Chapter 63

Dumbledore knew this was coming since he was first prevented from meeting with Sirius. If he couldn't edit out any answers that may implicate him in abducting Harry Potter, then he needed to cover his tracks.

Since his original plan of torturing the child into becoming a willing sacrifice went off the rails due to outside interference, he needed to distance himself from any involvement. Unfortunately, that meant sacrificing others to take the fall for him.

When the entire court turned to face Dumbledore looking for answers, he resolutely stood up and declared, "I gave no such orders. I learnt of Voldemort's defeat through the fading of the Dark Mark on a Death Eater."

As flimsy as this excuse was, without questioning Hagrid, nothing could really be done. The 'Light' side was inclined to accept this excuse even though it was common knowledge that Hagrid was Dumbledore's man. This was mainly because their heads were so far up their leader's arse that they could see daylight behind the back of his teeth!

The 'Dark' side, of course, was planning to use this latest controversy to add to all the others and deprive their political enemy of even more influence than they had already intended to do! They were completely oblivious that the man they opposed had done more for them politically than Voldemort ever did.

Then there were the 'Neutrals', and they were just enjoying the show. Since they were the minority and denounced by both factions for not choosing a side, they were hoping for mutual destruction. This was so they could gain more voting power from the fallout and have a more significant say in the decision making of new laws.

But no matter what a person's stake in the situation, one thing was clear, Hagrid was not going to survive it! The fifty Wizengamot members were all from Pureblood Houses and having a half-breed kidnap a Noble Heir, one that already had his wand snapped for past crimes, was not going to go well.

As the muttering and heckling became too unruly, Griselda Marchbanks slammed her gavel down multiple times and called for order. Whether from fear of the old lady's earlier ruthlessness, or from just wanting this sh*t show to progress, the courtroom quieted down.

"Lord Black, are you saying that Rubeus Hagrid, the Hogwarts Groundskeeper that can't use magic, arrived at a house that until the attack had been under the Fidelius Charm and then forced you to hand over Harry Potter? All of this just after a targeted assassination?" Queried the acting Chief Warlock.

"Ahh, yes? I even gave him my motorcycle so he could quickly take Harry to Dumbledore while I hunted down the rat. What happened to my Godson?" Sirius added, confused at what was happening and more than a little frightened.

Chad had debated whether or not to have Rita explain Dumbledore's manipulations in full to Sirius, but had instead settled for just warning him against the old man and his twinkling eyes capable of Legilimency. This way, Sirius' reactions would be more organic and hopefully more damning with the raw emotion he would display.

The acting Chief Warlock nodded towards the DMLE representative, indicating for her to fill in the details. Madame Bones stood up and addressed the room. "The Minister and I both personally spoke with Harry Potter before he boarded the Hogwarts Express after Rita Skeeter's article about his disturbing childhood.

Initially, we went to allay his fears that he was being hunted by Death Eaters and that he was, in fact, safe. But the boy raised some concerns that have only led to more evidence that he was deliberately placed with his muggle relatives to be purposefully kept ignorant of the wizarding world."

"Are you saying that he was sent to live with Lily's sister?! That woman was jealous of her sister and hated anything to do with magic, I'm sure there was mention in her will that Harry was never to be placed with her! Not for any reason!" Sirius shouted out in a mixture of fury and disbelief, disrupting Amelia's speech.

"Yes, quite," Amelia affirmed, a little miffed at Black's interruption. "Unfortunately, our department is so incredibly underfunded and spread thin, that we didn't have time to fully investigate Harry Potter's case until recently."

The severe woman didn't miss a chance to slap Fudge in the face with his bullsh*t budget allocations and separate her department from the inevitable fallout for not prioritising a case of Line Theft.

Line Theft was not just an issue in the magical world, it had also been prominent in muggle law. It was a law to protect against the hijacking of a Noble line and by extension, its power, lands and wealth. Otherwise known in modern muggle society as inheritance fraud.

More shouting and heckling drowned out anything coherent, so Madame Bones just waited for the Chief Warlock to once again quiet the room. After a few more bangs of the gavel and a threat of removal, Amelia once again received the full attention of the room.

