Twenty-Three

"Next we will hear the case of one Sirius Black, who wishes to petition for the custody of his lawful godson, Harry James Potter. Mr. Black, you have the floor."

Finally! Sirius thought as he proceeded to the podium. I thought they'd never shut up about those darned regurgitating toilets!

"Thank you Chief Warlock. As you all know, on the twenty-second of January in the year 1980 James and Lily Potter announced that Lily was with child. On the twenty-eighth of that same month I was sworn in as Godfather to their child and shortly thereafter they went into hiding, fearing for their lives and the life of their unborn child. On the thirty-first of July of that year, Lily gave birth to their son, whom they christened Harry James Potter, and a little over a year later on Halloween the Potters were betrayed by Peter Pettigrew and murdered by Voldemort himself. Harry was the only survivor, and if I had not been wrongly imprisoned he would have been living with me for all of these years, instead of those abominable Dursleys."

"True," an elderly wizard said, leaning forward as if to get a closer look at him. "And whose fault is it that you were conveniently at the scene of the crime? Surely it's not the Ministry's fault – it is, after all, a well known fact that you are now and have in the past been known for your reckless behavior. Why, you even chose to leave your godson in the care of an intoxicated man, rather than see to his safety or wellbeing. Why should this court pass his custody on to you? You can hardly say that you have a stable household ready and waiting for him, now can you?"

"James and Lily named me Harry's Godfather in their will," Sirius bristled, trying to keep his composure, "they obviously wanted him to grow up in the Magical world with me."

"That, I'm sure, was assuming you were capable of adequately providing for the child, and even then they did not have absolute faith in you as you'd like us to believe. The Potters left a list of several individuals that should take over their son's guardianship should something happen to him," the elderly wizard countered, "you were simply one option on a list of many."

Stay calm… calm… Sirius told himself. Getting angry will only work against you. "I may have been one on a list of many, but I was the first one on the list and that shows that Lily and James preferred me over all others. Furthermore, your concern as to my ability to provide for Harry is unfounded; I have a very long record of financial stability-"

"Only because you've been in prison for the last six years-"

"-I can provide a stable home for Harry-"

"—You mean Lucius Malfoy can provide a stable home for him-"

"—And," Sirius insisted after taking a deep, calming breath, "I'm a wizard."

"And how," inquired a stern-looking woman with gray hair, "does that prove anything? Muggles raise their Muggle-born children rather successfully all of the time – I see no reason for this to be any different. Are you saying being a wizard makes you a more capable parent?"

"Normally I would say no," he replied calmly, "but this is not a 'normal' child we're discussing, is it? Harry will need to learn how to run an estate, Wizarding history, proper Wizarding etiquette… and he's a celebrity – the Boy-Who-Lived to be exact! Everyone will want a piece of him, and it can't be guaranteed that all of Voldemort's supporters have been arrested – some of them went missing, never to be heard from again. Even if they all had been rounded up, you'll always have those sick, thrill-seeking Dark wizards who think it'll win them a little prestige to have taken down the Boy-Who-Lived. Harry needs protecting – from magic – and no Muggle can ever really give him that."

"Perhaps not…" the witch agreed, "but the Aurors stationed about his home and neighborhood can. As a matter-of-fact they are all specially trained to do exactly that. Surely you realize that the boy is better off with several qualified individuals to look after his safety than he would be with only a single one to protect him – and one that is several years out of practice at that."

"I assure you madam, that I am more than capable of protecting Harry from any threats."

"Are you?" asked a stout, blonde man with horn-rimmed glasses, "And just how many times have you successfully protected Harry Potter since his parents' unfortunate demise?"

Sirius stared at the man stoically. I am not going to let him hoist me by my own petard. He thought angrily.

"Mr. Black?" the man prompted after a moment's silence. "Are you going to answer? Or are you not?"

"Of course he isn't going to answer!" exclaimed the elderly wizard from earlier. "We all know the answer to that question: none! He has never successfully protected the child in question! And he's ashamed to admit it, as he should be! That Muggle (here the man pointed to Mark, who was watching the proceedings with wide, grim eyes) has protected Harry more times than Mr. Black has – more times than anyone has, I reckon - and from what old Mad Eye told me he could easily take down any one of us with nothing more than a cricket bat and a table knife! With protection like that, what does the boy need a magical guardian for? Cleaning charms?"

Sirius heart plummeted. This isn't going as I planned at all. "Well," he said trying to sound convincing, "I'm sure that if we ask Harry he'll agree that being around magic everyday would be better than only being around it a couple of days a week."

"Fine. Mr. Potter," said Madame Bones, "how do you feel about the idea of living with Sirius Black?"

xxx

Harry stared at the Lady-in-the-Big-Chair. They were asking him what he wanted! I hadn't thought that they would bother to ask me! Maybe I can convince them not to take me away!

"Mr. Potter?"

"I don't want to go!" Harry wailed, much to his embarrassment. "I don't want to leave my family! I want to stay with Mummy and Mark! And go to school with my friends and sleep over at their houses! I want to have Mummy tuck me in at night and play Super Mario Bros. with Mark! Please don't make me leave them!"

"Well," said the Lady-in-the-Big-Chair, "let's take a vote shall we? Those in support of Mr. Black's petition?"

Several people had their hand raised, but Harry noticed that none of them were people he'd met at the Christmas party. Please, please don't let them send me away!

"And those opposed?"

Here, all of the hands that hadn't been raised went into the air, including Uncle Cornelius and the Lady-in-the-Big-Chair. Harry's eyes widened. They'd won! They'd won! He wouldn't be sent away after all!

"Whoopee!" Harry yelled, jumping up from his seat and doing a dance. "I get to stay! I get to stay!"

The Lady-in-the-Big-Chair banged her gavel and made it official, and Harry sang and danced all the way home.