Underage Magic incident in front of the whole Wizengamot-"

"The boy had broken the law the third time! He blew up his aunt last year and the year before he used a hovering charm!"

"Did he?" Madam Bones turned around to the lad in front of her.

"I did blow up my aunt", the boy answered without hesitation. "It was accidental magic."

"Accidental?"

"I did not use a wand or a spell. I just… blew her up…" The boy filled the Wizengamot in. "This is not court-able. Paragraph D of the Decree for Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery states that accidental magic of a minor before his second maturity, done without a wand and without the intent to do it, is not punishable because the minor has still to learn how to fully control his or her magic."

At this Madam Bones smiled. "You are right, Mr. Potter." She confirmed. "But there is still the incident with the hovering charm."

"I can show you the incident." The boy answered without hesitation.

"I think, this time it will be enough to just tell us."

"Well… but it sounds not… well… believable."

"Just tell. When we need to see it, you can show us afterward."

"I just warned", the boy answered. "It was a crazy house-elf."

"A house-elf?!" The witch beside Fudge snorted, "And pray tell, how did a house-elf get…"

The boy's eyes got deadly.

"I told you it is unbelievable. But when you want to, I will show you the incident…"

"I don't think, that that is necessary", Madam Bones interrupted while staring the Minister and the witch next to him - Dolores Umbridge - down. "I believe you - and even if I didn't, it was just one incident, nothing to be punished for."

"But…" Fudge started.

"You, Minister, should think about what you are saying." Madam Bones interrupted again. "Alone in this sole case you have ignored several laws, the most of them in place to have a fair trial for the accused! I will see to this when we end this case. But now: finish! And I warn you, if you even try to stall a bit I will look through all your doings in the last few years. Even if I find nothing - you wouldn't see your office for the next five month! So, do you have to say anything else?"

"No" This time, Fudge sounded bitter.

"Well then onto the charges." Madam Bones said. " Those in favour of clearing the witness of all charges?"

More than eighty percent of the Wizengamot raised their hands.

" And those in favour of conviction?"

This time it was just Fudge, the witch beside him and a few others. Harry scrutinized them, until the most of them turned their eyes away. He would have to remember them later. They were either in Fudges pocket or Death Eaters.

So simplified: They were both enemies.

Fudge glanced around at them all, looking as though there was something large suck in his throat, then he lowered his own hand. He took two deep breaths and said, in a voice distorted by suppressed rage, "Very well, very well… cleared of all charges."

Harry smiled at that.

"Thank you, Minister" He said pleasantly. "Until the next time. I would advise you to pray that we will never see each other again, but I know, this will never be the case. We will see each other again - and next time, it will be less pleasant for you."

With that he stood and left the room, nodding at the rest of the Wizengamot and his headmaster.

But his face stayed carefully blank until he reached the floor outside the courtroom. Then a creepy smiled spread over his features. "Harryjames - one. The Wizengamot and the Headmaster - zero."