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Harry Potter and the Demons Within by padfootmoony13
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Harry Potter and the Demons Within

padfootmoony13

Chapter 12- The Trial

Harry tossed and turned all night. By the time morning arrived, he had barely managed to get in half an hour of sleep. Mr. Weasley interrupted his dreamless sleep, shaking him slightly as he said, "Time to get up and around now."

While getting dressed, Harry took special care to dress nicely, in a black suit, white oxford shirt, and tie. Although he spent many minutes in front of the mirror, trying pointlessly to flatten down his wild hair, it just kept sticking back up again, as usual. He refused to eat his oatmeal; he was too queasy. Instead, he just picked at it, stirring it with his spoon while Mr. Weasley along with Kingsley, who had spent the night, both prepared for leaving. Halfway through breakfast, Lupin wandered in, but like Harry didn't eat anything. Since it was too risky to take a muggle train again, Kingsley had managed to arrange for a Ministry car to pick them up somewhere just inside London. As they all set off, Mrs. Weasley came and tried to flatten Harry's hair again, but he shrugged her off, and then she handed him a sack lunch accompanied with a swift hug before scooting him out the door. It was only 5:00 in the morning when they set off from Grimmauld Place, and nobody cared to say much. After walking quite a ways, past the train station even, they approached an upscale area of London, lined with shops and town homes. Beside the curb, a black Mercedes Ministry Car was parked, waiting for them. As a special precaution, Kingsley had requested there not to be a driver, in case the fellow was untrustworthy or somehow caught on to where they came from. Kingsley withdrew his wand from within his long black coat, pointing it at the lock and muttering a spell under his breath to unlock it. He then hopped in the driver's seat, while Mr. Weasley sat beside him in the front and Lupin and Harry hopped in the back. The entire ride, Harry just sat in a sort of trance, watching the city pass by. Whenever he chanced a glance at Lupin, he seemed to be doing the same thing. He couldn't focus on anything either than what could go wrong, and the growing knot in his upset stomach.

Once they reached the Ministry of Magic visitor's entrance, which gave Harry the chills just looking at it, they parked their car along the edge of the curb between two lines that read "NO PARKING- FIRE ZONE. WILL BE TOWED." They all traveled across the road to the broken-down telephone booth. Once they were all jammed inside and had the necessary name-tags pinned on, Harry looked over his shoulder and was surprised to find that the Ministry car had vanished.

"What happened to the car?" he asked, as the telephone booth shuddered to a start and began to descend into the ground.

Kingsley answered him impassively, "That area we parked in was the car return. I hope you didn't leave anything you need in there, but if you did then we can always retrieve it later in the Ministry's Lost and Found."

"No, I brought everything with me," Harry said.

After a few seconds of complete darkness, light began to stream through at the bottom of the booth, eventually flooding its entirety as the booth landed in the Ministry of Magic lobby, and the door popped open. All four filed out of the booth and, after Harry and Lupin had theirs wands checked, headed over towards the elevators. While they approached the elevators, Harry looked around and noticed that the Fountain of Magical Brethren was intact again, so he ran over to it and poured in almost all of his money from his money bag; somehow, he felt he owed it a debt of gratitude for helping to save his life, even if it was enchanted by Dumbledore. The rest of them waited for him by the elevators, until he returned. Harry kept looking back over his shoulder at the fountain.

"Come on, Harry," Mr. Weasley said, as the elevator landed and opened, allowing the group waiting around it to begin stampeding in. Kingsley pushed his way through the crowd, Harry, Lupin and Mr. Weasley all following in his wake, until they were all crammed into the elevator and it began to rise. Inside, Harry noticed a whole strew of people. One man held what appeared to be part duck, part monkey in his arms, as the beast tried to wriggle free from his grasp. Another lady had boils covering her face and was quietly moaning in agony; he wondered who had cursed her. Then, as the elevator reached the 5th floor, a tall, slender man shoved his way through the elevator crowd saying, "Excuse me. Pardon me. Make way."

