Harry Potter and the Time of Shadows

- Chapter Twelve-

The Trial

Harry looked around the building, and let out a silent gasp. The room he was in was completely circular, at least fifty feet in diameter. Around the edges were at least thirty red doors, with square windows. Each one had golden writing on the window, Harry could read the closest ones. 'Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures', 'Committee on Experimental Charms', 'Improper Use of Magic Office'.

Harry walked out of the door that he had apparently come through. He looked back at it and saw it was a blue door with no window, that bore writing that simply said 'Exit'.

The adults did not look remotely surprised at seeing the building, they had obviously been there many times before.

"We still have half an hour before the trial begins," said Lupin.

"Harry, why don't you take a look around," said Dumbledore. "Just don't go in any of the doors."

Harry nodded, and walked around the place.

He saw a door labelled 'Department of Mysteries'. The window on that door was blacked out.

He also saw the door labelled 'Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office' and saw Mr Weasley sitting at his desk. Harry decided to try to speak to him in the short time before the trial.

He knocked on the door. Mr Weasley looked up and saw Harry through the window, and opened the door.

"Harry!" he said. "How nice to see you."

"Hello," said Harry.

"You have to take a look at this thing." He took something out of his desk drawer. "It's called a Game Boy. Muggles play games on this thing! It's so small! And some of the games I found with it are really good!"

"Yeah, my cousin has one of those," said Harry, grateful for something to help keep his mind off Sirius. "You can get more games for it."

"Really? Where?" Mr Weasley asked, excited.

"I don't know, computer games shops. There are a lot of them."

"Wow, thanks Harry." Mr Weasley turned the Game Boy on and started playing on it. It looked like he was playing a racing game. He was far behind all of the other cars, but seemed to be having the time of his life.

Harry looked around the office. It was mostly cluttered with various Muggle appliances. A Walkman in the corner that was dancing very exuberantly caught Harry's eye. Several other Muggle things with strange spells on them Harry backed away from.

There were a lot of pictures of the children. One particular photo of Ron as a baby, sucking his thumb and hugging a teddy bear, Harry would have liked to take back to Hogwarts with him.

There was a picture of Mr and Mrs Weasley on their wedding day, and pictures of numerous other red-headed people Harry assumed were other relatives.

Next to the window in the room, there was a giant moving photo of Mr and Mrs Weasley with all seven children.

Eventually, Mr Weasley finished the race in dead last, and put the Game Boy away to talk to Harry.

"So, what are you doing here?"

"Today is Sirius's trial."

"Oh," Mr Weasley replied delicately. "Molly told me everything. I hope he'll be alright."

"Thanks," said Harry. "I think I should get going now."

"OK," said Mr Weasley. "Good luck."

Harry stepped out of the office and continued to look around.

At the opposite end of the room to the blue exit door, there were two other doors that were not red. One was gold, and one was silver.

The gold one read 'Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge'. The silver one read 'Standing Officer, Lucius Malfoy'.

Malfoy! thought Harry. If Malfoy had a silver door, that would mean that he was the deputy Minister. A chill went down Harry's spine. A Death Eater was second in command at the Ministry. He swallowed hard when he thought of Voldemort being so close to the inner workings of the Ministry and began to worry about how much influence Malfoy had on Ministry policy. Then a thought stopped him cold, so if anything happened to Fudge, Lucius Malfoy would be the new Minister for Magic!

Harry wanted to look into one of those offices, but those windows were frosted, so all that could be seen were abstract shapes moving around.

Harry looked at every one of the doors, but did not see one labelled 'Department of Magical Law Enforcement'. He finished exploring and went back up to Dumbledore.

"Er, where is the courtroom?" he asked.

"The courtroom is not on the same level as the rest of the Ministry," Dumbledore said. "It is much lower down."

"So how do we get there? I don't see the door."

"Let me show you, it is just about time for us to be there."

Dumbledore walked to the very centre of the room. He held up his wand, pointing it straight up at the marble ceiling. He cleared his throat and said "Albus Dumbledore!"

