Pensieve evidence, summary and verdict

Once the doors closed behind Dumbledore and his escort a shuddering sigh seemed to almost flow around the room and then everyone turned to carry on with the trial despite the horrified looks and quiet intensive whispers being exchanged around the room.

Harry decided it was time to carry on with his presentation. "Ma'am in regards to the charge of unjustifiably casting the Patronus charm despite my supposed status as an underage student I believe that I've been successful in proving a clear cut case of both self-defence and the defence of my squib cousin who is and was well aware of the Magical world. As our very souls and effectively our lives were on the line I would do it again though I did and would expect a much more effective response from the DMLE. I'm not talking about some almost 17 year old casting "Accio fresh underwear"; I'm talking about casting a spell that only has one primary use – to protect the caster or nearby people against imminent danger from a deadly dangerous class XXXXX foe.

"Frankly ladies and gentlemen given the spell I cast I fully expected a combat ready auror squad with mediwitch and obliviator support to arrive at any second. Instead some 30 odd minutes later when I've managed to lug my humongously large and semi-comatose cousin to our home with the 'assistance' of a local squib I get an 'we don't give a damn why you cast the spell you cast' expulsion howler spoken in a very prissy but smug voice. Have you any idea how disgusted I was with the Ministry that night? And then to walk into Umbridge and Fudges sanctimonious kangaroo court this morning. Quite frankly I have been seriously considering migrating to protect myself from those four psychotic individuals who can't be bothered sorting out their mummy-issues in a civilised manner. Merlin have you any idea how dangerous a place it is in the middle of a three-way fight between a wannabe Dark Lord, the current Dark Lord and a has-been Dark Lord hoping to rekindle his lordship and all at the cost of not just our lives, but our society and the wider world of magical and muggle Britain. Frankly New Zealand is looking pretty good at this point."

"I have some pensieve memories to show you shortly that are overall relevant to my defence which should stop the perceived necessity to stop me warning people That-The-Psychotic-Halfblood-That-Everybody's-Afraid-To-Name is in fact back."

"In regard to the secondary charge of breaking the Statute of Secrecy by performing the Patronus charm in front of a muggle I plead innocent as regardless of whether Dudley is in fact a squib or a muggle he falls under one of the exemption clauses of the statute in question and the other witness Mrs Figg is a known squib who happens to live only a few streets away from where my relatives currently reside. I believe the charge is in fact a bogus charge deliberately put in to pad the case against me as this is very much a case of self-defence."

After a moment an unknown wizard spoke up. "Clarify this exemption clause."

"Certainly sir," Harry replied in a respectful tone. "Without quoting the various Acts and the relevant clauses in detail as frankly I don't know them that well it is my understanding that whilst in general one is forbidden from exposing anyone from the general muggle population to the existence of the realities of magic and the wizarding world there are in fact several exemption clauses: The first exemption clause is apparently not well known but is the first as it relates to the Ministries legal requirement to keep the Queen and her Prime Minister and any other relevant Crown official up to date with the events of our world; this arrangement between the British ministry of magic and various muggle ministry departments resulted in for example, the various British muggle police forces also hunting for Sirius Black in case he attempted to hide in muggle Britain. The second clause normally affects a variable number of people at any one time as it deals with informing muggles spouses of your magical heritage. The third most numerous and probably the best known exemption clause relates to informing the immediate families of muggleborns and those like myself muggle raised in deliberate ignorance of my heritage. In this particular trial the individual also attacked by Umbridges dementors, one Dudley Dursley is my first cousin and is 6 weeks older than myself. He saw much of my accidental magic as we grew up. Dudley was also present when I was informed about the wizarding world on my 11th birthday by the illegally sent Hogwarts representative. Since then he has seen various magical items I keep in my bedroom as well as my owl, has been at Kings Cross station when I've departed and returned from Hogwarts and thus seen many of the students and their families heard the howlers sent to me by ministry employee Mafalda Hopkirk. The fourth major exemption clause relates to self-defence and or the use of magic to defend or protect yourself or others regardless of location."

"I've had the misfortune to live under the same roof as Dudley since I was kidnapped and dumped on his parents' doorstep during the night of November 1st/2nd 1981 with nothing more than a letter from Dumbledore telling my aunt that her sister and brother in law were dead and that my name is Harry James Potter, born 31 July 1980." Harry had to pause here to ensure he didn't cry. "Due to Dumbledores curses we have never been close. It is my understanding that to this day not one single ministry official or supposedly concerned friend has ever bothered or had sufficient consideration or courtesy to inform my aunt or later myself of where my parents bodies were dumped, the status of my and their belongings, financial arrangements for my raising or to even check on my wellbeing. I believe this is one of the major reasons that my aunt despises the wizarding world and its inhabitants."

"The ministry of magic though apparently has the manpower to force me back on the Dursleys after they finished mind raping the various school teachers and students, police and child protection officials, neighbours and medical personnel on the 17 occasions the muggle officials saw fit to rescue me from the Dursleys custody on child neglect and child abuse charges and on many of these occasions to remove my cousin as well along with arresting his parents.

"Anyway as regardless of my guilt or innocence in regard to the charge of doing magic in front of a muggle this is blatantly a bogus charge! In addition to the Dark Scums minions who illegally, immorally and unethically as Dudley was and is legally aware of the existence of magic and the wizarding world and had formally been since July 31st 1991. He and his family are fully aware that it is illegal for me to cast spells until I come of age. In addition I find it difficult to believe that after various visits to cover up the usual childish accidental magic incidents spread out over approximately a decade that the ministry is unaware of the identities and status of my aunt, uncle and cousin. If the minister truly believed Dudley to be an ordinary everyday muggle with no knowledge of or contact with the wizarding world then why wasn't Dudley and his parents obliviated?"

After pausing to allow the Wizengamot time to consider his statement but not to actually ask anything Harry went on. "Madame Bones in regard to the pensieve memories how do I get them to display in a set order?"

"Mr Potter the order in which you place them in the pensieve is the order in which a series of memories will display themselves."

"Thank you for the information. May the pensieve be set up now for everyone to watch and listen?"

"Certainly Mr Potter; I believe also we should have a 15 minute recess whilst that is being prepared. Mr Potter please do not deposit any memories until at least 30 members have returned to witness this," she said quietly.