The man had dirty blonde hair cut short and messy, light blue eyes, and bore a smile so large it seemed to stretch across his entire face yet somehow it still looked natural. He pushed his way through, stopping directly next to Harry; it was then that Harry noticed the man was not too much taller than him; he couldn't have been older than Charlie or Bill Weasley.

The man smiled jovially at Kingsley and crooned, "Good morning. I'm surprised to see you up and about so early."

Kingsley smiled back at the man and said, "Hello, Geoff. I had special matters to attend to today."

"Ah," Geoff said. "And what might those matters be, if it's my place at all."

"I'm just showing Harry here around is all," Kingsley boomed.

At those words, Geoff suddenly looked at Harry as if he hadn't noticed him standing there at all and said happily, "So, we finally meet, Harry." He held out a hand for Harry to shake and Harry took it. "I must admit, I've been keen to meet you, though I wasn't expecting to find you here. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine," Harry said, slightly taken aback by such a normal question. It was weird; although he had only met Geoff a few seconds ago, he had already taken to him. Maybe it was because Geoff had yet to gawk at his scar or treat him differently; he had just greeted him as normal.

"Good to hear it," Geoff said, releasing Harry's hand. "I'm Geoff by the way, in case you didn't just hear. Geoff Everhurst."

"Nice to meet you," Harry said, smiling. Though he failed to realize it, all of his nervousness about the trial had momentarily vanished.

The elevator jerked to a halt, doors clanking open as the last people present streamed out, down the halls of the 2nd Floor. However, Harry noticed two stragglers standing in their own corners silently, with sullen faces and dead eyes with heavy bags under them; he instantly recognized them as Unspeakables. He watched them disappear into the depths of the Ministry of Magic basement over his shoulder, unable to tear his eyes off of them until they were completely concealed from view. Even though Voldemort no longer forced him to dwell upon the Department of Mysteries, his curiosity often still took a hold of him so that he settled on fruitless daydreams of the inexplicable department. When he wasn't replaying the image of the Veil room over and over again in his mind, he was attempting to decipher what some of the oddities he had encountered there were. What were those creepy brain things that drove Ron crazy? What other prophecies resided deep within the department's bowels? And most of all, what was the powerful force contained in the locked room, which he apparently held in such vast quantities? These questions circled around his head, until he bumped headfirst into a wall, as the hallway veered off to the right.

"Whoa there," Geoff chuckled, following closely behind Harry as he continued embarrassedly down the hall. "Are you alright?"

Harry felt his cheeks burn as his head throbbed dully and he mumbled, "Yeah-fine."

"Thinking about something?" Geoff asked perceptively. Harry glanced back over his shoulder, where he saw Geoff looking at him sincerely, awaiting a reply; at least Geoff was not making fun of him.

He turned his head back around again, taking care to pay attention to where he was walking this time, and answered, "Yeah, I was."

Geoff clapped a hand on his shoulder and said, as he walked past him, "Happens to me all the time; they should have some flashing lights there or something, warning you about the upcoming wall."

Harry laughed as Geoff winked at him and continued on, catching up to Kingsley. Right then and there, Harry determined to himself that he liked Geoff, whoever he was.

They all turned into the large room that housed numerous cubicles filled with busy Aurors, hard at work. The room was in complete disarray; plastered all over the walls were posters showing the Death Eater's gloomy faces, frowning and cackling at Harry as he approached them. He stared at the posters with revulsion; right at the top of the page was Bellatrix Lestrange's wicked face grimacing at him, and he was having difficulties restraining himself from lunging right at the posters and ripping them all into shreds.

"I'll see you all later," Mr. Weasley said, continuing through the Aurors' office and into his own. "I've got to sort through some files. Last week, someone enchanted a water-fountain in Central London to spew fire whiskey; it gave the muggles quite a fright to see fire pouring out from the thing. We're still trying to catch who did it."

"I'm going to go with Arthur," Lupin said, as he followed Mr. Weasley. "I'll see you all in a while."

"Come over here, and take a seat," Kingsley said, motioning to a chair shoved against his cluttered cubicle, covered in papers.

Harry did as he was told, setting the stack of papers on the ground next to him. Meanwhile, Kingsley set to work, filling out paper work on his desk and Geoff leaned against the cubicle, talking to Harry.

