(8) Trials
A couple of days later and it was time for the trial. Tobias Snape had been a Slytherin in school and had many connections in the legal world. He got the best attorney, Andres Fortiori. A vindictive sort of man who didn’t leave one rock unturned. He ensured that veritaserum would be permitted at the trial, using the Potter’s fame against them.
Harry dressed in dark blue dress robes and was just pulling on his shoes as a knock came to his door. He called for the person to come and enter as he finished dressing. He tied back his longer hair at the nape of his neck.
“Ready?” Tobias asked.
Harry let out a shaky breath, but nodded. He walked towards the door, but was stopped by a hand on his arm. He looked up at Tobias confused.
His father, for he had come to consider the man as such over the past couple of days, gave him a look over and nodded satisfied. He put a hand on each of Harry’s shoulder’s and locked eyes, “No matter what happens today, you are my son. Know that I love you and we will always be family.”
He gave the man a tight hug, acknowledging the understanding. As he stepped away, he noticed his father’s hand outstretched towards him. “What is this?” he asked pulling a gold chain with two pendants from the man’s palm.
“The Snape and Prince crests,” the man said. “Your mother was the last of the Prince line. You are of both lines and I wanted you to be able to recognize that. Your brother also has these.”
Harry studied the two pendants. Each was gold but engraved with the crests of each house. Nothing flashy, but perfect all the same. He could feel something awaken within and smiled at the man before him. “Thanks... Dad.”
Tobias nodded and led the way out of the room, blinking his eyes quickly.
The two met Severus in the hall where they floo’d to the ministry.
()
Harry fidgeted with the hem of neckline of his robe for the thousandth time, and for the thousandth time, his father pushed his hand away.
People were looking at him curiously, wondering who he was. He was losing more and more of the Potter traits as the days passed. His hair was now straight and to his shoulders and pitch black, where before it was black with tints of red. His face hadn’t changed much, though he could see that it was thinning a bit, allowing his cheekbones to become more pronounced. The best change, at least in Harry’s eyes was that he had grown a couple of inches. He always hated being so short.
It was finally time for the trial to begin. Both attorneys had made opening statements and James Potter was being called to the stand.
“With permission of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement veritaserum questioning is required,” said Fortiori.
Some of the people in the crowd rose up in anger, while the Wizengamot simply nodded. Dumbledore did not look very happy though.
James Potter opened his mouth and took the three drops.
“What is your name?”
“James Charlus Potter”
“What is the name of your wife?”
“Lillian Marie Potter nee Evans”
He received nods from the Wizengamot to continue. “Is Harry James Potter your son?”
“Yes”
Harry’s head snapped up, but apparently his lawyer figured this would happen and simply smirked.
“How many sons do you have?”
The man seemed to struggle a bit before answering, “One”
“What is your son’s name?”
“Henry James Potter”
“What other names does he go by?”
“Harry James Potter.”
Fortiori nodded and held out an old picture of Harry, one taken before his changes began. “Who is this boy to you?”
“A child we adopted.”
“Is he your son?”
“No
“Where was he taken from?”
“The Snape residence.”
Gasps echoed through the hall.
“Why did you go and take the child?”
“We were told he needed to be removed from a Dark family.”
“Did you believe that?”
Again a struggle, then “No.”
“Who ordered you to go on this rescue mission?” The man fought the potion and their lawyer requested for another dose due to the other wearing off. He repeated the question.
“Albus Dumbledore.”
The Wizengamot stood at that point and demanded that the old man step down from the Chief Warlock position. He did so and sat in the defendant’s box, slightly pale as he knew he was next.
“Why did the child you took no longer look like his birth parents?”
“We performed a blood adoption.”
“When?”
“Soon as we got back to my home.”
Their lawyer nodded as if he expected that. Severus and Tobias had their hands clenched tightly at their sides, while Harry saw his world tumbling further and further. Though he now knew the truth, to hear it from who he thought was his father was hard...
“Who was the child adopted to?”
“Me and my wife.”
“And who was your binder?”
James started struggling against the potion again, so much in fact, he was causing himself injury as could be seen by his nosebleed.
