Here We Go

chapter 9

Chapter 9: Finding Your Feet

NB: One section covers unpleasant and mature concepts (not acts). It is marked so that ir can be skipped if this is preferred.

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sual disclaimers, no rights to any characters portrayed and this is neither the real world nor a Disney Princess tale. There will provably be changes in the first hour or so as I find things that didn't come out the way I wanted.
Towards the end of the week where they put Messrs Jones and Selwyn in their place, about four weeks after Harry talked to Gringott, things were beginning to slow down from the breakneck pace they'd been going ever since Harry rejoined the wizarding world….
Things of great moment were still happening, but the pace was more manageable. They had agreed to try and see whether it may still be possible to save Ginny from what she was to become by getting her away from her mother before Molly had that last year alone with her to finish corrupting her, and especially without the coming trauma of being possessed and bent to the will of Tom Riddle for eight or nine months. While Arthur wasn't happy about agreeing that they had to test her, and more to the point Molly, he had jumped at the chance to try and get Ginny off the path she'd followed last time, even though she may not be his biological daughter. It wasn't hard to use the Hogwarts Charter to get her in, because like Luna and Tori, she'd been displaying her magic since she was five or six.
Arthur was both relieved and enraged to learn that Ginny was in fact his daughter, because she was the first daughter in a few generations for the Weasley family, even though she was officially a Prewett. He was enraged because of what the goblin mind healers discovered his wife had been doing to his daughter, their daughter when they were healing the damage done to her…. and to see memories of what another year left to Molly's gentle ministrations had turned his daughter into. There was no way that they were going to leave any girl in the clutches of Molly Weasley and her sons by Bartemius Crouch Senior and Cornelius Fudge….. and the fact that Ginny was Arthur's only daughter meant that none of them would be allowed anywhere near Ginny ever again.
Descriptions of unpleasant topics here, you may want to skip this section.
Through using Merlin to sort her, they saw just what Ginny's life had been like for the last couple of years since Fred and George went to Hogwarts, and they all wanted to hex that foul hag, Ron and Percy into small, pain wracked pieces, and Albus Jones as well, because he'd been applying the compulsions and memory charms they'd needed on top of the potions to make her go along with their foul 'lessons' and forcibly removed her memories of the worst parts of it! As they'd expected, Ginny had been forced to practice sexual acts with her half brothers, though her mother had wanted her to properly merge the Prewett line with the House of Potter, so she had told them not to do anything to Ginny which could jeopardise that. Oral sex was something Ginny was forced to provide to them, but she never let them ejaculate in her mouth, and she almost bit Ron's dick off when he tried to force her to, so under the old magic's definition (never having had anyone ejaculate within the bounds of her body's energy field) she was still a virgin.
Percy had had enough intelligence to understand the consequences of interfering with his mother's plans, so he'd always kept any acts which may do so to the young Muggle girls that they used and abused, then obliviated and dumped back in the Muggle cities on the times that Albus Jones took him out of class to further his 'education' with. Molly, Albus and Percy paid no mind to the fact that many of those girls were even further abused by other perverts after they had been dumped back there in that state, because they were especially vulnerable while they were wandering around with no idea of who or where they were…. After all they weren't people, they were nothing but common Muggles, and as such they were put there to give proper Purebloods whatever they desired! (Like those other infamous Half-Blood Megalomaniacs of their world whom he was in bed with, Gellert Grindelwald and Tom Riddle, in his twisted mind, Albus Dumbledore had been a doyen of the Pureblood world.)
Unpleasantness concluded.
Ginny was taken to the Goblin mind healers to have as many of those memories and other damage as possible removed, and they added another room to Dora and Sue's trunk flat for her. Her inheritance test showed that the dormant Druidess line of the Ancient Druid House of Morag had been reactivated in her, so to protect her, male and female magical betrothals were accepted between her, as Head of the Ancient Druid House of Morag, and Nev, as Head of the Ancient Druid House of Ifan.