"So, what brings you here?" he asked conversationally.

"I sort of have a little issue to attend to; I have to go to trial," Harry said, frowning.

"Ah," Geoff said. "What'd you do- trip passing-by muggles from behind some bushes?"

"No..." Harry said. "Why would you think I had done that?"

"No reason," Geoff said nonchalantly, whistling towards the ceiling with his hands behind his back.

"Ok...you have some odd ways of entertaining yourself," Harry smirked.

"Hey," Geoff said in a mock-defensive tone, "Had. I had some odd ways of entertaining myself."

Harry laughed as he imagined muggles strolling down the street and suddenly tripping over thin-air.

Just then, a large, beefy man came stomping into the office, glaring. Harry swore the entire room went immediately silent as the man marched in, and he automatically stopped laughing and watched the man approach.

The man clumped up to where Harry and Geoff stood, and Harry gulped as he looked directly up into the man's steely grey eyes.

"Do you have that report for me yet, Everhurst?" the man grunted.

Harry glanced sideways at Geoff, who had beads of sweat collected on his forehead as Geoff said softly, "Um…no, not yet sir. But I can explain-!" he hastened.

The man took another step closer to Geoff, who backed into the cubicle behind him. "I don't like excuses Everhurst. If you don't start proving yourself more competent, then someone else will start showing up, filling your shoes, and no one will ever hear another peep out of your mouth ever again. Do I make myself clear?" he roared, heavy black mustache twitching.

"Yes sir," Geoff said, looking towards his feet.

"Good," the man said, smiling a crooked smile that gave Harry the creeps. Then the man suddenly exploded again, shouting through the office, causing Harry to jump a bit. "And I expect the same from the rest of you! We need to catch these Death Eaters, dammit!" He paused to glare around the room, at all of the frightened faces looking back at him. "Well?" he bellowed. "What do you all think you're doing? GET BACK TO WORK!"

There was a sudden rustle of papers as every Auror set back to work straight away, their faces buried in reports.

The man continued on, pounding through to the back of the room where an office resided, and slammed the door shut behind him, rattling the entire room.

Harry looked up at Geoff timidly, who was wiping his forehead with his sleeve.

"Who was that man?" Harry asked.

Geoff smiled a strained smile and said, cheerily again, "Oh, that is Mr. Randolph. He's been a little more uptight than usual lately; there's a lot of pressure on the Auror department right now to catch the Death Eaters and being the head he's kind of cracking under the stress. I can't blame him really."

Kingsley spoke up, never looking up from what he was writing, "You're too kind Geoff. He was always a livid jerk, even before the Death Eater's escape."

"Well, I suppose…" Geoff said.

At that moment, another man came bustling forward, and this time Kingsley rose to meet him.

"Did you find anything?" Kingsley asked seriously.

"Nothing," the bushy-haired man said, red in the face. "No clue he had ever been there at all!"

"Really?" Kingsley asked in an exaggerated tone that Harry caught but the other man seemed to have missed. "I was assured he was there."

"Well, whatever your source is, you might want to reconsider its legitimacy. I'm growing quite tired of this wild goose-chase; I feel like I'm walking around in a circle, never getting anywhere!" the man bristled before he stormed off again, yanking a curtain over his cubicle's entrance.

Kingsley turned back into his cubicle, muttering so faintly Harry barely caught it, "I wonder why they're having such difficulties finding him."

"Is he another one looking for Siri-

"Yes, Allen's looking for Black," Kingsley said hastily, whipping around in his chair and staring at Harry sternly. "Be careful what you say here, Potter," Kingsley rasped.

Harry nodded his head swiftly as he regretted almost letting his tongue slip; it would sound odd to the casual eavesdropper to hear Harry regard Sirius by his first name.

"I should be getting back to work. Good day sir," Geoff said, nodding to Kingsley. "See you this evening Harry," he added. Then, as he walked past Harry he leaned close to him and muttered, "I'm being instated into the Order tonight."

Harry watched Geoff stroll away, down the hall, with his jaw hanging wide open.