He instantly disappeared down through the floor. Harry gasped again and Lupin chuckled.

"It's OK Harry," he said. "He's just gone down to the courtroom. You go next."

Harry walked forwards, and stood in the exact same place that Dumbledore had been when he disappeared. He took out his wand, and pointed it straight up.

"It's alright to use your wand here Harry, if you're worried about that."

"Right," said Harry, when honestly, that had not crossed his mind.

"Just say your name then," said Moody, looking a tad impatient.

Harry cleared his throat.

"Harry Potter!" he practically yelled.

Instantly, he felt the floor disappear around him. He fell, seeing only darkness all around him. He fell even further, and was gathering speed. He would surely be injured when he hit the ground.

"Aah!" he screamed as he tried frantically to find a wall around him to hold onto.

Suddenly, it was as though someone had turned a very dim light on, and Harry could see the space that he was falling through. It was a very narrow tube, with black walls. The small space was becoming even thinner, until Harry was worried that he would get stuck in it.

Harry looked down, and could see the ground coming rapidly at him. It was less than six feet away. Harry closed his eyes, bracing himself for the impact.

He waited, but he never reached the ground. In fact, the falling sensation had stopped as well. Harry dared to open his eyes. He was hovering at the very bottom of the tube, barely an inch from the ground. He stayed suspended there for a second or two, and then everything around him changed.

He was no longer at the base of a long cylinder, but was now hanging in the air above a seat, in the courtroom. Then he dropped.

He landed in a crumpled heap in his seat, on the top bench. It was the same place that he had sat in when he was inside Dumbledore's Pensieve. He straightened up, and looked to the side of him, surely enough Dumbledore was sitting there, smiling at him.

A moment later, Moody appeared, in the perfect sitting position above his seat. He fell onto it without batting an eyelid on Dumbledore's other side.

Harry checked his watch, the trial would be starting in a few minutes. He looked around the room.

It was just as he remembered. The square funnel of benches leading down to the single chair in the middle. The horrible black chair, covered in golden chains. The chair that would bind Sirius in place. He hoped very much that he would never be sitting there.

Harry looked at the faces around the room. He saw Lupin in a seat somewhere near the middle of the benches, but Lupin evidently did not see him, as he was not looking in Harry's direction. Harry looked at the other people on the same level as him. There was Lucius Malfoy in a place far away from him. His confident look told Harry that he knew of Sirius's innocence. He would not look as smug if he knew that a loyal Death Eater was being sent down.

Three seats away from Lucius Malfoy was Percy. He looked confident too, he clearly thought Sirius was guilty. Harry remembered that Mrs Weasley knew Sirius had not done anything wrong, she had been there when Dumbledore had asked Sirius to come out of his dog form in the hospital wing at the end of last year. She had obviously not told Percy, and probably not any of her other children.

There was an empty space at the centre of the top row. It seemed that the judge was not there yet. Harry thought of his dream, Fudge had done the judging there. But Harry thought back to the Pensieve, and remembered that the judge was the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. At the time it was Crouch Sr., but he had been moved to the Department of International Magical Co-operation years before he died.

"Who's the Head of the Department now?" Harry asked Dumbledore.

"His name is Criman Culpa, but he will not be leading the trial today, if that is what you were wondering Harry," Dumbledore replied ominously. "The Minister for Magic himself is personally going to act as judge."

"What?" said Harry. "He can't do that! He wants Sirius to have the Dementor's Kiss!"

"I know Harry," said Dumbledore calmly. "But there is nothing that you or I could do to change that. I am sorry Harry. Another thing, I know that you will be tempted to shout out that your godfather is not guilty, but I must ask you to not. It would not help him, and it might implicate you as having aided and abetted a fugitive from justice. You could find yourself on trial."

Harry bowed his head. It seemed certain that Sirius would be a soulless shell before long, and he would have to just sit back and watch.

"All rise!" called a deep voice that seemed to come from nowhere.

