chapter 21

Azkaban?" She was puzzled at the request.

"Well, Madam, as you know, there are two members of House Black currently incarcerated there. One for just cause, the other not. And I am Lord of House Black. It is incumbent upon me to check on members of my House, no matter their station or situation."

Her eyebrows went up. She said, incredulously, "Lord Black?"

He gave her a broad smile, languidly held out his right hand, and flashed the House Black Lord's Ring. He then pulled out his wand and held it up. "I swear on my Magic and my Life that I am Lord Black, of the Ancient and Noble House Black. So mote it be. Lumos." His wand tip glowed brightly.

She sat back in her chair. "Well. That was unexpected. How? And why?"

He looked back at her, "That is a long and complicated story which I'm sure you would find incredulous. And I only discovered the situation by accident when demonstrating to Mr. Potter how the Goblins conduct Heritage Searches after he had done his. I was truly expecting a 'no response.'" She nodded her understanding, and a smile flitted across her lips. Ah, yes, he realized with some satisfaction, she had heard about Harry's inheriting a few extra Lordships.

"Quite a surprise, I tell you! But it's true or I couldn't wear the ring. I've already been to visit the house at 12 Grimmauld Place, and discussed a few things with the House-elf in residence."

"Amazing," she said. She shook her head, then looked up at him. "Azkaban?"

"Yes. I want Sirius moved from the High Security Section of the prison to the lowest security, if not to a holding cell here in the Ministry, while my lawyers deal with getting his release. We now know that Peter Pettigrew did not die eleven years ago, which throws doubt onto all the assumptions made when he was picked up. Add to that that Sirius was never interviewed, much less charged or convicted of a crime, and you're looking at a huge public relations disaster for the Ministry. Not to mention owing compensation for abusing so blatantly the Scion of House Black."

She was staring at him again, astonished.

"Why, if the Ministry can grab the Scion of such an important and Noble House and lock him up without evidence or a trial, or even an official charge, what is to prevent them from doing the same to the son or daughter of any member of the Wizenmaggots, or even your niece?" He was letting her know in the plainest terms possible the strategy he was going to pursue to free Sirius. "True, there was a war on, but afterwards? What's the excuse for not reviewing the evidence to make sure the ones placed in Azkaban were not innocents caught in the wrong place at the wrong time?"

And he knew she could see how powerful a strategy it was — both Dark and Light Houses would unite to defend their sons and daughters from what happened to Sirius once they realized how vulnerable they were. No Ministry, either Light or Dark, could be trusted with such wide reaching powers.

Using his fame as Lockhart and the powerful political power of House Black he could make sure that The Daily Prophet would keep this case from being hidden from the public. Sheer self-interest would force the Wizenmaggots to dump the Minister and any who stood with him.

He paused and smiled grimly, "The Minister and Ministry are in for some hard times ahead. If you maintain the status quo you will mitigate your portion of the blame not at all. The Nazis proved how ineffective, "I was only following orders," is as a defence. Moving Sirius and getting him the medical assistance he needs will go a long ways towards showing you knew nothing of the true situation, and that you are acting in good faith. To the public you will appear an impartial administrator of justice. After all, if you ascertain he is guilty then nothing has been lost. But if you find he is innocent and yet you did nothing to help in the meantime . . . .

"I'm not one to tell another how to run her department, but if I were you, I would immediately send Aurors to interview Mr. Black with veritaserum and determine the truth. After eleven years in that horrid place, I'm sure he is incapable of the fortitude even to attempt to fool the potion."

She was now looking thoughtful.

"By the way, as godfather to Harry James Potter, shouldn't it have been impossible for him to act in a manner that threatened Harry and his parents? His oath should have killed him if he really intended to hand Lord Potter's son over to Voldewhore."

He gave her one of his wide smiles, displaying his perfect teeth.

"So, with that mind, I'd like to visit Azkaban as soon as possible to assure Sirius I am taking the steps needed to get him out. And while I am there, I would like to visit Bellatrix Lestrange. As a daughter of House Black it is incumbent upon me to verify her condition and situation in the prison.

