Chapter 32: The Fate of The Order of the Phoenix
Part 2: The Trial
The evidence had been heard. Sirius Black's testimony to Amelia Bones had been read out, Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger had all been questioned to see if their stories corroborated with the information Black had provided, memories drawn from the mind of Severus Snape had been seen and memories of that fateful day in which thirteen muggles lost their lives had been pulled out of the archives and examined thoroughly.
There was nothing more that could be done. They just had to wait for the Wizengamot to return from their deliberations. Fudge had granted them an hour and that hour was almost up.
Harry shifted nervously in his seat next to his Godmother. He had never known an hour take so long to pass. He looked around the courtroom, trying to gauge the mood of the audience.
There were a lot of people here who quite clearly did not care about the fate of Sirius Black, probably because it did not directly affect them. If he was found innocent he would be set free and if he was found guilty he would be placed back in Azkaban. Neither result had much impact on them.
They were here for the trails that were to come after.
But there were others who were clearly waiting anxiously for news of Sirius' fate. The reporters were waiting on the edges of their seats, and with good reason. If Sirius was found innocent, then a precedent would be set – There were many wizards and witches locked up in Azkaban. If Sirius was found innocent then there would be a surge of people demanding reviews of how their friends or family members ended up behind those cold stone walls. Whether a prisoner received a trail or not would ultimately be inconsequential – if the Ministry could make a mistake with Sirius Black, then what's to say that there wasn't a similar mistake made with someone else in Azkaban? It could be lack of a trial or false evidence or any number of other possibilities. If Sirius Black was found innocent, the Ministry would be swamped with requests for retrials.
And if he was found guilty, well, that made a nice headline too, didn't it?
There were people in the crowd of the general public who were clearly waiting for that aforementioned precedent to be set.
Other than Harry and those seated immediately around him, the only others waiting for results of the trail were the Weasley siblings and Hermione. Of them, only Ron and Hermione had been able to provide anything useful for the Wizengamot, having been there with Harry in the Shrieking Shack when the truth about Sirius was first exposed. Both had given their testimonies, though it was clear that they hadn't been given must training in how to deal with the situation, unlike Harry who had spent several hours being coached by Sarah and Edward on what would be expected of him in the courtroom.
Nevertheless, their testimonies had stood up in comparison to that which Harry and Sirius had each given and everyone had seemed satisfied.
As Harry watched them, Hermione turned slightly and for a moment their eyes locked. She tried to offer a smile, but her nerves prevented her from pulling it off successfully. Harry knew what she meant, however, and answered with a nod before turning his eyes back to the Wizengamot seats.
A moment later the door to the side of the room opened and Minister Fudge led the Wizengamot members back into the room, their deliberations over. From Harry's point of view, they seemed to take forever to find their seats.
Once the entire Wizengamot had resumed their seats, Fudge called out to Sirius to be brought back in. Harry turned towards the doors again to see Sirius being led in by Dawlish and Proudfoot.
Harry suddenly felt like a lump the size of an apple had grown in his throat.
This was it.
Once Sirius was seated, Fudge cleared his throat and stood up. "Sirius Black, the Wizengamot has heard the evidence provided in favour of your innocence and reviewed the evidence of your guilt. They had had an hour to deliberate. They will now reveal their verdict."
He turned his back on the courtroom at large to address those seated behind him.
"Those in favour of upholding the Ministry's original decision, please raise your hands?"
In total, thirteen people raised their hands, causing Harry's stomach to flip.
"And those in favour of clearing the accused of all charges?" continued Fudge.
The question was not needed because the stance of the majority had already been shown, but as all but thirteen hands were raised into the air. Harry was pleased to see that Edward Abbott, Dolores Umbridge and Augusta Longbottom were all in this second group.
Umbridge slipped a sheaf of parchment to Fudge and the Minister nodded in approval after examining whatever was on it. A moment later he announced "Sirius Black, the Wizengamot had cleared you of all charges and have agreed to pay you the sum of G40000 in compensation for false imprisonment. Furthermore an international arrest warrant for Peter Pettigrew is to be issued out by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement immediately."
Auror Dawlish gave a wave of his wand and Sirius let out a joyous whoop as the magic-suppressing manacles on his wrists fell free.
Harry was already out of his seat and within moments he was hugging his godfather. Dozens of camera bulbs flashed from within the press section, everyone eager to get that image for their articles.
"Mr Black," said Fudge. "If you could please take a seat beside your godson, we will move on to our next case, the trial of the so called Order of the Phoenix."
Sirius followed Harry to the bench near the front where Harry had been sitting. The entire row shuffled up along the bench to allow Sirius room to sit.
While that was going on, Dawlish and Proudfoot had left the room. A moment later they returned with a procession of Aurors and prisoners. The Aurors were all paired up with a prisoner in between them. Dawlish had now paired with Scrimgeour and they a bound Bill Weasley between them while behind them Proudfoot and Savage were leading Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody, followed by Rhobards and Williamson who had Kingsley with them.
