A sirius matter

Chapter 15 - A Sirius Trial

As would naturally be expected, Lupin and Ron were happy Sirius would have a trial. Harry and Hermione decided not to let Dumbledore know that it was a trial, just in case the headmaster would feel compelled to inform Snape of the true nature of his summons. The nine days passed by quickly, and before they knew it, Harry and Hermione were seated inside a courtroom with Madam Bones and Minister Fudge at the front. The Wizengamot was assembled, but because Albus Dumbledore was a witness, he was not seated with them. Harry noticed that Dumbledore was seated on the other side of the room, next to Snape, who was glaring at Harry.

Harry tensed up immediately on seeing the gothic, greasy-haired git who was responsible for his parents' deaths. He felt Hermione squeeze his hand. "Ignore him, Harry. We both know what he is, but doing anything about it will cause trouble. Just imagine his face when Sirius' name is cleared. That will bother him more than anything you could say to him."

Harry took a deep breath, looked into his girlfriend's eyes, and smiled. "You know just what to say. I can last through this trial to see that."

"Hi, guys, er, mind if I sit here?" asked a nervous-looking Ron who had obviously just arrived.

"Sure," replied Hermione, "but I think they'll be calling us all out of the room soon."

The red-haired boy sat down, and five minutes later, Lupin joined them. True to Hermione's prediction, within just a few minutes of Lupin's arrival, the witnesses were all led away to separate rooms.

-ASM-

Once Harry was led into his room, the official who'd escorted him there administered veritaserum to Harry so he couldn't lie and extracted the memories they wanted from him (from the moment he entered the Shrieking Shack until he was alone in the hospital wing with Hermione, Ron, and Dumbledore), placing them in a small vial labeled, 'Exhibit C – Harry Potter's Testimony.'

Once this was done, he was left alone. He'd been informed that the order of testimony would be Snape, Ron, himself, Hermione, Lupin, Dumbledore, and finally, as a surprise, Sirius Black. The format of this trial would be that the witness would be escorted into the court, and then everyone would be shown the pensieve memory. After that, the witness would receive another dose of veritaserum and be questioned about the memory they provided, and nothing else. He sat in silence waiting for what seemed like an eternity.

Finally, the door opened and a woman in ministry robes escorted him to the courtroom. He sat down, doing his best to resist the urge to hex Snape, who was now sitting in the courtroom looking rather pleased with himself. 'That murderer probably thinks he did a great job showing how guilty Sirius is!' He closed his eyes, willing himself to calm down before he ruined Padfoot's trial.

He watched as his memories were placed into a special pensieve that magnified the memories big and loud enough for everyone to watch without going inside it. They then showed everything Harry remembered from that night. After Harry drank more veritaserum, Fudge asked the first question, strutting over to Harry like the pompous fool he was. He looked condescendingly at Harry. "Harry, my boy, isn't it true that Sirius Black confunded you that night?"

"No, sir."

Fudge appeared a bit nervous. "You, er, may not realize that you were confunded, but you know that there are gaps in your memory of that night."

"No, sir. I remember that night perfectly."

Fudge looked around for support until Amelia Bones commented, "I saw no evidence in Mr. Potter's memory of uncertainty. It seems that Mr. Potter remembers that night quite clearly, including the small fraction of the conversation Professor Snape witnessed. I believe you were going to give him an Order of Merlin for interfering with that conversation."