"The Dursleys will have to defend against charges on child abuse, embezzlement of funds they got for your care, and I think there are also suspicions of tax evasion." Dumbledore explained.
Harry nodded. He had suspected something like that from the moment he heard his parents had been well to do.
"I guess having a strong magical healing was a slight disadvantage then. I know from Healer Ickings that my magic healed me from the injuries they gave me. Broken bones, the concussions, the cuts, and any infects. If Mrs Figg only looked out for those she would have had problems. I normally was healed from them the next day. What remained were scars, but those were hidden by my clothes. The only exception was a broken arm when I was perhaps four. It hurt horribly for four days, I wasn't allowed to cry and when I did, Vernon only got madder. Then over the night the pain stopped and in the morning it was gone. And the rags I had to wear hid a lot." Harry sighed.
"It was both good and bad, Harry. Your magic did what was necessary to help you survive. But sadly, yes, it hid the signs others could have spotted too well for anybody not schooled to see more than obvious things to react." Dumbledore admitted.
"What options do I have for my living place?" Harry asked.
"Well, the most probable option will be that a magical family takes you in as a foster child until you come of age or get to an age where you can request being emancipated. Coming of age in the wizarding world happens on your seventeenth birthday, emancipated you could get after you passed your OWL exams." Dumbledore explained. "In the magical world there are no orphanages, so if you refuse to go to any magical family you would be placed in one of the muggle orphanages."
"I see. What about old friends of my parents? There must have been arrangement for my placement in case they didn't survive the war." Harry asked.
"They did make those arrangements. But sadly none could be used. Your primary guardian in case your parents died would have been your father's best friend and your godfather Sirius Black, but he is in prison. It was found out that he was the one who betrayed the hiding place of your parents to Voldemort and after they had died, he was cornered by another friend of your parents, Peter Pettigrew. Sirius was the better and more powerful wizard though and he killed Peter and thirteen muggles that were in the place where Peter cornered him with one blasting curse. Only a finger could be found of Peter after that. We all didn't think Sirius would ever betray your father, they were closer than brothers. But seemingly Sirius only pretended and was actually a spy for Voldemort." Dumbledore said sadly.
"How could you be so sure he was guilty? From the little I have read about curses in the history books I have, whenever the Death Eaters used them there were more remains. And only a finger being left sounds fishy to me. And if this Sirius was so close with my dad, wouldn't he have noticed if he behaved strange? What did he say during his trial? Why did he do it?" Harry asked.
"Well, the evidence was clear, so he was sent to Azkaban immediately after he was arrested." Dumbledore said.
"What kind of bullshit is that?" Harry thundered amking the doors of the wardrobe in the room rattle. "That's the most obvious cover up story I have ever heard! Under the law of the crown every subject of her majesty the Queen has a right to a fair trial. And I have found nothing that makes witches and wizards exempt from that right. While the wizarding world may have gone into hiding after the passing of the Statute of Secrecy in 1692, we are still subjects of the Queen or King. King John by signing the Magna Carta granted the wizards the right of self-government as long as they still followed the British law. No king would have given up the power over a good part of his subjects. To this day the Minister of Magic keeps contact with the Prime Minister. The monarch of our country also always knows about the magical world. So for Sirius Black not even been given a trial is a clear breach of the treaty the British wizarding society signed with the Crown.
"More, how did you know he betrayed my parents?" Harry demanded to know.
Dumbledore was really shocked. He hadn't expected something like that. And sadly the boy was right. He, as the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, should have made sure all supposed Death Eaters got a trial.
"Your parents were hiding using a powerful enchantment. It's called the Fidelius Charm. You hide a secret in the very soul of a person, the so-called Secret Keeper. If the Secret Keeper doesn't talk, the secret can't be found. But only a week after the charm was performed, Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. Sirius Black was the Secret Keeper for your parents. And the muggle witnesses of the fight between Peter and Sirius reported that Peter asked Sirius how he could have betrayed Lily and James."
"I believe it when I get his statement. I have heard too many lies from adults in my life to just believe anything that has so many holes in it. I mean, was anybody there when the charm was performed? Anybody besides the muggles? Where was Pettigrew's body if they found the bodies of the thirteen muggles? After all, without finding the bodies nobody could have told the exact number of victims. There should at least have been traces of blood of Pettigrew. Were they checked against Pettigrew's blood? This sounds like somebody had an interest to get Sirius Black out of the way. Or somebody who had no other interest than looking good in public opinion. Politicians often try to sway public views by doing flashy things. Any normal investigation would have made absolutely certain that a person is proven guilty without a doubt. I have read mystery books, especially Sherlock Holmes and he has one saying: If you've eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. In my opinion, having a man blasted up with one curse and only leaving a finger is impossible. I would have to test it with a dummy, but I'm pretty sure I'm right. So who says it wasn't different?" Harry said.
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