At the very end of the line came Severus Snape, surrounded by six Aurors. Evidently the Department of Magical Law Enforcement had elected to take no chances with the greasy git.
Each member of The Order was placed into a chair where chains immediately latched themselves firmly around their wrists and ankles. The Aurors who had brought them in then took up guard positions behind them.
Harry looked at them all and realised that The Order was actually a lot larger than he had realised. Some he recognised as being people whom he had met before, many of them in fact having been his teacher at some point. Others he recognised from when their faces had been published in The Daily Prophet over the last few days. But there were perhaps two dozen more that he had never seen in his life.
The grasping reach of Albus Dumbledore's influence was long indeed.
Once everyone was settled, the Minister stood up to address the courtroom once again.
"My fellow wizards and witches, we are here to carry out the trial of a vigilante group calling themselves The Order of the Phoenix. They and their allies assisted Albus Dumbledore in the highly illegal use of mind magic upon the person of one Harry James Potter, and in the mass drugging of many students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We wish to determine exactly to what extent each of these people were involved in this barbaric travesty, as well as how and why they became involved in The Order of the Phoenix in the first place.
After pausing for a moment to take a sip of water from a goblet situated in front of him he continued "It is important to note that in addition to Albus Dumbledore there are two other people who have not been brought before us today.
"After a thorough examination it was decided that Minerva McGonagall would be sent for further examination at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
"Rubeus Hagrid on the other hand is not currently in the country. A delegation made up from members of The Department of Magical Law Enforcement and The Department of International Magical Cooperation are currently organising ways to have him located and brought back home."
"Amelia, you have the floor."
"Thank you, Minister," said Madam Bones, getting to her feet in order to address the courtroom at large.
"Over the past few days, we in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, with no small amount of help from The Department of Mysteries, have striven to determine the truth about the Order of the Phoenix, from its origins, to its members, including what they have done and why. The results have been interesting to say the least."
"Every member of the Order of the Phoenix that we have gathered here today has been questioned extensively. Veritaserum and legillimency have been used where needed, with full approval of The Minister's Office."
"I will now go through the members of The Order one by one and reveal what we now know. Once you have heard the case against each member, the Wizengamot will be asked, by a show of hands, to pass a verdict of guilty or not guilty."
Madam Bones paused here and beckoned to the two Aurors standing behind the chair in which Remus Lupin was detained. Both Aurors nodded and flicked their wands at Lupin's chair. The chair lifted off of the ground, floated forward a few feet and then landed again, leaving Lupin in the centre of everyone's attention.
"To start with," continued Madam Bones "we have Remus John Lupin, aged 35. Mr Lupin is a known Werewolf. I have liaised with the Werewolf Registry Office in our Ministry's Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. They have assured me that Mr Lupin is classed as a "Werewolf of Least Concern."
"For those of you who might not know, this means that Mr Lupin is not known to have done anything to cause concern within the Werewolf Registry Office. He has consistently complied with regulatory requirements for Werewolves, including updating the Department should he move home and possessing a trunk with an internal expansion charm in which he spends the night of a full moon so as to not pose a risk to others.
"For all in intents and purposes, he is what the Werewolf Registry Office would consider "an ideal Werewolf" – one whom the Office does not have to worry about, the polar opposite to Fenrir Greyback."
Harry could not help but admire Amelia right then. While opinions about the effectiveness of the Werewolf Registry Office were often divided, there was no doubting that it was there for a reason. Amelia had not hidden the fact that Remus was a Werewolf, something that was bound to rub certain people the wrong way, but she still spun it so that Remus was seen in the best possible light. Personally, Harry had no idea just who this Fenrir Greyback character was, but affect was obvious when Amelia asserted that Remus was the complete opposite of Greyback.
"So," continued Amelia "How does an ideal Werewolf end up involved with the Order of the Phoenix? Well, the answer is simple – He felt he owed Albus Dumbledore."
As some members of the Wizengamot exchanged looks, Amelia spoke in a slightly louder voice. "I suggest that you take extra notice of that, as it will be a reoccurring theme in these trials."
Turning she continued "Mr Lupin was a young child when he was bitten. Once bitten his prospects became bleak. Neither Hogwarts nor Waxwings allow Werewolves as students and most people within the Wizarding World refuse to employ Werewolves.
"Then along comes Albus Dumbledore who pats the young Mr Lupin on the head and says "That's alright, we will make special arrangements so that you can come to Hogwarts.
"Dumbledore's reasons for doing this are currently unknown, even to Mr Lupin. We have questioned the Hogwarts Staff members that were amongst the arrested and as far as we can tell, Dumbledore had not offered such an option to a young Werewolf before Mr Lupin, and has not done so since Mr Lupin's time at Hogwarts. This makes it seem unlikely that Dumbledore offered Mr Lupin a place at Hogwarts in order to appeal to Werewolves everywhere. After all, why only make such an offer to one Werewolf when there are dozens who could benefit from the offer?