"Very well ma'am," Harry replied quietly.

As he stood watching several aurors set the pensieve up for a mass viewing he suddenly decided that taking a loo break himself would be a sensible idea as well. Turning to a watching auror he asked to be escorted to the loo as well.

After a brief discussion with his squad leader another auror was sent along as well.

Upon his return Harry was happy to note that 17 Wizengamot members had also returned with more trickling in as he watched. After a few minutes and the return of numerous members he decided he'd met the quorum required by Madame Bones. He got the squad leader to verify that there were more than the stipulated 30 before he, having got their attention began transferring the various memories into the large and ornate pensieve.

Once finished after some coaching from a senior auror he stood back swaying for a moment. A healer quickly gave him a pepper-up potion. Once the steam stopped jetting from his ears and he felt better Harry stepped forward once again.

"Ladies and gentlemen whilst thinking about the hearing I was supposed to have this morning I had intended showing the following memories either during or after the hearing on the basis that Madame Bones and the DMLE needed to know the facts of what you are facing despite Fudge and Umbridges attempts to suppress this information. Some of these memories are directly related to today's events whilst others are background. All directly or indirectly concern events during my life time mostly at Hogwarts."

Turning to the aurors he asked that they begin displaying his memories.

"I will give some background where necessary but mostly just the when and where.

"This first memory is set a fortnight or so before the Leaving Feast at the end of my first year at Hogwarts. A series of clues over the course of the school year were deliberately laid before my two best friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley and I; with the benefit of several years hindsight we believe either directly by the headmaster or at his instigation. We were stupidly convinced that Professor Snape was going to steal the Flamels Philosophers Stone that the headmaster had hidden in Hogwarts over the school holidays. On the day in question we attempted to report our suspicions to the headmaster via the Deputy Headmistress. She informed us he had received an urgent or semi-urgent message to drop in to the Ministry and had chosen to do so by flying on a broomstick to the Ministry in London and that there was no danger of the Stone being stolen. So we three Firsties decided to protect the Stone ourselves as we couldn't get an adult to heed our warnings. Without a great deal of difficulty we successfully went through a series of traps supposedly designed to stop any adult witch or wizard up to and including Voldemort from stealing the Stone. I ended up inadvertently killing professor Quirrell who was possessed by the spirit of Voldemort.

(See relevant book and page for description).

"The next scene is days later when I finally awoke in the Hospital Wing. This is also the only 'counselling' I've ever received. I and my 2 friends were also never interviewed by the aurors concerning professor Quirrells death."

(See relevant book and page for description).

"We now skip to my relatives' home the day I knowingly met my very first house elf which resulted in my first letter from Madame Hopkirk and my first beating that summer and having uncle Vermin bolting bars over my window so I couldn't escape my prison cell during the weeks left of the summer.

(See relevant book and page for description).

"Whilst various things happen over the course of the following school year including various petrifactions. My friends and I were as confused over what it all means as apparently everyone else is. Oh and I also found out by accident that I'm a parselmouth and I still don't fully understand what the kerfuffle is all about since worldwide many nations pay huge sums to reptile talkers. Also fearing a language 'cause someone can cast nasty spells in why don't you fear and despise Latin speakers 'cause its used to cast the Unforgivables in it? Eventually Ginny Weasley goes missing and her brother Ron and I work out the probable entrance to whatever is going on so we go seeking Lockhart the DADA professor…"

(See relevant book and page for description).

By the end of this memory it was a rare adult in the room who wasn't for at least one reason or another shocked by the details of either the basilisk, his survival or Riddles identification of his new persona. They were stunned by Dumbledores knowledge of Riddles identity. Many were seriously reviewing their knowledge of Voldemort/Riddle in the light of this information.

Giving them a moment to recover Harry went on with his presentation. "The following three presentations are the events leading up to my first meeting with Fudge and my actual meeting with him at the Leakey Cauldron and his dismissal of my accidental inflation of my uncles sister. They are only separated by my very first accidental discovery of and trip on the Knights Bus."

(See relevant book and page for descriptions).

"As many of you may remember Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban in August of 1993 following a visit by Fudge. Some mental moron then decided that sending hundreds of hungry dementors from Azkaban to surround a boarding school full of underage kids who were unable to protect themselves from Dementors was a 'good' idea. Fudge certainly talked as though he'd thought of it but he is a politician so who really knows. This next memory is from the Hogwarts Express when dementors boarded the train as we neared Hogsmeade supposedly searching for Black. The one that entered our compartment attempted to Kiss me and I and the others in my compartment were rescued by Professor Remus Lupin casting the patronus charm. Over the course of the next few months at my request he taught me how to the cast the patronus charm. This is the memory the dementors dredged up, it's set in Halloween of 1981 at Godrics Hollow when Peter Pettigrew betrayed my family to Riddle."

(See relevant book and page for description).

Everyone watched fascinated as for the first time ever they got to hear and see some of what actually happened that night. Oh they'd all speculated at some point or another, often frequently but since he was the only known survivor it remained just that, speculation! Learned or otherwise there just weren't any adult survivors… to interrogate.

"Now most of you were given I understand a highly edited version of the search for Black at Hogwarts. Suffice it to say that there were various near misses with dementors who kept invading the school grounds in ever increasing numbers. Later that year a pet rat went missing from our dorm. A great 'sturm and drang' ensued over this as the rats owner kept verbally attacking the owner of the cat which he blamed for his pets demise.

"One day the rat was found and re-captured just outside the castle. The owner with his pet was then promptly captured by Black and dragged away to an abandoned building. We followed on behind to rescue our friend and found Black wasn't interested in the boy but oddly enough he was extremely interested in the boys pet rat. Oh and please ignore Prof Snapes attitude it directly stems from his time as a Hogwarts student when his yearmates the bigots Black and Lupin along with my father and Pettigrew who for 7 years tortured and tormented Prof Snape solely on the grounds that as my mum's best friend they disliked him and later because he was a Slytherin, this included deliberately exposing him to a werewolf on the full moon. Much of this disgusting behaviour was at least condoned by the staff - who know from Dumbledores testimony - took their lead from Dumbledore who not so subtlety encouraged the students feral behaviour. Please watch…"

(See relevant book and page for description).

