AN: Phew, what a hard chapter to write. The language they use during the Wizengamot court hearing is not really part of my casual English-Second-Language vocabulary, so it took two rewrites until I was partly OK with how this chapter turned out.
Additionally, I kinda wished I'd have put the plotline later during all the rewrites to be honest...
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[POV Ted Tonks at Wizengamot court hearing]
Talion was a young man with great critical thinking and all the necessary makings of someone who could lead this nation one day. I told Louis to softly inquire during the tutor sessions if the boy was interested in becoming minister, and he was harshly rebuffed, but Talion was still young. Things could still change. I knew the young wizard would make a better minister than Fudge even if he didn't try with all of his heart.
But as I watched him up in the stands next to Lord Ogden while his father was screeching like an animal that was stepped on its tail, I began to wonder. Talion looked at his father with well-disguised loathing, and though his Occlumency hid it well, murderous intent. I'd be a waste of a lawyer if I didn't see it. If the patricide clause in the Wizengamot charta was triggered somehow, campaigning to become the next minister would be hard.
Softly coughing into my hand to gather attention on me, I loudly declared in my client's stead, "Now that the focus of this trial is in the room, let me reiterate the case. Talion Macnair was born on the 31st of July 1980. Through questioning the matron at the orphanage he had been surrendered at, I learned that he had been at said orphanage since the first week of August that same year. His mother hadn't been the one to drop of her child. Selena Macnair's death is confirmed by Gringotts through a lineage appraisal - something we paid for and intend to have reimbursed by the accused party. Since she is dead and Talion has reportedly had the dark curse scar going over his nose ever since he appeared at the orphanage, we alledge that her original tormentor, Rabastan Lestrange, is directly involved in the death of the pureblood Macnair witch. We come to this conclusion by witness accounts and a notebook detailing Selena Macnair's entry into the world of the Death Eaters as a spy."
Rabastan stopped his mad rambling then. Bellatrix had long since stopped as I began my speech, but I wasn't finished, and thankfully, that toad of a woman Umbridge hadn't yet stopped me either. But I saw some lords from the dark faction visibly tense up at the mention of there being a notebook of the spy out there. It couldn't do much damage now over a dozen years later... but it would still be unfavorable if it leaked.
It was too bad for all of us upstanding magicals that the notebook never went into detail. The only evidence it provided was that Selena was sold by her father and that she decided to provide intelligence to the opposition while deep in the Death Eater camp.
"Now, since the Lestrange family has a much more noble bloodline," I continued with well-hidden distaste, "the crime of line-theft cannot be laid at Rabastan Lestrange's feet. But we are not here to ask to have him charged for that either. Instead, we have credible intelligence that confirms that both Rabastan and Bellatrix Lestrange conspired to have Selena Macnair murdered, robbing Lord Gamp of his mother. As such, we are asking for three items from Gringott's Lestrange vaults, chosen by Lord Gamp personally, as compensation. Through his blood connection, Gringotts would have no trouble allowing Lord Gamp entry."
"Let me see the bastard!" Rabastan shouted with ferocity, though the madness in his eyes noticeably receded and made way for calculated and intense hatred.
From the stands, Talion stood up proudly and called over, "I must say I am quite disappointed, father. You look even worse than I pictured."
Hiding a small smirk, I let that stand and addressed the Chief Warlock and minister, "Since I doubt the DMLE had the chance to interrogate the two accused properly, I invite those in authority to ask them in front of all these esteemed Lords and Ladies if they were aware and involved in Selena Macnair's death."
Bellatrix and Rabastan were uncharacteristically quiet, but when I looked, they were wildly cursing in their chairs. Someone had put up silencing wards around those two.
Before anybody else could do it, I saw Amelia Bones give a small look toward Talion as she stood up and walked over to the two cages.
"I only want one answer from you: if you were present when Selena Macnair was fataly wounded, who did it?"
With a practiced wand movement, only Bellatrix' silencing ward lifted, but Rabastan had calmed down by now. He only looked at his son with a furious glint in his eyes.
"That whore dared to go against our Lord! Of course she deserved to die and much more horribly than she did!!! Had he allowed me, I would have broken every bone in her body and cut her up piece by piece! Walden deserved death even more for raising such a filthy blood traitor!!!"
