Jugson stirred and as he became conscious the first thing he felt was the pain in his arms that were mangled. He then looked up and found the green eyes of the Boy-Who-Lived staring at him.
"Jugson right?" Harry asked.
Jugson didn't answer as his eyes swept the area in search of help or a way out. As they did, they came to rest on remains of his wand. A feeling of hatred washed over him. "When my Master..." He started.
"Voldyshorts?" Harry asked. "The half-blooded piece of shit that can't even beat a fourteen year old kid?" He drew a little closer as he kept his wand pointed at the Death Eater. "I think you were planning on killing us weren't you?" He asked menacingly. "So I should kill you first."
Jugson paled as the wand came closer to him.
"Call out to me," Harry instructed his wife.
"Wha..." Hermione started but then yelled. "HARRY, DON'T!"
Harry whirled as if startled by the yell. When he did, Jugson did exactly what Harry had hoped he'd do. He rolled to his feet grunting with the pain of his arms and dashed toward the open doorway and his freedom. Harry watched him go, watched another Death Eater disappear into the Veil that had taken his Godfather's life.
"Almost too easy," Harry said as the Death Eater disappeared.
"Not feeling guilty are you Harry?" Neville asked as he came out of his hiding spot.
"No," Harry admitted. "I heard them, they wanted to kill us and would have," He took a deep breath and said. "I want..." He stopped as he felt his mirror heat up. It was the signal from Sirius. "Order's coming," he said. "And there are still three unaccounted for and one of those is Malfoy," He turned and started up the path. "I'm going looking for them. Neville, you take my spot. Luna you take Neville's," He said and the two teens moved immediately.
"Be careful," Hermione said as her husband came near her.
"Aren't I always?" Harry asked innocently.
Hermione rolled her eyes and leaned to kiss him. "We already got most of them so we don't need to take any chances."
"I want Malfoy," Harry replied.
Hermione nodded as she watched Harry throw on his invisibility cloak.
Harry slipped out the door and as it closed, the room started to spin. When it stopped, Harry was happy to see the marks were still on the door. He quickly slipped through the Time room door, planning on retracing the original path. As the door closed behind him he knew the Death Eaters were down to only two. Mulciber was lying next to the shattered Bell Jar. The brain Hermione had thrown at him had its tentacles wrapped tightly around his neck. Harry felt no emotions as he looked at the bulging lifeless eyes staring back at him. "Mulciber is dead," He said to Hermione. "That leaves only Malfoy and Nott."
"How?"
"Not sure, but he's got the brain on him," Harry replied hoping his wife didn't feel guilty. "More than likely one of his friends stunned him or maybe even killed him like Jugson did LeStrange."
"Don't worry Harry. I'm fine," Hermione replied as she realized what he wasn't saying. "Go find the other two."
Harry left the Time room and started going from room to room. Finally in the Brain room he found the last two Death Eaters. As soon as he opened the door they both turned and pointed their wands at it.
"It's Potter," Malfoy snarled. "He's got some kind of invisibility cloak."
Harry just moved out of the way in time as two stunners streaked through the door.
"Wouldn't want me to drop the prophecy would you Malfoy," Harry yelled and then bolted for the door marked with the P. As he entered the room he scrambled into the spot next to Hermione and they waited.
The door opened slowly and it was a full two seconds later that Malfoy and Nott slipped into the room with their wands at the ready. Their attention was quickly drawn to the struggling man down the path lying next to Crabbe with his mangled legs.
"What? It's Rookwood and Crabbe," Nott said in alarm as he started toward the other two Death Eaters.
"Wait!" Malfoy commanded as he reached out for Nott's arm. "Something's not right," Lucius said as he looked around. "I got a tour of this place last year from Fudge and I don't remember this room."
"We've got to help Rookwood," Nott said pulling free of Malfoy's grasp. "He's about to die," He indicated the red-faced man struggling with both hands and just barely keeping the tentacled creature from choking him.
"No," Malfoy replied coldly as he continued to glance around. Finally he put a hand on a boulder and then pulled it away. "Finite Incantatum," The spell cancellation caused the boulder to shrink back to his the small rock it was. He shrunk two more boulders and as the benches that they hid appeared he drew back in surprise.
"It's the room they call the Death Chamber," He said to Nott. "I think this might be a..." He never finished as a wheezy firework exploded to their right and then another quickly followed it. Both Death Eaters whirled in that direction.
The distraction almost worked, but Malfoy spun back around in time to catch the wand coming out of thin air and was able to block the spell.
"Potter! What is this?" He exclaimed.
Harry lifted his fake prophecy in front of himself as he shrugged off his cloak. His wand stayed at the ready, aimed directly at the two Death Eaters. "Just trying to even the odds some Malfoy," He replied evenly. "We found that thing down there and figured out it was some kind of portal or something... and we helped a few of your friends find their way through it. Where ever they ended up, I hope it's a long way from here."
"Portal? Stone archway with a curtain?" Malfoy asked as his eyes widened.
"Yeah, that's it?" Harry responded. "Why?"
Lucius' face paled noticeably in the flickering light. "Incarceratous," he yelled as his wand came up pointed at Harry.
"Protego," Harry countered and the magical ropes dissolved on his shield charm.
"You idiot boy," Lucius exclaimed. "Do you know what you've done?"
"Yep," Harry said to his wife.
"Be careful," She replied. "He's dangerous."
"No, tell me, what have I done?" Harry replied to Lucius.
"That's no portal," Lucius said. "This room is called the Death Room for a reason."
"Death Room?" Harry asked trying to sound curious. "Why?"
"That archway is... it kills people."
The doors burst open at the top of the path. Harry didn't even bother to glance back. The look on Nott's face told him the Order had arrived.
"Harry, get out of the way," Lupin said. "You're safe now."
"Who in the bloody hell put a swamp out there," Yelled Tonks.