"Nevertheless, the fact remains that Dumbledore did offer Mr Lupin a place at Hogwarts where, for seven years, Mr Lupin was treated like any other student, even gaining friends, something which had been largely denied to him up until that point.
"From then on, Dumbledore has played on Mr Lupin's sense of indebtedness on many occasions. This included persuading him to join The Order of the Phoenix.
"As for Mr Lupin's role within the Order itself, we have found nothing that gives us cause for concern. He was not involved with, or even aware of the mass potioning of students which took place at Hogwarts, being away meeting with a Werewolf colony at the time. That meeting, by the way, is also something that is not a cause for concern.
"From what we can tell, Mr Lupin's sole crime during his time within the Order is his failure to report the whereabouts of Sirius Black to the Ministry. However, Mr Lupin has explained that he did not feel he would be believed if he came forward to state that Mr Black was innocent and he did not want to put his friend in danger. As the Dementors had been given a 'kiss on sight' order for Mr Black, this fear does carry some validity."
Fudge cleared his throat and asked "So it is the opinion of The Department of Magical Law Enforcement that Mr Lupin has committed no crimes?"
"It is," replied Madam Bones.
"Excellent," said Fudge, smiling. "Then I see no need to even turn this matter over to a vote. Mr Lupin, you are hereby cleared of all charges. Thank you for your cooperation."
The chains that held Remus to his chair suddenly fell away, leaving the Werewolf free.
"Thank you, Minister," said Remus, before getting to his feet. One of the Aurors who had been guarding him gestured towards the crowd and quickly a space formed so that Remus could sit next to Sirius.
"Good to see you again, Remus," said Sirius.
"You too," replied Remus before lowering his voice. People were talking all around them but he wanted to be sure. "But I don't understand, if Madam Bones was happy to let me go, why was I brought before the Wizengamot?"
"Because your story helps people understand how Dumbledore works," said Harry, leaning around Sirius in order to answer. According to Sarah, a lot of people in the Order were there because they felt greatly indebted to Dumbledore in some way. Your story was one example of that."
Remus nodded thoughtfully before turning his attention towards the other members of The Order. He had never thought of it that way, but now that he was he could not believe that he had not spotted it before. Most of The Order did feel that they owed Dumbledore in some way.
It was strange. Back when they were at Hogwarts, Mary MacDonald had once mentioned how she thought Professor Slughorn and his little Slug Club was a bit distasteful. Slughorn would throw little parties and dinners together for those few whom he considered to be promising students in some area or another. He would then use his contacts to help those students out, getting them in with the right people for the right career path, that sort of thing. Graduates would then remember Slughorn fondly and sort a few things out for him, such as free tickets to Quidditch matches, or a nice bottle of Oak-matured mead and the like. They would also be open to listening to his recommendations about upcoming students.
Was Slughorn's style really all that different to Dumbledore's? Well, in a way it was. Slughorn made no secret of what it was he was doing, after all.
The rest of the trials looked like they would be interesting.
Amelia called for Mr and Mrs Weasley together. Madam Bones quickly explained that, like Lupin, they could find nothing to suggest that Arthur and Molly had done anything illegal as part of The Order other than failing to report Sirius' whereabouts. Again this was forgiven.
The interesting part came when Amelia began to explain why the senior Weasleys had joined up with The Order of the Phoenix.
"During our questioning, both Arthur and Molly Weasley attested to the fact that Albus Dumbledore had personally decided to allow all seven of their children to attend Hogwarts, despite their being unable to afford the tuition fees required to do so," explained Madam Bones to the engrossed courtroom.
"Faced with the prospect of having all seven children attend Hogwarts, as opposed to just the oldest son, as has been tradition for the Weasley family for generations, Arthur and Molly promptly snapped up the offer and have felt indebted to Dumbledore ever since."
Everyone in the courtroom was on the edge of their seats, waiting for the bombshell that they were all suddenly sure that Amelia was about to reveal.
"Unfortunately, there is more to this story than meets the eye. Sledgerock, if you please?"
The door off to the side opened up once again to reveal a very important looking Goblin, accompanied by a standard Law Enforcement Officer. As the Goblin marched purposefully into the courtroom, everyone noticed that he was carrying a number of rolled-up scrolls under his arm.
"For those of you here who may not know," said Madam Bones to the room at large "This is Sledgerock. He is Gringotts' official liaison to the Wizengamot."
Madam Bones drew her wand and conjured a small wooden desk and chair beside the seat of the Court Scribe. The Goblin placed his things down on the desk, after getting a nod of approval from Madam Bones, he unrolled one of the scrolls.
He cleared his throat importantly and then announced "The following is the last will and testament of one Ginevra Lucinda Prewett, who died 9th October, 1981, shortly after the birth of her youngest grandchild, Ginevra Molly Weasley.
"For the sake of privacy, I shall only read the part that relates to this trial.
"I leave G210000 to my seven grandchildren born from my only daughter Molly and her useless husband, Arthur Weasley. This is to be divided evenly between the seven of them and used to pay their seven years' worth of tuition to Hogwarts. Merlin knows that their father will never be able to pay it."