Fred and George also moved into the group, and discussions were under way to get their girlfriends and best friends to come in with them, so they were talking to the Johnson, Bell, Spinnet and Jordan families about that. This move upset Oliver Wood, the Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, because it meant that most of his team would be living in Corvus Tower (as Fred and George were their two beaters and Angelina, Alicia and Katie were the three chasers, which just left him as the keeper and an as yet undetermined seeker since Charlie Weasley had left earlier that year). Two more trunk flats were added for Fred, George and Lee, and Angelina, Alicia and Katie, these were permanently linked to each other's as well as to Ulfr and Snorri's.
Amelia was preparing a case against Molly and her now Squib sons, but it would take time to put the evidence together because she had many higher priority cases to deal with first. The potions that Molly sent to Ginny to use on Harry, the memories of what she ordered her daughter to do before she went to Hogwarts and the medical evidence of what she'd been doing to Arthur for decades would be the foundations for the case against her.
The first breakfast after Ginny joined their group, they decided to put on a bit of a show, so Ginny, Fred and George joined them at the Hufflepuff table, and Angela, Sirius, Remus, Alastor and the Goblin guards dropped their disillusionments to join them as well. As expected, as soon as Jones entered the Great Hall and saw them there, he charged across the Hall to try and expel them from Hogwarts.
He started on Ginny first… "What are you doing here in Hogwarts robes Miss Weasley? You know that you are not old enough to begin at Hogwarts yet! And Lupin, I will not allow a werewolf or goblins to be here in Hogwarts! I demand that you leave immediately!…."
As usual, Harry's quiet voice as he cut him off carried into every corner of the Great Hall. "Be quiet Jones! It would appear that Madam Bones was correct when she pointed out that your faculties have deserted you! It was only yesterday that you were formally advised that you no longer hold any role other than a common professor and were once again reminded of your duty to make yourself aware of the rules of the Hogwarts Charter and abide by them! Miss Weasley, Champion Lupin and our Goblin Guard have at least as much right as you do to be here at Hogwarts, probably more as their presence is not hanging by a thread at this point!..." He paused to make the old fool sweat a little.
"Miss Weasley has been enrolled under the incontrovertible Hogwarts Charter rules which require young witches and wizards to begin their magical education as soon as they start displaying their magic repeatedly to ensure that they do not become a danger to themselves and others! Miss Weasley has formally joined the Corvus Group and will be residing in Corvus Tower with us. Messrs Weasley and Weasley have also joined the group and accommodation in Corvus Tower. If you had been doing your duty back when you had a role in running Hogwarts you would have seen and understood this, but it is now obvious that you do not even meet the requirements of the ordinary teacher that you have been demoted to….." He allowed another pause before he went on to emphasise just how deep a hole the old fool had dug himself into.
"As for Champion Lupin… I believe that your current position on this merits further investigation Mister Jones, seeing as you as Headmaster allowed him to attend Hogwarts with full knowledge of his supposed condition twenty years ago, going so far as to specifically create facilities for him to stay in under the full moon and having the Hogwarts Healer treat him for the symptoms…" He caught Jones biting off an exclamation that there was nothing supposed about it, Lupin was a werewolf, so even if he hadn't actually been involved in Remus getting infected, and he wouldn't put it past a bastard like this, having him come to Hogwarts infected with lycanthropy had definitely been part of some grand plan he had. "yyeeessss…. I must say it is highly suspicious, given that Saint Mungo's has now formally tested Champion Lupin and certified him as being completely free of any sign of lycanthropy infections, so someone must have been deliberately using potions, compulsions and Confoundus charms on him since he was five to convince him and everyone else that the induced symptoms he was showing meant that he actually was a werewolf! We would hate to think that anyone could be so Dark as to do such an Evil thing to an innocent child, but then we all know what was done to the Boy Who Lived for the last ten years, don't we Mister Jones? An investigation into the Werewolf Registry has commenced but it is now clear to me that that investigation needs to be expanded!…."
