CHAPTER 64: THE LAST BLACK

Facts:

The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black was one of the largest, oldest, and wealthiest pure-blooded wizarding families in Great Britain, and one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. Many wizarding families in Britain were distantly related to the House of Black. Like the Malfoy and Lestrange families, the House of Black was synonymous with elevated status and wealth. The Blacks were traditionally sorted into Slytherin at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

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Ed was now in a dream again, he looked around and concluded that he was now in the Defence against the Dark arts professor's office. He looked around again and noticed that there is six people in the room, one he noticed that it's his father, sitting on the Professor's desk, while he also noticed that one of the other five looked similar to Harry, Ed saw that almost all of them wore a Gryffindor tie, while only one of them wore a Slytherin tie, and that Slytherin boy was sitting on the ground, with a messy robe and hair.

"So," Darius said coldly, staring at the group of Gryffindors, "Care to explain?"

"What is there to explain Professor?" the boy who looked like Harry said, his face has a small smirk while looking at the boy who was sitting on the ground.

"DON'T-" yelled Darius to the group, making them flinched, Darius calmed down as he realized what he's doing and calmed down, "-play with me Potter…"

Darius then stood up and looked down at the teenagers like they were ants, "I will ask once again, care to explain?"

The group gulped loudly, and one of them who had black hair said, "It was Snape first Professor, he mocked our house in front of us! Saying that Gryffindors are a bunch of short-sighted kids!"

Darius raised his eyebrow, "So?"

"What do you mean Professor! Of course, we retaliate!" Potter then continued.

"I heard you mocking the Slytherins all the time Potter, and yet none of the Slytherins was pompous and reckless enough to almost choke you to death with soap, so tell me, what gives you the right?" Darius said, staring at him with his deep silver eyes.

"Well, I have the right to de-"

"Defend your house's honour?" Darius chuckled dangerously, "You're telling me that choking someone with soap almost to death and laughed at them in the face is defending your house's honour?"

The group then went silent for a minute, but then Darius looked at another boy, who has been quiet all this time, "What's your excuse Lupin? I'm sure your smart brain can pluck up a believable answer…"

But Lupin didn't say anything and looked at the ground, acting guilty.

Darius sighed tiredly and massaged his forehead, "Why are you doing this? why do you hate young Snape over here?" he said as he looked at the haggard Snape on the ground.

"W-W-Well it's because he's a Slytherin! He loves dark arts! I bet he's going to be a death eater once he got out of the school!" Sirius defended himself.

"My wife is a Slytherin, I used dark arts to attack my enemies, so does that mean I'm a death eater?" Darius said, as he rolled his left sleeve, showing an empty wrist, "No."

Darius than walked around the desk and started to talk again, "You see Potter, you don't hate Snape here because he's a Slytherin, or because he likes dark arts. No… you bullied him because you're jealous." Darius stopped in front of Potter, still staring at him with his eyes. "Isn't that right?"

Potter avoided the eye contact, and instead clenched his fist tightly.

"Jealousy is normal Potter… but the way you show it…" Darius said as he shook his head in disappointment, "You grew up in a loving, pure-blood family, have a lot of resources to be a great wizard, yet you were beaten by a half-blood in terms of brains, your crush seemed to favour him over you, and he's more accomplished than you… what was that about death eaters Black? Potter here bullied a half-blood just because of jealousy, doesn't that screams pure-blood supremacy you hated?"

The group just stood there in silence, clenching their fists so hard that their knuckles turned white. "What? no excuses now?"

Still silent.

Darius sighed tiredly as wiped his face, "I'm saying all this for your own good, your double standards and bullying habits are disgusting in my eyes." Darius scolded, "You're still young, so you need to shape a better point of view… you all will be great wizards, I know it, but you still acts like children, consumed by your own jealousy, you need to fix that, quickly, or you'll soon do something you'll definitely regret…"

The four nodded weakly, "I don't hate you Potter, in fact, I like you as my student. I do this because I care about your future, now, you will still have your detentions, a month detention to each of you."

Darius came back to his sit and said, "You're all dismissed, except young Snape over here."

The four then quietly got out of the room, leaving Snape alone with Darius. "Sit on the chair now Severus." Darius instructed.

Snape just stood up and sat down the chair in front of Darius. "Tea?" Darius offered, pointing at a teapot on the desk.