* * *

The rest of the morning, Harry sat talking with Kingsley about the Auror business; he was really interested in the field, so it was a good learning experience. Then, at 9:45 Lupin and Mr. Weasley came out of Mr. Wesley's office and came to collect Harry for their trial. Both of them were ashen-faced, though they were trying to conceal their nerves for Harry's sake, and their arrival made that queasy feeling return in Harry's stomach.

"Good luck," Kingsley said, as they headed back down the hall, towards the lifts. Harry kept his mouth clamped tight in fear that he would hurl all over the place if he didn't. As the three walked through the empty halls, apart from the occasional purple memo fluttering overhead, Lupin was advising Harry on what to do.

"Just defend yourself, but keep your temper. Remember, you're innocent; if you keep your cool there's no way they can convict you. And when they are dealing with us, stay out of it. Arthur and I can handle our case, and the worst thing that could happen is if you jumped in and got involved."

Harry nodded his head, as they turned around a corner and found themselves facing a courtroom door. The door had only a tiny slit at the top and had the rusty bronze number 2 nailed to it.

"Ready?" Lupin asked, as Harry straightened his tie.

"Let's just get this over with," Harry said, as Lupin opened the door and led him through.

Inside, the atmosphere was a tad bit nicer than old courtroom 10's. This room, unlike the other, was a normal square with wooden seats as opposed to stone benches. The head table stood on a platform in the center of the room, with three high-backed chairs behind it. Along the side and back walls rested a continuous U-shaped table, with simple seats set behind it and tiny desk lamp set along every place. Three cold straight-backed wooden chairs, identical to the ones around the table, were already waiting for them, directly in front of the head table. However, the only lights came from the tiny desk lamps, whose shades directed the light down anyway, and a high-hanging lamp in the center of the room. No one awaited them in the room, so they took up their seats.

However, they didn't need to wait long. About a minute after they sat down, a door in the back wall opened and old hunched wizards filed in. Harry watched them all take a seat, sweat gathering on his forehead. A few witches waved cheerily at Mr. Weasley, who nodded his head politely back. Then three people came in, and took their places at the head table. One lady, who Harry recognized as Mrs. Bones, took the seat furthest to the left, smiling at Harry with raised eyebrows silently asking `What are you doing here again?' Harry blushed and looked down at his feet, which were bouncing around with jitters. Then an old witch Harry didn't know took up her place on the right. Her stern stature unnerved Harry even more, as he swiped his forehead with his jacket sleeve. At that time, everyone who was seated stood, scraping their chairs back against the floor, as a shadowed figure stirred behind the center chair. Someone slapped Harry's arm with the back of their hand, and he turned to see Lupin standing beside him, gesturing with his eyes for him to stand. Harry got the message and sprang upwards, bowing his head momentarily to add something a bit extra out of respect. He heard Lupin groan softly beside him and cover his own face with his hand, so he jerked upright again, cheeks burning.

At the front table, the figure standing in shadows moved dramatically forward into the light, and Harry found himself looking into the freckled face he had been dreading. The light reflected off Percy's horn-rimmed glasses, blinding Harry as Percy sat down slowly and majestically and Harry couldn't help rolling his eyes. Once Percy finally sat down, there was another quick commotion as everyone sat back down again and shuffled in their seats to get comfortable. Percy waited until every person completely stopped moving and, holding a stern and serious look that mirrored his prefect days and made Harry want to burst out laughing, began his little speech. Every word was exaggerated.

"Disciplinary hearing of the eleventh of July," he rang. As he spoke, a quill scratched rapidly on parchment from a young witch with blonde hair at one end of the horse-shoe table. "Regarding offenses committed under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, the International Statute of Secrecy, and the Cooperative Response to Officiated Ministry Officials Edict by Harry James Potter, resident at number four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey." As Percy spoke, Harry felt his chair drag slowly across the floor towards the main desk, leaving Mr. Weasley and Lupin sitting behind him. "Interrogators: Percy Ignatius Weasley, Minister of Magic; Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Gwyneth Leigh Traylor, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. Court Scribe, Sarah Michelle Wulbrecht."