"On our way back to the castle we were attacked by a werewolf and Pettigrew escaped in his animagus form of Scabbers the rat aka Wormtail the Death Eater. Professor Snape at great risk to himself and with the help of Sirius Black a dog animagus managed to distract the werewolf long enough that we kids all escaped unscathed but were separated. A short while later I managed to cast the patronus charm and rescued Black from the dementors and then Professor Snape rescued us all before returning us to the castle where Black was arrested and Fudge ordered him to be murdered by been Kissed that night. Secretly Dumbledore encouraged myself and Ms Hermione Granger to use a time-turner to free Buckbeak and Mr Black."

"I was told in the morning when I was released from the hospital wing that Black had escaped overnight. Later that morning in the headmasters office Dumbledore heard our tale then informed us that he didn't have the authority to get Black a trial as the word of three students and a professor or two was insufficient."

The Wizengamot members were highly perturbed by this news. "Mr. Potter," one member asked, "were those his literal words or the gist of them?"

"I," Harry paused then said, "I'm unsure but certainly in hindsight the gist of them, sir."

"This next memory is of our 4th year DADA teacher, the Azkaban escapee Barty Crouch jnr polyjuiced as 'Mad Eye' Moody teaching us the Unforgivables. Dumbledore later confirmed he'd granted permission to his supposed friend of over 20 years to teach virtually all students about the Unforgivables…"

(See relevant book and page for description).

"Ladies and gentlemen for the next few memories concerning the TriWizard Tournament may I have permission for Mr Amos Diggory and his wife to also view them. They have never had the opportunity to find out about their sons last months and subsequent murder."

"Are they available?"

"Yes ma'am. I requested their attendance at lunchtime. I told them they may not be permitted to attend this viewing."

"Very well young man. You are aware that this is highly irregular?"

"Frankly ma'am I am fairly clueless as to what is permitted and what is not. I do know that Fudges attitude demonstrated that he would never have permitted me to have anything like a fair trial; so automatically you all have my heartfelt thanks for your indulgences," Harry replied. He hesitated once more and asked apologetically, "if it pleases you may the healer give Mr and Mrs Diggory a calming draught before I start?"

A slightly exasperated man replied testily, "yes, yes, yes. Just get on with it."

Once the Diggory's were settled and dosed Harry started the memories again.

"This one takes place as the goblet of fire selects the three TriWizard school champions and myself. Afterwards we were taken to an ante-chamber where my participation was debated. Clearly neither I nor the actual Hogwarts champion Cedric Diggory nor the other 2 school champions, little alone Madame Maxime or Mr Karkaroff wished me to compete. It was only the British officials led by Dumbledore who forced my illegal participation. First is the shoddy logic used by Dumbledore to force me to compete in the TriWizard Tournament. Please bear in mind I'm prepared to swear both on my honour and magic I did not attempt to in any way, shape or form to enter my name or to get someone else to do so on my behalf. I just wanted a relatively quiet school year where I was not the centre of attention because of whatever my parents did to protect me!" Harry paused or a moment before saying, "On reflection I understand that I was automatically emancipated at this point as only 'of age' students could participate."

(See relevant book and page for description).

"This second one is after I was shown the dragons, we also overheard Madame Maxime and Mr Karkaroff been separately and supposedly secretly shown the dragons. Cedric seemed to be the only school champion NOT being forewarned of the dragons by an involved adult. When I rectified this a day or so later it confirmed my suspicions as he hadn't been warned by anyone else which has made me wonder since I was returned to Durzkaban whether all three sides of this war considered all the students as fungibles."

"Mr. Potter I have two clarification questions. First three sides? And second Fuungablle?"

"In reverse order sir Fungible is a term used by many militaries. In essence it normally refers to those readily replaceable things that are simply used up and discarded or replaced by similar items. Thus depending on circumstances and agendas you may be referring to items such as parchment, ink, clothing and toilet paper or at the opposite end to ministry personnel, aurors or the pseudo lords violent slaves known as death eaters. What or whom the term is applied to depends on those making the decisions but many such consider these items as expendable resources. So in context Dumbledore, Fudge and the Death Eaters all seem to consider Children and students to be fungible."

After a pause to let them think he continued with answering the first part of the question. "Sir in regard to the number of sides involved in this war it is my considered opinion that there are a minimum of three major sides with several other semi-neutral groupings. The first side is that of Dumbledore who is supposedly fighting his protégé and great grandson Riddle but is he? Whatever he's doing he's remarkably ineffective at stopping him but very good at causing the deaths or emigration of those wanting to protect this society from dictatorial dark wizards or just want to be left alone. It did take the sacrifice of my parents to stop him last time. The second side is Riddles. He is certainly an effective terrorist but I've never heard anyone else's explanation for what he actually wants than Dumbledores 'he wants to eliminate muggleborns and their influences from our world'. Oh and he's fixated on killing me. Frankly beyond their attitude to Unforgiveable usage I see little difference between the two. Riddle prefers physical torture whilst Dumbledore prefers mental torture but is quite happy to let someone else do the physical torture and or dying on his behalf. The third side is the Ministry and the Wizengamot which is apparently semi-divided amongst itself. Supposedly there to govern us in a fair and impartial manner it can't even do that. Criminals like Fudge and Umbridge happily take bribes and trade favours with people like Dumbledore and Malfoy who fronts for Riddle. Under Umbridge and Malfoys guidance laws and regulations are passed to ensure that those individuals marginalised in our society such as werewolves and non-humans turn to Riddle for shelter, food, work and protection from the Ministry or they migrate."

"Somehow through bribery or corrupt practises the supposedly independent Daily Prophet heavily slants its lies and partially truthful articles to project the Minister or his leading advisors private political slant on supposed news items and information articles or to push private agendas of mentally sick hacks that it chooses to publish. Also," Harry paused, shrugged his shoulders and asked, "does the Daily Prophet have a compulsion charm or potion on it to make people believe its stories? 'Cause despite some of the more speculative articles it seems to me that the Quibbler is more honest and accurate with its news articles."

(See relevant book and page for description).

"Cedric repaid me by later clueing me into listening to the Merpeoples message under water however this memory is going to be of the third task and its aftermath," Harry said sadly. "Currently this memory sequence has replaced that of my parents' deaths when the dementors come close."