The courtroom was silent as Sledgerock unfurled more of the parchment, until he got to the end.
Then he dropped his second bombshell.
"This will and testament was witnessed by one Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore and was signed off by him on 5th October, 1981."
Amelia turned to the Weasley parents. "Molly, Arthur, I know that this cannot be easy, but would either of you care to elaborate?"
Arthur looked at his wife, who had tears streaming down her cheeks, before answering. "Molly's mother did not approve of her marrying me. With the Prewetts being an Ancient family while the Weasleys are a Clan, she felt that her daughter was marrying below her station. She and Molly argued about it and did not speak again following our wedding."
"And you knew nothing about this will?" prompted Amelia.
Arthur shook his head. "No. As far as we knew, Molly was not included in any will of her mother's."
"That is interesting," said Sledgerock. "Our records show that Albus Dumbledore attended the will reading of Ginevra Prewett in your stead. He had written permission by you, Mr Weasley, and your wife, stating your wish to have him act as your representative during the reading."
The truth of the matter was already revealed, but Amelia clearly wanted to make sure that it was hammered home.
"I'm curious," she said. "Did Dumbledore offer you any forms to fill in so that your children could attend Hogwarts?"
Arthur's shoulders sank. "Yes," he replied. "We arranged it a few days after Molly's mother died."
"And, presumably, a few days before the reading of the will…" ventured Madam Bones.
Arthur nodded. There was nothing more to say. The truth was as clear as crystal. Dumbledore knew about the estrangement between Molly and her mother. He had been the witness to the writing of Ginevra Prewett's last will and testament, and had therefore known that it contained a substantial sum of money for the Weasley children's tuition. Dumbledore had then gone to Molly and Arthur, pretending to offer them a way to send all of their children to Hogwarts for free. Once Molly and Arthur signed the forms, Dumbledore had either changed the writing on the forms or transferred the signatures to another document which gave him the right to act on the Weasley's behalf during the reading of Ginevra Prewett's will.
From then on it appeared to the Weasley's that Dumbledore was simply a generous man who had helped their family out while in fact the children's tuition was already paid for.
"Why?" asked Molly, speaking for the first time. "Why would he do that?"
"The answer to that, Molly, is rather simple," replied Madam Bones. "While there can be no doubt that having the loyalty of Clan Weasley was certainly a bonus for Dumbledore, his main goal was to get the Ancient House of Prewett on his side. We know that both of your brothers, Gideon and Fabian, were once members of The Order of the Phoenix, well before you and your husband were.
"We know that Dumbledore had the trust of your mother at the very least – his selection to bear witness to her last will and testament proves that much. Moreover, Wizengamot records show that the Ancient House of Prewett, over a course of thirty five years, frequently sided with Dumbledore in various matters. In short, the Ancient House of Prewett was usually one that Dumbledore could count upon to do things his way.
"However, Alfrid Prewett passed away, Gideon and Fabian were killed fighting Death Eaters without having children of their own, and Ginevra was on her death bed. Dumbledore could not count on the Prewett vote for much longer, which is why he approached you and your husband, Molly."
Molly looked confused, as though she had not followed Amelia's logic in the slightest.
Arthur, on the other hand, had understood every word. "With Gideon and Fabian gone, the title of Head of House Prewett could be claimed by any of my sons."
"That is correct, for the most part," replied Madam Bones. "The only obvious exception is William, as he would be expected to claim headship of Clan Weasley when the time came."
At this point, Fudge interjected. "Well, Madam Bones, you have certainly given the Wizengamot plenty of insight into how Dumbledore has been operating. But if that is all, these people have, by your own words, done nothing to break the law."
Amelia gave a nod of her head and the Minister promptly declared Arthur and Molly free to go.
As the two Weasley parents joined Fred, George, Ron and Ginny, Harry could not help but feel sorry for them. On the one hand he could have argued that, as Mr and Mrs Weasley were not guilty of committing any crimes as a part of The Order of the Phoenix, all that had been revealed in the courtroom should really have been revealed in a private setting.
On the other hand, this evidence was essential to building an airtight case against Dumbledore. Harry did not particularly want the fact that he had spent ten years of his life living in a cupboard thanks to the abusive Dursley family, it was Dumbledore who had put him there and if revealing that truth would mean that Dumbledore would get the punishment that he deserved, the Harry thought that revealing the truth of the matter would be a small price to pay.
Next to be called forward was Arthur and Molly's oldest son, Bill Weasley.
His reasons for joining The Order were pretty much the same as his parents; he believed that Dumbledore had allowed him to attend Hogwarts for free. However, there was something more.
Again, it fell to the Goblin, Sledgerock, to explain.
"I have here the application form submitted by Mr William Weasley when he applied to Gringotts Bank for an apprenticeship as a curse breaker. Included are a list of his Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Level examination results, and a personal letter of recommendation from one Albus Dumbledore. The examination results indicate that Mr Weasley received an Outstanding with merit grade for both his Study of Ancient Runes examination and his Arithmancy examination. The results are signed by Dumbledore and by Griselda Marchbanks, the Head of the Wizarding Examinations Authority."