Here he paused, peering coldly down at Harry from above. Harry wasn't sure whether he wanted to laugh hysterically, punch Percy right in the face, or cower in his presence. Any of them sounded good to him at the moment as long as he could escape that loathing stare. Memories of the letter Percy sent to Ron, telling him to desert Harry, flashed through his mind. He remembered Percy shunning Ron's family, even when his dad was dying in the hospital. That's when he determined to himself what he felt like. He wanted to laugh in Percy's face then deal him one- hard. However, he settled on just returning the coldest look he could muster.

"The charges are as follows," Percy announced, taking a break from staring at Harry in order to observe the parchment in front of him. "Performing not only one, but multiple charms in the forms of a Patronus, Immobilizing and Stupefy Spell underage and illegally in a muggle-inhabited area while fully aware of your actions and their consequences."

Murmurs erupted from around the room as Percy mentioned the Patronus charm and Percy steadily grew red in the face until he finally spat, "Yes, we all know he can produce a Patronus- stop fretting over it!"

A few witches gasped but they all clamped their mouths shut just the same. Percy continued on, though slightly disheveled.

"As I was saying…You are Harry James Potter, correct?"

"Yes," Harry said.

"And you willingly performed all three charms in a muggle inhabited area, fully aware of the consequences?"

"Yes," Harry said. That part was true.

"Even though you had already been taken to trial- only a year ago, I might add- in regards to actions of a similar nature?"

"Yup," Harry replied. He refused to take Percy too seriously.

"Right," Percy said, leaning back in his chair and looking at Mrs. Bones and Mrs. Traylor in turn. Then he jerked back forward again, reinitiating the interrogation.

"Let us first address your first offense. You performed a Patronus charm in broad daylight in the middle of a muggle neighborhood, did you not?"

"It was really more evening…" He smiled inwardly as Percy's ears grew red and he screwed up his face.

"Just answer the question!"

"Yes, I did," he answered. "But only because of the Dementors."

Murmuring broke out again but this time Percy ignored it. He rolled his eyes and said, "We have no record of any Dementors anywhere near Little Whinging. That story won't work again."

However, Madam Bones had a different view on the subject.

"How many were there, Mr. Potter?"

Her reaction surprised him but he said, "There were three of them, and when I saw them they were already bent over Mr. Weasley, who was lying on the ground defenseless, and one of them was lowering its hood…so of course there was nothing else I could do."

"And how did you become aware of their presence?"

"I was looking out my bedroom window when I saw them."

She nodded her head and sat back. "That settles it then."

Percy turned on her, flabbergasted. "Wh-what do you- you mean to say you believe this rubbish?"

"Although a part of me wants to deny it, I can't help but notice the sense in his explanation. Consider the date- it was on that very morning that we lost control of the Dementors at Azkaban and the Death Eaters escaped. And when you consider Mr. Potter's history…It only makes sense that he would be targeted."

Percy stared at her, mouth slightly agape.

"Which was the reason that Misters Weasley and Lupin were present to begin with, I presume?" she boomed.

"Um, that is correct," Lupin replied from behind Harry.

"We've been over this before, and we have no right to convict Harry if it was performed out of self-defense, as it was."

Percy looked like he wanted to argue but at the same time recognized that rules were rules and he couldn't break them.

"Of course, I know that," he began. "So let's continue on to the Petrificus Totalus spell. You have already committed to performing the spell willingly. However, what I feel the Wizengamot must understand is the context in which you used it."

Harry gulped. Here it came. He wasn't sure how he was going to finagle his way out of this one; he just prayed he had a sympathetic jury making the final decision.

"As the Ministry officials were caught up in a struggle, you attacked one from behind using this spell, with the same wand they were trying to confiscate."

"No," he said calmly. "They were trying to destroy it. I couldn't allow them to destroy it when we knew it was for a reason that would later be justified. It was all a big misunderstanding."

"Still," Percy continued. "You attacked as a coward, from behind. Not only that, but we have been told that you were not even involved in the struggle until that point, so therefore you must not have been defending yourself and your wand."

Harry's ears rang as he processed what Percy just said. Percy was calling him a coward?