Snape just nodded, then Darius gave him a cup of tea. "Now, tell me Severus, do you want to be a death eater?"

But before Ed can hear the rest of the conversation, Ed was woken up by a sudden shake by someone, and that someone was Harry. 'Urgh… it was getting to the good parts as well…' Ed thought.

"Ed, wake up." He said worriedly.

"Harry…" Ed mumbled groggily, "What's up?"

"You were shaking again…" he said, "You sure you don't want to go to madam Pomfrey?"

"It's fine Harry…" Ed said as he sat down, "I can handle it."

Harry shook his head in surrender, "Anyway, we're getting quite late right now, the trial's about to start."

Ed looked at Harry weirdly, "It's not midnight?"

"No, I was surprised myself that you didn't shake in the middle of the night, but instead it happened in the morning…"

"Huh…" Ed mumbled, "Anyway, why do I need to go again? I don't remember being a member of the Wizengamot…"

"Well, Dumbledore said at least you have to watch the trial…"

"I told that old man that trial is bad luck for me…" Ed said, "I'm 13 and I've already been at 3 trials!"

"3?" Harry was confused, "I only remember you went to Lockhart's trial…"

"Oh right," Ed said, "Forget about it, you just go Harry, I'll catch up. if I want to see it anyway…"

Harry sighed, "Fine, Hermione, Ron, and I will go first with Professor Lupin."

Ed hummed as Harry left the room, leaving Ed alone in the dorm. Ed then quickly went to the bathroom to take a shower, he changed his sheets as it was soaked with sweat, and now he's in front of his wardrobe, searching for a suitable clothes.

After that, Ed quickly got out of the tower and walked to the Great Hall to eat, but in the middle of the way, he was joined in by Richard and Daphne, who were also walking to the hall to eat.

"Is it today?" Daphne asked, "The trial I mean."

Ed hummed in confirmation, "It's now actually."

"Well, why don't you go view it then?" asks Richard in confusion.

"I'll go there." Says Ed, "But probably later, I'm hungry right now."

The two just nodded and all of them arrived in the hall, then they separated to their own table, Ed then continued to eat his breakfast rather slowly, he's kind of lazy right now to go to the courtroom, as he hates the place.

While Ed was eating in the great hall, trying to stall time, Harry had walked to Dumbledore's office, where his friends and Professor Lupin are waiting. The group saw Harry entered the room and saw that Ed wasn't with him.

Hermione furrowed her brows and asked, "Where's Ed?" she asks.

Harry shrugged, "He said that he'll catch up."

"He won't go if you let him 'catch up'…" Hermione commented.

"Give the guy a break Hermione, he told me he hates Trials, so let him choose whether he'll go or not." Harry continued.

Hermione also realized this and nodded slowly, "Yeah…"

Lupin, who was watching the conversation unfolds then spoke, "Right, we'll be going using Floo Powder, Ron, you'll go first and say, 'The Ministry of Magic.'" He instructed.

Ron nodded, following what Lupin said, he grabbed a handful of the powder and use it in the fireplace. His body now was covered in green flames and he was teleported to the ministry of magic. Hermione and Harry followed, while Lupin entered last.

After that, they were teleported to a hall full of fireplace, and they saw people walking about in the hall. Harry was looking around the atrium, surprised at how big it is.

"Don't just stand there Harry, you'll blocking the path." Lupin said, pulling the group of thirteen-year-olds to the side, "Follow me, we need to go down to the courtroom."

The group nodded and followed the werewolf to a lift, they entered it and Lupin pressed the button to the 9th floor. Then, the lift moved down, and not a minute later, they arrived.

"The ninth floor, the department of Mysteries." A cold female voice sounded.

After that, the group exited the lift, walking through a black tiled hall to a big room at the end of the hall. When they arrived, they saw some annoyed old man complaining about things.

"What is Bones doing? Doing a trial this early in the morning… I haven't got my morning tea yet." an old man grumbled.

Harry just shook his head at this and continued to walk to the watcher seats along with the rest of the group. But then a group of reporters suddenly swarmed them, asking them questions.

"Harry Potter? what are you doing here in the courtroom? What can you tell us about this sudden trial? Is this about Sirius Black?" a reporter asked.

Lupin then quickly pushed the reporters away and gave the boy time to breathe. "Don't tell them anything Harry, not yet." he whispered to the boy. Harry just nodded, and continued to walk to the seats, waiting for the trial to start.