Amelia Bones, who had taken Dumbledore’s place with the Wizengamot looked down at the Potter Patriarch. “Answer the question Lord Potter or we will simply revisit at another time.” Potter nodded and Amelia turned to the Fortiori, “Please repeat the question,”
“Yes Madam,” he replied respectfully with a slight bow. He turned back to James Potter on the stand. “Who was the binder for the blood adoption performed with the child you claim to have rescued?”
“Albus... Dumbledore,” Potter gritted out.
The lawyer nodded again, “Thank you, Lord Potter.” Then he turned to Amelia and the Wizengamot, “I have no more questions for this witness at this time.”
They all nodded and decided a break for lunch was in order. All three Snapes welcomed the break and planned to go back to the Manor to burn off some excess magic to cool their tempers.
Harry for his part was mostly depressed. He still didn’t understand why they did what they did. It just didn’t make sense.
()
After the lunch break, others were called forth. Character witnesses for James, including Sirius Black. The man only stared at Harry in anger, but the boy didn’t care. The older wizard was blind to everything unless it featured his favorite Henry.
He was quite surprised to see Lily Potter take the seat and prepared for questioning. Tears flowed down from her eyes as she opened her mouth for the veritaserum.
“What is your name?” the Snape solicitor asked.
“Lillian Marie Potter nee Evans”
“Did you know that the child pictured here,” he held up the same picture as earlier, “was taken from his family by force?”
“Yes”
Harry closed his eyes as his heart clenched. All the sad looks she had sent him... he had truly expected for her to have thought that he was adopted, or found in the rubble of some home after a disaster. But... she knew.
“Did you know where he came from?”
“Yes,” she whispered, barely audible.
“Where was this child taken from?”
“Snape Manor.”
“Have you ever considered this child your son?”
“No,” she answered. Even under the veritaserum, tears began flowing down her face.
“Why did you go along with the plan?”
“Dumbledore asked us to.”
“Were you aware of the plan to collect the child before it happened?”
“No”
“How did you know where the child came from?”
“James came home one night with the child. He told me that Dumbledore told him to ‘rescue’ the boy from the ‘dark Snape family’.”
“When did you become aware of the fact that the child was the relative of Severus Snape?”
Lily stiffened in her chair, “A week later.”
“How?”
“Severus came asking for help in his search. I had to turn him away due to taking care of two children.”
“So you saw your first magical friend arrive at your home distraught?”
“Yes”
“And he begged you for help in his search for his kidnapped brother?”
“Yes”
“And you turned him away because you had to take care of his baby brother and your son?!”
“YES!” she yelled and sobbed.
Harry looked over at Severus whose hand grabbed the arm of the chair so hard it began to crack. Looking up, the young wizard was shocked to see the tears making their way down the pale cheeks. He put his hand over his brothers and gripped it, showing support.
For his part, Harry could not believe that Lily Potter had done that. It made his stomach twist and turn and his opinion of the woman plummet further than even James Potter.
Lily was led from the chair and Albus Dumbledore was questioned. The old man admitted that he had given the order to take Alex away from the Snape family. He didn’t take veritaserum since the questioning of James Potter had already made him guilty. He claimed his reason for taking the boy was the same as he had told James: taking the child from a dark family. “It was for the greater good,” he finished in a grandfatherly way.
Since the trial they were at was mainly to find out where Harry was to be placed and why he was taken from his family, Dumbledore was scheduled to be put on trial after the holidays.
Severus, who had heard the old man speak of this ‘Greater Good’ was now worried for his younger brother. Was there another reason for the man taking Alex? They would have to wait until the man’s trial to truly find out.
“As acting head of the Wizengamot, I must say I am appalled how this child was treated. Brought into the middle of someone else’s greater good, torn away from his family only to be placed with one that couldn’t care less. Although you were ordered by Albus Dumbledore, there was always a choice. Therefore, it is this body’s decision that you, James Potter, shall serve 7 years in Azkaban prison. 6 months for each year of knowingly keeping a child from his rightful family. Taking a child from his home, away from his blood and magic is a heinous offense. Lily Potter will serve 5 years of community service in an orphanage for her role as an accomplice.” Shocks rang through the court room as Lily was charged and sentenced. “Now, Harry Potter, step forward.” Harry stood from his seat and stepped before the Wizengamot. “We will try to keep your preferences into consideration. Where would you like to go?”