"Well, I wasn't directly defending myself-"

"Aha!" Percy exclaimed victoriously. "So then you admit to being outside your own personal rights in your actions!"

"No!" Harry cried, realizing how Percy was twisting his words. "You didn't let me finish. I was going to say that although it didn't affect me directly at that point in time, if I hadn't stopped them from attacking Lupin then as soon as he was taken care of, they would have turned on me and then I would have been completely defenseless anyway." Whoa. Hermione must have invaded his mind momentarily. He amazed himself even more as he continued, "Which would have left me to resort to taking action against them at that point nonetheless."

Percy looked like a fish out of water. "Well, um, well," he spluttered. "That doesn't excuse your later actions, with the Stupefy spell! You knocked out another Ministry member with such force that he was knocked back into a wall and was hospitalized for two days before he came-to. What do you have to say in your defense for that?"

Wow. He knew the spell was a little more powerful than originally intended, but now that Percy said it, it sounded even worse. He struggled to find something to say, but was spared the effort as Lupin spoke up again from behind him.

"He didn't do it, I did."

Harry turned so fast he cricked his neck. What was Lupin doing?

Percy looked at Lupin disbelievingly, cocking his head to the side. "Explain."

"Well, my wand had been knocked out of my hand when I fell down. I do believe that the ministry official in question thought I was unconscious, but I wasn't. Then I saw Harry's wand lying on the floor near me; he had dropped it earlier. So I grabbed it and turned on the official before he knew what hit him. I had to in order to get Harry to escape with his wand intact."

Percy narrowed his eyes at Lupin suspiciously, but Lupin held firm.

Then the lady on Percy's right, Mrs. Traylor, spoke up.

"There's only one part of your story that fails to coincide with the official's account."

"And that is?" Lupin asked calmly, though Harry noticed sweat break across his forehead.

"The official said he saw Mr. Potter appear suddenly in the room, near the fireplace. You have made no mention of Harry's presence. He believes that Mr. Potter was the one who cast the spell."

"Well, yes, I saw that too. It just didn't involve how I was the one who cast the spell. You see, Harry had returned to the room after he realized his wand was missing and, and…"

"Yes?" Mrs. Traylor encouraged him to continue.

"And, well," suddenly Harry saw Lupin's eyes light up and he could tell Lupin had devised a story. "The official was bound to automatically think that it was Harry who cast it, since he believed me to be unconscious. And it would register at the Ministry as Harry casting it, since I used his wand. But in reality, I turned on the official so swiftly that it does not surprise me that he didn't realize who cast it."

Once Lupin wrapped up his story, Harry caught his eye and thanked him wordlessly. Lupin only acknowledged Harry by holding his eye for a quick second, but it was enough.

Harry breathed normally again, certain that Lupin's story worked. However, Percy had a different idea in mind.

"I don't believe him. I believe Potter cast the spell, and for whatever reason Mr. Lupin is taking the blame."

"Oh, come now," Madam Bones said. "Mr. Lupin's story makes sense and you can't forget that there are magical protections placed in this room that would detect if he was lying."

This surprised Harry. If what she said was true, and something told him it was, then how was Lupin's fabrication passing as genuine?

"True," Percy said, ears turning red again as he realized he revealed his ignorance about something. In order to cover it up, he continued hastily. "Then is there anything left to discuss about Harry? Or have we all reached the inevitable and unanimous decision that he is innocent?"

Silence returned him an answer and so he said with a strained face that told Harry how much pain Percy was in, letting him off, "Right. I, Percy Ignatius Weasley, Minister of Magic, hereby proclaim Harry James Potter clear of all charges."

Harry felt as if a heavy weight was lifted off his shoulders, and he grinned as his heart rate slowed. Then his chair was dragged backwards again, and Lupin and Mr. Weasley passed him along the way. His smiled faded and his heart rate increased again. Percy wasn't in the best mood; this was going to be a tense trial.

