That had both Granger parents give a start of shock.
"Officially, I am Lady Regent Amelia Susan Bones of the Noble and Ancient House of Bones, Director of the DMLE. As Director of the DMLE my title is simply 'Madam Bones', but you may call me Amelia."
"Wendell and Monica," said Wendell, gesturing between himself and Monica. "May I ask how you come to know those titles? I didn't think magicals paid all that much attention to the muggle world."
"I wouldn't have known if I hadn't looked into your background," she said. "Part of my remit is the safety of our world's Lords and Ladies, even if I'm theoretically one of those. And I looked into your backgrounds when I learned Lord Potter was going to be staying here for a while."
"I see," nodded Wendell. "But, you should know, that title only applies on the very rare occasions I sit the Bench. And, even then, I sit with at least one but usually two others. In such situations, I'm addressed as 'Your Worship'. Every other time I'm simply and informally, Doctor Granger."
"And I'm never addressed as 'Commissioner'," Monica smoothly continued. "It's a title that's appended in writing. That is, in writing or signing specific documents; in such situations, I'm Doctor Monica Granger, Commissioner of Declarations. And Wendell is Doctor Wendell Granger, Justice of the Peace."
"Justice of the Peace?" Harry suddenly asked. "Vernon applied for that once. He felt it would raise his standing in the community to be able to append JP to his name. He was knocked back because he failed the psychological testing he had to undergo as part of the training for it."
Turning to Madam Bones, he continued, "For about half of the cases that the professors and those others who sat to be tried before the Wizengamot, in the muggle world they would have sat before a Bench of two or three JPs. Wendell may well have been one of those two or three."
Wendell clarified, "As long as none of them deserved a conviction that included a stay in prison over six months for any one charge, or multiple convictions for any two or more charges that exceeded one year total, then yes. Any cases that we find deserves greater punishment, we're required to pass up to the Crown Court. In your case, I believe, that would be the Wizengamot sitting in judicial review."
Seeking clarification, or simply trying to press Wendell to act, Bones asked, "So, you can sit your Bench for Dumbledore and have him serve up to six months prison at Azkaban for trespass?"
"No, for two reasons," he replied. "One; it's against me. I'd have to recuse myself. And, two; sitting such a Bench would have to be with at least two magistrates - the Chairman and one or two Wingers. You'd need at least one more JP to join me."
When Bones looked disappointed, he grinned and said, "However, I can issue a Warrant of Arrest. I don't know how it would apply in your world since your Wizengamot and Ministry don't seem to care one whit about the Laws of the Crown in the muggle world, but it will still be a valid legal document. Under our law you can then hold him for seventy-two hours while you and your people investigate."
She gave a shark-like grin back. "I think I can make that stick. Your authority comes direct from the Queen, does it not?"
"Not quite," he smiled. "My authority as Justice of the Peace comes by way of the Lord Chancellor in the name of the Sovereign. And, yes, she eventually signs off on it. He's also the only one who can take it away again; but only once he's sought advice from the Chief Justice and has the Queen, again, sign off on it."
"Close enough," nodded Bones.
"What would also interest you to know is that Justices of the Peace were created pursuant to a proclamation by then King Richard the First in the Twelfth Century," explained Wendell. "The first official Act determining the positions of Justices of the Peace was the Justices of the Peace Act of 1361 almost two centuries later. Therefore, it predates your Statute of Secrecy of 1689... which has effectively and illegally seceded your world from ours... by over three hundred years. As such, unless it has been specifically stripped away, it should still be a law on your books."
Madam Bones gave a pained expression, let her monocle fall the length of its chain and brought her off hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose to massage it with her eyes winced closed.
Wendell looked at Harry with a grin. While nothing was said between them, Harry knew the man was thinking, 'You're not the only one who can make magicals look like daft morons with hardly any effort.'
With a sigh, Madam Bones said, "A simple 'yes' would have sufficed."
Harry was quietly chuckling, almost giggling really.
With a second sigh, she dropped her hand, opened her eyes, looked to Harry and quietly said, "That's quite enough out of you, Lord Potter."
"Sorry," he grinned. And belied he wasn't by laughing.
"Back to the point," she said, looking back to Wendell and choosing to ignore Harry. "If you issue a Warrant of Arrest for Dumbledore's attempt to breach your wards, can it include that requirement that allows me to hold him for seventy-two hours while I 'investigate'? I may not be able to get the Wizengamot to otherwise properly punish him, but I think sitting another seventy-two hours in one of my holding cells could be considered punishment enough for this particular occasion."
"That, I can do," he said, rising with a wide grin. "As I said; while I can't try his case, I can issue the Warrant. Come with me to my office."
By the time she left about thirty minutes later, Madam Bones had her signed arrest warrant together with a signed complaint of Trespass against the old man, had her aurors make sure the wards were still stable and undamaged and left behind a third auror to raise their standing auror complement from two to three.
_β_
β==(oIo)==β
Λ
After lunch, when she informed the staff she would be holding a staff meeting an hour later in the faculty 'break' room immediately behind the Great Hall, Marchbanks left the Hall to return to her office to collect her notes for the meeting.
"I expect to see everyone there," she'd declared. "Even Argus Filch."
She'd just turned away and had taken a few steps from the table when she turned back and said, "And someone please tell Albus if they see him. He's 'bolted' again." Then turned back to continue on her way.
Back in her office she had collected her notes and made a few more about what she wanted to talk to the entire staff about when the flames in her fireplace turned green with a whoosh. A moment later she saw the face of her friend, Amelia Bones, in the flames.
"Gris?" asked Bones.
"Amelia, dear," she called back. "Do you wish to come through?"
"Yes, please."
She gestured with her wand towards the fireplace and said, "It's open!"
Barely a couple of seconds later Bones stepped through and turned to her.
"Gris," she said.
"What brings you to be visiting an old lady with a look of such seriousness on your face?" asked Marchbanks.
.
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