Everyone stood up, and Harry quickly followed suit.

"Presiding today is the honourable Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge," the voice said.

Fudge walked in through a large door, and took his seat. He looked very different, instead of his usual pinstriped cloak and green bowler hat, he wore long, flowing robes of midnight blue, with tasteful golden stars on the chest. He also wore a deep purple pointed hat, trimmed in gold, also with a single gold star on it.

"Thank you everybody," he said, repressed triumph in his voice as though he had already won. "You may be seated."

All the people sat down, and Harry had the urge to take out his wand and start hexing Fudge until he agreed to let Sirius go. Harry noticed for the first time, twelve people sitting in a separate stand, who were the jury. There was total silence.

"Bring him in," said Fudge, cutting through the tension in the room.

A door in the corner opened, and Sirius came in. There were two Dementors standing beside him, and they were already sucking the life out of him. Harry knew that he was much too weak to be able to escape at this point. He was almost unconscious by the time they had forced him into the chair.

Fudge raised his wand, and the chains on the chair glowed, and then snaked around Sirius's arms and legs. Sirius tried to struggle, but was tied too tightly, and was too weak.

"Sirius Black," said Fudge, his voice was bolder than usual, making him sound much more intimidating.

Sirius seemed to be summoning all of his strength to just raise his head and look Fudge in the eye.

"You have been brought here before this court to answer to many charges, each as disgraceful as the next."

There was a faint murmur from the crowd, and Harry was reminded of courtroom dramas he had seen on television with the Dursleys.

"Charge one: The murder of Peter Pettigrew fourteen years ago.

"Charge two: The murder of twelve Muggles with a single curse on the same date fourteen years ago.

"Charge three: Associating with Death Eaters and serving He Who Must Not Be Named.

"Charge four: Passing information to He Who Must Not Be Named, including the whereabouts of James and Lily Potter, which led to their deaths.

"Charge five: Escaping from your cell in Azkaban over two years ago.

"Charge six: Being a fugitive from justice for a period of two years.

"Charge seven: Resisting arrest on the grounds of Hogwarts.

"Charge eight: Escaping from being held in legal custody at Hogwarts.

"Charge nine: Abduction and attempted murder of Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, and Ronald Weasley on June 6, 1994.

"I shall now give my opening statement on behalf on the prosecution."

"What?" Moody muttered. "He's going to act as the prosecution as well? Is he allowed to do that?"

Fudge cleared his throat and straightened his robes before he continued speaking.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, in regards to Charges One and Two - the murder of Peter Pettigrew and twelve Muggles, I present to you Exhibit A, sworn testimony from ten eyewitnesses to the horrific attack. Their testimony was taken immediately after the murderous explosion by myself and other members of the Department of Magical Catastrophes, and later from members of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad. We cannot call those witnesses to testify before you because they were all Muggles and of course, had to have their memories modified immediately after their statements were made.

"For Charges Three and Four, I present to you Exhibit B, a sworn statement from Augustus Rookwood, a convicted Death Eater serving a life sentence in Azkaban. For security purposes, it was deemed unsafe for him to be transported here to testify in person. He swears that Black was a Death Eater and passed him information that assisted with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's side.

"For Charges Five and Six, escape from Azkaban and being a fugitive from justice do not need any introduction of evidence. Black had been sentenced back in November 1981 to a life sentence in Azkaban due to the totality of the evidence against him. If he had not escaped from Azkaban, we would not be here today.

"For charges Seven, Eight, and Nine resisting arrest, escaping from legal custody, and abduction and attempted murder of three Hogwarts students we have Exhibit C, sworn testimony from Professor Severus Snape. He had apprehended Black that fateful night in 1993 and saved the three students' lives. He made his declaration minutes after it was discovered that Black had eluded Wizarding justice once again."

Minister Fudge glared at Sirius and said with a malevolent snarl, "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

Sirius gave up on looking straight, his head sank, and he spoke to his own chest.