Harry glanced at Lily Potter quickly before looking at Severus and his father, Tobias. “I want to go home to Snape Manor,” he answered with a smile.
James Potter started yelling at that, “No boy of mine will live with those slimy-”
Harry stared at the man coldly. “Then it is a good thing that I am not your boy, don’t you think.”
“Young Harry is right, Lord Potter. You have no say in this matter,” interjected Madam Bones. “Please continue Harry.”
“I would like my name to reflect my birth name, and I want to go home where I should have been all these years.”
Amelia nodded her head. Before she dismissed the court, she announced “The trial of Snape v. Dumbledore shall start January the 2nd. Court is adjourned.”
()
It was amazing that the Potters had somehow kept the news of their misdeeds from the Daily Prophet over the next couple of days. Even James Potter’s incarceration was not known.
The Snape family would definitely be remedying that after the holidays.
The trial of the “great” Albus Dumbledore went even quicker than the Potter trial did. Mainly because the man plead guilty. The old man had on his ‘sorry’ face and tried to look upset, but some saw right through the facade. Even with him pleading guilty, all three Snapes fought hard for the veritaserum.
They started the questioning without the potion. “I’m so sorry I split up that family,” Dumbledore said, “but I truly felt that I was doing the best. The Snape family were known for being dark.”
Fortiori radiated anger, “Who knew this? The Snape family was neutral during the war, having gone into hiding to avoid being pulled to either side. Severus Snape was a spy for you. So who told you that this family was dark?”
“The family has a history if birthing dark wizards. Many of the old Dark Arts books were written by the Snapes!”
“When was the last dark wizard then? When were these tomes written? The sins of the father should not be put on the shoulders of the son!” Dumbledore remained quiet then, and the Snape family solicitor turned to the Wizengamot.
“I think we would like to continue with the administering of the veritaserum. The Snape family deserves closure and to know the absolute truth.”
It was by a margin of only two votes that the Wizengamot agreed,
“What is your name?”
“Albus Wulfric Brian Dumbledore,” the old man answered, eyes glazed over.
“Who are your siblings?”
The man fought the potion, but ended up answering, “Ariana and Aberforth Dumbledore.” There were many murmurs at the mention of a girl name Ariana. Many had never heard of her.
“Did you order the abduction of Alexander Hadrian Snape, now commonly known as Harry James Potter, from Snape Manor?”
“Yes”
“Why?”
“The war was over and we needed the dark families to remain dark.”
Whispers flowed through the room. “How would kidnapping the young Snape child ensure that?”
“I needed Severus to remain on my side and angry with the world. With Alexander being born, he was becoming too happy and began to be too light on the students. He was too happy. I needed him to foster the hate between the houses.”
“Did it work?”
“Not as well as I hoped. There is still rivalry, but it is general. Thought Severus was as angry as ever.”
The room was silent in shock. The Lord of Light kidnapped a child to foster the dark. How could the man put all of his plans on one man?
Suddenly the crashing of a chair echoed through the hall. Dumbledore’s eyes were no longer cloudy, but filled with fear at the man staring at him. He was very lucky that they had to leave their wands when they came in.
“HOW DARE YOU!?” yelled Tobias Snape. “How dare you!?” he hissed again, his voice cracking. “You broke up my family. You used my older son as a pawn in a crazy scheme. You took my baby, breaking my wife’s heart. She’s dead! Because of you! You son of a-”
“Counselor! Control your client!” Madame Bones finally yelled out.
But Severus was already holding his father, whispering in his ear. His younger brother holding onto both of them.
Once everyone had calmed, Foriori turned to the Wizengamot. “Thank you for listening. Though I know this man plead guilty, it is only fair that the family he has harmed by his actions learns the reason he did what he did.”
In the end, Dumbledore was sentenced to 200,000 community hours. Some had wanted him sent to Azkaban, but not enough. Many felt he was too old and his contributions outweighed his crimes. Dumbledore lost all of his positions on the Wizengamot, the ICW (International Confederation of Wizards), and at Hogwarts. The loss of his position as Headmaster was mainly due to his admission of fostering hate and rivalry between the houses. He was being permitted to finish off the year, but did not have the same authority as before. Minerva McGonagall was put in charge of finding a new Transfiguration teacher as she would be advancing to the position. Filius Flitwick would be given the position of Deputy Headmaster.