"Speaking of investigations, I hear that another one has been started to look into why the ICW has been keeping your dear, sweet Gellert alive and well in Nurmengard since Nineteen Forty Five Albus…. It seems that a number of senior ICW officials have been keeping the prison open all this time just for him under the orders of someone who recently lost his influence over them. Some of the European Ministries were reportedly quite angry when they discovered that they cannot recover the millions of galleons that have been wasted operating that prison for nearly half a century, just so that someone could enjoy occasional conjugal visits with his ex lover…. so angry in fact that I hear some of them are now threatening to take it out of the erstwhile Supreme Mugwump's hide, and Madam Bones has been advised to instruct the DMLE to step aside if that happens to minimise the collateral damage…." The look of cold malice on Harry's face as he told everyone in the Great Hall the erstwhile Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and Supreme Mugwump of the ICW's dirtiest secrets made it clear that this was no boy talking…. And some students were already running out of the Great Hall, anxious to be the first to get this momentous news out so their families could gain advantage from it.
"Anyway Mister Jones….When you were hired to teach at Hogwarts in Thirty One and again when you were elevated to the Deputy Headmaster's position ten years later, and then the Headmaster's position in Forty Five, you swore an oath to comply with and enforce all the rules of the Hogwarts Charter, so the fact that you are now trying to have my Champion and Goblin Guard expelled from Hogwarts shows that you wilfully lied when you made those oaths, because it clearly states in the Hogwarts Charter that the Heads and Heirs of any Most Ancient House have the right to require private accommodation and facilities for themselves and their retinues and staff…. and to be accompanied by their Champions and guards wherever they go. Champion Lupin is my Champion and Lady Granger, Lady Bones, Lord Longbottom and the other Ladies also have their Champions here, along with our Goblin Guards of course. If you ever try to suggest that there is anything illegal or inappropriate in making use of the services of the superior guards offered by the Goblin Nation, rest assured that every Noble, Druid and Minor House and Family who makes use of their services will learn of your prejudice!"
Jones' ego couldn't let this stand, so he tried to use the one thing that didn't appear to be covered by this out of spite. "The Weasleys are not Heads and Heirs of a Most Ancient House! They must return to their regular dormitories and classes immediately!"
The exasperated and disappointed look on Harry's face told Jones that this wasn't over yet as he snapped. "What part of 'retinue' don't you understand Jones? The Houses of Weasley and Prewett are both vassals of the House of Potter, so anyone with any understanding of the laws of Magical Britain would know that all members of those houses are also Vassals of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter and therefore classed as part of my retinue! Even if they weren't, you don't have any authority to demand anything…. I'm of half a mind to have my Champion challenge you to a duel here and now and have him put an end to your lies and innuendo!"
Jones suddenly began to realise what he had done, so he ran away without another word. He started jumping whenever a door banged open as it dawned on him just what Harry had told everyone in the Great Hall and he realised what the old Houses of Europe would do to the wizard who'd so gleefully taken any and all rewards that were offered for eliminating the threat of Gellert Grindelwald when in fact he'd only captured him through trickery and then made them secretly keep him alive and well in Nurmengard because he couldn't stand the thought of losing his lover…. Tom and Gilderoy had been enjoyable diversions that he'd been drawn to because they had Gellert's looks and personality in the time since then, but they'd never really measured up to his Gellert.
There was the expected muttering from Jones and Selwyn when they discovered that they wouldn't be teaching the fabled boy who lived, because that was the primary reason that Slughorn agreed to come out of retirement, and Jones had been planning to use his access to the boy to recover his standing….. well he had been, up until he discovered that Alastor had stripped away all of his knowledge of Mind Magic so he couldn't manipulate the boy that way any more.
Both of them were looking at Alastor as the only one who could possibly have had the Legilimency skills and strength to strip away all traces of knowledge of the things they'd used to rise to their positions of prominence. They knew the boy had used some ancient magical laws to take everything else from them, but that was nothing more than having the necessary ancient blood lines, obviously someone had tracked him down and trained him in how to use those ancient laws, but there was no way that a child like him could have ever overpowered their minds like that!