"I-I'm innocent. It was --"

"Innocent?" repeated Fudge, interrupting Sirius. "How could you possibly be innocent? Do you deny escaping from Azkaban? Do you deny escaping from Hogwarts while the Dementors were being summoned?"

"No, I did those. But I did not --"

"So now you're saying that you're guilty? Changing your plea, as it were. I think it is obvious to everyone here that this man is insane, clearly he does not know what he is saying! We should take him away before he wastes any more of the court's time!"

Fudge looked angrier than Harry had ever seen him. Spit was flying from the corners of his mouth, and there was a ruthless venom in his voice.

"Would you please let me explain!" Sirius cried. "Let me tell my side of the story."

Fudge's lip curled.

"Very well," he said. "Your side."

"May I please stand to face the court?" Sirius asked, once again looking up.

"Of course you can't Black!" Fudge yelled. "Do you think I'm stupid? The second I loosen the chains, you would attack everyone in sight and make a break for it! Now tell your little bedtime story about your innocence, before I change my mind about that!"

"Fine," said Sirius, his voice shaking even more. "I will start at the beginning."

"Generally a good place to start," Fudge muttered sarcastically.

"I was not the Secret Keeper for Lily and James. At the last minute, it was changed to Peter Pettigrew. It was my idea. Everyone knew that James and I were as close as brothers and would expect that I would be his Secret-Keeper. I knew that if I did not have the secret concealed inside of me, that if I had been captured and tortured that they could never get it out of me. I was willing to die for James and Lily. I thought that no one would consider that they would entrust such a responsibility to Peter Pettigrew."

Many people shook their heads in disbelief.

"No one knew about the last minute change except for James and Lily, me and Pettigrew. Not even Dumbledore knew."

"And why was Dumbledore not told?" asked Fudge. "What would the damage have been in him knowing that you were not the one guarding the Potters' lives?"

"James didn't want anyone else to know. He told me to tell no one, and that it was best that way. I did not question him, I trusted his judgement. But what I did not know at the time, was that Pettigrew was a spy for Voldemort."

Several people shuddered on hearing the name.

"Would you kindly not speak your master's name in front of others!" he stormed. "Of course, only his supporters would name him."

Most of the jury nodded their heads, and Harry had the urge to jump up and tell everyone that it was the truth. But Harry remembered Dumbledore's words, and kept his silence.

"Anyway," Sirius pressed on. "Peter was a Death Eater. He was the one who betrayed them. He was the one who killed all of those Muggles and faked his own death."

"Balderdash!" yelled Fudge, his face was turning red, and Harry got the impression that he wanted to say something much more insulting than 'balderdash'.

"It's the truth! Pettigrew is the one you want!"

Something had come over Sirius, some inner strength, or determination, or desperation.

"What a load of -- rubbish!" Fudge was obviously repressing more offensive language. "Pettigrew died fourteen years ago! You killed him in front of several eyewitnesses. How on earth could he have faked that?"

"He transformed! He's an Animagus! He was the one that caused the explosion killing all those Muggles. You could never find more of his body because it wasn't there. If he had been destroyed in an explosion you'd at least expect to find some of him spread all over. Bits of skull and brain somewhere, but no there wasn't because didn't die. He cut off a finger, threw it out onto the street and turned into the snivelling rat that he is and ran down the sewer! "

"An Animagus? Now I know that you're making this all up! There are only seven living Animagi, and he is not one of them!" said Fudge, regaining his calmness by the tiniest amount.

"If you believe that registry of yours!" retorted Sirius. "Pettigrew is an Animagus, he learned while I was learning! I am also an Animagus!"

"Yes, I know. You were in the form of a black dog in Hogsmeade" said Fudge. "So, add 'illegal Animagus' to the list of charges!"

A man taking notes in the second row nodded, and wrote at the top of his sheet of parchment.

"So was James!" Sirius said desperately. "He was a stag. We all learned together."

"Well, if you are telling the truth about that, and that's a big 'if', we can hardly prosecute him, because you killed him!"