"And I would like to verify that Mr. Rubeus Hagrid is being treated in the manner promised by Minister Fudge. Mr. Hagrid is a good friend of mine and I find it deplorable that the Minister had him incarcerated simply because he needed a scapegoat. And this is the second time for poor Mr. Hagrid.

"And that's another case of the Ministry grabbing someone right off the street and throwing them into Azkaban without charges, trial, or conviction — am I seeing a pattern here of Ministry misbehaviour? Once is an accident, twice is coincidence, three times is malicious intent! What would The Daily Prophet and Rita Skeeter have to say about such a charge? I shall make sure to include the facts of his case with Sirius Black's case when next the Wizenmaggots meets.

"In fact, I herewith officially petition you to release Mr. Rebus Hagrid, or at the very least, move him here to a Ministry holding spell, as a show of good faith." He pulled a parchment roll from his pocket and handed it to her.

And that certainly put Madam Bones on the hot-seat — do what she should legally do and risk the heat she would get from the Minister or fall with the Minister when the Wizenmaggots roasted him for illegally throwing innocent victims into Azkaban. Gilderoy had a good idea which way she would jump.

"I would like that visit to be this afternoon."

He sat back and waited.

Two hours later, they were standing in the Warden's Office on Azkaban.

"Here's the order for Mr. Rubeus Hagrid transferring him from Azkaban to a Ministry holding cell," Madam Bones handed a scroll to the Warden as Gilderoy watched. As she had explained before leaving the Ministry, they would give him veritaserum once he was in the Ministry. If, as Gilderoy had said, he had nothing to do with the incidents in question they would immediately release him. Furthermore, they would question him regarding the incident from fifty years ago, and take action, if any, accordingly. They would be commute the fine for having a creature classified as XXXXX as a pet to time served. Madam Bones had not asked Harry how he had obtained his facts.

After perusing the scroll, the warden called to one of the guards, and said, "John! Fetch the prisoner known as Rubeus Hagrid and bring him here."

While they waited, she handed the warden a second scroll, "And here's the order for Mr. Sirius Black transferring him from Azkaban to a Ministry holding cell."

After a sharp look at the Witch and examining the scroll intently, he said, "Are you sure, Madam? He's one of our most dangerous prisoners. He's said to have been He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's most important lieutenant."

"Apparently, the rumours of his association with Death Eaters and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named are just that, rumours. That's why we're taking him to the Ministry for questioning. There seems to be considerable evidence he might just be innocent — that he simply was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

The warden gave her an appalled look. "No!" he said, aghast.

She nodded.

He sighed, and called to the guards in the outer office, "Gary! Take three others and fetch prisoner Sirius Black. Maximum security!" As an aside, he said to his superior, "Just a precaution. As you said, 'it appears,' and we all know that sometimes appearances can be wrong."

Again she nodded. And so they waited in silence.

Hagrid must have been close because less than a minute later he walked in with his guard.

"Professor Lockhart!" the half-giant exclaimed. He looked worse for the wear, as if he hadn't slept well in days — and he probably hadn't — and there was a sense of depression and desperation about the man.

The head of the D.M.L.E. looked up at the big man and said, "Professor Lockhart has brought evidence that your current incarceration here is a mistake of justice. We are transferring you to the Ministry for further questioning. If it goes as we suspect, you will be released from custody no later than this afternoon, with a letter of apology from the D.M.L.E."

Hagrid looked close to tears in relief, "I knew the Headmaster wouldn't forget me! Thank ye, Professor, thank ye."

Madam Bones spoke up, "Mr. Hagrid, the Headmaster had nothing to do with this. Professor Lockhart arranged everything."

Gilderoy said, "Hagrid, how good to see you. I see you have survived here, if not exactly thrived, but be of good cheer!" He gave the half-giant a blinding smile. "As Madam Bones said, I've arranged for your release after a few questions. By evening you'll be back in the Great Hall having supper with the rest of the staff and this will all be a fading memory!"

Hagrid frowned and said more to himself than anyone else, "The Headmaster didn't send you?" And stepped back to lean against a wall, frowning. His guard settled beside him, alert and wand out. Just because a prisoner appeared calm didn't mean he wasn't planning something untoward. Or wouldn't suddenly decide his best opportunity was to go on the offensive and attack.

