Amelia frowned at the diagram on the parchment in front of her – the Unspeakables' mock-up of the street and explosion that Sirius Black has supposedly caused.
The Unspeakable had noted that the spell Black had used would have had to travel through Pettigrew to impact directly behind him. Of course, perhaps the spell had been overpowered, obliterated Pettigrew – although the lack of physical evidence of his demise beyond a finger and a bloodied robe was bemusing – and then struck. But the angles were wrong; the impact suggested the spell had been shot from directly above.
Unfortunately there was also the small problem that Black's wand which Amelia had retrieved from evidence storage showed only a stunner, some disillusionment and stealth spells (which made sense if he was hiding from Aurors), and an infant healing charm (which she assumed he had used on the Potter child). According to his wand, Black hadn't blown anything up.
Nothing added up but especially that healing spell. The assumption in the statements was that Black had betrayed the Potters leading Voldemort to them only for Rubeus Hagrid to thwart Black's attempt to finish off the baby. Everyone assumed Black had panicked and given up the baby to Hagrid to make his escape (although contrarily he had also given up his best mode of transportation at the same time). But if Black had healed the baby…if his intent hadn't been to harm the child…
A knock on the door had her placing the parchment back into the file and calling for her first witness to enter.
Alastor Moody limped into her office. His scarred face creased happily as he grinned at her while his magical eye examined the room for hidden dangers. "Amelia."
"Alastor. How are you? Enjoying retirement?" Amelia shook hands with her old mentor and waved him into a seat.
"Albus has asked me to teach next year." Alastor snorted, sitting down with a thump. He pointed at her badly hidden wince. "I did the same thing. Who wants to teach a school full of kids?"
"Although I'm sure you'd be good for them, Alastor." Amelia said with sincerity. Moody had been their best Auror instructor.
"Told Albus he was an idiot." Alastor said brusquely.
"Speaking of Albus, Alastor," Amelia said bluntly, "the rest of this conversation is subject to your Auror oath. He's not to be told about any of it and if I find that he knows something and he picked it out of your head, I'll have your head on a pike."
"Understood." Alastor said, his good eye gleaming with curiosity. "You're reinvestigating Black?" He pointed at the file.
She blew out a breath and nodded. "He didn't receive a trial, Alastor. Officially, I'm building the case for when we recapture him."
Alastor's eyebrows rose. "Well that explains why you rescinded the Kiss on sight." He shifted position slightly. "And unofficially?"
"Unofficially, it's beginning to look as though a giant cock-up was made." Amelia said simply. "Most of the evidence of his guilt seems to consist of 'because we know he did it' hearsay."
He took a moment and sighed. "So I assume you want my take as Lead Auror at his capture?"
"Please." Amelia set up a diction quill and waved her wand to initiate it.
"On October thirty-first, nineteen-eighty-one, the Auror's office received a communication from Albus Dumbledore that James and Lily Potter had died in a confrontation with Voldemort. Their baby, Harry Potter, had somehow survived and Voldemort himself was dead. Black had arrived at the scene afterwards but found Rubeus Hagrid had already taken custody of the baby on Albus's orders. Hagrid left Black there, Black loaning him the use of his motorbike. At the time of Albus's communication, the baby was at Hogwarts receiving medical treatment while Albus sorted out a safe place for him – he'd sent Minerva McGonagall to do a reccy of some muggle house."
Alastor recounted the events briskly. "I knew the Potters had gone under a Fidelius charm and believed as Albus did that Black was the Secret Keeper for the Potters and must have betrayed them. Albus confirmed the Fidelius was down so I took a team to Godric's Hollow and established that the bare facts as had been reported to us seemed to be in order. I left men securing the bodies and house from scavengers and gawkers while another team of us including a team of Hit Wizards from Black's own department picked up Black's apparition trail."
Amelia nodded. "And then?"
"The trail was a funny one." Alastor said. "Black was muddying his own trail enough to delay us but not to throw us off course. The techniques he was using are typical in Hit Wizard undercover work where it has to appear the undercover is covering up his trail but in truth they're leaving enough for us to follow. And he wasn't making for the Continent which would have been the obvious exit route for him." He sighed. "When we finally caught up with Black, Pettigrew was a finger, the street was filled with dead muggles and Black was on his knees, laughing hysterically. We arrested him, took his wand and put him in a cell – he was too out of it for questioning. Crouch refused to send for a healer."