Harry had transferred the magic (and therefore magical knowledge) taken from Percy Weasley to Arabella, and what was taken from Marcus Flint to Hagrid. Percy was magically stronger than Flint, so this gave Arabella's magic a bigger boost, and his knowledge of general magic was as good if not better than Flint's, even though he was a year after him, so Arabella took the Fourth year exams and joined the Fifth year classes. Hagrid had enough magical strength that Flint's weak magic wasn't a problem, and between his and Flint's magical knowledge, he passed his OWLs almost straight away with a little coaching, so he joined the Sixth year classes. The others also agreed that the hexes and curses that Flint had learned as part of a Dark House would be more useful to Hagrid as he would be more likely to need to fight than Arabella.
Training Hagrid to fight was part of the reason that Olag was attached to Ulfr and Snorri's command, as Olag was a Karl. The Karls were created to manage the trolls in the service of the Goblin Nations, they were far quicker and far more intelligent and agile than any normal trolls, while retaining their size, strength and resistance to magic. On top of that, they were capable of training to increase their skills and strength. As well as being stronger, faster and more skilled than trolls though, trolls were pre-disposed to obey the Karls, just as the Hobgoblins were pre-disposed to obey the Thanes and Common Elves were pre-disposed to obey the Reeves, and they had the need to deal with trolls in Albus Bloody Dumbledore's past and future plans for the Philosopher's stone.
A troll had been incorporated into Dumbledore's original planned 'protection' for the Philosopher's Stone, but while the troll was not there yet, Harry had seen in Dumbledore's mind that parts of his preparations for getting it into Hogwarts had involved interfering with Hogwarts' wards. The problem there was that Dumbledore had already been interfering with her wards for nearly half a century, and he was far from the first Headmaster or Headmistress of Hogwarts who had done so to further their own plans... What it came down to was that there was no way of properly dealing with a millennium of tampering without tearing the wards down completely and rebuilding them from scratch, and the Founders' knowledge said that this would most probably destroy Hogwarts' memories and almost certainly interfere with her personality, it might even 'kill' her as a thinking entity, and that was not something that any of them was prepared to risk.
Will the goblins' assistance, Harry and Hermione (as the Founders' Heirs) were working with Hogwarts to try and close the holes in her wards, concentrating on the most dangerous ones first. They'd already added wards to identify and destroy Riddle's dark mark and were close to getting the wards to do the same with other dark objects and dark creatures such as dementors and inferi working. Gringott was implementing these wards at Gringotts and Amelia had plans to quietly implement them as perimeter wards around Azkaban to contain anyone with the dark mark and dementors inside Azkaban as soon as they got them working, because the island was located on top of a ley lines like Hogwarts, Gringotts and the Ministry of Magic building, so the ley lines powered the wards. Amelia thought it was a delicious (if slightly evil) touch to make wearing magic suppressing shackles that shut off all the wearer's magic the only way to mitigate the agony of having the dark mark burnt off by the wards. Once they had Hogwarts' and Gringotts' wards working to properly deal with dark objects and creatures, they planned to do what they could to get equivalent wards working around Magical Britain and the Goblin Nations, and share them with allies further abroad as well.
Harry had also seen in Jones' mind that he still had ideas about using a troll as a distraction to allow him to retrieve what he believed to be the real Philosopher's Stone, and that would put the students at risk, so they had Olag move in with a trunk flat specifically made for him to command the troll to leave without harming anyone if possible, and help destroy it if not. It would of course have been both cruel and dangerous to leave 'Fluffy' (only Hagrid would call a horse sized Cerberus 'Fluffy') locked up in the castle to serve as the first line of defence for the stone, so they replaced him with a Simulacrum and he now spent his time going between Bran Holm, Castle Du (the ancestral home of the House of Black, which they'd lost to the goblins and lost all memory of in one of the Goblin Wars because they'd decided that the goblins were their's to do with as they would and the goblins didn't agree) and Gringotts, where he guarded some of the vaults.
Aside from the six Gryffindor Third Years who mostly kept to their old schedules aside from changing electives, they had most of their meals in the Great Hall and spent quite a bit of time in the library, but they weren't taking Astronomy, Defence against the Dark Arts or Potions classes with the other students, and Jones and Selwyn weren't covering any of the Transfiguration, Charms or Care of Magical Creatures classes they were taking. There were quite a few questions about why First Years were taking electives like Care of Magical Creatures, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy and Culture of Magical Britain and why they were in Second Year classes for some subjects, but seeing most of their First Year exam results for half of the core subjects shut those complaining up. Even Ginny had learnt enough through reading her brothers' text books and secret coaching from Bill, Charlie and the twins that she managed to sit her exams and progress to Second Year with the others.