Lucius Malfoy, taking advantage of the distraction, yelled. "Accio Prophecy," the blue globe soared out of Harry's hand. As he caught it, Malfoy dove through the opening he had created by reducing the boulders that were there and disappeared into the blackness. Nott threw down his wand and raised his hands as several wands were now aimed at him.
After giving Sirius a quick glance that hid a small smile, Harry sped off after Malfoy hoping he would make it back to the Atrium. As another firework went off signally a door had been opened, He heard Sirius yell out "I've got him. The rest of you spread out and see who else is around."
Harry dashed out the door Jugson had broken through earlier and ran toward the circular room. As he opened the door, he saw another one close and he noticed it was the one with the X on it. He could already hear one of the lifts clanging shut and a second later the sound of the lift starting upward could be heard.
Harry had to wait for the room to stop spinning, but as soon as it did, he raced toward the exit door and followed Malfoy. When Harry's lift reached the Atrium level he could see Malfoy a few steps ahead. Harry sent a stunner through the gates to slow him down. Malfoy had to turn to block it and then he noticed who was following him.
Malfoy stopped and a sneer appeared on his face. "Potter, you shouldn't have followed me."
"Why not?" Harry shrugged. "It was my day to make sure the trash was carried out. Now give me back what's mine."
"I don't think so," Malfoy continued his sneer. "My Master wants this and he'll want you as well."
"He's going to be very disappointed."
"STUP.." Lucius started but had to dodge a bludgeoning hex Harry had sent after him.
"Are you sure you have the right prophecy Lucius?" Harry asked as he advanced on Malfoy. "Your Master will be most displeased to discover you've been tricked."
"Of course I do," Lucius said. "I took it from you."
"Excellent Lucius," The high pitched voice Harry had been waiting to hear appeared. "Give it to me."
"Hermione, get Tonks or Shacklebolt up here now," Harry said as he heard the crack of Dobby apparating away.
"Already on our way," She replied.
"Hello Riddle," Harry said evenly. To him it had only been three weeks since his last showdown with the person in front of him. Though he was afraid, he knew he would survive whatever happened here.
"You dare call me by that name?" The Dark Lord hissed.
"Yes I dare," Harry replied. "Though do you prefer Tom? Maybe Moldyvort?"
"We're here," Hermione said.
Harry moved to keep Voldemort's attention away from the lift area. This was the riskiest part. Before Dumbledore had sent the statues to get the Minister and Auror support, Harry needed Tonks or Shacklebolt to do it. A quick glance showed Hermione arguing with the Aurors but finally saw them moving silently toward the floos.
"I had to insist it was better for them to go for help," Hermione explained.
Harry didn't bother replying as he continued to focus on Voldemort. "So Tom," He said calmly. "Maybe you should ask Malfoy where the rest of your Death Eaters are. Your best against four teenagers and you lost all but one."
"They will be free soon enough," Riddle said. "No prison can hold them from me."
"Ah…you misunderstood. Most of them are dead," Harry said coldly and felt a bit of relief as he heard the flames of a floo erupt. "Avery, Macnair, Mulciber, Bellatrix, her husband and his brother... Not all dreams are to be believed they told me," Harry gave his own sneer to the Dark Lord. "I knew you didn't have Sirius, so I came prepared. I didn't walk into a trap, THEY DID!"
Voldemort's red eyes widened in surprise but quickly returned to normal. "You have been an irritant Potter," He said finally. "And it's time for that to end. AVADA KEDAVRA!"
"Expelleramus," Harry yelled at the same time and once again the two wands connected. As the cage of golden light once again surrounded them, Harry felt the electric surge that had occurred then as well. The phoenix song once again emerged from the glowing threads of the cage. Harry remembered the hope the song had given him last time.
As he looked on in fear as his Master and Potter duplicated what he'd seen happen the previous year, Malfoy never heard the body bind hex that hit him. As he hit the floor, he could feel hands rolling him over. A face came into view and he found himself looking into the eyes of a girl, a girl with bushy hair. "How's it feel Lucius, to be taken down by a mudblood?" Hermione asked.
Malfoy could only stare back at her with pure hatred.
"Soon the Aurors will be here and you'll have a nice cell in Azkaban, but until they do, let me give you something to think about," Hermione pointed her wand at the blond haired man and muttered a word.
Lucius tried to flinch away from the spell but could not move. When nothing seemed to have happened, his eyes tried to convey the sneer he felt. Then he realized what spell she'd cast as the sensations started. First it was the bottom of his left foot, then his right forearm; he itched. As the itching continued to spread his first thought had been "This is the best she could do?" But as the effects of the spell continued to spread to his whole body, every second started to feel like hours of torture. He couldn't hold the sneer in his eyes as they watered but by then Hermione had turned her attention back to the fight between Harry and Voldemort.
Harry could feel his wand start to vibrate as the lights began to move in the connecting beam. This time he knew what to expect and what to do. He concentrated on the lights, forcing them back along the golden path between the wands. He knew he didn't have to win; in fact he didn't want to win, not right away anyway. He needed to delay, delay until Fudge showed up.
The battle of wills stretched on for seconds that turned into a minute then another minute. Sweat beaded on Harry's brow as he continued to focus on the lights. Suddenly the floos started erupting throughout the hall as people in Auror robes and pajamas alike poured out. Each of them stopped and stared at the golden cage with the Dark Lord and Harry Potter engaged in some kind of battle they had never seen. A couple of them tried to send spells at Voldemort only to have it bounce off the cage.
Harry's eyes lifted up to meet those of Tom Riddle. "You lose," He said as he concentrated even harder. The lights moved further and further toward Voldemort's wand. Right before they got there, the Dark Lord lifted his wand and broke the connection. As the cage around them dropped, he glared at Harry for a split second before he summoned Lucius to him. Holding aloft the blue orb, he said. "Lord Voldemort never loses," and apparated away.