"You noted Black was suffering from shock?" Amelia queried.
"And concussion, bruising and a variety of cuts and scrapes. He had a lump the size of a grapefruit on his head. I healed what I could but he was hysterical, laughing one minute, weeping the next." Alastor stated tersely. "I went home, came back the next morning and found he'd been transported to Azkaban overnight on Crouch's order. I wrote up my report and Crouch had me back out hunting Death Eaters again before the end of the day. You remember those days, Amelia, the department was chaos. I admit I forgot about Black and I just assumed he'd had his day in court at some point, been found guilty and thrown back to Azkaban."
"I think that was everyone's assumption." Amelia tapped her fingers impatiently on the file. "In hindsight, Alastor, what are your thoughts?"
"It never made sense to me that Black betrayed the Potters." Alastor answered after a long silence. "James Potter and Sirius Black were brilliant as partners through the Hit Wizard boot-camp training we did back then. The idea that one would betray the other was inconceivable. When Black muttered that it was his fault during his arrest, it sounded to me like he was taking responsibility for a plan that had gone wrong – I'd heard him say the same thing in the same tone when we lost a man on a mission he'd led."
"Black was a brilliant Hit Wizard." Amelia remembered. She hadn't known him well – she'd been a senior Auror with her own team and missions – but the scuttlebutt about him and Potter had been impressive.
"He was bloody brilliant," Alastor stated bluntly, "and his take-down rate was exceptional." He stabbed her desk with a finger. "If anyone had asked me who was the least likely to be a Death Eater, my answer would have been Black: he took out far too many of them to be one of them. The way he killed Pettigrew didn't make any sense because Black was skilled enough to make it a clean hit without blowing up the street." He sighed. "My immediate theory for Black's betrayal was the Imperius. That once he came back to himself, he went insane with grief and wasn't thinking clearly. That when Pettigrew caught up with him, he didn't know what he was doing and lashed out. It was the only thing that made sense to me."
Amelia mulled it over. It was a credible theory – explained Black's actions with the baby but not the lack of an explosive spell – and if true, it would mean Black heading for the secure ward at Saint Mungo's and not Azkaban.
"Of course my theory doesn't explain why Pettigrew went after Black on his own-some." Alastor continued. "I'd, uh, met him a couple of times and he was a good kid but he never struck me as the avenging angel type: Black, yes; Pettigrew, no."
Amelia made a snap decision and stopped the quill. "Alastor, there is new evidence about Black that has surfaced with his recent exploits at Hogwarts. It seems Pettigrew could be alive. I'd like you to sit in, disillusioned while I interview the witnesses. They're due to arrive in an hour."
Alastor agreed. They went over the little evidence they had and Alastor was as disturbed by the wand and forensic evidence as Amelia was. As the hour for the interviews drew close, Alastor sat out of the way, disillusioned with a silencing charm around himself.
Remus Lupin arrived five minutes early and Amelia allowed him entry, taking in the new, if simple, clothing he wore, the scars of his lycanthropy and the pleasant demeanour. She shook his hand and explained the procedure, made him take an oath of secrecy, and set the quill to record.
"Mister Lupin, you've been called here today to give evidence in the case of Sirius Black concerning events at Hogwarts. I'd like to focus specifically on the night Black was caught and escaped." Amelia began. She motioned at him to speak.
"It was the night of the full moon and I was in my office when I happened to glance at a map of Hogwarts that I and some friends constructed when we attended the school."
"Friends?" queried Amelia.
Lupin's lips quirked. "James Potter, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew."
Amelia hadn't realised he'd known them, but then she was a good twenty years older than Potter and Black, and Lupin hadn't joined the Department as they had done. She nodded slowly. "You happened to glance at a map?"
"The map is charmed to show every individual and their position within the school and surrounding grounds. I noticed that Sirius and Peter were both on the map very close to Harry – Harry Potter – and his friends." Lupin winced slightly. "I was shocked to see Peter as I had believed like everyone else that he was dead."
"Your testimony is that he's alive?" Amelia asked pointedly.
"Oh, he's alive alright." Lupin growled. "I immediately realised that Sirius was innocent of killing him and if he was innocent of killing Peter then…"
Amelia inclined her head in understanding. "You wondered if he was also innocent of killing the Potters?"