"I did not cause James's death!" Sirius pleaded. "Peter did!"

"This is going nowhere," Harry heard Moody's voice say in the seat on the other side of Dumbledore.

Dumbledore nodded, and stood up.

"Minister!" he called. Every head turned to face him.

"Yes, Dumbledore?" said Fudge with forced interest.

"It is quite clear that we are making no progress. I request the use of Veritaserum."

Fudge paused for a moment, then lowered his eyebrows in thought. For a second, Harry was sure that Fudge would allow it. But then:

"Denied. After all, it is possible to resist the influence of Veritaserum using Dark Arts. If Black can escape from Azkaban, he can certainly fight a little truth potion. I consider it a waste of time to try and use it."

Dumbledore sat down again, and muttered, "I was afraid of that."

Harry bowed his head. Things were not looking good.

"So then," Fudge continued. "You say that Peter Pettigrew is alive? Even when a street full of eyewitnesses saw Pettigrew get blown up?"

"They were Muggle witnesses," Sirius replied. "Even if they hadn't been distracted by the explosion, they would still not believe that a man had transformed into a rat."

"How convenient," Fudge commented.

"What about my wand?" Sirius demanded. "Doesn't that count as evidence? It -- it can prove that I never did the spell."

"Your wand?" Fudge scoffed. "That was destroyed after your lifetime sentence to Azkaban. The Ministry didn't want to risk having such a powerful wand that had performed such violent Dark Magic possibly landing into someone else's hands. It was destroyed in the name of Public Safety."

"You can't do that! That's destroying evidence," Sirius said swallowing hard. "And about Rookwood, I never passed him information. I never even met the man -- well, not until he was put in a neighbouring cell in Azkaban."

"So you admit to affiliating with Rookwood whilst in prison?" Fudge asked coldly.

"No!" Sirius protested. "What did you do Fudge? Offer to lighten his sentence in exchange for this fabricated evidence? Just like you did with Karkaroff."

"So you know about Igor Karkaroff's history with He Who Must Not Be Named?" Fudge exclaimed. "Clearly you know all the ins-and-outs of Death Eater activity."

"Everybody knows what happened to Karkaroff!"

"What happened to him?" Fudge repeated. "You mean what has become of this man who mysteriously disappeared four months ago? What did you do to him Black? Did you kill him for betraying so many of your faithful comrades?"

"I am not and never was a Death Eater," Sirius said defiantly. This is the truth Fudge. Why can't you see that?"

"I don't know," said Fudge airily. "Maybe because it's a load of ludicrously far-fetched codswallop!"

There was a long silence throughout the courtroom. Scanning the crowd, Harry could not see a single face that had a shadow of a doubt about Sirius's guilt.

"Black," Fudge called down to him. "Have you any proof that Pettigrew is a Death Eater, or even that he is still alive?"

"The only way to prove that," Sirius paused. "Would be to capture him and bring him before you."

"And I am guessing that you cannot do that," said Fudge victoriously.

"I tried to do that after I escaped from Azkaban. I found out that he was Ron Weasley's pet rat Scabbers. But after I exposed him for what he was he ran off and I haven't seen him since." said Sirius. "I don't know where he is now. I have no way of finding him."

"Again, how convenient," sneered Fudge. "Except that your testimony is directly contradicted by other testimony. I once again will direct the jury to Exhibit C, the sworn statement from Professor Severus Snape that was made the night you escaped from custody at Hogwarts. He swears that he did not see Peter Pettigrew that night or any rat in the Shrieking Shack where you were holding three students hostage."

"He never saw Scabbers or Pettigrew because Snape was knocked out shortly after he got to the Shrieking Shack that night," Sirius said quickly.

"Well, Percy Weasley had this pet rat Scabbers before it was passed to his younger brother Ronald. Percy is prepared to give testimony stating that his younger brother was horribly upset when this rat was eaten by another student's cat several weeks before you were briefly taken into custody at Hogwarts. Do you wish to interrupt these proceedings to introduce that testimony into evidence?"