Harry slumped to the ground as the fatigue of the night caught up to him. Soon Hermione was at his side, followed closely by Neville and Luna.
"You did it Harry," Neville said as he put his hand on his friend's shoulder.
Harry looked up at his friend with eyes that were deep in fatigue and smiled. "No. We did it Neville," His eyes then moved to find his wife's looking back at him with concern and love. "Have I mentioned how beautiful you are?"
"Sir," Harry heard a voice of one of the Aurors say as he was climbing back onto his feet. "That...that was him. It was You-Know-Who."
"There are several Death Eaters downstairs," Tonks said.
"But...but..." A voice Harry recognized as Minister Fudge sputtered.
Harry climbed slowly to his feet and he and his friends walked over to the Minister.
"Potter, what's...who... what in the blazes is going on here?" The Minster asked.
"I'd like to know the same thing," said another voice that reminded Harry of a discussion at King's Cross station. Harry turned and saw a very much alive Albus Dumbledore striding toward them with a very concerned look on his face. Harry ignored the Headmaster and turned back to the Minister.
"I was tricked sir," He started. "Voldemort..." The Minister and many of the people around him flinched as he said the name. "He made me believe he had captured someone I care about and was holding him here."
"That's enough Harry," Dumbledore said. "I think I can explain the circumstances better. You need to go back to the school," Dumbledore walked over to the guard desk and picked up a quill. He pulled out his wand and said 'Portus'. "Here take this and I'll join you as soon as I can," Dumbledore said as he thrust the quill toward Harry.
"Now see here Dumbledore," Fudge said, "you can't just go making illegal portkeys."
"Don't worry Minister," Harry said. "I don't plan on using it. I'll be staying here with my friends," He put his arm around Hermione and looked over at Neville and Luna. He smiled a little when he noticed Neville's arm was around Luna's waist.
"Harry..." Dumbledore started again. "It's obviously been a trying night and..."
"Yes sir it has, but there is still things that need to be done," Harry replied and again turning his back to the Headmaster as he addressed the Minister. "Sir, as I was saying I have been having dreams about a room downstairs in the Department of Mysteries; ones that were proving to be true. I now understand that Voldemort wanted something from there, something only I could give him."
"Harry..." Dumbledore said as he continued to hold out the quill. "You truly need to return to the Castle."
Harry continued to ignore the Headmaster as he held Fudge's gaze.
"So what did these dreams have to do with He-Who-Must-No-Be-Named and what did he want?"
"Harry I must insist..." Dumbledore again tried to assert himself.
"Insist on what Headmaster?" Harry interrupted him as he turned to glare at the Headmaster. "Insist you keep me in the dark about things as you have? Or are you going to deny knowing WHY my parents died for the last fourteen years and not bothered to tell me. A fact I had to learn from a DEATH EATER!" His voice had increased in level where he was almost yelling at the Headmaster. Every Auror and other Ministry employee who was still in the Atrium were now following their every word.
Dumbledore put a hand on Harry's shoulder in an attempt to sooth the young man, but Harry shrugged it off forcefully. As he turned his back to the Headmaster, Harry said to Fudge, "Sir can we take this conversation to your office, maybe with Madam Bones joining us? I'd like a chance to explain what happened."
"Yes...yes of course," Fudge replied. He called an Auror over and asked her to find Madam Bones.
"She's went downstairs to see about the other Death Eaters."
"Then tell her to meet us in my office," Fudge ordered. He motioned for Harry and the others to follow him. When Dumbledore started to follow them Harry stopped.
"Minister," He said. "Do you have a specific need for Dumbledore join us in this conversation?"
"Why?" Minister Fudge asked. "Is there a problem with him joining us? I really must speak with him about what to do with...with him returning."
"If you need to speak to Dumbledore, then I'll be glad to wait and meet with you later," Harry replied. "To answer your question, yes there is a problem. Thanks to my wonderful and extremely intelligent girlfriend," Harry indicated Hermione. "It has become abundantly clear that the Headmaster has been withholding very important information and very possibly lying to me. I do not feel I can trust him anymore."
Dumbledore blue eyes found Harry's and for an instant Harry felt the slight probe of his mind. Harry glared at Dumbledore. "Just in case that greasy bastard didn't tell you, I've been working on my Occlumency without him. If you try to read my thoughts again you will not like it."
Dumbledore had a look of shock on his face. "Harry, we really need to discuss this," He said in his best grandfatherly voice. "I feel for your own good I must..."
"You must what?" Harry snarled at the Headmaster. "You have NO legal authority over me," He turned back to the Minister. "Sir would you like to speak with me or Dumbledore?"
Minister Fudge had been watching the interplay between the Boy-Who-Lived and Albus Dumbledore and he was in a quandary. He had just watched Potter take on the Dark Lord and beat him. It had been witnessed by a large number of Aurors and it would be in the Daily Prophet by the afternoon. He knew he couldn't afford to upset the young man. His eyes shifted from one to the other until a decision was reached. "Come with me Harry," He said. "Albus, I'll be glad to meet with you shortly."
"Minister, Minister...I really must insist that..." Dumbledore was so busy trying to get the Minister's attention he failed to notice the quill in his hand turn blue until he felt a jerk at his navel and ended up in his own office at Hogwarts. When he tried to floo back to the Ministry he discovered the Ministry's floos had been shut down except for official business while the investigation was underway. Looking around his office, his eyes found the perch used by his phoenix.
"Fawkes," He said and an instant later a flash of flame occurred and the phoenix materialized before him. "I need to return to the Ministry," He said to the red and gold plumed bird. He touched a tail feather of the phoenix and in another instant of flames he disappeared only to arrive in the Ministry Atrium. As the fountain materialized in his vision he thought. "Good thing I didn't have to fly here on a broom; that might have taken hours."
....