They only had one Flying Lesson, and that was enough to have Madam Hooch talk Minerva into lifting the ban on First Years playing on the House Quidditch teams, so Ginny replaced Charlie as Gryffindor's Seeker, Harry became Hufflepuff's Seeker and Dora became a Chaser on the Hufflepuff team. Oliver was even more perturbed when the rest of his team refused to practice any more than they needed to, citing their greater need for study, and he couldn't force the issue when they were in Corvus Tower. He was mollified to see that the only Seeker who could match or beat Ginny was Harry, and the rest of their team worked well enough together that they didn't need much practice to keep their edge.
Ginny became distraught and begged to see her father when she received a package from her mother a couple of weeks after she joined them, and they were all relieved that she had passed the test. That package was of course the love and loyalty potions that she was meant to use on Harry, and after she was shown the memories of what she'd done in the other timeline, she completely agreed with the need to be tested. The potions and memories she supplied helped build the case against her mother, and by the beginning of October they had everything they needed to prosecute her. Both Hermione and Daphne had had their twelfth birthdays by then, but Harry had promised to properly celebrate their birthdays once all this shite was done with.
When Molly Weasley was dragged into Court Room Ten with Percy and Ron, she was confident that Albus would save them, he was relying her too much for his plans to let anything happen to her and therefore her sons, it was a worry that she hadn't had a chance to contact him since she was arrested, but Albus was the Chief Warlock and the greatest wizard in the world, he would save her…..
Her confidence in her saviour came crashing down around her ears when she saw that Griselda Marchbanks and Tiberius Ogden were sitting at the Chief Warlock's bench and Albus was nowhere to be seen. Even more shocking was the sight of Bill and Charlie sitting at the Wizengamot benches, Arthur and Ginny sitting at the witness bench and an uncommonly serious Fred and George in the gallery. She was pushed into one of the accuseds' chairs and wrapped in its chains before she could try to go to them and silenced when she tried to call out to them.
The next couple of hours were one big horrible nightmare for Molly as she was forced to confess to everything she had done under Veritaserum, including the assistance that Albus gave her to trap and keeping Arthur under their control since they were at Hogwarts, and what they'd done to prepare Ginny for her planned role in taking the wealth and power of the House of Potter, as well as preparing Percy and Ronald to do their parts in the plan. The confessions and memories that had been taken from Percy and Ronald the first night at Hogwarts, the memories and testimonies freely given under Veritaserum by Arthur and Ginny, the evidence of the potions and charms found when Arthur and Ginny were examined and the potions she'd been sending to Ginny to use on Harry Potter made it an open and shut case against her. The inheritance tests which proved that Percy and Ronald weren't Arthur Weasley's sons just increased the line theft charges and added adultery and forcing the House of Weasley to raise two other wizards' bastards to the charges. Arthur, as Head of the now Noble and Ancient House of Weasley (they'd acquired a barony as part of the previous settlements) and Charlie, as head of the Noble House of Prewett, formally cast Molly, Percy and Ron out of both houses, and Charlie also cast his Great Aunt Muriel out of the House of Prewett for knowingly assisting in Molly's crime of line theft against the Noble and Ancient House of Weasley.
Molly was confused when Harry Potter stood in the Potter box, but she tried to wail at him to stop from under the silencing spell when he spoke. "Under the Ancient House rules of the Wizards Council I, Duke Henry James Potter of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter claim restitution on behalf of the Noble and Ancient House of Weasley! On the charges of line theft and adultery, in addition to whatever sentence imposed by this court... I hereby terminate the marriage of Arthurus Septimus Weasley to Molly Prewett and order that any and all magic, titles, holdings, property, wealth and belongings of the witch formerly known as Molly Weasley are hereby forfeit to Arthurus Septimus Weasley and she is to have any and all memories of anything to do with the Weasley and Prewett families removed. On the charge of Line Theft, I further order that any and all titles, holdings, property, wealth and belongings of the witch formerly known as Muriel Prewett are hereby forfeit to the Noble and Ancient House of Weasley and she is to have any and all memories of anything to do with the Weasley and Prewett families removed."