The warden and Bone went into a discussion of the prison and the warden took the opportunity to present some items that he felt needed her attention. Gilderoy spent his time examining the office and, surreptitiously, taking a good hard look at the protective enchantments in place over the prison. He had to admit, they were quite effective at keeping ordinary prisoners in place and average Dark Wizards at bay. They would need significant upgrading, though, to hold out against what Voldewhore could bring to bear. He developed a few suggestions on improvements as he waited.

Finally, Sirius Black arrived. And boy did he look like hell! Not just thin, but gaunt, his skin stretched over his bones. His eyes, while clear and showing he was paying attention, had a haunted look of terrors never forgotten, nor far from mind. He looked around the room and was surprised to recognize Hagrid in one corner and Madam Bones in front of the warden's desk.

Gilderoy immediately greeted the Wizard. "Ah! Sirius Black! It's good to see you!" He gave him a broad smile and walked over to him. The guards stiffened slightly, but didn't interfere. He started shaking the prisoner's like a professional politician, that is, much action and not letting go. "You may not remember me; I was four years behind you at Hogwarts!" He pushed magic through his hand into Sirius, giving him quite a boost. "I've been looking forward to meeting you since Christmas when I discovered I was Lord Black!"

Sirius gave him an astonished look, both at the news and at the sudden flood of magic, pushing him to a level he hadn't had for a decade.

"Can you believe that! Me, Gilderoy Lockhart, not only a member of the famous House Black, but its Lord!?"

"Better you than me," mumbled the confused Wizard.

"Why, as soon as I found out, I started researching the family. You can imagine my surprise when I discovered you, certainly the most infamous of the family, had never been given a trial, or even interviewed to see if you really were a Death Eater." He finally let go of the Wizard's hand. That should give the sickly Wizard a jump-start on recovering.

Sirius shook his hand uncertainly, his fingers still tingling from the magical burst Gilderoy had sent him.

"That's why we're here, actually," Gilderoy continued, blithely ignoring the others in the room and their attempts to interrupt. "We're going to take you back to the Ministry where they will finally ask you the questions they should have given you eleven years ago. It's all a formality, really, as they had no evidence to lock you up in the first place.

He looked around the room, "Well, I've said enough for now. I'll let these fine Aurors here take care of you for a while. I'll meet you back at the Ministry when they release you. Make sure you wait for me, though; there are a lot of things I have to tell you. Did you know I'm famous in the Wizarding World? Yes, that's right, famous. I've written ten, can you believe it, ten bestselling books! And I have two more I'm working on right now. People all over the world simply adore me. I'm also the D.A.D.A. professor at Hogwarts, and let me tell you Harry Potter is such a fine lad you'll be amazed!"

"Harry?" Sirius interrupted, "James' son?"

"Yes, yes, of course. James and Lily would be so proud of the young Wizard. He'll be living with you starting this summer. You two will have plenty of time to catch up with each other. I know he's just dying to hear all your stories about his father and mother." Gilderoy stopped and nudged the thin Wizard with his elbow, "And none of those racy ones, you hear? The boy's only twelve and not quite ready to hear what a Ladies Wizard his father was! Although he's already quite infatuated with a certain bushy-haired young Witch, whom I'm sure he will spend hours telling you about. And there's at least two others giving him the eye as well, what with his multiple Lordships and all!"

He stepped back from the confused Wizard. "I would go with you to the Ministry, but being Lord Black means I have one more responsibility, much as I would rather go with you so we could get acquainted." He rubbed his hands together excitedly. "The stories I could tell you about myself you simply shan't believe are true, but they are! I have ten books to show the proof!"

He sighed contentedly. "Well, as I said, I do have another appointment here. I need to see to your cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange. As Lord Black I have to see for myself her condition and situation." He nodded towards, Madam Bones who was watching them with an amazed expression. "She tells me that Bella is far too dangerous to allow out of her cell, so I shall have to visit her. As the Muggles say, if Mohammed can't go to the mountain, then the mountain must come to Mohammed!"

Everyone stared at him as if he were quite barmy. He hoped the Wizard was awake enough to catch all the hidden gems he had included in his apparent ramblings.