[POV Albus Dumbledore at Wizengamot court hearing]
Taking young Nymphadora under my wing had endeared Ted Tonks and his wife to me, another connection formed that I valued greatly. A formidable healer in her own right, Andromeda Tonks was well established at St Mungo's. Less needed to be said about Edward 'Ted' Tonks - he was an outstanding muggleborn wizard with connections to many of his similarly-stationed peers.
But I had lost that connection when Filius arranged for the man to represent the Macnair boy at the emancipation hearing. Ted couldn't see that what I did was needed and I wasn't allowed to explain the 'mistreatment' of him - all I received was a formal letter from Ted's legal office at the conclusion of the hearing to inform me that I was no longer Talion's guardian.
Though formal and concise like his usually correspondance, I could see Ted was disappointed in my actions of allowing Talion to stay at the orphanage all these years and at the ministry during the aftermath of the attack on the day the last school year ended.
I should have gotten in touch with the Farley family sooner, promised them the headgirl spot for their girl Gemma next year if needed... had they been on my side, I could have arranged for them to be Talion's guardian. That would have meant retaining Ted's good will and, of course, allowed me to keep having some form of control over the boy himself.
As I continued listening in on Amelia questioning Bellatrix, who went into excruciating detail on what I already knew - namely how Selena was wounded and to what extent, I pondered over what Talion could want from the Lestrange vaults and why it was paramount for both Bellatrix and Rabastan to be here.
A sentence for Rabastan would have been enough to allow Talion access to all vaults of the Lestrange family as the brother of their head of house and Talion's father. So it made sense that Rudolphus wasn't here. There was only one vault that he could not have entered if his father alone was held accountable.
I looked toward Lucius in my contemplation and saw he was none the wiser. Briefly, as Bellatrix droned on and on how Selena almost lost a leg while under the Cruciatus curse, then suffered a particularly vicious curse that severed her arm bone by bone and another that should have bisected her but miraculously was stopped by her... child... I wondered if Ted and Talion needed Bellatrix here to make the case airtight.
Her needlessly descriptive recounting had my fellow members of the Light side writhe in discomfort - even the few Grey lords and ladies that I knew were far from Tom's side looked greatly repulsed.
But... Rabastan should have relished in Selena's death. Given the chance, I don't doubt that he would find similar words to describe her lamentable end. Harry had to be the child described in the prophecy, but if he indeed was, all of this was truly not worth it. This headache, as I thought about what Talion could want from Bellatrix' trust vault, made me wish for a nice and sweet lemon drop...
"Chief Warlock Dumbledore!"
Amelia's shout suddenly roused me out of my thoughts.
"The piece of evidence in the form of the notebook provided by Mister Tonks, as well as my own knowledge on the matter, proposes that Selena Macnair's spy status was known by Frank Longbottom as my partner in the DMLE, me personally, and you. Augusta Longbottom swears on her life and magic that Selena has not attempted to reach Longbottom manor, and I know she was not with me in the end. Did she reach Hogwarts, or wherever you were at the time to bring you Talion or make you assist her in her birth?"
'Can't you all see that I am doing this for you?' I thought with a big inward sigh.
[POV Talion 'Lord Gamp' Macnair, first of his name, under 18 dueling champion, descendant of Heimdall, ender of bloodlines and breaker of balls, master of dragons - or, well, elves with flammable wyvern spit, Mayor of Goldsborough, breaker of some chains, voted to be most likely to break a girls heart by the girls of House Gryffindor, voted to be the dreamiest guy in the school by the girls of House Hufflepuff, voted to be the most annoying guy in the school by the girls of House Slytherin, voted to be the most Gryffindor out of everyone by everyone in House Ravenclaw]
'Yeah, let's see you lie in the Wizengamot, you stupid asshole,' I thought with a big smile.
This was going better than I thought. I hoped nobody would question why Bellatrix was here instead of Rudolphus as head of House Lestrange, but the woman dropped the stone on her own foot as she described how my mother managed to escape while pretty much broken apart by Voldemort's magic. It made me respect my mother even more. She managed to apparate with one arm, cut up by some Egyptian bleeding curse, hurt by the Cruciatus curse and all that for me to live.
Well, and to die at the hands of Dumbledore as she tried to make him promise to take care of me. Though, if Bellatrix wasn't exaggerating, saving my mom would have been impossible anyway in the state she was in - even with magic.
