chapter 86

As they did the previous weekend, the three were waiting in the Entrance Hall for the arrival of the solicitor for their 'interview'.

And, almost on the dot except for being a couple minutes early, a somewhat middle-aged wizard walked in the door with a younger woman. Both were carrying business satchels.

As soon as his eyes alit on Harry, he stepped forward and offered his hand. "Mister Potter? I'm Stewart Ackerman, solicitor at law."

Harry shook the man's hand, who then turned to the woman and said, "And this lady is Miss Margaret Pentridge."

Harry surprised her by offering his hand for a handshake. Then, he turned back to the man indicating his bondmates and said, "And these two ladies are my bondmates... Miss Hermione Granger and Miss Daphne Greengrass."

"Miss Greengrass and I have met before," Mister Ackerman explained. "However, it's a pleasure to meet you for the first time, Miss Granger."

"Now," said Harry. "I'm afraid we're all going to have to trudge all the way up to the seventh floor, Sir and Ma'am. That's where our apartment is."

"No need to go that far, Mister Potter," replied Mister Ackerman. "There's a conference room on the second floor we can use."

"There is?" asked Harry, quite surprised. "Hmm... then, I guess you'd best lead."

With a nod of his head, Ackerman led the way up the stairs to the second floor and towards the north tower.

They'd not gone far when Ackerman spied a door and said, "Here it is!" And pushed it open.

Inside was, indeed, set up as a conference room.

He and Miss Pentridge move to one side of the long table and set their business satchels on the surface. When Harry and the girls moved to the other side, Ackerman drew his wand and began to cast, first, detection spells around the room, before then casting privacy wards. He also both locked and placed a silencing bubble around the room's only portrait, even though it was currently uninhabited.

When it looked like the two were finished, Daphne muttered, "Just a minute." And went to the only door. She first cast a strong door sealing charm with a password protection on it, before also placing a silencing bubble around it.

When she turned around she noticed the looks on the faces of their two visitors. She calmly said, "The Headmaster has been known to invite himself to any and all meetings within the castle."

With a nod of recognition, the two visitors waited until the three teens took their seats opposite before they took theirs.

"Now, Mister Potter, Miss Greengrass and Miss Granger," said Ackerman, nodding to each of them. "Mister Greengrass has informed me you have need of our services regarding a number of legal issues. He informed us we would need to provide criminal case expertise... that's me... and defamation expertise... that's Miss Pentridge, here.

"However, he said we would need to talk to you, direct, in order to understand the full scope of your legal needs. Perhaps it would be best if you were to outline for us what those needs entail."

"Yes, Sir," nodded Harry. "First, I'd like your confirmation that what we're about to tell you is held in confidence?"

"It is," Ackerman firmly replied.

"Good. To the criminal matter first, then. We need you to, as quietly as you can, organise a trial for my godfather, Sirius Orion Black," said Harry.

"The escaped mass murder?" Ackerman asked in surprise.

"No, Sir," Harry firmly replied. "The escaped innocent man; who was unlawfully tossed into Azkaban without even a trial or proper questioning."

With a look of complete initial shock, the solicitor stared back at Harry for a few moments before he suddenly started to look quite angry. "You mean to tell me that Sirius Black, the man who has a Kiss-on-Sight order against him, never even had a trial?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying, Sir," replied Harry. "Furthermore, the actual criminal is Peter Pettigrew; the one to whom they supposedly issued a posthumous Order of Merlin. He is both alive and is a marked Death Eater. I've met them both.

"Sirius Black is my sworn godfather. If he had even attempted to harm me, or cause harm to befall me, he would be dead. That he isn't is proof, right there, that he did not betray my parents and me to Riddle."

"Riddle?" asked Ackerman, a little confused.

"Sorry," grinned Harry. "Tom Marvolo Riddle; Voldemort's real name."

Again, both solicitors stared back at him in shock.

Daphne chuckled and said, "Harry, I think you broke them."

Ackerman snapped out of his stupefaction first and, with a somewhat accusatory look, asked, "How do you know this?"

"As to the first, as I said, I've met both my godfather, Sirius Black, and Pettigrew," explained Harry. "Pettigrew is an unregistered animagus; and his form is that of a common brown rat. Until only a few months ago, he's been hiding out as the pet of Ron Weasley; a boy in the same year as us. Until recently Weasley was both a friend and dorm-mate of mine.

"Sirius escaped from Azkaban because he saw a picture on the front page of the Daily Prophet that showed the Weasleys, who had recently won the Prophet's Grand Prize Draw. Fudge threw a copy of that issue of the Prophet at my godfather in his cell... while he was doing his so-called annual inspection... to taunt him with how the world was getting on without him.

"Instead, my godfather saw Pettigrew in his animagus form being held in the hand of Ron Weasley, who was standing with his family in the front page photograph. Sirius put two and two together and figured out that I was, at the time, sharing a dorm in Gryffindor tower with the boy; and, therefore, the rat - Pettigrew.

"Sirius, as my sworn godfather, saw it as his duty to immediately escape and come to my aid. Which he did.

"So, Sirius Black did not escape Azkaban with the intention of coming to harm me; he escaped with the intention of coming to protect me, as he was sworn to do."

When both solicitors nodded back, understanding, he continued, "As to the second, how I know Riddle and Voldemort is one and the same person..."

"Hold it," interrupted Ackerman, holding up his hand. "We'll get to He-Who... Merlin, V-Voldemort in a moment."

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