He turned to the Witch. "Well, I shouldn't hold you back from your investigations. I would most appreciate it if you could personally see to the interrogation of Mr. Hagrid first, so that Mr. Black has time to take a nice hot shower and get a few healing potions so he doesn't pass out in the middle of your interrogation. And then oversee Mr. Black's interrogation as well. You might learn some interesting facts about Mr. Potter if you examine his story carefully."

He smiled happily, "So, who is the lucky guard who will conduct me safely to see my incarcerated family member?"

Jack was not happy. He clearly wondered what he had done wrong to be consigned to escort this idiotic airhead dandy to see Bellatrix Lestrange. The man had done nothing but talk about his books and adventures at a breathtaking rate, not even noticing Jack's very unsubtle hints that he didn't care. The only reason he hadn't told the Wizard piss-off was that he obviously had extraordinary pull to get Madam Bones and the warden hopping to his tune.

"Here she is," he said tersely, interrupting the prat in mid-sentence in some silliness about curing a werewolf. "Hey," he yelled at the woman in the cell, "Get off your arse. Ya got a visitor." Before he could turn back to Gilderoy, he was hit with a stunner. Before the Wizard could start to fall Lockhart swiftly erected silencing spells and a Notice-Me-Not. He did not want anyone to see what he was doing.

Bella unsteadily stood up. "Who the bloody . . . ," she started, only to receive a stunner as well. Moving quickly, Gilderoy removed the shrunken corpse from his bottomless bag. He placed it inside the cell. He restored it to full size, then summoned Bella. He compared them side-by-side. He cast a spell duplicating all of Bella's scars and features.

Her own mother wouldn't be able to tell them apart.

He swapped Bella's prison attire for the old woman's hospital gown, and then shrunk her to doll size. He summoned her and placed her in his bag, carefully hiding it in his pocket. He took out the Golem paper and carefully placed it inside the dead woman's mouth. He touched the paper in her open mouth and poured magic into it, charging its runes. He waited a moment, closed its mouth, and then said, "Stand up." The body climbed to its feet. "Instructions. You will stay in the bed as much as possible. When Dementors arrive, moan as if in pain. When guards arrive, turn your back to them. Do not speak to them. Dump any food into the disposal hole in the corner. If anyone suspects you aren't Bellatrix Lestrange, or Bella, or they think something is wrong, whisper the word 'dead.' Otherwise, after twenty days, whisper the word 'dead.' Turn around and face the bed. When I ennervate the guard, go to the bed and lie down. End instructions."

When it said the activation word, "dead," the paper would vanish. With the paper gone, the runes that preserved the body and allowed it operate would vanish as well, and the body would appear to have "died." His changes to its features would last a year, at least, and by then normal decay would render it extremely difficult to determine that the body wasn't really Bella. Only a muggle DNA test would prove otherwise.

The entire operation had taken less than a minute.

He turned to the guard and used magic to lift and place him leaning against the wall. He casted a confundo followed by an ennervate. As the guard blinked his eyes, the confundo preventing him from being completely cognizant of his surroundings, Gilderoy dismissing his silencing spells and the Notice-Me-Not.

The golem slowly began walking to the bed. He turned to the guard, saying, "Thank you for your assistance. I see she is alive and as well as can be expected. Let's go back." The Golem laid down, with its back to the cell door.

The guard was more than happy to leave this level of the prison and the Demontors hovering at the far end of the corridor.

The walk back was just as boring as the walk in, from the guard's point of view. He was close to strangling the git he was escorting by the time they reached the warden's office. If he never saw or heard of Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defence League, five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award, Slayer of Basilisks, and Hogwarts' beloved Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, he could die happy.

For his report, he just mentioned they went to the cell, the Witch stood up, cursing them, and then they left. He never suspected anything unusual had happened during his escort.

Gilderoy caught up with Madam Bones in the Auror department just as they were ending their interrogation of Hagrid. As he had told her, Hagrid was innocent and had provided a memory of his arrest by the Minister where the Minster admitted he had no reason other than the infamous covering-your-arse.