"I was well aware of Selena's sacrifice," the headmaster answered with a sad smile, "The only reason I did not make it known was to protect young Lord Gamp. He would have suffered greatly if the deeds of his mother were known to all."
I had to laugh, though I stifled it. No need to personally say it out loud.
"Excuse me, headmaster. But not two months into his education, Talion was hit with the Cruciatus curse in your school. He was hunted in his own inn room at Hogsmeade the moment he was out of school. Whatever your plan was, it failed spectacularly," Tonks cut in, addressing Dumbledore not by his title here at the Wizengamot but by his title at school to drive home the point and I wanted to stand up and applaud.
Many people gasped in the Light and Grey faction seats among the Lords and Ladies, and I wondered... did they not read the newspaper?
"That was indeed lamentable," Dumbledore confirmed with his signature 'I know better, but I'm still saddened by the outcome you all allowed to let happen by not listening to me' look.
"What is the point of all of this?" Lucius Malfoy spat from his seat with a tight frown.
"Ah, sorry. I just thought it would warrant looking into if Selena Macnair would not deserve to receive an Order of Merlin posthumously. Did she not make a valiant sacrifice to help the righteous during the war?" Tonks asked, and I gave the man a mental thumbs up. Though I still frowned. Malfoy's outburst and Tonk's proposal stopped the Lords and Ladies from being interested in Dumbledore's answer...
That wasn't discussed beforehand, but it was still an incredible idea. My mom deserved to be hailed as a hero by more people than just me. Though, watching Amelia Bones, I suddenly remembered... she never made my mom's role as a spy public either. What stopped her? And why didn't she repeat her question to get to the bottom of it?
A sudden hammerfall snatched me out of my increasingly angry thoughts.
"You may address such a request at a later hearing! We are here to discuss this case and not derail it for much longer for such self-serving ventures!"
'Ugh, Umbridge... you only make me want to kill you earlier,' I thought as I rolled my eyes.
Giving Fudge and Dumbledore a nod, Bones repeated the questioning with Rabastan as Bellatrix was silenced without asking for Dumbledore's thoughts on my mother's death, but my father answered no question. He only stared at me.
Eventually, just as Amelia Bones judged, she wouldn't get a proper answer, Rabastan addressed only me.
"You are my blood. You deserve more than just three items. Take it all, I have no need for the riches anymore. Just make sure you honor my blood properly," he declared in a low voice that silenced everyone.
We were all stunned into silence - I knew I was. But when I saw amusement in my father's eyes and the fact that he was still red in my eagle vision... I figured it out. The man was a brute and a sadist, but he was still a Slytherin. He was cunning. He figured out part of the angle I was after - distancing myself from him and his blood. And, he wanted to make it difficult for me the only way he knew how from his position.
By acknowledging me as his son.
I saw that Malfoy was furious at his wife's brother-in-law and was about to snap, but this was important to me, so I didn't let the blonde ponce derail it. I stood up and loudly declined, "No, thanks. I'd rather take it through wits, bloodshed, and trickery than by calling myself the son of Rabastan Lestrange."
With that, I sat back down.
My father's eyes widened in disbelief for a short moment before he buckled over to madly laugh until all we could hear were dry heaves and laborous breaths. His lung capacity after a dozen years in captivity must have been terrible because that didn't even take ten seconds.
From there, the trial was continued on, the Lords and Ladies voted in my favor, and Fudge, to appear magnamonious, even decided I was allowed to take seven items from the vaults.
But the verdict wasn't without unforeseen hiccups. To make sure I would take only the allowed number of items, a witness was needed. My lawyer and I argued that magic could be the witness and that I would swear an oath, but both Dumbledore and Malfoy vehemently argued against it.
Since Sirius was as much on my side as possible from all the choices I had, I argued he be the witness as Bellatrix' family. But Malfoy argued that as proxy of the Lestrange family in Rudolphus' stead, it should be him.
Eventually, Fudge wasn't swayed in either direction because Malfoy's influence had weakened quite a bit since the Quidditch finals... but the choice for a neutral witness didn't please me in the slightest.
Dumbledore offered himself and was given the task despite Malfoy being even more against it than with Sirius.
Even Bellatrix seemed to abhor the idea, but she was no longer allowed to talk and was instead ushered out as she stared daggers at both Dumbledore and I.