As they walked toward the Minister's office, Harry tried to show a look of tired confidence, but actually he was apprehensive. By turning his back on Dumbledore, he now had to take responsibility for all that had happened. Last time, he and his friends had been mostly left alone. He didn't know exactly what Dumbledore did, but he had done something. This time there was a lot less damage but there were the deaths of the Death Eaters to be explained.
"Better to explain Death Eaters than Sirius," Hermione said as his thoughts had been bleeding over to her.
Harry gave her a quick smile, but her comment did make him start to wonder if Sirius made it out.
This time she didn't need to hear his thoughts. "I'm sure he's fine," She said.
During the walk, Hermione kept reminding Harry. "Remember to be calm and be nice. Fudge needs you, but don't make him defensive. Take the humble approach."
When they arrived in the Minister's office, Fudge took a moment to disappear into a different room and change out of his pajamas. When he returned he took his spot behind his desk and motioned for the teens the take the seats in front of him. Several seconds of silence was broken when Harry finally spoke. "Thank you sir," He said, "for taking the time to talk to me. I know your time is very valuable right now."
"That's quite alright Harry…may I call you Harry?" the Minister questioned.
"Yes sir. That's fine sir."
"Excellent," The Minister said. "Ahh...Amelia," The last was to Madam Bones who finally caught up to them. They all turned to see the gray-haired woman with her customary monocle entering the office. Her hair was astray and her eyes weary but alert. She had a look of someone not in a good mood.
"Thank you Minister. Hopefully this won't take too long. I have a lot to do," She eyed the teenagers wearily. "Starting with these four of course."
"Yes ma'am," Harry said speaking for his group still. "I think this will go a long way to explaining what happened."
"Very well Mr. Potter," She said as she took a seat.
Harry took a deep breath before continuing. "Before I begin my explanation, I should introduce my friends. This is Hermione Granger, my best friend and a lot more. Minister you've met her before, but might not have remembered it," He then nodded to Neville and Luna, "I'm sure you both know Neville Longbottom or at least his Grandmother and this is Luna Lovegood, daughter of the man who owns the Quibbler."
The name of the magazine Luna's father published made Cornelius Fudge pale. The ministry had taken an antagonistic approach toward it ever since the interview by Harry concerning the Dark Lord had appeared in it. That Harry Potter was friends with the daughter of Xenophilius Lovegood was not a good thing. Then of course everyone knew Augusta Longbottom. She was a woman who one dared cross at their own peril. He swallowed before replying, "Very glad to meet all of you," His eyes lingered on the young blonde girl who had her wand behind her ear and was looking around the office like she didn't have a care in the world. He finally turned back to Harry.
"Sir," Harry started with his green eyes focused on the Minister. "I hope you now know that I haven't been lying all year. I really did see Voldemort," Harry had to force himself to not roll his eyes when the Minister of Magic shuddered at the name, "resurrected last year."
"Yes, well it's definitely looks to be that he is back so we'll revisit that issue later with you."
"Yes sir," Harry continued. "Also that I didn't lie at my trial concerning the Dementors. I believe that was settled at Ms. Umbridge's questioning?"
The Minister eyes stayed focused on a sheet of random parchment he had picked up. Harry could see a small bead of sweat appear on the Minister's brow before he spoke. "It appears I was misled in regards to that situation," Cornelius finally said as he sat the parchment back down.
"I understand sir," Harry said. "It's just that I've asked you to believe one other thing in the past and I'm hoping now that the other issues have been proven to be true you will now consider that issue one more time."
"What would that be Harry?"
"Sir at the end of my third year, we," Harry nodded to Hermione, "told you that Sirius Black was innocent and that Peter Pettigrew was still alive."
"Obviously you were confunded," Fudge replied. "Or the trauma of seeing your parent's betrayer was too much."
"Minister, Minister...I really must insist that..." Dumbledore was so busy trying to get the Minister's attention he failed to notice the quill in his hand turn blue until he felt a jerk at his navel and ended up in his own office at Hogwarts. When he tried to floo back to the Ministry he discovered the Ministry's floos had been shut down except for official business while the investigation was underway. Looking around his office, his eyes found the perch used by his phoenix.
"Fawkes," He said and an instant later a flash of flame occurred and the phoenix materialized before him. "I need to return to the Ministry," He said to the red and gold plumed bird. He touched a tail feather of the phoenix and in another instant of flames he disappeared only to arrive in the Ministry Atrium. As the fountain materialized in his vision he thought. "Good thing I didn't have to fly here on a broom; that might have taken hours."
....
As they walked toward the Minister's office, Harry tried to show a look of tired confidence, but actually he was apprehensive. By turning his back on Dumbledore, he now had to take responsibility for all that had happened. Last time, he and his friends had been mostly left alone. He didn't know exactly what Dumbledore did, but he had done something. This time there was a lot less damage but there were the deaths of the Death Eaters to be explained.
"Better to explain Death Eaters than Sirius," Hermione said as his thoughts had been bleeding over to her.
Harry gave her a quick smile, but her comment did make him start to wonder if Sirius made it out.
This time she didn't need to hear his thoughts. "I'm sure he's fine," She said.
During the walk, Hermione kept reminding Harry. "Remember to be calm and be nice. Fudge needs you, but don't make him defensive. Take the humble approach."
When they arrived in the Minister's office, Fudge took a moment to disappear into a different room and change out of his pajamas. When he returned he took his spot behind his desk and motioned for the teens the take the seats in front of him. Several seconds of silence was broken when Harry finally spoke. "Thank you sir," He said, "for taking the time to talk to me. I know your time is very valuable right now."
"That's quite alright Harry…may I call you Harry?" the Minister questioned.
"Yes sir. That's fine sir."
"Excellent," The Minister said. "Ahh...Amelia," The last was to Madam Bones who finally caught up to them. They all turned to see the gray-haired woman with her customary monocle entering the office. Her hair was astray and her eyes weary but alert. She had a look of someone not in a good mood.