"Interesting," said Madam Bones. "I wonder if Madam Marchbanks would validate these results."
"No, I would not." replied a voice from amongst the Wizengamot members.
Madam Marchbanks got to her feet as all eyes turned to her. She brandished a piece of parchment as she announced "These are the N.E.W.T level examination results of Mr William Weasley, taken from the archives of the Wizarding Examinations Authority just this morning."
Holding the parchment up, she read aloud;
"Study of Ancient Runes: Exceeds Expectations.
Arithmancy: Acceptable."
She lowered the piece of parchment and said to the room as a whole "Clearly the results submitted to Gringotts were tampered with. These marks are well below the Gringotts requirements for entry into an apprenticeship in the field of curse breaking."
"Were you aware of this?" Madam Bones asked Bill.
He nodded before replying "I didn't do as well in by N.E.W.T's as I should have. I wrote to Dumbledore, asking if I could retake the exams that I was required to score Outstanding in so as to become a curse breaker."
Madam Marchbanks interjected. "While such an option is available in the event of a student not doing as well as their Professors think they could have, the Wizarding Examinations Authority has no record of any such request coming from you."
"You wouldn't," replied Bill. "The request was never submitted. Dumbledore insisted that he had contacts inside Gringotts. He said he could get me an apprenticeship without having to retake my exams. At the time I thought he only meant that he would write a letter of recommendation. It was only after I joined the Order that he revealed that he had forged a document of my exam results."
"Why did he feel it necessary to reveal this to you?" asked Madam Bones.
"Dumbledore decided that he wanted to place a communication block on Harry Potter. He encouraged Harry's friends to not write to him and then decided that when members of The Order were on guard duty outside Harry's muggle residence, they were to intercept any and all Owl Post messages that came to the house. We were then to bring them back to the Order's Headquarters so that Dumbledore could read them and either approve them or not.
"I told him that I was not comfortable doing so but he insisted that it was for Harry's own good. But when he decided to lock up Harry's owl, Hedwig, I threatened to quit The Order. That's when Dumbledore told me the truth about how I got my curse breaker apprenticeship and threatened to reveal it to my superiors at the bank."
"I presume that he also used this threat to get you to take part in the mass potioning of students at Hogwarts?" asked Madam Bones.
Bill nodded, an action which prompted much discussion in the audience.
Fudge called for order and said "Mr Weasley, this case is not as clear cut as that of your parents. This time we will have to open the matter up to a Wizengamot vote."
He turned in his seat and asked "Those in favour of conviction of William Weasley for his role in the mass potioning of students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?"
Some hands were raised, others remained down.
"And those in favour of clearing the accused of the charges levied against him?"
It was close, but those in favour of conviction won the day.
"Very well," said Fudge. "William Weasley, you will remain in your chair while we hear the cases against the rest of The Order of the Phoenix. Once Madam Bones has presented all of her evidence, the Wizengamot will retire to deliberate all suitably punishments."
Bill nodded in acceptance as his seat was guided back into line with the others.
Harry had no idea just who Elphias Doge was, but Madam Bones revealing that the man was previously employed for fifty years as a Special Advisor to the Wizengamot meant that Harry paid close attention.
It quickly turned out that Madam Bones had more on Doge than she had on Bill.
A lot more.
Doge's reasons for joining The Order were simple.
Firstly, Dumbledore had gotten Doge the job of Special Advisor to the Wizengamot and, as such, felt that he owed Dumbledore for it.
Second, Doge and Dumbledore had gone to school together, where they had forged a strong friendship.
Third, Doge was a closet homosexual and didn't want anyone to know about it, out of fear that it would bring shame upon his family.
No prizes for guessing who did know.
As a part of The Order, Doge had, amongst other things, taken part in the potioning of the students and abused his position as Special Advisor to the Wizengamot in order to spy on the body for Dumbledore after the latter was dismissed from his position as Chief Warlock.
Madam Bones also had evidence that Doge had, at Dumbledore's urging, been influential in some of the more distasteful decisions taken by the Wizengamot at the end of the first war with Voldemort. She did not come right out and say it, but Harry got the distinct impression that Amelia was referencing the sentencing of Sirius to Azkaban without trial, the release of Snape without a trial and the decision to block the Abbott's claim of guardianship over Harry.
Fudge decided that the Wizengamot would refrain from casting a verdict for now. Meanwhile, Doge would remain in Ministry custody until a full investigation into Doge's actions during his time as Special Advisor to the Wizengamot was completed.
After Doge there were several more people whom Harry did not recognise, including a man named Sturgis Podmore whom Harry thought looked rather like a scarecrow. Podmore had once seriously breached the International Statute of Secrecy when he got involved in a fight in a Muggle bar and end up hexing five people to have bats wings where their ears should be.
Dumbledore used his position as Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards to cover things up.