Percy withdrew another piece of parchment and read off in a ringing voice that had managed to re-obtain its pompous tone, "Disciplinary hearing of the eleventh of July, regarding Misters Remus John Lupin and Arthur Lester Weasley and their flouting the International Statue of Secrecy as well as the Cooperative Response to Officiated Ministry Officials Edict. Unlike Mr. Harry Potter's trial, this will be held regarding the strictness of dealing with non-minor breaches. First- the charges. You are both charged with committing similar crimes, firing numerous spells directly at Ministry officials who were clearly within their own rights being present there. Not only did you knock several of them unconscious, but you had absolutely no right to fire one spell in their direction; their purpose there had nothing to do with either of you, and therefore you are both being charged with interfering with Ministry member's jobs as well. Do either of you have anything to say in your defense?"

Lupin began to talk, but was silenced by Mr. Weasley.

"Yes, I do," Mr. Weasley said, looking upon Percy with revulsion as he spoke. "We were only protecting Harry's best interests, as every person in the wizarding world should. You are seriously sitting there, trying to defend the Ministry for sending members after Harry to destroy his wand, Percy?"

Percy glared portentously and said, "That's Minister to you."

Harry could feel heat radiating out from Mr. Weasley. He half expected steam to explode out of his ears, but Mr. Weasley kept control of his temper- for the most part.

"Do you realize what would have happened, what will happen to the entire wizarding community, the entire world if Harry is harmed or set back in any way, Minister?" he hissed, rising from his chair.

So Mr. Weasley was aware of the Prophecy; it then dawned on Harry that most of the Order members probably knew. Thinking about the Prophecy made that familiar weight settle back on his shoulders. However, actually witnessing an Order member standing up for him like this…he didn't give a damn how uncomfortable the Prophecy made him feel at the moment.

"I don't care who he is, given our knowledge we had every right to send officials to his house," Percy replied, face growing redder than his hair.

"How can you sit there, our leader, and sincerely say that you are willing to have Harry's wand destroyed, impairing his chance to improve and defeat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?!"

"He is not outside our laws!" Percy exclaimed, though is voice cracked as he said so.

"Our laws don't matter any more!" Mr. Weasley shouted, looking around the room. Harry knew that he wasn't just addressing Percy anymore. "Not when Death Eaters are roaming around breaking every single one of them without penalty! Not when it concerns destroying our only chance of defeating You-Know-Who! NOTHING IS WORTH THAT!"

Several people nodded their heads in agreement and many others gasped at Mr. Weasley's reaction. Percy was completely speechless, for once. It was Madam Bones who spoke next.

"Calm down, Arthur," she soothed, and Lupin made a half-hearted grab towards Mr. Weasley's arm, as if to restrain him. However, Mr. Weasley ignored Mrs. Bones. He jerked his arm out of Lupin's grasp and marched forward until he was standing directly in front of Percy, who was shifting uneasily in his seat.

"We can't allow anything to happen to Harry," he said, lowering his volume again. "And you can't let your stupid Ministry rules interfere with that. It's your place to help protect him now as well."

There was a sudden shift in Percy. Although he was completely ashamed and embarrassed to be put in his place like that, his snobbishness took precedence over it. Percy wasn't about to let his father make a fool out of him in front of everyone. His ego surfaced again as he sneered, "I don't need some foolish man who can't let go of his stupid muggle-pride long enough to make anything of himself tell me how to lead."

There was another wave of soft gasps and Harry saw that although many looked like they wanted to put Percy back in line, they were afraid of the consequences.

"You may be the Minister of Magic now Percy, but I'm still your father," Mr. Weasley managed to say through gritted teeth.

Percy snorted. "My loyalty is to the Ministry, as I've already told you. And I don't care who you are- I still have authority over you in this court room. Your little outburst does nothing to help your case. Therefore I will have to act as I see fit. Harry is not outside the law, and neither are you."

"There's more happening here than you and me, Percy. You can't let it blind you to the truth!" he yelled angrily.

"You interfered when it was not your place to, and unlike Harry, neither of you are minors. You attacked Ministry officials and knocked several unconscious, you destroyed a muggle home, and you did so without any personal rights. I have no choice but to suggest the only sentence I feel justifies the crimes."

"Percy," Mr. Weasley pleaded. "Think about what you're doing."

"Three months each in Azkaban, and to be frank I think that's a little generous giving the circumstances."

