He pulled and twisted his magic around him to encase him in a protective cocoon of magic, before he popped, darkness engulfing him for a few moments before he reappeared in an alleyway just outside the Leaky Cauldron, just as he desired.
...
After a few moments hesitation, he entered the pub. 'No turning back now,' he noted to himself, whilst he walked over to the bar to see good ol' Tom cleaning the bar top, several newspapers on a nearby stand resting on the bar. "Good morning Tom, how are the kids?" he greeted in a friendly manner, like they were old friends.
"Err, do I know you sir? I don't believe we have met before," Tom the barmen asked confused.
"I'm currently using polyjuice potion," he answered, as he took a seat on a nearby barstool and made himself comfortable. "Would you be so kind as to call the aurors for me? I wish to turn myself in. Can I get a full English breakfast while I wait though? It's been far too long since I had proper English food," he explained as the barman blinked in confusion.
...
"Lord Lucius Malfoy stands accused of high treason against the state, of multiple counts of murder in the service of the Dark Lord known as..." Scrimgeour paused at that point, before forcing himself to use the dark lord's name, "Voldemort." The entire courtroom collectively flinched at the use of the name, causing Harry to roll his eyes at their ridiculous behaviour. The dark lord had been dead for ten plus years now, but they still feared the very name of the man that was now just another name in the history books, a harmless memory. "Conspiracy to commit the murder of Harry James Potter, heir to both the Noble and Most Ancient houses of Potter and Black, illegal possession of Grade 5 cursed dark arts objects, tax evasion, and the masterminding of the attacks that occurred at Hogwarts this past year and on her students," Scrimgeour listed calmly, reading the accused's alleged crimes to the chamber and the audience above from a symbolic scroll. "How do you plead?"
Mr. Cullen Eddings stood up from behind his table to address the courtroom, "On behalf of the defendant, we plead guilty to the charges of tax evasion and possession of cursed dark arts object, however, we plead not guilty on all other charges." A murmur ran through the crowd at this, quickly growing louder, but it was now time for him to play his own part in this little drama. He elegantly stood up from his chair, the action grabbing the courtroom's attention, gradually silencing the increasingly noisy crowd.
Scrimgeour gave him a curious look, "Is there something you wish to say Mr. Potter?" the acting Chief Warlock asked.
He forced a calm smile on his face, through sheer force of will clamping down with an iron grip on his nerves, as he addressed the entire courtroom for the first time, "I am afraid there has been a mistake in the charges being brought against Lord Malfoy that needs correcting, if we want to ensure that proper justice is done acting Chief Warlock. You see at the time of the first attempt on my life, I wasn't the heir to the Noble and Most Ancient house of Potter, I was already invested as the Lord Potter." His words caused another round of whispers to run through the courtroom. "Therefore, as accused, Lord Malfoy attempted to assassinate the Lord of a Noble and Most Ancient house. This correction to the list of charges is relevant as under the law this carries far greater penalties, especially given the status of my house as one of the founding families of the Wizengamot and the modern British Ministry of Magic, a family that Lord Malfoy's actions nearly made extinct."
"Preposterous! A mere child can't become the lord of their family!" an unknown woman proclaimed loudly, getting several murmurs in agreement.
He turned his burning gaze to the general area of the courtroom where the voice had come from. He had expected such a response, in fact he had counted on it; it was only a shame that he couldn't call the individual out and ensure that they were paid back accordingly in the days to come. "Actually, I can, under the Last Blood Heir Act of 1436. That law allows me as the last heir of the Potter family to take up the Lordship of my family even before my 17th birthday if I desired to. I'm certain one of the of the law readers of the court can confirm this officially," he responded calmly, gesturing towards the three 'wise men' suddenly going through their beloved books, but at virtually a snail's pace. "The record keepers should also have an official record of my ascension to the position of Lord Potter." This caused the official record keepers to leap into action, but unlike the law wizards they actually had a bit of pep in their movements. Some of that might have been because they were collectively at least 50 years younger on average then the law readers.
The entire courtroom turned its collective attention to the three old wizards, who seemed to be immune to the stares and the silent calls for them to hasten their search through the law books. "Well, what's the ruling?" Scrimgeour asked, growling impatiently. The growl did nothing whatsoever to hurry the trio up; in fact it only caused the tension slowly building up in the courtroom to ratchet up another degree. There was a collective silent sweat drop when one of the ancient wizards slowly began to clean his spectacles, whilst a long bony finger of another slowly ran down the ancient parchment of the self-updating book of laws.
It was the record keepers who finished their appointed task first. He watched as the most senior of the record keepers snatched a piece of yellow parchment out of the younger man's hands before addressing the courtroom. "Sir, the records office can confirm that Lord Harry James Potter ascended to the position of Lord of the Noble and Most Ancient house of Potter this last summer. At the same time, he granted Lord Black proxy powers for the Potter family's hereditary seat, along with the proxy power for the Peverell family seat as well." The senior record keeper quickly finished, causing another murmur to run through the courtroom at the confirmation of the Potter lordship and this unexpected bit with the Peverell family, which had long been thought extinct. Once finished the record keeper left his corner box to hand the official piece of parchment to Scrimgeour, who quickly snatched it and began to examine it closely.
Several seconds passed in tense silence before the old lion spoke to the chamber again. "It is official; Harry James Potter is indeed the Lord Potter, head of the ancient and noble house of Potter." Scrimgeour's confirmation caused the whispering voices to grow louder.
He smiled, rather enjoying being the centre of attention and the upheaval he had caused before turning his attention to face his former magical guardian, "Did I fail to mention that I am also Lord Peverell? Head of the Noble and Most Ancient house of Peverell, and have been since my 11th birthday?" he asked, the murmurs getting louder as the Lord and Ladies around the courtroom started to talk openly amongst themselves at this latest sensational twist, with the resurfacing of the old house that many believed to be long dead.
It was at that thought that one of the old law readers spoke up, "Here it is," the old wizard declared with a satisfied tone, whilst playing with his half-moon style spectacles. "The Last Blood Heir Act of 1436," his words barely audible over the noise of several hundred people talking at the same time, but perfectly audible to his own.
"Silence!" Scrimgeour bellowed loudly to no noticeable effect, obviously trying to reassert control over the courtroom so that the old law reader could finish his report. "Silence!"
...
A/N:
I hate to say this, but I've hit a pretty bad case of writer's block. I haven't written anything for this fic in over a month. I've mostly just been posting the Patreon chapters, and I recently started a *Game of Thrones* fanfic to take my mind off things and give myself a little break.
Honestly, I don't know when I'll be able to finish this story. Maybe next week, maybe next month, or maybe even next year. I genuinely don't know, and I don't want to make any promises I might not be able to keep.
I just felt like I owed you all an explanation. I didn't want to leave you wondering or waiting without saying anything, especially when so many of you have been following this story.
I'm really sorry for the lack of updates, and I hope you can understand.