After Podmore's story was subjected to a vote, attentions were turned to the case of venerated retired Auror, Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, and it was a shocker.
It was well known that Moody was paranoid, so his enchanting the dustbins in his garden to act as guard dogs was not that much of a surprise.
However, the revelation that these bins had once killed one muggle eleven year old boy and seriously maimed his friend when they snuck into Moody's garden in order to retrieve an errant football immediately caused a stir amongst those witnessing the trial.
The subsequent revelation that Dumbledore had covered the incident up in order to protect Moody's reputation nearly caused a riot. Things only calmed down when Madam Bones asked her Aurors to draw their wands. No spells were fired though, as the threat alone was enough.
Things did not remain quiet for long though. When Madam Bones revealed that Moody had not only been involved in the incident had Hogwarts, but had also assisted Dumbledore in capturing Harry and modifying his memories, the crowd was about ready to see Moody put to death on the spot.
In the end Head Auror Scrimgeour called on four more Aurors to stand guard around Moody. Only once the number of guards around the former Auror matched the number of those surrounding Snape did the crowd quiet down, allowing the proceedings to continue.
After Moody was a tall, black Auror named Kingsley Shacklebolt, and once he had heard the case against the man, Harry could not help but feel a little bit sorry for him.
Shacklebolt had been the Senior Auror in charge of recapturing Sirius. Shacklebolt had joined The Order on the recommendation of Mad-Eye Moody and had learned the truth about Sirius. However, instead of using his time and resources to create a case for Sirius' freedom, Shacklebolt had instead directed the search overseas, following up on his personally created false leads that Sirius was in Tibet.
His intentions were honourable in a way, but at the same time wildly misguided. While he had not sold Sirius out, he had also cost the Ministry a lot of money, man hours and other resources, not only in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, but in the Department of International Magical Cooperation as well.
To make things worse, Shacklebolt's information has also lead to the International Confederation of Wizards getting involved, along with the Tibetan Ministry for Magic.
On the other hand, once he had started to feed the Ministry false information, he was in a no win situation, just like Bill. If Shacklebolt decided to go against Dumbledore, Dumbledore would have ruined him.
In the end, the Wizengamot was only going to vote one way, and that was before Madam Bones even got to the fact that Shacklebolt had also played a role in the potioning of students.
Five more people went by before Madam Bones got to a name that Harry recognised.
Nymphadora Tonks.
Like Kingsley, she had joined The Order of the Phoenix after being persuaded to do so by Mad-Eye Moody. Like Kingsley, she had failed to bring information on Sirius to the Ministry. When she had been caught spying on the trial of Harry Potter for Dumbledore and subsequently been dismissed, Dumbledore had employed her at Hogwarts, leaving her in much the same situation as Bill – employment in a great job, arranged by a man who could very easily take it away again if she did not do his bidding.
Like Bill, the vote was a very close thing, but the decision to convict won out.
After Tonks was a woman named Hestia Jones.
Madam Bones wasted no time in revealing that Hestia and her sister, Holyhead Harpies' starting seeker Gwenog Jones had been doing some illegal money raising. Harry had never gambled money in his life but the concept, as far as he could tell, was that Hestia would sort out the bets, and if the returns offered were high enough, Gwenog would deliberately lose a Quidditch match.
Then Dumbledore found out. From there, the rest was easily guessed.
After two more faces Harry didn't know, Dedalus Diggle was put on trial. Harry remembered meeting the man in The Leaky Cauldron when Hagrid had taken him for his first trip to Diagon Alley, back before he had started his first year at Hogwarts.
The purple hat was gone now though, along with the cheery smile.
Diggle, as it turned out, had a habit of setting off magical fireworks in order to celebrate… well, almost anything he felt like, it seemed. Magical fireworks have a tendency to be very different to Muggle fireworks, so much so that using one in a Muggle area is usually considered to be a breach of the International Statute of Secrecy.
Needless to say, Dumbledore repeatedly covered up these breaches and therefore secured Diggle's loyalty.
Then there was Mundungus Fletcher, whom Harry recognised as being the Wizard who had turned up at Privet Drive in the aftermath of the Dementor attack that almost resulted in his being expelled from Hogwarts.
Fletcher, as it turned out, was the very definition of a Wizarding lowlife – a sneak-thief who would probably sell his own grandmother for the right price. In addition to multiple counts of theft, Dumbledore had gone out of his way to cover up six separate instances of Muggle baiting on Fletcher's part.
Of these, the most serious was selling toilet seats that were charmed to come alive when sat on and bite down hard on the buttocks of the unfortunate person who had done the sitting. Then there was one instance of Fletcher selling gold watches that were designed to disappear into thin air and return to the seller within twelve hours, three instances of using leprechaun gold to barter with Muggle market-stall owners and one instance of selling a Muggle an enchanted tea pot that would shoot boiling tea out of its spout and into the face of whomever was nearest.
Though, Fletcher claimed, he did not actually know that the tea pot was enchanted until after he had sold it.