"Thank you Minister. Hopefully this won't take too long. I have a lot to do," She eyed the teenagers wearily. "Starting with these four of course."
"Yes ma'am," Harry said speaking for his group still. "I think this will go a long way to explaining what happened."
"Very well Mr. Potter," She said as she took a seat.
Harry took a deep breath before continuing. "Before I begin my explanation, I should introduce my friends. This is Hermione Granger, my best friend and a lot more. Minister you've met her before, but might not have remembered it," He then nodded to Neville and Luna, "I'm sure you both know Neville Longbottom or at least his Grandmother and this is Luna Lovegood, daughter of the man who owns the Quibbler."
The name of the magazine Luna's father published made Cornelius Fudge pale. The ministry had taken an antagonistic approach toward it ever since the interview by Harry concerning the Dark Lord had appeared in it. That Harry Potter was friends with the daughter of Xenophilius Lovegood was not a good thing. Then of course everyone knew Augusta Longbottom. She was a woman who one dared cross at their own peril. He swallowed before replying, "Very glad to meet all of you," His eyes lingered on the young blonde girl who had her wand behind her ear and was looking around the office like she didn't have a care in the world. He finally turned back to Harry.
"Sir," Harry started with his green eyes focused on the Minister. "I hope you now know that I haven't been lying all year. I really did see Voldemort," Harry had to force himself to not roll his eyes when the Minister of Magic shuddered at the name, "resurrected last year."
"Yes, well it's definitely looks to be that he is back so we'll revisit that issue later with you."
"Yes sir," Harry continued. "Also that I didn't lie at my trial concerning the Dementors. I believe that was settled at Ms. Umbridge's questioning?"
The Minister eyes stayed focused on a sheet of random parchment he had picked up. Harry could see a small bead of sweat appear on the Minister's brow before he spoke. "It appears I was misled in regards to that situation," Cornelius finally said as he sat the parchment back down.
"I understand sir," Harry said. "It's just that I've asked you to believe one other thing in the past and I'm hoping now that the other issues have been proven to be true you will now consider that issue one more time."
"What would that be Harry?"
"Sir at the end of my third year, we," Harry nodded to Hermione, "told you that Sirius Black was innocent and that Peter Pettigrew was still alive."
"Obviously you were confunded," Fudge replied. "Or the trauma of seeing your parent's betrayer was too much."
"As I was saying, when we got to London, we made a stop at the store Fred and George Weasley opened up. They are friends of ours who we knew had some products that might help us in case it was a trap," Harry continued, "these hats, the swamp and powder that causes those clouds of darkness."
Amelia was jotting more notes down. "Fred and George Weasley?" She asked.
"Yes ma'am. Their store is at ninety-three Diagon Alley," Hermione responded. "They aren't in trouble are they?"
"Oh no," Amelia replied. "We'll have to corroborate your story with them of course, but I'm very interest in that darkness powder. It could be very useful and I would like to discuss it with them."
"There is already someone here looking at these," Harry said as he showed his hat to her. "It's a shield hat. It is supposed to block a couple of spells."
"It works great," Luna said as she twirled her hat on her finger. "Bellatrix Lestrange hit me with a stunner and I didn't even feel it."
"Bellatrix Lestrange?" Amelia eyes shot up to look at Luna. "She was here?"
"Yes ma'am," Harry said. "She went through that portal thing."
Amelia looked over at Fudge and then back to Harry. "Let's get back to what happened," She said. "You got some things from your friends and then came here."
"Yes ma'am," Harry nodded. "I knew we needed to go to the Department of Mysteries," He paused as if he was organizing his thoughts. "We started looking for Sirius and the place with all the blue orbs in it like I saw in the dream or vision. We found a room with a tank full of…" He looked over at Luna. "What did you say those were?"
"Aquavirius Maggots," Luna replied with the answer they had put together. "Daddy wrote all about them."
"That's not what they were," Madam Bones replied. "They are living brains. The mystery of thought is studied in that room," She looked again at Fudge. "Croaker is examining all the damage down there now. He'll have a complete report later today." She turned her attention back to Harry.
"Well we thought there were the Maggots things and would sting someone if they hit them, so we put some in jars to use as well," Harry explained. "Then we found that room with the benches. When we looked at the Archway, the fabric seemed to move and we heard voices. We tossed a rock into it and it disappeared, so we presumed it was some kind of portal to another place. We first thought that if it was a trap maybe we could escape through it to safety," Hermione had thought of adding this, it gave an alternative for Fudge and Amelia to think about that could be far worse than what happened.
A collective gasp rose between Fudge and Bones. "Mr. Potter it is a very good thing you didn't do that."
"Why? Where does it go?"
"It doesn't go anywhere," Amelia explained. "It's called the Death Veil and its instant death for anyone who enters it."
Harry forced himself to swallow hard before continuing. "Oh...uh well," He stammered on purpose.
"Please continue Mr. Potter," Amelia said.
After a few seconds he pushed on with the story. "We finally found the room with the orbs and started looking for Sirius," He continued. "When we were at the place where he was supposed to be, Neville found the prophecy with my name on it. Not knowing what it was, I took it and suddenly we were faced with a dozen Death Eaters who had been disillusioned."
"We have Vincent Crabbe Sr., Augustus Rookwood and Theodore Nott Senior in custody," Madam Bones started listing the people they had recovered. "Mulciber and Rodolphus Lestrange are dead..."
"Yeah another Death Eater, uh Jugson I think, killed him by mistake," Harry said.
"How do you know that?" Bones asked.
"I threw one of the…Mag...I mean brains at them and it hit the ground near Lestrange. Jugson panicked and used the killing curse on it and the curse hit Lestrange as well. He then chased me until I was able to trick him into going through the portal…uh I mean veil."
Bones nodded at the explanation. "Can you tell me who the others were?"