Madam Bones was furious. "The Minister is NOT an Auror, he has no authority to do what he did," she fumed. "As soon as we finish interrogating Sirius Black, I'll call the Wizengamot for a special session to hear these cases. Once they see that memory, he's history!"

"And if," she turned to look at Gilderoy, "if the case against Sirius Black is as flimsy as you claim, we can get him out of here Saturday." They crossed the corridor to the next cell.

If an innocent man's life weren't at stake, Gilderoy would have been laughing at the expressions of the Aurors as at each answer to every question they asked demonstrated just how badly the Ministry had handled things eleven years ago.

Bones remanded Sirius, as a Joe Bloggs, to a Ministry cell pending Wizengamot review of his "case" or rather lack of a case. In the meantime, she sent for a Healer to help him recover from his ordeal in Azkaban. Gilderoy promised to see him when the Wizenmaggots met or on Saturday, whichever came first.

(⊙_⊙)

The gaunt woman on the bed looked hideous. Her hair was a rat's nest. Her fingernails were all broken, cracked, and caked with dirt. In fact, dirt caked her most everywhere. If he had found her outside in a field or forest, he would have thought her dead. Her face, even asleep, was a mass of worry lines.

Gilderoy sighed and looked around the room. Ever since he conceived his plan, he had been preparing. This room was a combination of the former dungeon cells under Grimmauld Place, accessed through a staircase in the boiler-room. He had combined several cells to create an upper-class bedroom. Fine curtains hid a window charmed to show a view of the Thames. There was nothing to indicate the room was actually twenty feet underground.

A matching carpet and pale-white coloured walls brought warmth to the room. A door led to a full bathroom with both shower and bathtub. Beside it was a full closet, currently bare. The furniture, beautifully appointed, was a matching set of drawers, bed, side tables, and plush chairs. The paintings on the walls were Muggle landscapes. Hidden runes inscribed on each piece prevented its transformation into anything else, and made each impervious to breakage or removal, preventing the occupant from fashioning a weapon. The walls, floor, ceiling, and doors were similarly protected from mayhem. The entry door and its wall were transparent from the outside so he could observe where she was before entering the suite.

Even if she somehow got her hands on a wand, she couldn't use anything inside the suite to her advantage.

"Kreacher."

"Master calls Kreacher?" The house-elf stared at the stranger in the room. His brow furrowed. She looked like a Black, but he did not recognize her.

"Kreacher, that woman is Bellatrix Lestrange, formerly Bellatrix Black, a daughter of House Black. She has been in Azkaban. You are to care for her, but she cannot command you to do anything. If she asks for food, bring it. If she asks for drink, bring either water or butterbeer, nothing stronger. Use only the special plates, cups, and silverware I charmed. Convey to me any requests she may have. Do not bring her anything else without my permission. If she wants something to read, point her to my books." He indicated the stack of books on an end table. "She is confined to this suite. You are to prevent her from leaving should she attempt to so without my expressed permission. If she tries to use magic, tell her to stop or you will put magic suppressing cuffs on her.

"Do not communicate knowledge of her to anyone without my express permission. You are not to convey to anyone that you know anything about Bellatrix except that you believe she is in Azkaban. If someone asks, you haven't seen her, you haven't heard from her, you don't expect to hear from or see her. The last you heard, a decade ago, she was in Azkaban. As far as you know, she still is there. If someone asks you to take her a message, say house-elves cannot enter Azkaban. If someone tells you she is dead, acknowledge their statement, and then refer to her in the past tense only. Do you understand? Her presence here is a House Black secret, do not divulge it to anyone without my permission.

"You are not to divulge my identity as Lord Black to her, nor where she is, except that she has been rescued from Azkaban. Warn her that attempts to discern either of those on her part will result in you not speaking with her entirely. You are not to discuss anything that has happened since she was incarcerated. You are not to tell her you are the House Black house-elf. No news about the family, nothing. Whether she stays free of Azkaban depends on her cooperation."

"Yes, Master. Kreacher understands, Master."

"Thank you, Kreacher. Miss Lestrange, née Black, is a Pure-blood. Serve her with honour within the constraints I have given you."

Kreacher actually bowed to him, saying, "Thank you, Master. Thank you." Having a true Pure-blood to serve was heaven to him.