Everyone watched enraptured and horrified as the evenings events unfolded before them. The maze, Krums obviously Imperio'd attacks, the portkey, Cedric's death and Harry's capture by a clearly identifiable Pettigrew, the rebirth ritual, the arrival and naming of the death eaters, the unmasking of Lucius Malfoy, the duel and priori incantum spirits and then Harry's escape with Cedric's body. The discovery that Mad Eye was in fact Barty Crouch jnr before passing out.

(See relevant book and pages for description).

A long silence with only Mrs Diggory's sobs to be heard was broken when Mr Diggory walked over to Harry and said, "Thankee lad, thankee for bringing his body home to us and showing us these memories. The missus and I 'preciate it lad. Come see us someday when things are a bit more settled. The Weasleys know where we live." He then returned to his wife and they slowly left the courtroom together with a mediwitch and auror escort.

After their departure everyone seems to shake themselves and get back to business.

"Rufus?"

"Madam Bones?"

"As soon as we finish with this evidence issue an arrest warrant for all those named by Riddle, particularly Malfoy. All are to be kept isolated and questioned using veritaserum; in particular confirm the identities and locations of those involved at the graveyard. It seems we're down to only 30 odd marked DE's still running loose. Also concentrate first on those in the building at this moment."

"Ma'am if I may continue? There are only two more memories."

"Very well."

"Thank you. The next memory is of waking up yet again in the hospital wing. It seems that for his 'own personal protection' Fudge had deliberately bought a dementor inside the castle full of school children and permitted it to Kiss Barty Crouch jnr who was unconscious and securely tied to a chair in a locked and guarded room. Apparently according to Fudge this well trained Dark creature 'just took it upon itself to give the Kiss' and then instantly reverted back to being Fudges well behaved bodyguard until Madame Pomfrey barred it from the hospital wing. So if we're to believe Fudge his pet dementor is apparently in the habit of spontaneously going feral, Kissing people, then reverting to tame which is to say the least is highly unusual. I know in the muggle world any animal that attacks or kills people is automatically put down regardless if it's a wild or feral, a beloved pet or a trained guard dog. Anyway Fudge was flat out refusing to believe that Riddle is back and started what would soon be a smear campaign leading to our presence here today. Professor Snape showed him his revitalised Dark Mark and told him he felt the call only a short while before I returned wounded, shocked but holding the body of Cedric Diggory. But it mattered not what anyone said, Fudge refused to deal with reality. I do not know whether he is a death eater, supporter or a craven coward."

"Muggles have a term for the inability or unwillingness to face facts and deal with reality. They call it 'burying your head in the sand'."

At the numerous looks of incomprehension he explained, "The muggles credit this behaviour to that of ostriches burying their heads in the sand so their enemies can't see them but a similar thing is observed with small children when playing peek-a-boo. It's simple kids logic, if their eyes are covered so they cannot see you then ergo you cannot see them. Most kids seemingly grow out of this phase by the time they're out of training pants. It looks like Fudge and his cronies got stuck there."

Harry was storing up the vision of the Wizengamots reaction to his last observation for later recall as a patronus moment.

(See relevant book and pages for description).

"Alright ladies and gentlemen the last memory is that for which I've been charged, to whit the unnecessary casting of the patronus charm illegally in front of a muggle."

(See relevant book and pages for description).

"In conclusion Ladies and Gentlemen I have never denied casting the Patronus charm but I have conclusively proved that whilst I did indeed cast the patronus charm it was clearly in self-defence in return for what turns out to be not a random rogue dementor attack upon myself and my accompanying cousin but a premeditated murderous attempt by Senior Undersecretary Umbridge on behalf of Minister Cornelius Fudge and apparently indirectly aiding and abetting the murderously treasonous activities of the Dumbledore & Riddle. She deliberately chose to misuse the Ministry controlled dementors under her purview as her instrument of murder. Self-defence and protection of others are legally valid grounds for doing magic in front of muggles."

"I have shown that Minister Fudge has today knowingly assisted his personal gofer Senior Undersecretary Umbridge in covering-up her own criminal activities and I have no doubts that a thorough investigation will show that the minister and his senior staff have an extremely unhealthy amount of influence over what and how the Daily Prophet and other British media outlets portray, libel and slander people in those situations the minister and his lackeys don't approve of them. Such an example is how in the few short days since I returned with Cedric Diggory's corpse the Daily Prophet has seriously ramped up its series of 'Harry Potter is a lying nut case' articles."

"I have shown that all this stems from Fudges desperate desire to avoid admitting to both himself and the public that Tom Marvolo Riddle aka 'I am Lord Voldemort' has become re-embodied and to Umbridge's sick and perverse desire to make sure that Fudge got whatever he wanted regardless of any bystanders, legalities, moralities, ethics or even plain common sense!"

"As I have made clear and the Ministry has records that clearly indicate that the Dursleys were fully and legally aware of the Wizarding Worlds existence and that my cousin Dudley was, along with myself, first made aware of it on July 31st 1991. Dudley is as fully aware that I attend a magical boarding school as I am that he attends a normal boarding school. Thus any charges relating to his 'illegal' knowledge or his 'to be kept ignorant as he's a muggle' status are bogus. In addition there as I was knowingly entered into the adult-only TriWizard under the authority of Chief Warlock aka Headmaster Dumbledore, senior British Ministry officials Barty Crouch Snr and Ludo Bagman along with the begrudging agreements of Headmistress Maxine & Headmaster Karkoff thus obviously emancipating me! Which makes the underage charges bogus as well!

"I hereby request that not only that I be declared innocent of any wrong doing but any and all prior charges be deleted from my file. Thank you Ladies and Gentlemen for giving me a chance to not only prove my innocence but to demonstrate the inappropriateness of the charges along with evidence of why these charges were made and why they were persecuted in such a manner as to bypass any of the policies and procedures already in place."

After a long silence Madame Bones spoke, "Does anyone have any further questions or wish us to retire to consider the verdict?"

After what felt like a huge pause to Harry there was no response to her question and Madame Bones went on. "Very well then, on the first charge of illegally casting a patronus charm contrary to the Underage Statute; all those in favour of the Guilty verdict indicate so."