"The other Lestrange, Rabastan I think, Bellatrix, Avery, Macnair.."
"Walden Macnair? The one who works for the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures?"
"Yes ma'am," Harry replied as he watched her jot that fact down. "And Antonin Dolohov was the last one besides Lucius Malfoy," He looked over at the Minister of Magic who was looking extremely pale at the mention of the last name.
"And all of the others went through the Veil?" Bones asked.
"Are we in trouble for that?" Harry asked. "They were threatening to kill us and…and..."
Fudge knew that pressing any kind of charges against Harry Potter after the morning display, especially for the accidental death of Death Eaters would be political suicide. "Of course not Harry," He said. "In fact I think you have done a great service for our community."
"Thank you sir," Harry replied as he breathed a true sigh of relief.
"Nonetheless I do need the rest of the story of what happened," Bones replied after a glare at the minister.
"Yes ma'am. After the Death Eaters appeared, Lucius demanded the orb I had. Bellatrix threatened to torture Luna if I didn't hand it over," Harry continued. He glanced over at Luna before proceeding. "I knew though, if I did, they'd kill us on the spot."
Amelia nodded, agreeing that is exactly what would have happened.
"As I said earlier, we had got a few things from the Weasleys and we sent a couple of decoy detonators…"
"Decoy Detonators?" Bones asked. "What are those?"
"Oh...they are another creation of the Weasleys," Harry said. "You let them loose and they will go run off and explode causing a diversion."
"I definitely must speak to these young men," Bones said. "But go ahead with the story."
"When the detonators went off, it distracted the Death Eaters just enough for us to react. We threw some darkness powder in front of us and…and I hate admit it but we purposely destroyed some of the shelves the orbs were on. We were trying to do anything to create a diversion to get away."
"I also threw one of the…the brains," Hermione added.
"We then ran," Harry said. "We ended up in the room with all of the clocks…we exchanged some spell fire there…mostly blasting hexes to try to slow down the Death Eaters who had followed."
Fudge and Amelia were listening intently now.
"We had marked the doors when we kept getting lost looking for Sirius, so we were able to get back to the portal…uh Veil room," Harry said. "We put down the swamp to slow down the pursuers some as well."
"Why didn't you try to get away?"
Harry was expecting this question and had the reason ready to go. "We were concerned that there might be more Death Eaters at the lifts to cut us off. If there were, then we'd be caught between two sets of Death Eaters in a very narrow corridor."
"True. Excellent thinking I should say," Bones said.
"When we got to the uh…Veil room, we started securing the doors. We thought about going through the Arch but without knowing where it came out, we were unsure. Then we came up with an idea. What if we could trick some of the Death Eaters into going through the Portal? Enough to make it a reasonable fight for us."
"I noticed the room, what did you do?"
"Hermione had brought some small rocks to banish at any assailants and Neville had some dirt with him."
When Amelia and Fudge looked at Neville questioningly he replied. "I like plants and had some dirt in my pockets," He said truthfully. If they followed up on that, Professor Sprout would vouch for Neville's love of plants.
"We enlarged the rocks to line a path and used the dirt and other things to make the bench steps disappear," Harry explained. "We used a desk from the other room to transfigure into a door to hide the arch and then the darkness powder…and…well it worked." Harry shrugged his shoulders with the last statement.
"They just walked through a door?" Bones asked.
"We sort of made it seem that we had gone through it by slamming it shut with banishing charms," Neville explained. "That was my job."
"With the darkness powder between the door and the veil..." Harry's explanation trailed off.
"What happened with Lucius?" Amelia asked.
"He wasn't fooled by the changes," Harry said. "Said he had toured the place and..." Harry could see Fudge pale again at the statement, "he hadn't seen any room like that. He started canceling the enlargement spells on the rocks and recognized what room it was. I tried to sneak up on him and stun him but he was able to block it. I used the prophecy to prevent him from attacking me. It was then that several people from Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix showed up. Malfoy was able to disappear into the darkness after summoning the orb I had in my hand. I chased him and when I caught up to him in the Atrium, Voldemort showed up. He tried to kill me and well you saw what happened."
"What was that golden thing anyway?" Fudge asked.
Harry didn't want to answer that question. He didn't want that knowledge in Voldemort's hands. "I...I don't know sir," Harry lied. "It's the same thing that happened last year though when I dueled him in the graveyard."
"I saw him holding a blue orb when he left," Fudge said. "So he got this prophecy from you?"
"Uh...no sir," Harry replied. "Neville, Luna," He said to his two friends. They each pulled blue orbs from their pockets and laid them on the Minister's desk. "We noticed that they wouldn't outright attack us if they thought they might damage the orb so we made a couple of copies for protection."
A knock happened at that time and a person in Auror robes came in and whispered something to Amelia and then handed her a roll of parchment.
"Are you sure?" Amelia whispered to the Auror who nodded in return. Amelia glanced at Harry for a few seconds before saying "Thank you," to the Auror who turned and left. She took a minute to read the parchment in her hands; while doing so her eyes became more and more focused.
"What is it Amelia?" Fudge asked.
"This is the arrest record of Sirius Black from November first nineteen eighty-one," She said indicating the parchment. "It gives some pretty gruesome details about the circumstances of the arrest but…" She looked at Cornelius Fudge, "according to my Auror there are no records of a trial ever having taken place. No trial, No order of sentence, nothing. It appears that Mr. Potter is correct."
"Barty Crouch Sr. was told by Dumbledore that Sirius was my parents' secret keeper," Harry explained. "At the time, he really thought he was."
"If Black wasn't their secret keeper then why did Dumbledore think he was?"
"Did you go to school with my father and Sirius?" Harry asked the Head of the DMLE.
"No, I had left a couple of years prior to them starting, but my younger brother, Susan's father did," She replied. "He told me all about their antics."
"They thought it would be the ultimate prank on Voldemort to make Pettigrew the secret keeper instead," Harry said. "The Death Eaters would pursue Sirius while they kept Pettigrew stashed away."