An hour later, Ed was walking through a black tilled hall, he saw the room in the edge of the hall, he was quite familiar with it, and once he arrived, heard a lot of bickering, from the middle of the courtroom to the watcher seats.

"I didn't do it! Please you have to believe me!" a man pleaded in the middle of the courtroom, Ed realized that it was Peter Pettigrew.

"Don't lie Wormtail! You should've died! As we will for you in the war!" Sirius shrieked to point out Peter.

Ed continued to hear the bickering, he then saw the faces of the Wizengamot, some looked outraged, some looked pale like Fudge. Ed just snickered at the sight as he forced his way to the packed room to the seats.

"This is a serious matter minister, I request the usage of Veritaserum to the accused."

"That's preposterous!" he said, shaking from fear, "We need his own permission to use it."

"But he's a death eater Minister." A Wizengamot member spoke up, "You saw the mark on his wrist, the laws of permission don't apply to him anymore."

The crowd murmur in agreement, making Fudge pale a little more, knowing that it is inevitable that they will know the truth.

"V-Very w-well… I allow it." He spoke. Then a potions master, who is none other than Severus Snape entered the room, bringing them the serum. He then walked to the pleading Peter.

"S-Severus… Please…." He begged, but Snape just stared at him with cold eyes. He then forcefully fed the serum to the man, and the court questioned him, confirming that Peter was indeed the traitor, not Sirius.

"Are you the one who killed the 12 muggles on that street that night?" someone added.

"Yes… I did that so Sirius would be framed, as well as cutting my own finger, so it will look like Sirius killed me." He blankly said, exploding the courtroom.

"Well, what are you waiting for minister!" a spectator suddenly shouted, court room courtesies are thrown out the window at this point. "Give him the kiss!"

Minister seeing this just slammed his hammer to silence the room, but it didn't work, "ORDER! ORDER IN THE COURT!"

Dumbledore, who had been silent this until now, spoke up, "SILENCE!" he shouted, instantly quieting the room.

Fudge sighed in relief, "Thank you Dumbledore…"

Dumbledore just nodded and went silent again, then Madam Bones suddenly asked to the jury. "As it shown, the evidence have been clear, the mark, and the testaments of the accused. All in favour for convicting Peter Pettigrew, and releasing Sirius Black?"

All of them raised their hands.

"Well… it looks like we don't need to ask the opposite…"

Fudge then scanned the room and slammed his hammer, "Sirius Black will be released from the prison, pardoned for his crimes, while Peter Pettigrew will be convicted to Azkaban, while we wait for further trials on how we should punished Peter Pettigrew."

The room then instantly went into applause, while people were disappointed that Pettigrew didn't get punished now, they were quite satisfied on how Sirius got pardoned.

Sirius was crying right now, he's finally free, all those suffering, finally released.

After the trial was finished, Ed sighed in relief, as he didn't want to deal with the reality where Sirius still gets convicted, Ed saw that Sirius was trying to get out of the crowd but was instantly questioned by the reporters that were trying to talk to him.

"Sirius! Sirius!" Ed heard a boy shouting from the watcher seats, it was Harry. But Sirius didn't hear him, he was getting dizzy by all the flashes and questions from the reporters.

Ed sighed at the sight of this. He then walked to Harry who was with Lupin and his friends.

"Don't talk to him now." Ed said while walking to them, surprising the group.

"Where were you? We looked everywhere in the courtroom." Hermione scolded, making Ed shook his head.

"No, you didn't search for me, I saw you looking worriedly at Sirius in the trial…" Ed chuckled, which made Hermione blushed. "Anyway, I'll send you to Sirius's home, wait there." Ed said while touching Harry and the rest, transporting them to the Grimmauld Palace, much to their surprise. Ed didn't go with them, instead he stayed, wanting to talk to Sirius.

Ed then just waited, leaning against the black tilled wall, he's looking at Sirius right now, who went from a murderous lunatic to a war hero in one day. he was overwhelmed right now by the reporters. But then Narcissa came, answering the questions instead of him, Sirius nodded in appreciation to Narcissa and quietly sneaked away from the crowd, coming towards Ed.

"Enjoying the fame?" Ed said while smirking.

Sirius scowled, "If this is what fame is, swarmed by reporters, then I don't want it."