Harry stared at the Wizengamot members and when none raised their hand or even moved he let out a very relieved sigh even as Madame Bones said, "Not guilty. Charge dismissed."

Yet again Harry waited nervously as Madame Bones went on. "Very well then, on the second charge of illegally casting a patronus charm in front of a muggle contrary to the Statute of Secrecy; all those in favour of the Guilty verdict indicate so."

Despite the awesome temptation to close his eyes Harry watched closely as this time several seem to actually debate raising their hands but in the end none did.

Then Madame Bones said, "Not guilty. Charge dismissed."

Unexpectedly to Harry and some others Madame Bones then went on, "In regard to the much earlier offence in 1992 of using a Hover charm in the presence of muggles and contrary to both the Secrecy and Underage Statutes. Evidence has been presented that the offence was actually done by the house elf Dobby then bound to Lucius Malfoy. Does anybody have an objection to this offence been removed from Mr Potters file?"

Madame Bones waited before saying, "No objection having been raised Madame Hopkirk is hereby ordered to permanently remove the relevant records from Mr Potters file and place them in the Malfoy family file. In addition Lord Malfoy is hereby fined 1,000 galleons as the owner of a misbehaving house elf. The Malfoys have 30 days to pay or appeal this fine."

"In regard to the case of accidental magic in 1993 resulting in the over-inflation of Marjory Dursley, does anybody wish to appeal Minister Fudges decision not to prosecute?"

To Harry's immense relief no one decided to dispute Fudges ruling on the matter but then to Harry's dismay Madame Bones went on. "During today's hearing on various occasions and in some of his pensieve memories Mr Potter has indicated that he is or was routinely abused by his relatives and that Chief Warlock Dumbledore is or was aware of these matters and apparently not only condoned them but was deliberately aggravating any natural ill will. Mr Potter are you aware of how you ended up in the custody of your aunt and her family?"

Harry shut his eyes in dismay for a moment before answering flatly, "Yes ma'am."

"Please explain to us your understanding of those events," another witch demanded sharply.

"Very well ma'am," he swallowed convulsively before beginning with his aunt and uncles point of view. "According to my aunt around dawn on the morning of November 2nd 1981 aunt Petunia went to bring in the bottles of milk along with the newspaper which was normally left on the doorstep before dawn. When she opened the door I was lying on the doorstep in a basket with a letter. The letter basically said 'Lily and James Potter are dead. It's been decided that you'll have custody of your nephew Harry James Potter born 31 July '80. Yours Albus Dumbledore'"

"No one has ever contacted them regarding death certificates, funeral arrangements or monetary compensation to cover the additional costs of raising me. I am one of four people living in a four bedroom house but have no memories of sleeping anywhere else but the broom closet until my Hogwarts letter arrived addressed to me care of the 'cupboard under the stairs' at which point I was ordered to move my belongings into Dudley's second bedroom. To this day the room is still referred to as Dudley's second bedroom."

There was a considerable stir amongst both the Wizengamot members and the aurors in the room, they stilled as he went on. "According to Hagrid who'd found me at Godrics Hollow he'd been sent by Dumbledore to bring me to him. An off duty Auror trainee Sirius Black then arrived on his motorbike and as my godfather and now legal guardian as well as an auror he attempted to take custody of me but Hagrid wouldn't disobey Dumbledore and refused to hand me over. When Sirius saw this for my sake he gave Hagrid his motorbike to use as it was safer for me. Sirius then blaming himself for suggesting to my parents that Dumbledore make Pettigrew the secret keeper rather than himself, left to find Peter Pettigrew aka Wormtail as either a traitor to be arrested or to recover his body. We all know how he was knowingly framed by Pettigrew and as shown today, by Dumbledore."

"Apparently at some point the next morning that is November 1st Hagrid had been at Hogwarts and informed professor McGonagall that he and I would be at my relatives that night. I've no idea where I was kept prisoner that day. Hagrid arrived with me supposedly via Bristol at my relatives place at midnight and met Dumbledore and professor McGonagall."

"Despite arguments from the pair of them Dumbledore dumped toddler me on the doorstep of Durzkaban and left me there unattended for close on 7 hours. They did not even bother to wake my relatives and inform them that my parents were dead and ask if they were willing to take in their nephew before I was found by my aunt the next morning." Harry paused for a long moment then went on, "So effectively within only a few days first my parents were killed, then I and my primary legal guardian were kidnapped and falsely imprisoned and my secondary guardians were confined to St Mungos long term ward."

"On a separate occasion a few years ago professor McGonagall told me her account of my abandonment and it matched Hagrid's version though limited to my relatives' premises and I also learnt that my parents will had been ignored to the point no one had officially read it."

"Dumbledores account differed significantly in that he mostly ignored all of the legal, ethical and moral issues of his criminal acts and simply said, I knew you wouldn't have an easy time of it when I left you there but it is all for the 'greater good'."

"He has yet to explain how deliberately arranging for me to be starved, physically and medically neglected, regularly beaten up by either Vernon or later their son Dudley, used as their virtual slave to do almost all the housework whilst they did sod all yet claimed all of the credit; being punished for having better school grades than Dudley and having them tell the locals I'm currently attending the St. Brutus' Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys when I'm at Hogwarts. When I do get to Hogwarts Dumbledore deliberately arranges for my medical state to be officially ignored rather than corrected or alleviated and has then arranged for me to confront Riddle 3 years out of the 4 I've attended Hogwarts without any additional training or assistance other than two first years I met on the Express. After all according to Dumbledore it's all for the 'greater good'!" The sheer venom with which he spoke showed his extreme displeasure at the situation.

After a moments stunned surprise Madam Longbottom asked, "Do you have any other statement to make Heir Potter?"