"For knowingly committing adultery with Molly Weasley, wife of Arthurus Septimus Weasley, and forcing the House of Weasley to bear the cost and shame of raising his son, the Squib formerly known as Ronald Bilius Weasley, who disgraced the House of Weasley with his previous crimes…. I order that one third of all holdings, property, wealth and belongings of Cornelius Fudge and the Minor House of Fudge are hereby forfeit to the Noble and Ancient House of Weasley. Furthermore, the Squib formerly known as Ronald Bilius Weasley is to have any and all memories of anything to do with the Weasley and Prewett families removed and Cornelius Fudge is to formally accept him into the Fudge family and raise as his son, Ronald Fudge. Cornelius Fudge must also formally accept into the Fudge family and raise his daughter, the witch formerly known as Millicent Bulstrode, as Millicent Fudge. The Squib formerly known as Percival Ignatius Weasley is also to have any and all memories of anything to do with the Weasley and Prewett families removed, but as he has already lost his magic for his other crimes, the House of Crouch has been eradicated and forfeited all its holdings and wealth and his father, Bartemius Crouch Senior, has been sentenced to life in Azkaban…. he is also to have any and all memories of the Magical World removed before he is inserted into Muggle Britain under the new identity of Percy Jones. So Mote It Be!"
Hermione and the others quietly repeated "So Mote It Be!" to have the decree accepted by the magic of the court and Molly passed out as she lost her magic, while Percy and Ron started looking around, as they had no idea of why they were there, wrapped in chains, or why being Percy Jones and Ronald Fudge didn't feel right for some reason.
Griselda frowned at Harry, as the fact that the accused no longer had any idea of who they were or what they did before made the sentencing more difficult, but Percy and Ron were taken from the court room before Molly No-Name was sentenced to ten years in Azkaban for the Line Theft Charges, plus five years more for each of the sons she had by adulterous affairs and made her erstwhile husband raise. No-one expected her to last a year in there without her magic, let alone twenty.
Fudge tried to say that Harry's decrees weren't legal, that he wouldn't accept either of those children into his family and that he demanded that everything taken from him be returned immediately, with an additional ten percent being paid to him in compensation but Harry just laughed at him and asked the Chief Witch and Chief Warlock for a ruling on the matter.
Tiberius answered, because Griselda was obviously winding up to explode. "Minister Fudge, we have seen incontrovertible evidence that you knowingly committed adultery with the wife of Baron Weasley, and that you ordered her to have your son raised by Baron Weasley, as his own, and your son has also publicly brought the name of the Noble and Ancient House of Weasley into disrepute! In addition to that, the inheritance test that your daughter took is accepted throughout the Magical World as proof of parentage so you cannot deny it. My understanding is that the restriction against the Wizengamot prosecuting you for crimes committed while you are Minister for Magic does not apply here, because you weren't the Minister for Magic until last year, and you have gotten off lightly here so I would suggest that you formally accept your children and the penalties imposed as ordered and take your son home before the Wizengamot decides to also try you for adultery, forcing the Houses of Weasley and Bulstrode to raise your son and daughter and bringing the name of a Noble and Ancient House into disrepute."
Fudge obviously wanted to argue this until the solicitor he came into the court room pulled him aside to whisper furiously at him until he nodded angrily and stomped out of the court room.
As soon as he was gone, Sirius stood and proposed that automatic sentences in Azkaban be imposed for any use of Love, Lust or Loyalty potions and equivalent compulsion spells on any child or adult of Magical Britain unless they were used by specified professionals with specific written authorisation, pointing out that the vast majority of usages of the Imperious Curse incurred an automatic life sentence, so other things used with similar intentions should also incur automatic penalties. With Arthur and Harry's permission he pointed out that the targets in the current case had been the Head of a Noble and Ancient House, and more importantly the Head and Heir of more than one Most Noble and Most Ancient Houses, so if the Line Theft plot against Duke Potter had gotten much further, the mandatory sentence would have been death. This made the Wizengamot members stop and think, and they agreed then that imposing automatic sentences to ward off a serious crime with harsher penalties was a better option, so the proposal was passed.
