The Trial of Potter

Chapter 2

Penelope Clearwater-Weasley stepped forward, her argument ready. Though most prosecutors liked to utilize Veritaserum to get the truth out of the defendants, she liked to twist and manipulate their answers until she got the ones she needed. Her extraordinary skill of manipulation was probably why the Sorting Hat had struggled between Ravenclaw and Slytherin during her Sorting. "Mr. Potter, were you a Death Eater in the service of Lord Voldemort?"

"Yes," Harry answered, his tone bored.

"And when did you receive the Dark Mark?"

Harry's voice was harder as he answered, "On my seventeenth birthday." Lily Potter took a sharp breath at that answer. She had remembered celebrating her eldest son's coming of age, thinking that he had the world in front of him to conquer. It was heartbreaking to know that on that very day he had signed his life away to a madman.

"And do you still bear that mark?"

Instead of answering the question, Harry rolled up the sleeve of his Azakban uniform to show the Mark. After Voldemort's demise, the Mark itself had faded remarkable, but it was still present on any marked Death Eater's arm. It looked a little like a bruise. Harry seemed to be doing his best to avoid looking at said mark.

Penelope turned to the trial. "Let it be noted that Mr. Potter has freely shown us evidence that he is a Death Eater."

"Objection," Daphne Greengrass said smoothly. "Being a Death Eater in itself has never been considered a crime by this court. Only crimes committed in correlation to being a Death Eater can be prosecuted."

"Sustained," Director Bones agreed. "Ms. Clearwater-Weasley, please move on."

Frustrated, Penelope tried another angle. "And were you responsible for the death of retired Auror Alastor Moody?"

"Objection!" Daphne stated once again. "My client is not being charged with that crime at this trial."

Penelope was prepared. "I am not attempting to try Mr. Potter for the death of Alastor Moody. I am merely trying to establish a baseline for what crimes defendant committed in Lord Voldemort's service."

Director Bones raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like self-incrimination to me." She turned to Harry. "Mr. Potter, you are free to abstain from answering that question."

Harry grinned wryly, an action that almost made Daphne's heart stop. Not that it showed, of course. "Though I do find this pissing contest very amusing, I am willing to answer any questions the prosecution has for me." That comment earned a wry chuckle from his brothers, a cluck of disapproval from the older people in the room, and a furious glare from both lawyers. "Yes, I was responsible for Moody's death."

"Did you kill anyone else while in Lord Voldemort's service?" Some people leaned forward in their seats to hear the answer to this question. In the four years since Harry had turned to the Dark side, everyone had wondered why his name had been linked to no other murderers than Moody's. It seemed impossible to believe that someone so high in Death Eater ranks could've only killed once.

Harry's normally green eyes turned dark very fast. "Not by choice," was the only thing he had to say in response to that question. No matter how hard Penelope pushed, Harry would not give any details or expand on that answer. Knowing that as his right, Penelope moved on. She called a witness to the stand. Colbert Wilkinson was a newbie recruit to the Death Eaters, only having been there four months when Voldemort was defeated. Having no evidence of crimes committed and due to the little time he actually was a Death Eater, Colbert was tried for war crimes and given a very light community service sentence. Still, the stigma of his past poor choice surrounded him, and he had jumped at the chance to testify against a well-known Death Eater in hopes of clearing up his reputation.