"In addition to the danger he's repeatedly contrived to place me in he has also simultaneously endangered the entire school population for the last four school years. I have been told that as headmaster the school wards would have notified him of any Dark artefacts, creatures within the castle and possessed people. In my first year the DADA teacher arrived at the school already possessed by Riddles wraith; he was inadvertently killed by myself at the end of the school year. Amongst other things Quirrell/Riddle was killing unicorns to drink their blood and during the Halloween feast of '91 Quirrell released a troll into the castle supposedly in the dungeons. Instead of leaving all the students safely secured inside the Great Hall to continue the feast Dumbledore ordered the prefects to take all of us back to our common rooms including the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs whose common rooms are at or below the ground floor so a lot closer to where the troll was reported whilst he and the staff supposedly hunted it down. The Slytherin and Hufflepuff prefects led their Houses to a nearby disused classroom and holed up there for the evening. The result was 3 first year Gryffindor students rendered the 12' mountain troll senseless by themselves in one of the second floor toilets.

In my second year the DADA teacher Dumbledore employed was peacock named Lockhart who in his self-aggrandising went to the extremes of getting the story of other peoples 'adventures' before obliviating them and publishing their tales of daring as his own deeds. How many people worldwide were obliviated by him to cover up his activities? I've also got no idea if he got up to any inappropriate activity with any of the students but I do know that I and most of my classmates learnt little from either of these two so-called teachers and god help those who were sitting their OWL's and NEWT's those years. He did however attempt to obliviate myself and Ron Weasley and abandon us in the tunnels under the dungeons when he found out the monster was in the tunnels.

"A first year pureblood student had been possessed by a wraith of Riddle and re-released Slytherins basilisk into the castle. Over the months various students and pets were petrified. Unlike the previous occasion no one was killed. In addition in the 50 years since the previous incident Dumbledore was supposedly unable to deduce a basilisk was loose in the castle despite having been there when his protégé Head Boy Riddle let one loose in the early 1940's for which a 3rd year student Rubeus Hagrid was blamed and expelled yet a second year muggleborn student worked it out after only a few weeks research in the school library."

"In my 3rd year it was sheer luck no one was Kissed or killed between that and the political power games been played with our lives by the political idiots Fudge, Dumbledore and Malfoy."

"Following Fudges visit to Azkaban before my third year had even started where he gave information to Sirius Black which finally gave him the impetus to release himself on his own recognise out of Azkaban to capture Peter Pettigrew since no one else could or would. The Ministry decided to send hundreds of dementors to Hogsmeade and Hogwarts to supposedly 'protect' one student! I personally was attacked several times in ever increasing numbers by these ministry controlled Dark creatures, at least once during a quidditch match. I don't know if anyone else was attacked and if it was hushed up. Are all the ministry decision makers insane?"

"Then we have my fourth year and the whole TriWizard kerfuffle. For the entirety of the school year Dumbledore saw his best mate virtually every day yet he apparently was incapable of realizing that someone else was in fact impersonating Mad Eye Moody; or did he in fact know and ignore it for his own nefarious purposes? Interesting question isn't it?"

"I have been repeatedly told that I was my parents pride and joy so I'm forced to wonder if following my kidnapping my parents wills were deliberately ignored. My mother at least would've known that her sister was both unfit and unwilling to raise a magical child. I also wish to know by what ethical or legal right was a school teacher, who is apparently neither kith nor kin, able to arbitrarily override everyone else's legal rights. I also find it peculiar that I've only been told that A) I had a godfather and B) my godfather was Sirius Black after he escaped from Azkaban. I've never been told who my godmother is nor the name of any other alternate guardians for me. Up until today I did not know the names of my grandparents or the occupations of my parents or grandparents nor have I been told where my parents are buried little alone ever been escorted there. I was however told that I had no living magical relatives. Apparently they and their friends the Aurors Longbottom were warned by Dumbledore that they and their son Neville were also been targeted by Riddle as an example to people of the folly of fighting him. In that situation would any of you only list one possible magical guardian for your child? Particularly when your primary choice is also a young hot-headed auror notorious for reacting THEN thinking? Or would you list several alternate guardians? Attrition rates tend to be highest amongst those doing the actual fighting after all. Yet suddenly the moment my parents are murdered my lawful guardian is within minutes illegally denied my custody on Dumbledores orders and within days without benefit of trial, a hearing or any real evidence is confined to a Azkaban high security cell for over a decade and Dumbledore and the Ministry are now telling you he's been tried and convicted and apparently no one questions this lie but his grandfather the Lord Black. Why? According to other students all other known or suspected death eaters at least got a formal trial or the opportunity to bribe their way out by claiming they'd been under the Imperius or even more rarely were honestly vouched for by someone 'above reproach'."

"Within a few days of the illegalities leading to his incarceration the media is suddenly on the basis of interviews & comments by the then minister Bagnold, Crouch snr, head obliviator Fudge and Dumbledore that claimed that not only is this 21-year-old trainee auror a marked death eater but is Riddles 1st lieutenant despite the fact that not one single real death eater ever admitted to seeing him inducted and branded, in death eater garb, attending any meeting and NOT one single one ever admitted to meeting or seeing him and Riddle together at any point except at wand point or to having been issued any orders by Sirius Black. They could honestly say that they'd seen his younger brother Regulus, his cousins Barty Crouch and Bellatrix Lestrange but NOT Sirius. I can honestly tell you that I've seen him with his shirt off and there was no sign of any tattoo little alone a dark mark."

This last comment certainly elicited a reaction from all present. "Mr. Potter if you know of Mr Black's whereabouts then you are legally required to report them to an auror immediately," Madame Bones stated. "Why haven't you done so?"

"For several reasons madam," Harry responded. "The first is I literally can't tell you as Chief Warlock Dumbledore has cast the fidelius charm on Blacks current residence. The second is that knowing he was innocent of the alleged crimes and that to cover his and others crimes Fudge intends having him immediately Kissed upon recapture to conceal the living evidence. The third one is simply that at least a dozen or more adults including at least some with law enforcement backgrounds have chosen to NOT pass this news on to the corrupt Fudge led ministry and I followed their lead. The fourth is that at the time in question I also mistakenly trusted Chief Warlock Dumbledores judgement to be ethically and morally right."

"Once I realised how I was being deliberately isolated and kept ignorant and untrained by Dumbledore and that he'd in fact arranged for some of his loyal minions to be present to ensure that Sirius didn't upset the apple cart by informing me of my heritage, rights or of anything else unsanctioned by Dumbledore. I began wondering why none of these things ever came up in conversation with my dorm and house mates, nor why no one ever questioned my lack of obviously decent or new possessions. I would have thought that at least the muggle raised would have questioned the rags I wore. In particular with all the slanderous and libellous comments made about me by the press or most of the supposed facts reported by the media not one of them questioned why a rich orphan wore rags and why the muggle school photos supplied by Dumbledore were obviously stolen."