Ed chuckled at the man, "Well, you have to get used to it I guess…." Ed said, he straighten his poster and continued, "Harry and the rest are waiting for you in your home, want to go there on your own or with me?"

"With you, much faster." He said decisively.

Ed snorted, "What am I, a knight bus now?" Ed then stood closer to Sirius and blinked to the Blacks' ancestral home.

They then arrived at the first floor where the living room resides, Ed saw that the others were sitting on the couches that was facing each other.

"Sirius!" Harry exclaimed, walking over towards the man, who then hugged the boy.

The rest decided to gave them some space and left the room. Ed then felt someone pulled him roughly towards an empty room and saw that it was Hermione.

"What's wrong?" Ed asked, confused at the sudden pull.

"How can you use your magic recklessly like that Ed? what if someone sees you?" she questioned.

"Oh, no worries." Ed said, "I made sure beforehand, I checked if the people around us were looking away or not, so don't worry." He continued, ruffling Hermione's hair.

"How did you do it anyway?" Hermione asked curiously, "I didn't know you can transport things without actually following them…"

"New tricks." Ed hummed, "I can also switched places between people and objects now." He continued while switching his place with Hermione's, surprising her even further. "I learned a lot, I can probably defeat Dumbledore in a one-on-one now… I don't know what tricks he has though, so my guess is probably wrong."

Hermione narrowed her eyes, "Then why are you still at Hogwarts?"

"Like I said, I want to have a somewhat teenager experience, though lately I haven't been able to do that…" Ed said, "Besides… there's this thing…"

"What thing?"

Ed smiled mysteriously, "Maybe you'll know later." Ed said while walking away from her, checking whether if Sirius was finished talking to Harry or not, and he was, "Right, Hermione, you can go back first with Professor Lupin, I'll talk to Sirius first."

The girl nodded and walked to the professor, joining them.

Ed then walked inside the living room once again, and sat the opposite of Sirius, who was sitting on the couch, he was watching the crackling fire in the fireplace, seemingly happy about something.

"Sirius, can I ask you something?" Ed said.

"Sure, ask away…" he answered nonchalantly.

Ed stared at the man and said, "This is really random… but I've been meaning to ask, and just out of curiosity really…"

Then he ask the question.

"Do you hate my father Sirius?"

Sirius frowned at the question, "Why do you ask?"

"I saw some things…" Ed said vaguely. "I saw you and your friends were scolded by my father, well, not really scolded, it was more like insulting… something about jealousy and Potter being a pure-blood supremacists…"

Sirius tensed after the statement and sighed, "How do you know that?"

"I don't know myself…" Ed told half-truth, "I've been seeing this flashes of the past in my dreams…"

Sirius went silent for a while, still staring at the fireplace nearby, "I don't hate your father Ed, he was a peculiar man…"

Ed raised his eyebrow, "Peculiar how?"

"When he was teaching DADA, he was a great teacher…" Sirius explained, "But he was rather tough to his student, insulting them like we were in some kind of muggle military training."

Sirius went silent again, then continued, "But we were the centre of his attention… Me, James, Remus, Peter, Lily, and-"

"Snape…" Ed continued, he already figured out why his father were focused on them, but he let him continue.

"He was always saying these random things to us, like when we were in a duelling class, he always tell me 'Don't lose focus Black! You'll be hit by a killing curse if you talk to James while duelling!', he also said to James often that 'Quickly apparate if you know that you can't beat the enemy.', he also often berate Peter for his cowardice, he also often told Lupin about the importance of love, and he should accept any love he can get no matter his situation…"

'On point.' Ed thought, 'He tried to prevent stuff happening by advising, but they clearly didn't listen.'

Sirius then sighed, "And then there were Snape and Lily…" he muttered, "He acts bizarrely towards Lily, always telling her to not give up on a friend even if they unintentionally insults you, and Snape… he often talked to him for hours in his office, we never know what they talked about, but he always comes out of that room a bit happier than when he entered."

Ed hummed, "What about his order days?"

Sirius chuckled, "To be honest, I never really saw him that much in the order… but when I did, he's kicking ass in the battlefield."

Ed smiled at the statement, "Well, thank you for your answers Sirius, I'll see you later." Ed said as he disappeared from the spot, making Sirius sigh.

"How the hell did he do that… not even a cracking sound…"