Harry waited for Mr. Weasley to argue- to do anything- but the fight was knocked out of him. Mr. Weasley simply stood, head drooping in front of him, and Lupin sat still in his chair. Realizing what they were being sentenced to, Harry sprang up from his chair, shouting, "That's not fair! They were only protecting my wand from being destroyed for an unjust cause! Surely there's some Good Samaritan Law or something that protects them!"

Lupin whipped around in his chair and fixed his eyes on Harry, and whispered hoarsely. "Harry- keep out of it."

Percy laughed. "Yes, listen to our old professor here, unless you want to be re-trialed for misbehavior in the court."

Harry was torn between telling Percy exactly what was on his mind and listening to Lupin. With great effort he restrained himself and plopped submissively down in his seat again.

"Is there anyone present among the Wizengamot who objects to the sentence, after taking into full account the crimes and our laws?" Percy rang out.

Harry appealed to the court members with his eyes, hoping that at least one of them would disagree. However, he felt his hopes plunge down into the bottom of his stomach as nobody spoke up. As a final resort, he tried to catch Madam Bones' eye but she refused to meet his pleading stare.

Percy looked around smugly, realizing he won.

"That settles it then." He turned his smug face onto his father, who had silent tears streaming down his face. "I hereby sentence you, Arthur-" here his voice caught slightly, as his face softened noticeably. Apparently he just realized what he was doing. But, being Percy, he couldn't break the rules- not even bend them for his own father who was only doing a good deed. Harry swore he saw a startling resemblance to Barty Crouch Sr. in Percy at that time, and sudden goose-bumps rose on his arms as he noticed it.

Percy recomposed himself and continued. "I hereby sentence you, Arthur Lester Weasley, and you, Remus John Lupin, to three months in Azkaban." A gavel appeared in his hand and he struck it down on the desk once, powerfully.

The sound of the gavel aroused Mr. Weasley from him stupor, as he twitched. Harry jumped up from his seat and tore across the room to them. Lupin put an arm around Mr. Weasley in order to lend him strength. The members of the Wizengamot all stood and slowly exited the room again, through the door they had entered. Harry silently dared each of them to meet his eye, but they all just left with bowed heads. Percy left last, avoiding Harry's glance, but as he left the room he turned back to look at his father once more, and Harry caught tears on his face. Good. He had better feel bad. Even without the Dementors there, Harry was sure Azkaban would still be a horrible place to live in.

Percy turned his back on them again, turning the corner. As soon as he left, two large guards entered the room, with scowls on their faces and wands ready in their side pockets.

Lupin saw them coming and turned to Harry. "Don't worry too much about us Harry; we'll be fine. Just promise me you will enjoy the rest of your summer."

Harry nodded his head. "I promise."

Lupin smiled at him sadly and then said, "Oh. I almost forgot." He put his hand in his pocket, pulling out a tiny box, and handed it to Harry. "Here. This is for your birthday- sweet sixteen already!"

Harry took it, touched by Lupin's thoughtfulness at such a time. "Thanks," he said, then did something he had never done before and hugged Lupin.

Lupin held Harry tight against him for a few seconds then held him out in front of him, looking straight in his eyes. "I swear you look more like your father every day. You're growing up to be a great man, Harry. I'm sure your father would be as proud of you as I am."

Harry felt his heart swell with pride at Lupin's statements. Then the guards reached them and grabbed Lupin and Mr. Weasley's arms, pulling them back across the room, leaving Harry standing alone.

"Apologize to Molly for me!" Mr. Weasley said. "And be careful the rest of this summer; try to stay indoors as much as you can!"

"Alright."

"Oh, and Harry?" Lupin said back to him, looking over his shoulder as the guard led him through the back door.

"Yeah?" he called back.

"Just head back to Kingsley's office; he'll help get you home."

Harry wanted to say something else, but he found he couldn't speak past the large lump in his throat, as Mr. Weasley and Lupin were both led through the door and the door slammed closed. He was left standing alone in the center of the room, as a single tear streamed down his cheek and fell to the ground, echoing around the dim room.

A/N: Did you like? Tell me what you did or didn't.

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