Fletcher's principle role in The Order was to keep an ear out in the criminal world and report anything of interest back to Dumbledore. He was also frequently tasked with procuring a few of the more unsavoury artefacts that The Order occasionally required.
After Fletcher there were several more people whom Harry did not know until, at last, the trials moved on to the staff of Hogwarts.
Filius Flitwick had been caught by a reporter in a rather compromising position with two Hags and a Swamp Troll after night's heavy drinking in celebration of his winning his final duel before retiring from the professional duelling circuit. Such a scandal would have ruined Flitwick's reputation and Dumbledore found a way to silence the reporter before the story could be printed.
Needless to say, the respect that many graduates of Ravenclaw House had for their former Head of House took a massive downturn when that story was revealed.
Pomona Sprout, on the other hand, regularly broke international regulations on the crossbreeding of magical plants, Madam Pomfrey had failed her final healers examinations, meaning that she had been practicing magical medicine without a licence, Rolanda Hooch had, shortly after first starting work at Hogwarts as flying instructor, been caught in an inappropriate position with a seventh year who played seeker for Slytherin and Charity Burbage had failed her N.E.W.T examination in Muggle Studies and was therefore not even in the least bit qualified to teach the subject.
But the most shocking was yet to come.
"My fellow Wizards and Witches," said Madam Bones once the furore caused by the reveal of Charity Burbage's lack of qualifications had died down. "If you would, please cast your minds back to the 12th November 1967. For those of you who were not there, then try to recall hearing about it in your History of Magic class.
"At the time there was a large scale movement going on, trying to increase the rights of Squibs in the Wizarding World. There had been multiple demonstrations, usually in the form of protest marches that had been staged regularly since the spring of 1964. The purpose of these demonstrations were simple – better rights for Squibs.
"In many areas, these demonstrations proved effective. Employment rates for Squibs increased by sixty seven percent, St Mungo's invested in better treatment methods suited to those born without magic and by law, all Squibs were issued with a special, enchanted key that would allow them to access Diagon Alley through the brick wall behind the Leaky Cauldron, something which, up to that point, was only possible through the use of a wand.
"However, as the winter of 1967 approached, there was still one major issue for the Squibs Rights campaigners – equal pay. Many companies that employed Squibs did so at a vastly lower rate than they would have paid someone who could perform magic.
"After nearly a year of demonstrations on the subject, the then Minister for Magic, Nobby Leach, the first Muggleborn to hold the post, decided to call a Wizengamot session so that the matter could be put to rest.
"The organisers of Squibs United, the principle campaign group, were invited to put forward their arguments, as were opponents of the issue. The matter was then voted on by the Wizengamot. Rightly or wrongly, the Wizengamot narrowly voted against installing a mandatory minimum wage rate for Squibs.
"The organisers of Squibs United accepted their loss but promised to keep on campaigning. However, waiting in the wings were several members of The Brotherhood for Squib Freedom, a much more extreme group who not above causing damage in order to get their point across.
"Without thought for the safety of anyone else, this small group of members from the BSF set off an explosive device of Muggle origin outside the doors of the Wizengamot chambers. Six members of the Wizengamot were killed, along with three members of Squibs United, four of their opponents, two reporters and the court scribe.
"It was the single largest terrorist attack to take place within the Ministry for Magic building, and remains so to this day. Other members of the BSF were so horrified by the atrocity that they personally handed over four of the perpetrators before permanently disbanding their organisation. Two other perpetrators were named; Chris Fugal and Bella Fairgag.
"Neither of these two were ever found, and have remained on the Department of Magical Law Enforcement's Wanted List ever since."
Here she gave a wave of her wand and two wanted posters, ten feet high and six feet wide appeared in the air, giving everyone in the courtroom a good look at the two individuals. From the looks of things, the photographs had been taken from cuttings of photographs that had appeared in newspapers. From the movements of those in the photographs, it was clear that both of them were in a crowd, even if most of that crowd had been cropped out of the image.
With the wanted posters hanging in the air, Madam Bones continued "I think we can all recall learning the anagram spell back in charms class during our second year of magical education. Oftentimes, most of us were left greatly disappointed that using the spell on our own names did not make any cool nicknames. However sometimes something funny could come up. Mine, for example, produced the words Amiable Nose."
There was some laughter in the crowd at this and Hannah took the opportunity to nudge Harry and ask "What did your name come out as when we were taught that spell?"
Harry could not help but smile as he replied "Hamster Jar Poetry and Pyjamas the Terror."
"However," continued Madam Bones "Sometimes the anagram spell could give you an entirely different name altogether, a name with which one could establish an entirely different identity."
She drew her wand again and wrote in smoke the names Chris Fugal and Bella Fairgag.
Then she gave one swish of her wand and the letters of each name moved around until Chris Fugal had become Argus Filch and Bella Fairgag had become Arabella Figg.
As the audience gasped in shock, two Aurors drew their wands and cast "Finite Incantatum" at Figg and Filch.
Glamour charms rippled and faded away, leaving two entirely different faces that, though much older, clearly belonged to the people on the wanted posters.