Sirius shook his head slowly, "No."

"And do you wish to subpoena Professor Snape," Fudge sneered, "so that you can cross-examine him in regards to the events of that night?"

"No."

This isn't fair, Harry thought. He's twisting everything Sirius says.

"Do you have single piece of evidence to support your story?" Fudge continued.

"No," Sirius replied.

"Do you have any people who can back up your story?" Fudge asked, even more triumphantly.

"Yes!" said Sirius, once again lifting his head. "Dumbledore!"

Several people turned to look at Dumbledore again. Dumbledore did not move a muscle.

"Aha, but you see we have sworn testimony from Albus Dumbledore dated on November 5^th, 1981, that you were indeed the Potter's Secret-Keeper, which is to be considered Exhibit D. Are you implying that he was untruthful then?"

"Uh, no. He just didn't know about the last minute switch, like I mentioned before," Sirius stammered.

"So how would my calling him up to the witness stand to testify change things? Does he have some proof that the Secret-Keeper was changed? Some concrete facts that can back you up? Has he ever seen Pettigrew since he allegedly faked his death?"

Sirius stared blankly for a moment.

"No," he said eventually.

"Can you think of anyone who has come face to face with him in the last fourteen years?"

Sirius's eyes widened, he turned his head and looked over at Harry. He looked deep into Harry's eyes. He sighed, then looked back at Fudge.

"No, no one."

More than ever before, Harry wanted to jump up and confirm Sirius's testimony. Dumbledore laid a reassuring hand on Harry's arm, then took it back.

"Do you have any evidence at all to present to this court or any witnesses to call to prove your innocence?" Fudge asked.

"No."

"Does the defence rest?"

Sirius sighed heavily, "Yes."

"Well then," said Fudge, straightening up and speaking to the rest of the courtroom. "As we have no more evidence, we shall take a short break while the jury decide on a verdict. I see no need for the prosecution to make a closing statement."

Gradually, everyone stood up and filed out of doors in the middle of each row of benches.

Harry reached the door on his row, and when he walked through it, he was lifted off the ground, and was sent shooting upwards. He flew up the same tube that he had come down. He did not ascend for as long as he had come down, so Harry assumed that he was still on a lower level to the Ministry building.

Harry stepped out of the tube, quickly followed by Dumbledore and Moody. They walked further into the room that they were now in. It was a large room, even bigger than the Great Hall, where what looked like everyone who had been watching the trial was.

Most people were talking casually, and ordering drinks from a bar at one end. They all seemed so sure that Sirius would be found guilty. Harry heard bits of their conversations as he walked past them.

"Yeah, they've finally got him --"

"He's gonna be sent down at last --"

"He'll be gone by the end of the day --"

"Always knew we'd get him in the end --"

The words echoed in Harry's head, and he could not bear it.

"Harry, we did as best as we could," said Dumbledore.

"Did we?" said Harry defiantly. "Either one of us could have given evidence for him."

"No we could not. You heard Fudge, we had no proof."

"You had no proof," Harry corrected. "I've seen Wormtail. I would gladly go under Veritaserum if it would help him."

"That is very noble Harry," said Dumbledore. "Your father would have done the same. But it is too risky. Think of everything else that is related, things that would endanger you. Like the fact that you helped Sirius escape from Hogwarts on a stolen Hippogriff. And that you have been in regular contact with him. These things could make you seem guilty. You could even be sent to Azkaban, for consorting with an escaped convict."

"I don't care," said Harry firmly. "If it means Sirius walks free. He should have told Fudge that I had met Wormtail. But no, he didn't because --"

"Because he cares about you and put your safety before his own," said Dumbledore sternly. "Sirius was willing to die to protect your parents and he's willing to do the same to protect you."

"And I am willing to spend a little time in Azkaban if it means Sirius will keep his soul."

