When Harry stepped into the Chamber he had to immediately duck his head as pieces of glass and metal flew around the Chamber. He immediately surrounded himself with a shield as he saw a piece of furniture flying towards him. The wooden furniture lay broken on the floor courtesy of his shield.
"Sorry!" cried Sirius, whom Harry noted to be jumping around the Chamber trying to avoid the airborne utilities in the former lair of the Basilisk.
"What is going on?" Harry shouted over the chaos. He flinched when a piece of glass fried up against his shield.
"I tried to rearrange the room with this bloody wand and this is the result." Sirius complained ducking down as splintered wood tried to smack his head.
Knowing what he had to do Harry dismissed the shield and swished his wand in a full circle above his head.
"Finite!"
The air rippled with magic and the chaos inside the Chamber came to a stop. The items began to return to their previous place and he supplemented the spell with the Reparo charm. In a few seconds, the Chamber and its contents were restored back to their normal state.
"That wand is not working well for you, huh?" " asked Harry
"It's a fine wand for sophisticated spells. However, wide area spells are not its forte." said Sirius with a shrug.
Harry was pulled into a hug. Initially surprised he was quick to recover and patted Sirius on the back.
"Saw how you dealt with the Hungarian Horntail. You did great, Harry. James and Lily would be proud." Sirius murmured
"Wait!" Harry pulled back from the hug to look accusingly at Sirius. "What do you mean by that? Don't tell me you showed up in your animagus form at the enclosure!"
"I didn't. You were adamant that I don't come along so I did this…" said Sirius, fishing out two identical mirrors. "Using these and with some creative help of Winky, I was able to see everything."
"What is this?" asked Harry, taking one of the mirrors into his hand. The mirror felt warm to his touch.
"This is what I call a two-way mirror. I'm still working on some spells to improve it but look…" said Sirius, while tapping both mirrors with the tip of his wand.
The mirror in Harry's hand let out vibration and his face was replaced to show Sirius' who was looking into the other mirror.
"You had Winky bring the mirror to the enclosure and watched everything from here?" Harry asked
"Yes. A neat trick, isn't it?" asked Sirius with a satisfied smile.
"Brilliant! You came up with this in one day?" asked Harry, more than impressed by the idea and the work done by Sirius.
"Your mother and I were working on this project to keep in contact, you know. Your mother was a brilliant witch Harry. She designed half the spells I used on the mirrors. We never figured out how to work the mirrors around the protection of Fidelius Charm. If only I had figured that out, I could've…" Sirius trailed off, misty-eyed and his tone sombre.
"Both of us won't be able to change the past, no matter how much we wish it so. The only thing we can do and should do is to focus on the present and plan for the future." said Harry trying to console Sirius who he was sure suffering from survivor's guilt.
"You have changed." Sirius observed
When Harry raised his eyebrow questioningly Sirius merely laughed it off.
"You are more mature than I was or James for that matter, at your age. The only things on our minds were the plans for our next prank. Well, James was always obsessed with your mother more than anything else. Those were the days…" Sirius trailed off with a far-away look on his face.
"You should really take a shave. You look the part of an escaped convict." said Harry trying to change the subject.
"I'm an escaped convict." Sirius reminded him.
"Not exactly. You were never convicted."
"Semantics, Harry. For the world at large I'm guilty." said Sirius
"Perceptions can change." said Harry before taking out an envelope from his pocket and offered it to Sirius.
"What's this?" asked Sirius accepting the envelope which he noted to have a broken seal.
"A writ petition to quash any and all legal proceeding against you on the basis of your unique circumstances." said Harry
Sirius looked struck for a moment and looked at Harry as if seeing him for the first time.
"Harry, how did you…?"
"Forget about anything else. Just read the papers and sign them. There are two petitions inside. One for the British DMLE, contesting the Ministry's claim you are a criminal or a convict based on the fact that you remain in remand custody pending trial for more than twelve years. The other is for the ICW court, to quash the entire case on the basis of your lack of trial and your extended stay on that barbaric place the British Ministry call a prison." said Harry
Sirius once again opened his mouth to say something but then thought better off it. Instead, Sirius began to read the two parchments he drew from the envelope.
"I contacted Gilbert, Poole and Tonks in regards to your case. Your cousin Andromeda Tonks contacted me this morning but I put it off in favour of the First Task. She says she won't be able to reverse the ministry's charges against you permanently. But, she can suspend them temporarily in favour of demanding a trial. You will have to appear before a full Wizengamot."
"Is that even possible?" asked Sirius in surprise.
"You are the last living Black. You are Lord Black and you have been kept in Azkaban without a trial for twelve years. Your ascension to the head of House Black is more than enough to strong-arm the Ministry to give you a full-court hearing. The other Lords of Wizengamot won't deny the trial as it represents a dangerous precedent if you are denied a fair trial. Malfoy and his cronies will be snubbed no matter how much they try to overturn the trial."
"I genuinely can't believe this is happening. How did you do all this Harry?" asked Sirius with wide eyes.
"Nothing has happened yet. But, I will see you walk free at any cost." said Harry.
"Harry, you don't know the Ministry as well as I do. They won't reverse their decisions that easily. If we had that filthy rat…" Sirius trailed off.
"Don't worry about any of that. The Ministry will give you a trial. If they won't, I have a plan for that scenario as well." Harry promised
Harry walked out of the Chamber with Sirius's signature. Having Sirius declared a free man was his priority and he was adamant for that to happen before the fourth year ends. While he certainly doesn't expect Dumbledore to be all-knowing, the mere fact that Sirius alone was denied a trial was spooky. At least, that's what Andromeda Tonks had written to him in her letter.