Lupin gave a small nod of acknowledgement. "Yes, and why Peter had felt it necessary to lie about his continued existence. I ran out to the Shrieking Shack to confront Peter and Sirius." He picked up the glass of water Amelia had supplied and drank a sip. "When I got there, Peter was still in his rat form…"
"He's an animagus?" Amelia interrupted.
"Yes, and he'd been living for years as the Weasleys' pet rat." Lupin breathed in deeply, clearly trying to control his anger. "Severus Snape turned up and well, Severus has a history of bad blood between myself, Sirius and James; he was determined to capture Sirius and his behaviour alarmed the children. The children's disarming spells went awry and he got knocked out. We finally confronted Peter and the truth came out: Peter had been the Secret Keeper. Peter had known Sirius knew he had betrayed James and Lily and so set him up. It was Peter who cut off his finger and blew up the gas main in the muggle street. Peter transformed into a rat immediately to escape the explosion, disappearing into the sewers."
"What happened then?" Amelia prompted when he fell silent.
"We bound Peter and started back towards the school, only I'd forgotten about the moon and as soon as I got outside…" Lupin grimaced. "Sirius was able to run me off and ensure I didn't hurt anyone. It was entirely careless of me."
"But unintentional." Amelia noted. "I'll have to make a note of the incident in your official registration file as this statement will be a matter of public record but I'll also state that it has been explained to my satisfaction and you're cleared of intentional harm."
"Thank you." Lupin said somewhat embarrassed.
"Please continue." Amelia prompted.
"Well, I'm not sure what happened next as I was in my werewolf form but I've been told Peter escaped." He sighed heavily. "I woke up the next morning to the reports of Sirius escaping and the news that the Minister had refused to believe his innocence without Peter to prove it." He paused. "I was…am devastated about that; it was my fault Peter got free and to think Sirius has been innocent all this time and locked away in Azkaban…" His head snapped up and he looked at Amelia firmly. "I'm willing to take veritaserum to confirm my testimony and I can provide a memory if you have a pensieve."
"Thank you, that won't be necessary at this time." Amelia replied quietly. "Have you had contact with Sirius Black since your departure from Hogwarts?"
Lupin reached into his robes and pulled out a piece of parchment. He handed it to her. It was blank. She looked at him questioningly.
"Tap it with your wand and say 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.'" Lupin suggested, wrestling with a smile.
Amelia followed his instructions. A short number of words filled the page; Black was somewhere sunny, safe. He wanted Lupin to keep an eye on Harry. She waved her wand over the parchment but her detection spells for tracing came back negative: Sirius Black had done a good job of hiding his trail. She put the parchment down and considered Lupin carefully. "I'll have to keep this."
"I thought you might."
She reached over and stopped the quill. "Thank you for your testimony." She said. "If Black contacts you again, please tell him that we're investigating the original case and if he turns himself in, we'll make sure he gets fair treatment. The Kiss on sight order has been cancelled."
"I have to admit to being surprised that you're investigating at all." Lupin said. "From what I was told, the Minister was convinced Severus's version of events was the only one that mattered."
"New evidence has come to light that has made the Minister revise that opinion." Amelia said smoothly. "Hence the questioning."
"Will you be interviewing Harry and his friends?" Lupin asked as he got to his feet. "And Severus presumably?"
"Miss Granger and Mister Weasley are due in for questioning this afternoon and I decided to speak with you all first before bringing in Professor Snape." Amelia said. Susan's recount of the gossip from Hogwarts about what had happened had indicated a rift between Snape and the other witnesses. Moreover, it was a matter of public record that Snape had been Albus Dumbledore's spy in the Death Eaters and she was concerned if she contacted him, Dumbledore would get wind of the investigation and seek to poke his nose in it. Harry, however… "Unfortunately, I have no address for Mister Potter as that information is held by Dumbledore on a need to know basis only."
"I have the address if you want it." Lupin gestured towards some parchment and Amelia offered him a quill. He scribbled it down. "I would advise you that Harry's relatives deeply dislike the wizarding world. It may be better to write or telephone the muggle way to agree a suitable time." He motioned with his wand over the parchment. "It's charmed so only you can read it now. I agree with Albus inasmuch that Harry's whereabouts should be kept need to know but Harry would want to help Sirius."