"To start with, prepare a thin soup with crackers and water for her first meal. Wake her when you place the food out for her. Then draw a bath while she is eating. Over the next few days work up to serving her full meals. While she is bathing, go through the Black vaults for appropriate day and sleep-ware. Resize them to fit her as needed, and remove from them any indications that they came from House Black stores. If there is nothing, let me know. I will provide potions to help her recover. If there are any problems, let me know as soon as possible."

(◎_⊙)

Just to see if he could do it, Gilderoy had the Castle protective enchantments filter out Hagrid's return from the information flow. Completely confident that the Great Dumbledore had engineered his release, Hagrid was puzzled that Albus seemed so surprised when he came through the Professor's' Entrance beside the Headmaster's Table. Hagrid began to wonder if the Headmaster hadn't been working towards his release.

Then he heard the Headmaster ask, "Professor Lockhart, how did your publishing emergency work out? You were gone all day, as you warned me might happen."

"Ah, yes, it came to a noteworthy conclusion," the smarmy professor answered. "The publisher lost an entire chapter's worth of pages out of the manuscript of my newest book, Burrowing with a Basilisk. Somehow, someone accidentally mislaid the pages. They only noticed when the total page-count came out much less than projected. Fortunately, I took my copy of the manuscript along with me. We had to compare every page of my manuscript with their layout, page-by-page, until we found the missing sections. It changed the layout for the rest of the book and we spent hours trying to salvage what they had done so far.

"My mother has always said that there is something in printer's ink that makes typesetters stupid, and after all the problems I've had with my books over the years, I certainly believe it. Why, one time they put the wrong page-header on an entire chapter! Another time they reversed the order of the pages in an entire signature!"

Hagrid tuned out the rest of what Lockhart was saying, disturbed at what he had heard. He didn't notice the Headmaster's pained look at getting far more detail than he ever wanted in reply to his simple question, as Lockhart went on and on with anecdote after anecdote of publisher problems he had encountered over the years. It seemed he had quite a lot of them and he had no problem retelling each one in excruciating detail.

Watching from the opposite side of the Headmaster, Gilderoy had no problems following what Hagrid was thinking, just from his expressions and where he was looking: Had Professor Lockhart, whom he thought of as a pompous, self-important git, really been the only one interested in helping him in his time of need? Gilderoy knew the Aurors at the Ministry told Hagrid no one from Hogwarts had communicated with them in the slightest about himself. No, that couldn't be right, could it? His frown seemed to say. But then why had the Headmaster been surprised to see him? Hagrid gave a worried look to the Headmaster, who didn't notice as his attention was on Gilderoy. And why had Lockhart lied to the Headmaster about what he had done this day? Hagrid wore his troubled expression all though the meal, but most thought it was just an after effect of his stay at that awful prison.

Hagrid apparently decided to do as Professor Lockhart had requested and not mention that Sirius Black was also no longer a resident of Azkaban.

(⊙_◎)

How Madam Bones managed to keep her agenda a secret Gilderoy never figured out, but on Saturday there was a special Wizengamot meeting. The session started as normal with the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot — delightfully not Dumbledore, but unfortunately being Minister Fudge — asking, "Is there any important Member business that needs to be conducted before this session begins?"

Gilderoy, in the Gallery, stood, "If it pleases the Court, I have such business." Today was a lilac day, and he knew he looked resplendent.

"Speak."

Gilderoy them proceeded to stun the membership with his announcement that he was Lord Black and would be assuming the currently unoccupied seat of House Black. It took his Magical Oath, and Minister Fudge's thorough examination of the Lordship ring, to assure them he wasn't lying.

The dark-tending Ancient and Noble House Lords were most upset. Many had extensive financial ties to House Black and could not afford, literally, to have the Lord of House Black unhappy with them. Whichever way he voted, they would have to side with him, no matter their personal preferences, even if the vote was against their own business interests.

Minister Fudge repeated the request for Member business. This time Professor Sinistra stood and rocked the court again by announcing she was the Proxy voter for Lord Slytherin, with a Goblin certified parchment. Professor McGonagall being proxy for Lord Gryffindor followed this. In a move that brought the most outcry from the membership, but that the membership rules did not exclude, Goblin Griphook took the proxy for Lord Gaunt.