At that moment, Harry fully understood what compelled people to sacrifice themselves to save the people they love. He knew exactly why his mother had given his life to save him. He would have done the same for her. He would do it for Ron and Hermione, and for Hagrid in a heartbeat.

"I am sorry Harry, I cannot allow you to speak in front of Fudge. You have heard how they twist the truth to back up their stories. They would bring up anything and everything to reduce your credibility. Like what was written in Rita Skeeter's articles, and the fact that you were found clutching Cedric Diggory's dead body after disappearing for almost an hour. They could also mention the fact that you can speak Parseltongue and were suspected of opening the Chamber of Secrets.

"The Minister wants to find Sirius guilty, and will stop at nothing to do that. He will make sure you are portrayed as the next Dark Lord in a matter of days to drastically lower your credibility if you even suggest giving evidence."

Harry continued to walk alongside his headmaster, the man he respected and admired more than anyone else alive, for the first time questioning his judgement.

They walked up to the bar, where Dumbledore ordered a small brandy, and got a bottle of Butterbeer for Harry. Harry opened it, and sipped it slowly.

"Is there anything we can do?" Harry asked, feeling as though he would try anything.

"I am sorry Harry," said Dumbledore. "I wish there was another way. But you cannot sacrifice yourself. You are too important."

"I want to help my godfather!" said Harry, much louder than he should have done.

"But you can't Harry. That is my final word."

Harry finished his Butterbeer, and threw the bottle into a bin ten feet away. It shattered on the metal edge of the bin, and the pieces scattered over the floor.

"Now, now Harry!" said Dumbledore, for the first time directing his powerful voice at him. "You have to accept this!"

Dumbledore waved his wand, and the shards of glass flew into the bin.

"What about Moody?" Harry asked as calmly as he could. "Didn't he see Wormtail when he was attacked at his home before my fourth year?"

"No Harry," Dumbledore replied. "Barty Crouch was adamant that he be the one solely responsible for capturing Moody in Voldemort's eyes. Since Moody told me that there was nobody else with Crouch when he was attacked, I am reasonably sure Wormtail arrived later, when Alastor was unconscious. Or, maybe he stayed in his rat form until Moody was knocked out. In either case, he does not have sufficient evidence to provide testimony."

A bell rang, signalling it was time to go back to the trial. The jury had come to a verdict.

Harry took in a deep breath. "OK, let's hope that the jury can see the truth better than Fudge can. But -- but if the jury find him innocent, can Fudge overrule the verdict?"

Dumbledore paused before he answered. "No, if the jury find Sirius not guilty, then Fudge would have no choice but to let him go. This is not the Muggle legal system, which I must admit, makes much more sense in some respects. Before the trial, the jury entered into a magical contract with the judge. The jury vow to let the verdict reflect their honest opinions based on the evidence that has been presented, and the judge agrees on enforce the decision of the jury."

"Albus," Harry heard Moody growl, locating him in the crowd of people making their way to the doors. "That didn't take very long. Doesn't look good."

"Why do you say that?" asked Harry.

"Well, since the deliberations didn't take long, they probably just went with what they thought going into the trial - that Sirius was guilty. If it had taken even a few hours then..." Moody stopped as he looked at Harry's worried face. "Well, it's always tough second guessing a jury. It's kind of like reading tea leaves."

Harry walked out of the door, and fell down the tube again. He was barely paying attention this time. He reappeared in his place on the bench, and Dumbledore came shortly afterwards next to him. Harry shuffled away from his headmaster, and slouched down with his arms crossed. Dumbledore briefly looked at Harry, then looked away.

Cornelius Fudge walked back into the room, cold triumph in his every movement. He stood in front of his seat, and spoke to the jury.

"You have been given time for all of you to come to your conclusions," he said.

He then directed his speech at Sirius.

"Sirius Black, we have heard all of the evidence against you, and are about to give our verdict. Do you have anything to add to your testimony before we pronounce judgement?"

Sirius turned his head to look at everyone in the courtroom. His eyes rested on Harry.

"I'm so sorry," he said.