"Even if I were to believe that, Black still killed Pettigrew and all of those muggles. This report details the finding of Pettigrew's finger and lists all of the muggle people who died that day."
"That's what we tried to tell you," Harry was speaking to Fudge again, "that night he was captured and later escaped. We saw Pettigrew. He was the one who killed those muggles. He cut off his own finger and disappeared," Harry explained.
"There is no mention of anyone seeing Pettigrew escape."
"He was an animagus, ma'am," Harry said. "He transformed into a rat and disappeared."
"That's a very convenient story Mr. Potter," Amelia scoffed. "How many people knew about this rare ability of Pettigrew?"
"Ma'am, I will gladly show you my memories of when we found him after our third year," Harry said. "Do you have a Pensieve?"
Amelia Bones looked annoyed. "A Pensieve? Of course I don't have one of those. There are only a handful of them in the whole world."
"We can use Dumbledore's then," Hermione suggested.
Amelia looked shocked. "Dumbledore has a Pensieve?" Her shocked look became one of anger. "That bastard," she said. "I have too many cases that I could easily solve if I had access to one of those."
Harry was stunned. He never considered that the Pensieve was a very rare item and that the Minister or Amelia Bones didn't know about Dumbledore's. But then he remembered what Dumbledore had said the day he first came across it. "I was using the Pensieve when Mr. Fudge arrived for our meeting and put it away rather hastily," Harry shook his head slightly as he thought of that statement. Dumbledore was not the type of person to do anything 'hastily'. "He put it away quickly because he didn't want Fudge to know about it. Another one of his blasted secrets that other people needed to know about," He quickly sent his thoughts to Hermione who also sat stunned. They had expected to be able to offer memories today. That was the whole reason for getting the Death Eaters to unmask.
"I wondered why Dumbledore never offered to use my memories of that night Sirius escaped or of Voldemort returning," Harry replied finally to the Head of the DMLE. "Would my memories of those events help?" Harry asked. "They show Peter Pettigrew alive, and it will show why Professor Snape gave the testimony he did. He was knocked unconscious during that time."
Amelia Bones was looking off in the direction of a wall as she thought about the implications of the matter. Finally she looked back at the group. "Yes Mr. Potter I would like those memories," She turned to Fudge. "Cornelius, if Sirius Black is innocent we are going to have major issues with the public."
"With You-Know-Who back we are already going to have issues. I doubt I will have my job next week."
Harry knew it was time. "Sir, if there was a way to make it look better for you would you do it?"
Fudge looked at the young man with interest. "What do you have in mind?"
"I'm going to be speaking to the Prophet and the Quibbler later and what I want to say is I am supporting the current administration," Harry said. "I don't think changing Ministers right now is a good idea. For all I know the next one will be under the influence of Voldemort."
Fudge interest moved even higher but he was too much of a politician to think it would be free. "You say you WANT to support the current administration, which means you want something to do it," He stated wearily.
"Two things actually," Harry replied. "The first being justice. I want Sirius to be..." There was a knock on the door and a second later the same junior Auror poked his head in.
"I'm sorry ma'am, sir but Dumbledore is insisting on seeing you."
Fudge looked at Harry who shook his head. "Tell him it will be a few more minutes."
The Auror looked nervous but quickly said. "Yes sir," And shut the door.
"Thank you sir," Harry said. "As I was saying, I want Sirius to have his freedom."
"Harry, as Amelia pointed out, if we come out with Black being innocent right now, the public will lose all faith in the Ministry."
"No sir, I believe if you tell them the truth, they will listen. You tell them the truth and Sirius and I will give our full support in backing you."
"He'd do that?" The Minister asked.
"Sirius has no grudge against you personally Minister," Harry lied, though Sirius had promised to drop the grudge if Fudge agreed to the deal.
Fudge looked over at Amelia. "What do you think?"
"Cornelius, if Sirius is really innocent, the man needs to be free. I want him questioned under Veritaserum though and I'd like to see those memories," She said. "Right now I'm going to need every Auror working on You-Know-Who and Death Eaters, not chasing after someone who doesn't deserve it. I prefer the truth to anything else Cornelius; it makes life simpler."
Fudge turned to Harry and he was smiling for the first time. "I think we can manage it then. When can you get Sirius in here to be questioned?"
"If you will vouch for his safety, I will personally escort him here within an hour," Harry replied.
"Excellent," Fudge said. "Amelia, I want you to go with Mr. Potter and bring Mr. Black directly here."
Amelia Bones looked at Harry appraisingly but before she say anything the door burst open and the lurid robed figure of Albus Dumbledore stood there. "Minister I truly must insist that I am included in any discussion concerning Lord Voldemort and Mr. Potter."
Harry turned and looked at the Headmaster and then turned back to the Minister. "Sir may my friends and I go now?"
"Yes of course," Fudge said. "I'll see you back here in an hour with Mr. Black?"
"Yes si..."
"Black? Sirius Black?" Dumbledore exclaimed. "Now isn't the time to be discussing Sirius, we should be focusing all of our attention on Voldemort."
Harry turned and looked at the Headmaster. "Headmaster," He started, "would you like to tell the Minister and Madam Bones who my parents' secret keeper really was?"
"Harry," Dumbledore started. "Again this not the time to discuss this, there are so much more important things to deal with. Let's get you and your friends back to Hogwarts and then I can discuss what really matters with the Minister."
"It's a simple question Professor," Hermione said. "Who was the Potters' secret keeper?"
"Miss Granger," Dumbledore said. "This is a difficult topic for Mr. Potter and with the night he's had it really..."
"WAS IT SIRIUS BLACK!" Harry yelled to interrupt the Headmaster. "Yes or no?"