The last statement caused a considerable stir amongst both the Wizengamot and the aurors before they quietened down again.

Again Harry was interrupted by the same Wizengamot member. "Mr Potter how do you know these photographs were stolen?"

"It is quite simple sir; first it is standard muggle practise that all school photographers send one free example home with each student along with an order form listing alternate sizes, prices and querying the number of copies required. My aunt always destroyed my free copy in front of me and the Dursleys have never 'wasted' film on photos that would include me. Secondly all professional muggle photographers keep a file copy on display which is stamped with either 'proof' or 'file copy', this copy has on its back the cross-reference details to the original roll of film which is commonly preserved elsewhere. Thirdly no real photographer will sell the 'file' or 'proof' copy as it's unprofessional. They would look like amateurs. What they would do is go and get the original roll of film out of storage and print all additional copies off that. If you look closely at my photos you will find all or parts of these words on them thus indicating they are stolen. Lastly under Crown law it is illegal to sell any photos of children to someone who is not the parent or legal guardian of that child," Harry said in reply.

"Mr Potter could you please explain to us why the muggles have that law," asked a puzzled woman from the ranks of the Wizengamot.

"I don't understand all the reasons but the main one is to try and restrict the access of paedophiles and other such sick or sexual deviants along with the media, celebrity stalkers to photos of children, particularly inappropriate ones where the child is partially unclothed or nude." (AN: it's illegal under Australian law at least for those very reasons!)

After a thoughtful pause Madame Bones asked that he continue with his statement.

"All in all ladies and gentlemen I've ended up with one important question and that is an apparently fairly simple one that the Wizengamot will need to answer for itself. Is Albus Dumbledore simply a has-been, immoral, unethical, highly charismatic and manipulative politician like his ex-lover Gellert Grindelwald and his great grandson Voldemort only with a very much more efficient self-promotional system in place coupled with a deep desire to be remembered as 'Merlin Reincarnated' and or simply the most successful Dark wizard in recent British history?"

To say the least this last question resulted in deeply shocked individuals' then contemplative silence throughout the courtroom. Soon however, though far too soon from Harry's point of view, the Wizengamot members began murmuring to themselves.

After leaving them to talk amongst themselves for almost ten minutes whilst she and Scrimgeour conferred together before he took the bulk of the aurors with him as he left the courtroom Madame Bones used the sonorous charm to gain everybody's attention. "Thank you ladies and gentlemen. Does anybody have any further questions for Mr Potter regarding his trial?"

When no one spoke up she went on, "Mr Potter you are hereby declared free on all charges and specifications and are free to go. You will be owled at a later date to arrange a formal interview and to provide pensieve evidence regarding the further investigation of the charges against Fudge, Dumbledore and Umbridge. Auror Harold Holt will assist you to recover your memories after he copies them and to escort you to my office to await me. Please note the beyond the not guilty verdict today's surprise events are hereby declared sub rosa until the 7pm WWN broadcast tonight. Could all the currently present Wizengamot members stay for an impromptu meeting starting in 30 minutes? Owls will be sent out calling for a full emergency session for tomorrow morning at 9.00am as there are at least three positions we will need to fill temporarily until elections can be called."

Harry moved back over to the pensieve and after waiting for the instructions from auror Holt he proceeded to replace his memories inside his head. Once he'd finished he thoughtfully followed auror Holt to Madame Bones waiting room. He was not looking forward to his return to Grimmauld Place and having to explain what had happened today though he was immensely satisfied on so many levels that it had. He was most definitely sure, now more than ever, that he needed to get to Gringotts and hopefully do some quick shopping before returning to confront the Order and Mrs Weasley as a dedicated died-in-the-wool true believer in the truth of Dumbledores dirty deeds!

Shortly afterwards Madame Bones returned to her office to issue a quick series of orders to her secretary and to order Auror Holt to find Auror Shacklebolt and to relieve the Ministers office guard and to permit no one else but her staff into the Ministers office. They were also to ensure no files or other items were to 'disappear' or be destroyed by anyone. Her people would be up in ten minutes or so to search and catalogue the crime scene.

Once they were all busy or gone she turned to Harry and said, "Mr Potter I'm afraid I'm going to be tied up here most of the night but none the less I'll take you to Gringotts as I promised earlier. And Mr Potter do NOT tell anyone of today's arrests until after 7 pm tonight when there will be a WWN announcement. You are free to tell your friends of the results of your trial but NOT of the other events till then. Now do you have any trouble with this?"

"No Madame Bones," Harry answered confidently.

"Very well then. Clearly say 'Gringotts London Security Access' as you step into the floo flame after me," instructed Madame Bones.

Moments later Harry stumbled out of the floo at Gringotts where Madame Bones looked him over, cast the cleaning charm over him and quietly said, "Follow me please Mr Potter."

Moments later as they walked down the hallway she commented that, "Mr Potter, to retain your balance when exiting magical transportation such as the floo requires you to hold yourself still whilst doing so. A portkey however requires you to pretend to be walking when you land as they always deposit you at least 6 inches above the ground."

Looking around to orientate herself Amelia made a beeline for the Goblin Floor manager whilst Harry silently followed her wondering why no one had ever bothered telling him this critical detail?

Looking around at the undamaged bank floor Harry's thoughts soon flew back to the last time he remembered finding himself in this very building. Mere days after the Battle of Hogwarts during the post battle clean-up while all of the 'adults' were concentrating on cleaning out the Ministry and the Muggleborn Concentration Camps trying to correct all the horrors of the last few years, the Weasleys had returned to the Burrow taking a protesting Hermione and Luna with them to heal while Harry had stayed to help restore Hogwarts.

The next day Harry and Seamus Finnegan began removing the shattered remnants of the gargoyle that used to guard access to the stairwell which led up to the headmasters office. Both of them began by shifting the gargoyles rubble and shattered stone to the side of the corridor.