"I assume Dumbledore gave you the contact details as an old friend of the family?" Amelia commented, thinking about Lupin's advice on Harry's family and what it meant for the Boy Who Lived's home environment.
Lupin shook his head. "Albus refused me access – for Harry's safety I'm sure. But I know Petunia's name – I'd met her through Lily of course. It isn't hard to track her down with muggle directories."
Amelia shook her head, trying to make sense of that. "I see."
She stood up and he followed her to the door. She shook his hand and kept hold of it when he would have pulled away. "My niece was most disappointed you left Hogwarts. I hope you've found a new position?"
"I have but my employment oath prevents me from saying anything further." Lupin replied without hesitation.
Amelia was intrigued but let him go. She was about to close the door when she saw Arthur Weasley walking down the corridor with his son. She waited and ushered them inside.
Ronald Weasley's story gave additional context to how they'd all ended up in the Shrieking Shack – Black ambushing him – and how they had all ended up in the infirmary – Dementors attacking which was a horror story all of its own. But it also substantiated the main part of Remus Lupin's evidence: Peter Pettigrew had lived as the Weasleys' rat for years; he was alive; he was responsible for the deaths of the Potters and the muggles not Black.
Arthur was pale after the boy's tale, his freckles standing out sharply. He had kept a hand on Ronald's shoulder throughout in silent paternal support.
"Does this mean Sirius will be set free?" Ron asked at the end of the interview.
"We're examining all the evidence." Amelia said kindly. "In the meantime, remember this is confidential and you can't discuss this with anyone, not even your friends or the Headmaster." She looked over at Arthur. "Do you want to press charges against Black for his assault on Ronald?"
"No!" Ron said loudly. He blushed bright red as his father raised his eyebrows at him. "Sirius was after the rat not me! Please, Dad, Harry will never forgive me and…" he shot Amelia a look and inched closer to his father, whispering in his ear.
Amelia caught the gist of it despite the attempt at low volume: Sirius was Harry's godfather and could get Harry away from the awful Dursleys.
Arthur considered his son seriously. He sighed and looked over at Amelia with a small shake of his head. "Since his intention wasn't to harm Ron, I'll decline, and besides, I think he's probably already suffered enough if he's spent twelve years in Azkaban as an innocent man. If that's all, Amelia?"
She nodded and Arthur nudged Ron into standing up. Amelia considered that it was going to be interesting to see Harry Potter's home and his relatives. She'd barely finished the muggle letter informing the Dursleys of her intended visit and arranged for her secretary to send it when the Grangers arrived.
Hermione Granger's testimony was the most comprehensive. She confirmed everything the others had said, and added a tremendous amount of detail that spoke to an eidetic memory. She also expressed hope of Sirius being cleared for Harry's sake.
It was late by the time they left. Alastor removed his disillusionment and took the seat opposite her again. Amelia sent for some tea. She poured Alastor's (black, no sugar) and sat back with her own (black with a squeeze of lemon).
"Your thoughts, Alastor?"
"Well, first things first: their story about Black and Pettigrew back in 'eight-one makes sense of the evidence." Alastor stated. "Black wasn't the Secret Keeper so he didn't betray the Potters and he handed over the baby because there was never any intent to harm the lad. He went after Peter knowing we'd be likely following him hence laying the trail for us. He never fired on Pettigrew so no spell registered on his wand. Pettigrew cut off his finger and escaped which is why we don't find a trace of the rest of his body." He sighed heavily. "Lupin's a good witness. I met him a couple of times back then and he was always the most serious of them. I feel I did Black a grave disservice in not following up on him after he was sent to Azkaban."
"You weren't one of the signatories on the order that sent him there, Alastor," Amelia reminded him, "Bagnold and Crouch are at fault. Dumbledore was Chief Warlock and also should have checked there was a trial. There's going to be plenty of blame to go around."
Alastor winced. "In everyone's defence, it was a chaotic time."
"I'm more concerned at the complete lack of adherence to procedure at Hogwarts a couple of weeks ago." Amelia admitted. "Cornelius doesn't surprise me but…"
"But why didn't Albus put Black under his personal protection? Albus has the authority as Chief Warlock to overrule the Minister on the matter." Alastor frowned heavily. "It makes you think, doesn't it? Albus was the one who gave evidence that Sirius was the Secret Keeper; he was in charge of the Wizengamot when it all went down. He has motive for keeping it quiet."