Madam Bones spoke up as well. "Albus, since you seem to want to avoid answering that question I will ask it. Remember that lying to me in regards to a criminal case is a chargeable offense. Was Sirius Black the Potters' secret keeper at the time they were murdered?"
The Headmaster's eye went from Madam Bones to the Minister until finally they came to rest looking into the green eyes of Harry Potter. He seemed to slump a little before he finally answered. "No. Sirius Black was not the secret keeper, it was Peter Pettigrew."
"Why didn't you offer to show our memories Headmaster?" Hermione asked. "In fact in the past two years there seemed to be many opportunities that our memories could have been shown to the proper legal authorities."
"Albus, these young people tell me you have a Pensieve," Madam Bones said testily. "I would like to access it to verify their information and to help proceed with other cases I have pending."
"As much as I would like to help Amelia," Dumbledore replied, "It is my personal property and I really need it right now especially with Voldemort returning. We can discuss the matter at a later time, shall we say three months?"
Harry could see Amelia's temper was about to erupt at the Headmaster. He quickly grabbed a quill and parchment from the Minister's desk and jotted a note.
"He doesn't know he misplaced the Pensieve. We can give it to you later."
He quickly handed the note to Madam Bones who glanced down at it. She looked at Harry and Hermione and almost smiled at them. She then glared at the Headmaster. "We will discuss this later Albus, as for now I need to go deal with my Aurors about arresting Lucius Malfoy and the questioning of Sirius Black."
"When shall I attend the questioning?" Dumbledore asked.
"Your presence is neither requested NOR required," Amelia replied coolly. She looked at Harry. "What do you need to get Mr. Black here?"
"Harry, you need to return to the school," Dumbledore replied in his best grandfatherly voice. "You don't realize how great the danger is for you."
Harry ignored the Headmaster and spoke to Madam Bones. "If I could have an Auror to escort Hermione and me; maybe Nymphadora Tonks? I know she's Sirius' cousin."
"I'll be glad to escort you Harry," Dumbledore said.
Harry was almost tempted to take the Headmaster up on the offer just to see what he would say, but then he remembered he would need to speak to Sirius and doubted he could do it privately with Dumbledore around. "No thank you Headmaster," Harry replied.
"I will escort you to find Auror Tonks," Amelia Bones said. "She might be confused about the orders."
"I will start arranging the press conference," Minister Fudge said. He saw the young blonde girl and said. "Miss Lovegood, maybe you'd like to invite your father? He's been ignoring our attempts at recent communications." Of course he didn't mention those 'recent communications' consisted of threats against the publication if it continued to support Harry Potter.
"Oh Daddy would love to come," Luna replied happily, "if he isn't out looking for the yellow-eyed crimzelle. He had a lead on one last week."
"Um...yes," Fudge replied uncertainly. "Come with me and you can try to find him."
Neville followed Luna and Fudge out of the office, while Amelia escorted Harry and Hermione. Albus Dumbledore stood alone in the Minister's office trying to figure out how to get back in control of what was happening. With the appearance of Lord Voldemort he had expected the Minister and everyone else to come running to him for guidance. He sat down in one of the chairs and at that time he noticed the two blue orbs on the desk.
"One of these must be the prophecy," He thought as he put both in his pocket. He considered going to Grimmauld place to try to talk to Harry again, but knew he needed to have Harry alone to persuade him of the proper course of action.
It didn't take long before Tonks was found. Her pink hair was readily seen amongst the team of Aurors guarding the floos as workers came and left. She was confused and surprised when Amelia informed her that she was to escort Harry and Hermione to a location to bring in Sirius Black for questioning.
Once Amelia had walked away, Tonks rounded on the two teens. "What's going on Harry? What's this about Sirius?"
"Trying to get him cleared," Harry replied. "As you can imagine the Minister is going to look foolish because of this, so I'm offering my support if he clears Sirius."
"And he went for it?" Tonks replied.
"Well once we pointed out that Sirius hadn't been tried or convicted and promised Sirius would support him as well, yeah he went for it."
A short time later they were entering Grimmauld Place and Sirius was sitting at the table drinking a cup of tea with a smile on his face. He rose to his feet and greeted Harry and Hermione as if he hadn't been expecting them.
"Looks like you did well tonight Harry. When Snape told us you were planning on coming to London because you thought I had been captured..."
"He fooled me, but fortunately it worked out," Harry said as he turned to the Metamorphmagus. "Tonks, can we speak to Sirius alone to let him know what's going on."
"Sure," The pink haired witch replied.
When she had left the room, Hermione quickly put up the muffliato charm and they settled down to the table.
"Glad to see you made it out," Harry said.
Sirius shrugged. "I wished I could have seen you and Voldemort. I was tempted to come upstairs as Padfoot and watch, but knew it wasn't worth the risk. When I yelled I was following Malfoy, I ducked behind one of the darkness area and called Kreacher. He took me to a side street and it was no problem after that. I better see those memories...now how did it go?"
"A few hiccups," Harry replied, "but we got eight of them and Fudge and Bones are buying the story. You are to come in for questioning and a press conference afterwards. As long as you're willing to support the Ministry and pass questioning by Amelia Bones, you're going to be a free man."
"Did we hear anything about Peter?"
"Haven't had a chance to speak to Dobby yet," Harry replied.
"You keep Tonks busy," Hermione said. "I'll go talk to Dobby and get the Pensieve," She was gone for thirty minutes, but when she returned she had a smile on her face.
"I spoke with Dobby. Voldemort is not currently at the Malfoy residence," She said. "But Peter was."
"Was?" Sirius asked. "Where is he now?"
"Unconscious in a cupboard in the kitchens of Hogwarts," Hermione replied with a chuckle. "Winky is currently standing over him with pot in hand. I brought him around and modified his memory. He now thinks Voldemort had sent him on a mission to Hogwarts and he was captured there. If Fudge reneges on his deal, we can produce him fairly quickly, otherwise we'll figure out what to do with him later."