"As I was saying, when we finally cleared the backlog of crucial investigations, I personally led a team to Harry Potter's childhood residence, but the evidence appeared to be tampered with.

Under Veritaserum, the Dursleys admitted every crime they had ever committed against a magical child in their care that also happened to be the last surviving Heir of House Potter. I have already submitted the full report if the court wants an in-depth account of their crimes.

They were unaware of who delivered the child to their doorstep, but there was an anonymous letter explaining who the child was and that they now had to raise him under a few veiled threats of Death Eater retaliation.

When we spoke to Harry Potter before he left for Hogwarts, he mentioned a few concerns of his, and I am sad to say they were entirely justified. I could find no mention of the last will and testament from either James or Lily Potter, but other heads of House Potter mention Family artifacts that remain unaccounted for.

In fact, after digging into the official investigation report of their deaths, no bodies were ever found, and everything in their Godric's Hollow residence had been removed! There was also no mention of Harry Potter, his whereabouts, or his condition.

It appears everyone had just accepted that it was Harry that defeated 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named' after surviving the Killing Curse, and that he had received a curse scar on his forehead in return. There were no witnesses listed, yet there have been quite a few books describing in detail what happened that night.

I can only conclude that someone high up in our government has perverted the investigation and then disseminated an explanation that was unanimously accepted by everyone.

For example, I knew for a fact that Harry Potter had a scar on his forehead despite never meeting the boy and him not knowing about magic until he received his Hogwarts letter! How is this possible if the boy was kidnapped that night and has not interacted with anyone magical since?

Another interesting fact was that it was Hagrid that introduced the boy to our society when he received his Hogwarts letter and then took him shopping in Diagon Alley! Care to explain why Dumbledore?" Concluded the head of the DMLE.

"As I stated before, I have no idea what Hagrid was doing in Godric's Hollow the night the Potters died. If I had known of the attack, I would have gone myself! What else would be more important than the defeat of Voldemort?" Dumbledore deflected, looking around the room with his grandfather act in full force to drive home that point.

After all, what witch or wizard didn't believe that the only person who could defeat the Dark Lord was the Leader of the Light? If their most hated adversary was reported dead, they would definitely go themselves to make sure of it! Who would send a bumbling oaf like Hagrid on a mission so vital?

When he saw that his point had been made, Dumbledore continued, "As for sending Hagrid to buy the boys school supplies, well, the Dursleys had destroyed every letter sent to the boy, and I grew tired of their games!

Minerva and Filius were busy with other tasks, and as much as I trust Severus, he holds no love for the Potters. I thought Hagrid would be the ideal person to intimidate them enough into complying and also give the child someone friendly to introduce the world of magic.

I had no idea that dear Hagrid was involved with anything so sinister as Line Theft, though he was the one that suggested he go in the first place, quite insistent about it actually. I just thought it was a bit of hero-worship and love for the Potters since he knew them from when they were at Hogwarts." The manipulative old man finished, obscuring some truthful details under a whole lot of deceit.

Unfortunately, too many of the Purebloods sitting on the Wizengamot were ready to believe that a naive, bumbling fool like Hagrid was guilty of such manipulation and foresight in stealing Harry Potter's birthright.

How was he even going to accomplish it when he was not eligible to inherit anything thanks to having his wand snapped and not completing his O.W.L's? Was his plan to befriend the boy and siphon his funds that way? And why wait ten years before making a move?

It was not like they hadn't already disregarded evidence or motive before when dealing with Hagrid. They had done so when they blamed him for opening the Chamber of Secrets and railroaded the poor half-giant with trumped-up charges!

It was simply ludicrous how the ministry was comprised of so many racist Purebloods that continued to spout blood supremacy dogma but were happy to then turned around and inadvertently named Hagrid Slytherin's Heir!

In truth, it was just used as an excuse to remove unwanted elements from Hogwarts and deprive the half-breed of any rights he was entitled to as a wizard.

And thanks to Dumbledore's thorough reprogramming of the mentally weak half-giant, Hagrid would admit as much to the court when prompted.