When they all sat together in a block, everyone knew the political landscape of Wizarding England had just flipped upside down and backwards. The block of dark-tending Ancient and Noble House tied to House Black would follow him, and if he voted with the Light Houses as his sitting with Gryffindor indicated, then so would they. That put the Light Houses firmly in control of the Wizengamot for the first time in many decades.

The surprises did not stop there, though.

Madam Bones started the main the session off by bringing in Sirius Black, looking much better after several days of drinking of healing potions and getting peaceful uninterrupted sleep, and pointed out the facts of his illegal incarceration. Penseive memories and a magically binding oath on his life that Sirius did not betray the Potter's nor cause the blast that killed all those Muggles made quick work of the opposition. It wasn't difficult to get a vote releasing him immediately, especially after the Wizengamot saw House Black, Gaunt, Gryffindor, and Slytherin all vote for in his favour.

The Head of the D.M.L.E.'s next order of business was to arrest Minister Fudge in full view of the court for doing the exact same thing to Hagrid that the previous administration had done to Sirius Black, and for blatantly abusing his power as a Minister, as only Aurors are allowed to arrest people.

Gilderoy made a brilliant speech, in his opinion, rehashing what he had told Madam Bones in her office — that if they didn't harshly punish the Minister for abusing his authority by tossing a Wizard into Azkaban sans trial, evidence, or even an accusation, the precedent would bite them in the arse. He, of course, was much more flamboyant and dramatic in his language. The Wizenmaggots quickly convicted the Minister and sentenced him to a year in Azkaban in Medium Security, to begin immediately, and a two thousand Galleon fine for the mental suffering inflicted on Hagrid. The Ministry and Hagrid would split the fine fifty/fifty. Because a sitting Minister can't be sent to Azkaban, the Wizenmaggots held a Vote of No Confidence. The Aurors conducted Mr. Fudge out of the room and on to Azkaban.

Madam Bones had warned Madam Professor Griselda Marchbanks of the coming contretemps and prevailed upon her to take the position when it became available. It took only a few moments after Lord Black made the "Vote of No Confidence" suggestion to swear the elderly lady in as Chief Warlock, with her proviso that it be a temporarily appointment. Gilderoy, striking while the Wizenmaggots was still disordered, proposed a thorough examination of the former Minister's finances, as well as his Office and staff, for other improprieties that might need addressing.

This would keep Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge out of the Minister's position for the foreseeable future. Without her major patron, she was at a big disadvantage. With any luck, the investigation would come up with evidence to send her to Azkaban as well. Harry/Gilderoy could only hope.

He also managed to get the anti-werewolf legislation recently passed repealed. He pointed out that if they were going to penalize werewolves for something that happened only once a month, then they should also consider doing the same for Witches. He added, somewhat facetiously, that at least the werewolves had the Wolfsbane Potion to allow them to remain completely in control of themselves. While the Witches were outraged at the comparison, most had to admit that if the anti-werewolf legislation were allowed to stand, it would set a precedent for similar legislation regarding Witches, as he had pointed out.

It was, all told, a very productive session for Gilderoy and the rest of the Wizarding U.K.

After the session officially closed, he leaned over to Professors Sinistra and McGonagall. "Excuse me, ladies, by I fear I must abandon you to the sharks here. I need to catch Mr. Black before he has a chance to leave the premise. He could very well accidentally cause us problems if he were to roam around on his own. Plus, I need to apprise him of the situation of his home. I'm sure he has no idea that he has a place to stay."

He wasn't worried about Griphook. He was a Goblin and the Wizard or Witch that tried to gladhand him would lose the hand.

At their understanding nods, he quickly vacated his chair and made his way to the main doors, slipping out before most noticed he had left his seat. He quickly ducked into the side-room down the hall that Madam Bones had reserved for Mr. Black to wait in after the trial. She had told the Wizard of Gilderoy's desire to meet with him after the session concluded.

Harry/Gilderoy hoped the newly freed Wizard would wait. Trying to track him down would be quite difficult if he decided immediately to flee the Ministry.