It was so like Alastor to be so paranoid even about one of his old friends. "Perhaps he had something to do with the escape." Amelia mused out loud.
"Maybe."
Amelia nodded. Something didn't add up about how Black had managed to get free but she wasn't too worried about that since if he hadn't all indications were that an innocent man would have been Kissed.
"I'm not sure I need Potter's testimony," Amelia admitted, "although it would be good for completeness."
"And you want to take a look at the boy's living arrangements." Alastor said bluntly. "I know I would since a muggleborn witch and the son of the biggest muggle advocate in the Ministry indicate that they'd prefer the Boy Who Lived to be removed from his muggle relatives and live with a man who is a complete stranger to him."
Amelia nodded. She was concerned; she couldn't deny it especially since Weasley's and Granger's comments followed after Lupin's about the Dursleys hating the wizarding world. "I'd like you to come with me day after tomorrow, Alastor. If there are issues, I'll need an independent witness."
Alastor nodded. "I'm available." He eyed her speculatively. "Are you going to declare Black innocent?"
"Ideally, I'd like his veritaserum testimony."
"Or Pettigrew's."
"Or Pettigrew's." Amelia sighed. "From a prosecution perspective, I can't charge Black with killing Pettigrew and the muggles: his wand clears him of casting any kind of explosive spell, there's the lack of Pettigrew's body, and while witness testimony places him at the scene and casting a spell, there's nothing that points at Black actually causing the explosion. On the other hand, the idea that Pettigrew caused the explosion and escaped somehow to blame Black would fit with the evidence we have – the positioning of the blast, the single finger, the way Pettigrew yelled his accusation in front of muggles breaking the Statute of Secrecy."
"Which leaves the betrayal of the Potters leading to their deaths." Alastor said.
"And that all comes down to hearsay testimony that Black was the Secret Keeper. The strongest statement is Dumbledore's," she tapped the file, "as he recounts James Potter told him Black would be the Secret Keeper and Dumbledore cast the initial Fidelius that made him so."
"But the Granger girl gave a very nice recounting of how Black switched with Pettigrew behind the scenes, and they all determined to tell everyone Black was the Keeper as a bluff to divert attention away from the real one…that brings in reasonable doubt." Alastor said sagely.
"I know and a good advocate like Brian Cutter would tear a prosecution case apart in moments." Amelia said. "Truthfully, I can tell our esteemed Minister that what little evidence there is against Black is circumstantial and won't stand up in a court; that Black would never be convicted if everyone judged the evidence fairly."
"Not quite the same as clearing him." Alastor noted dryly.
Amelia shrugged. "It will be for Cornelius. Let's face it though; if we get the Boy Who Lived stating on record that he believes Black wasn't the Secret Keeper that will be more than enough for most people."
o-O-o
Remus stepped out of the floo and was almost assaulted by an anxious Sirius. Not for the first time he mused on the relative similarities between Sirius and Padfoot and wondered if a rolled up newspaper to Sirius's nose wasn't in order.
"Well?" demanded Sirius.
"She actually seemed to take me seriously." Remus admitted cautiously. "I caught sight of Ronald Weasley just as I was leaving and Moody was there." He commented as he led the way out of the reception room to Sirius's study. "He was disillusioned and in the corner but I could smell him."
Sirius did a little happy dance through the library and into the study.
Remus debated momentarily whether to tell Sirius about the note that would be going into his werewolf registration file and decided against. Sirius would only feel guilty and it wasn't truly his fault – Remus had been the one to forget to take his Wolfsbane. "I gave her Harry's address too."
"I don't see how it will make a difference to my getting custody." Sirius complained. He hadn't wanted to risk compromising Harry's location.
Remus poked his friend in the arm. "Trust me, it'll make a difference."
"Well in that spirit of optimism," Sirius pulled him over to the desk, "come and help me pick out a house."
"You do realise that it takes more than a month to exchange contracts on a muggle property?" Remus argued, exasperated.
"Muggle auctions, Moony, are a wonderful thing, not to mention money talks or it did with the house Brian is organising for the Dursleys." Sirius countered.
Remus looked at him suspiciously. "He used magic, didn't he?"
Sirius shrugged. "I ask no questions…"
"And he tells you no lies." Remus sighed but he set to the task of choosing a home for Harry with a rush of happiness that he hadn't felt in a long while.