If Andromeda is right, and he has no reason to disbelieve her, then either Dumbledore was plain ignorant or the old man just turned a blind eye as Sirius was a wild element on the board. With Sirius thrown in prison, Dumbledore had a free hand in throwing Harry to the tender mercies of the Dursleys.
Speaking of the Dursleys, he made a mental note to give them a warm present for abusing a helpless child. There are vivid memories of what the original Harry went through at the back of his mind. All the physical abuse and mental torture have to be repaid in kind. Justice demanded that he do so. At the same time, he didn't want to hurt Dudley Dursley. The kid's only crime was being born to Petunia and Vernon Dursley.
'I'll have to think of something for the Dursleys. At the same time, it should not be too harsh to affect Dudley. Or maybe, Dudely could use some trouble in his life to set him straight.'
*******
The Gryffindor common room was packed with students. Harry could barely take two steps before he was surrounded by well-wishers, handshakes and whatnot. Professor McGonagall has apparently turned a blind eye to the celebration that was going on. The prefects who were supposed to keep everything in order were enjoying the party as well.
He saw all sorts of activities going on and he was forced to participate in or witness each one of them. There was the poetic retelling of how the other Champions fared against their dragons. Lee Jordan was the orator and Harry was suitably impressed by Lee's imaginative and oftentimes funny retelling.
Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas worked themselves up to portray Cedric Diggory and his transfigured rooster. Apparently, Cedric had transfigured several stones to roosters to distract the dragon. It didn't work too well for the Hufflepuff Seeker. The dragon was more than capable of assessing the threat posed by a rooster to be non-existent and focused on Cedric instead.
The Weasley twins on the other hand were up to their usual antics. Those two stormed the common room with a collection of prank items. There were these berries that let someone breathe fire out of their nostrils. Canary creams that turn anyone into a giant canary upon eating them. The Weasley twins were ingenious and unpredictable with their inventions.
Harry found Neville who was sporting a mini-elephant trunk on his somewhat chubby face.
"You okay Neville?" asked Harry
"I'm fine Harry. I think it's funny." said Neville
"It's funny. Too bad you don't have the tusks. That would have been cool." said Parvati Patil, laughing with Lavander Brown.
"That's a good idea Parvati." said George
"Yeah, we will add that in the future." said Fred
"Hey, Harry." Hermione also joined them with Ron who was lagging behind Hermione awkwardly.
"Hey, Hermione." he greeted back.
"So, I can't help but notice there are too much food and drinks. Where did all this come from?" asked Hermione
"Where does all the food and drinks in Hogwarts come from?" said George rhetorically.
"The House Elves!" answered Fred with a bright smile.
Then Fred widened his eyes and began exaggeratedly shaking his head. "What else, good mister Weasley sirs...? Love those creatures. They are the best minions one could ask for. Right George?"
"Right you are Fred." said George
"Say, you wouldn't know where the kitchen is would you?" asked Hermione innocently.
"Yeah sure. A concealed door behind the painting of a bowl of fruit on the first floor…" Fred stopped and looked suspicious at Hermione. "Why do you ask?"
"Just curious." said Hermione, a tad too quickly.
"Going to incite rebellion among them are you? You going to use those leaflets of yours are you?" asked George
"Good luck trying to do that. They love doing chores. The more work a House Elf have the merrier they become." said Fred
Hermione just pursed her lips. One could see she was drawing up plans behind her eyes.
Truth be told, Harry was not exactly opposed to Hermione's general idea to have a welfare system for the House Elves. Those creatures were dead useful not to mention the best loyal companion one could get. The House Elves ought to be treated with dignity and they ought to be compensated in some form for their work. But, that doesn't mean he was entirely comfortable with Hermione's idea of 'liberating' House Elves.
If such a powerful race of creatures prefer serving wizards and witches there must be something going on in the background. He was sure there was some piece of the puzzle he was missing. Why else would House Elves only serve wizards and witches? Why don't they just serve other magical races like Goblins, Vampires, Centaurs… etc? What is so unique about wizards and witches that the House Elves find appealing enough to bound themselves in servitude?
"Uhh… Harry?" Ron meekly called.
Harry's first instinct was to ignore the annoying red-head but then thought better off it. If he continued to ignore Ron, the attempts to rekindle their broken friendship will only persist in the coming days.
For the sake of avoiding any future drama and recognizing that he was dealing with a fourteen-year-old kid, Harry decided to wrap the issue then and there.
"What's up Ron?"
"Harry…I'm sorry." said Ron with his ears turning beet red.
"Okay." Harry nodded
"So… uh…. We are fine...? I mean…uh… you aren't mad?" stuttered Ron
"If my memory serves me right, you were the one who went mad and threw a temper tantrum. You accused me of lying and cheating, remember?"
"I…uh…I'm sorry Harry. I don't know what else to say." said Ron
"I don't want you to say anything. Just remember that each of us has our own problems and I hardly got to choose the problems that I'm getting saddled with."
"I'm so sorry, Harry. I was just angry and frustrated. Forgive me, Harry."
Harry let out a sigh and shook hands with Ron. The boy was just too young for him to do anything else. In time, Ron could overcome his faults on his own.
'I may forgive but I won't forget. I can't afford to when I'm facing enemies from all sides.' Harry thought even as he joined the party in earnest.