As Seamus leant against the damaged rear wall a concealed door gave way and he fell through into a concealed room. Once Harry had helped Seamus back onto his feet the pair began searching the room. After a few minutes they realised that this was a concealed suite of rooms which Dumbledores had obviously been used as a well-hidden study along with a series of store rooms. Later Seamus and Harry found the main entry at the top of another magical escalator hidden in Dumbledores private quarters.

The curious pair of combat weary teens began randomly poking into the various boxes, scrolls, bound manuscripts and stacks of parchments trying to work out what these records and items were. Some boxes were filled with numerous labelled phials which Harry recognised as pensieve memories. On the shelves opposite the boxes of memories that the forever curious Harry had viewed were various bundles of official documents from the Ministry – all sorted by year and name - guardianship and marriage contracts Headmaster Dumbledore had authorised for selective orphans, mainly half-bloods and muggleborns unknowingly under his magical guardianship. Horrified Harry and Seamus also found various marriage contracts for students they knew as well. Looking through a stack of official documents opposite Seamus was surprised and confused to find a marriage contract for himself to Laura Madley. After wracking their brains the young men vaguely remembered a 4th year Hufflepuff he barely knew what she looked like. Calling Harry over to look he was horrified to find a marriage contract between Hermione and Ron signed by Molly. Looking at the date (16th December '95) Harry realised that this was dated when Arthur was hospitalised from Nagini's snake bite. Even worst, as he read on he realised that Molly was authorised to potion Hermione into submission to Ron any time before Hermiones 21st birthday. With a sudden horrified thought Harry dived through the same stack looking for a contract with his name on it. Appalled he found that the Bast_d and the B_tch had signed a marriage contract for him and Ginny – aka the TW 'Tower Whore' - on the same date. Worst Dumbledore had signed financial control of his vaults over to Molly Weasley and his Wizengamot votes and seat to the Head of the Weasley family in perpetuity. Molly was encouraged to potion 'the groom' into the marriage bed and to guarantee impregnating Ginny.

After several minutes horrified contemplation Seamus blurted out, "these can't possibly be legal!"

"Right then, I don't know if we can trust any member of the Order, especially not Mrs Weasley, Ginny and I'm unsure if Ron would refrain from raping Hermione if his mum said it's alright!"

Seamus stared at Harry in confusion and said, "Rape?"

So Harry explained, "Ron told me that he loved Hermione years ago – to put dibs on her I think. Also think about Hermiones and my behaviour 5th year and compare it to Ron and Ginny's. Also consider the effects of Amorentia and other love potions that Slughorn taught us about last year along with date rape drugs such as rophipnol."

An appalled Seamus blurted out, "but they are lousy potion brewers!"

"Yes," stated Harry. "But I've heard Mrs Weasley talking about using potions on Arthur to get him 'interested' in her. Consider that Ron is a mummy's boy. If she told him that any potions were just to get Hermione over her 'nerves' to admit her love for Ron do you honestly think Ron would refrain from taking adantage? And Mrs Weasley is a damn fine cook, but is she a decent potions brewer?"

The boys stopped to stare at each other before they began their own plotting and planning.

Before their lunch Seamus left Harry to floo call the Burrow and invite Hermione to come to Gringotts with him as he needed her expertise. A while later he returned without Hermione and a thunderous look on his face. "I'm sorry Harry. The TW answered and told me that Hermione and Ron had gone out for another walk with a picnic basket. She was smirking as she informed me that they were quite cute with their constant cuddling." His brogue getting thicker Seamus carried on. "When I acted surprised TW said that Ron and her had gotten together the day after Hermione arrived." By this point his brogue had become quite thick but still understandable to an upset Harry.

"So at least potioned up if not yet raped," stated Harry. "Hopefully we can rescue her before it's too late."

Several hours later the battle weary and tired duo had shrunk and packed everything in these rooms along with everything they could find upstairs in the headmasters office and quarters. As they filled each bag and trunk they carefully stacked each near the floo ready for their departure. Once they'd finished packing up all of Dumbledores and Snapes things and went to the castle kitchens for dinner.

A quick trip to their own quarters followed. The pair quickly packed their own belongings before showering and changing into their smartest outfits before returning to the headmasters office. They shrunk all of the stacked bags and trunks before flooing to Diagon Alley. At Gringotts they quickly presented themselves to the Gringotts duty manager for much needed assistance.

By dawn the next day Harry and an equally exhausted Seamus were slowly leafing through more disturbing contracts as they and over a score of very irate Goblin Senior Accounts managers systematically viewed the contents of Albus Bl_dy Dumblewhores pensieve memories and various other documents and items. The goblins with their longer lives were much more aware of the political and financial ramifications of Dumbledores corrupt dealings.

The cancellation of all but the Weasley/Granger marriage contract amongst the outstanding marriage contracts under the current Ministry laws – as they had not been endorsed after his death by Headmaster Snape, Headmistress McGonagall, or any of the surviving members of the Hogwarts Board of Governors nor were they in the process of being enforced – was rapidly and easily done at Gringotts.

Unfortunately, and despite their best efforts to get Hermione to attend any meetings at Gringotts, no one was able to rescue Hermione before the contract marriage was consummated and became magically binding upon Hermione and Ron.

The Wizarding Wireless along with the Daily Prophet were quietly going berserk when they received official notifications of the cancellations of 37 upcoming illegal marriage contracts personally witnessed by Dumbledore along with the notification of censure regarding a further 161 similar marriage contracts which resulted in the effective kidnapping of the brides. All such contracts had at the least involved breaking the Statute of Secrecy due to the criminal requirements needed to ensure the muggle guardians signed the marriage contracts which, due to the various provisions involved were illegal under muggle law.

Checking what was happening around him while chuckling quietly to himself Harry continued following Amelia to the Teller Managers desk at the far end of the main banking chamber. It was the very same Manager Dragontamer who had escorted him deep into the depths of the bank where he was sent back in time for his trial today… soon he would really start destroying Dumbledores 'Greater Good' plan.

The End

AN: I have no other sequels planned at this point – subject to change without notice. Others are permitted to continue from here - so long as they acknowledge it is based upon this story - and inform me of their contribution so I can read it!

In the meantime my condolences to the family, friends and admirers of Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman {21 February 1946 – 14 January 2016} the highly talented and brilliant actor who brought Severus Snape alive for our edification in a way that the books couldn't…