While he was on a roll, Sirius also proposed that the Minister for Magic and Chief Warlock or Chief Witch's exemptions from prosecution or investigation for any crimes committed while they held those positions be revoked, effective immediately, and with the new Chief Witch and Chief Warlock heartily agreeing that this law's existence was a travesty of justice and that no-one should be exempt from facing justice for their actions, this also passed.
The next morning, the Daily Prophet carried the story, but the editor had had a visit from the Director of the DMLE, Chief Witch and Warlock and some of the most powerful people in Magical Britain, so all of the facts were reported accurately without any of the parties concerned being identified. The outrage over the idea of automatic sentencing of anyone, no matter what age, to Azkaban for using potions or spells meant to take away another's free choice (except where used in an official capacity with proper authorisation on file) was easily countered with Sirius' argument, that the foundation laws were being applied in Magical Britain now, so a few months or years in Azkaban was obviously preferable to a life, or perhaps even death sentence! A follow up article to that effect in the Prophet had potioners and apothecaries across Magical Britain immediately destroying any and all potions they had which may come under the new laws and potion and spell books being revised to remove anything of that nature.
The standing of Arthur Weasley and the Houses of Weasley and Prewett actually rose considerably as a result of the trial…. For a start, what Fudge forfeited to the House of Weasley was enough to make them quite a wealthy house (which of course had the DMLE looking into where Fudge had gotten that much money), their erstwhile Great Aunt Muriel had also had more money than the rest of the Prewett and Weasley families put together, so even at post Purge prices, selling off the Burrow and a few other properties left them quite well off. After getting his family's thoughts on the matter, Arthur purchased a building in Diagon Alley that had become available because of the earlier Purge. It included multi level living quarters upstairs that were more than big enough to take his still large by Magical Standards family comfortably, and a shop downstairs that would serve quite well for the twins' dream of making a living from following in their Uncle Fabian and Uncle Gideon's footsteps as pranksters and jokers... Arthur quite liked the idea of both making his sons' dream come true and honouring the memory of loveable larrikin brothers in law.
The way Arthur and his children had deported themselves in the face of the disgusting tales of villainy, betrayal and debauchery told in the trial had gained them a lot of respect, and many noted that Arthur was a new man now that he was out from under the potions and spells that they'd been using to keep him under their control. Many in the Wizengamot had also noted that Arthur had acquired powerful friends in the Wizard Council Alliance (as it came to be known), and the upshot of this was that when they dragged the arrogant and corrupt Pureblood in charge of the Goblin Liaison Office in front of the Wizengamot to explain why he was demanding that the goblins give him a cut of the funds that had been transferred as a result of the Wizard Council law decrees, claiming that it was a new Ministry tax a week later, they voted for Arthur to replace the man when he was permanently dismissed.
Fudge tried to stop both the dismissal and Arthur's promotion of course, but he and his cronies were forcibly reminded that the Ministry of Magic was nothing more than the administrative body of the Wizengamot, and that the Wizengamot could install or remove anyone they wanted. They were given a simple but effective demonstration by way of also permanently dismissing a few of Fudge's other cronies and closing their offices down because they never did anything, like the Werewolf Capture Unit and Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures, which were incorporated into the DMLE where they always should have been. Other stupid offices like the Official Gobstones Club and Ludicrous Patents Office were just closed and the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office was incorporated into the Improper Use of Magic Office, which Amelia now kept a closer eye on, demanding to see copies of everything that entered or left the office. Between showing them how easily they could be fired and banned from ever working with or for the Ministry again and quietly reminding Fudge that they could still use Veritaserum to make the man tell who had put him up to using fake taxes to try and steal other people's money, Fudge and his cronies all shut up and grudgingly congratulated Arthur on his promotion.