Harry felt a tear run down his face, and he nodded back at his godfather.

"Yes, well as sorry as you are," Fudge said. "It does not excuse you from all of the deaths you are responsible for!"

"I didn't --" he started, but did not finish his sentence.

"Jury!" screamed Fudge.

A young man in the jury box stood up, a small piece of parchment clutched in his hand.

"Have you reached a verdict?" Fudge asked him.

He nodded.

"Do you all agree on the verdict?"

The man nodded again, and said quietly, "Yes sir."

Fudge drew himself up, and injected more authority into his voice than ever.

"How do you find the defendant?"

Harry took a deep breath, crossed his fingers and wished as hard as he could that that man would say the one little word: "innocent."

The foreman cleared his throat, he was trembling slightly.

"We find the defendant, Sirius Black, guilty of all charges."

"NO!" Sirius screamed.

Tears were running freely down his face, and he was sobbing uncontrollably. Harry could not bear to see him like that. Harry wiped tears off of his own face, and put his chin in his hands. Harry watched the closest thing he had to a parent crying in chains, about to die.

Fudge's lips curled again into a terrible smile.

"I now ask the jury, to raise their hands if they believe, as I do, that these crimes deserve the very worst of punishments; the Dementor's Kiss."

One person on the jury raised her hand, followed by another. Harry buried his whole head in his hands, not wanting to watch the others do the same.

After a short pause, Fudge yelled out "WHAT?". Harry looked up again, and saw that only those two people had raised their hands, the others had not.

"DO YOU NOT THINK THAT THIS MAN DESERVES TO BE DESTROYED?" Fudge roared.

The foreman, who had not raised his hand, stood up.

"What is it?" Fudge snapped.

"I cannot speak for the rest of the jury," he said. "But personally, I feel that nobody, no matter what they have done, deserves that. To exist for the rest of your natural life with no soul, just a shell is simply inhumane."

Several others nodded in agreement with him. Another man in the jury stood up and spoke to Fudge.

"The Dementor's Kiss has not been performed in over two hundred years, and for good reason," he said. "I don't think I could live with myself if I were responsible for causing someone to lose their soul."

Harry thought back to the end of his fourth year, when a Dementor had Kissed Barty Crouch, Jr. Perhaps this was not widely known.

"It's barbaric!" another juror chimed in.

"I will not be spoken to like that!" Fudge thundered.

The foreman began speaking again.

"We have all agreed however," he said calmly. "That a life sentence in the highest security cell in Azkaban would be suitable punishment for him."

"Are you mad?" yelled Fudge. "He escaped once, he could do it again!"

"What if you had one Dementor inside his cell with him at all times, instead of outside his door? And he was heavily chained in place? I am sure he would not be able to escape then," suggested the foreman.

Fudge thought for a moment, and seemed to be trying to relax, or at least seem civil.

"Very well," he said. "Binding magic compels me to enforce the decision of the jury. Sirius Black, I sentence you to a lifetime in Azkaban!"

Sirius yelled "No!", as Dementors came into the room and dragged him away. They pulled him out of the doors, and out of sight. Harry felt something burning a hole inside of him. The doors slammed shut with an echoing bang.

"Thank you for coming ladies and gentlemen," said Fudge. "The court is adjourned, you may leave."

Everyone filed towards the exits. Harry felt a terrible emptiness inside.

When he got out of the tube this time, he was back in the Ministry building.

He walked to the blue exit door, and Dumbledore opened it for him.

"It will be alright Harry," he said.

Harry burst into tears more than he had ever done in his life. He hugged Dumbledore, who hugged him back, with surprising strength.

"Everyone's leaving," Harry sobbed.

"We'll be fine," Dumbledore tried to reassure him.

"No, it'll never be fine. Not anymore."

"You'll get through this."

"But will Sirius? Will he get through this?"

"I hope so as much as you do."

He clung to Dumbledore, not knowing what to think or what to believe. All he knew, was that things would never be the same again.

*