"Well, that explains why Filch as always in such a bad mood all the time," observed Susan as Fudge called for order in the courtroom.
The revelation that Dumbledore had been hiding two of the country's most wanted criminals right under everyone's nose had caused the biggest stir so far.
The Wizengamot vote on Figg and Filch was unanimously in favour of a guilty verdict and as the Aurors dragged them back into line along with the others guilty parties, Madam Bones called for the last prisoner to be brought forward.
"Aurors, please bring Severus Snape before the Wizengamot."
The six Aurors standing guard around Snape moved closer together as the man's chair was levitated off the ground and moved towards the centre of the chamber.
Then there was a trill of magical birdsong and a flash of fire which nearly blinded everyone. Once the flames had disappeared, the six Aurors guarding Snape were flat on the ground, out cold while the man himself was gone.
Pandemonium immediately erupted as people began to panic. A moment later a flash of fire blasted the Aurors guarding Alastor Moody in all directions. The fire faded and Moody was gone.
"It's Fawkes," said Harry. "Dumbledore's doing this!"
When another flash of fire occurred, this time above Doge, Auror Savage threw a stunning spell at it. Unfortunately his reaction time was not fast enough and his spell instead smacked harmlessly into the stone wall at the opposite end of the courtroom.
Another burst of flame and Shacklebolt was gone. Another took Flitwick and another took Pomfrey, followed by Sprout.
Every time the flash of fire appeared, the Aurors who were still standing threw stunning spells, impediment jinxes and knockback hexes towards the target, but their spells always came too late. Fawkes was too fast. Some spells hit the walls harmlessly while others sailed into the panicking crowd, hitting people.
Podmore vanished. Diggle vanished. Fletcher vanished. Vance vanished.
Sarah grabbed Harry by the arm.
"Come on," she said, getting the attention of Remus, Sirius, Susan and Hannah. "We need to get Harry out of here. That bird might grab him as well."
Sirius agreed but added "You take him. If Remus and I remain here, Fawkes may spend more time grabbing people from this room."
Remus nodded and he and Sirius moved off, intending to offer themselves as bait for Fawkes while Sarah got Harry away.
Five more Order members had vanished by now, but there was about to be an upset.
A burst of flame appeared above Bill, but the oldest Weasley son threw himself onto the ground, having made his decision to have nothing more to do with The Order of the Phoenix. The move caused Fawkes to miss him and completely threw the bird off balance. For the first time he appeared physically, shimmering with red and gold as he spread his impressive wings to right himself.
That was all that Madam Bones needed. As Fawkes turned in the air, aiming for Tonks this time, her stunning spell found its mark. She didn't dare fire anything more lethal with all these people around who could potentially get hit by a stray spell.
Fawkes squawked and tumbled through the air, vanishing in a burst of flame. The sound got everyone's attention, and the panicked push towards the exit came to an abrupt halt. Except for Sarah, Hannah and Susan, who were still determinedly trying to get Harry out of the courtroom and away from the threat of being snatched, though it was quickly becoming apparent that a motionless crowd was much more difficult to get through than a panicking one.
Everyone remained silent, barely daring to breathe, all wondering whether or not the Phoenix was going to come back.
For almost a minute nothing happened. Then there was a flash of flames near the door and Sarah, Hannah, Susan and about a dozen others found themselves being thrown back into other members of the crowd.
As the darkness of unconsciousness claimed them, they had two thoughts.
The first though was that Fawkes' flames, while bright, did not burn. They were merely warm, perhaps to the same extent as a warming charm.
The second thought was the realisation that Harry Potter was gone.
A/N: Oh dear. A cliff-hanger. Ain't I a stinker? I swear, this is the last time for a while that a cliff-hanger will occur. Trust me, when you read the next chapter, you will understand why I chose to end things here.
Anyhow, this story is now over three years old. I would like to thank everyone for reading, especially those who have stuck with this story from the start. I know my updates have not been all that regular recently, but I am hoping to sort that issue out. 2015 vanished way too quickly as far as I'm concerned. To any kids reading this, when your parents and grandparents tell you that time goes by faster the older you get, you better believe them because they are not lying.
I know that some of you will be disappointed that every trial was not as detailed as those of The Weasleys, but seriously, would you really want Amelia delivering one monologue after another for each Order member, resulting in another 50,000 words before the story can move on?
To all those who mentioned it in their reviews of the previous chapter, no I did not know that J.K. Rowling has announced that Hogwarts was funded by the Ministry rather than being tuition-based. However, this story is too far along now to change this aspect. Also, I would like to point out that this little bit of information only adds further justification to Fudge creating the role of High Inquisitor, as any organisation directly funded by the Ministry, be it Hogwarts, St Mungo's or whatever should be reviewed by the Ministry to make sure that taxpayers money is being well spent. While Umbridge was clearly the wrong person for the job, and Fudge's motives were far from appropriate, the review of Hogwarts' staff, facilities and the like was necessary and frankly up until that point the Ministry had been largely negligent on that front