Sirius Black Framed!
Article written by Rita Skeeter:
The Wizarding world was rocked today when the revelation came to light that supposed mass murderer Sirius Black may, in fact, have been innocent all along and that, in fact, his supposed victim Peter Pettigrew is the guilty one! This miscarriage of justice is exacerbated by the fact that this reporter has discovered that Sirius Black, in fact, never received a trial in the first place, a gross miscarriage of justice and one that no one seems to be able to explain, even though Sirius Black is the heir to the ancient and noble pureblood house of Black.
It has long been believed that Sirius Black was the secret keeper who betrayed Lily and James Potter to He-who-must-not-be-named, resulting in their deaths and the attempted murder of Harry Potter, who somehow not only managed to miraculously survive but also destroyed You-know-who in the process. It is then believed that Sirius Black was confronted by one of James' best friends, Peter Pettigrew, who attempted to avenge his fallen friend by killing Sirius Black, only to himself be killed, along with twelve muggles when Sirius Black supposedly blew up the street that he and Peter Pettigrew were dueling on.
However, this reporter can now report that the events of that night so long ago have been nothing short of a complete fabrication and that, in fact, the wrong man may have spent the last six years in Azkaban prison without trial, a member of the pureblood nobility no less!
According to eyewitness reports that this reporter has obtained from both Aurors and eyewitnesses who were on the scene at the time, Peter Pettigrew is, in fact, an illegal animagus capable of transforming into a rat. This ability allowed Mr. Pettigrew to fake his death and frame Sirius Black for his murder and supposed loyalty to He-who-must-not-named.
For the last six years, Peter Pettigrew then hid in his illegal animagus form in the home of Mr. Arthur Weasley and Mrs. Molly Weasley as a pet of their son Percy Weasley (a fact that raises concerns of its own, of a more pedophilic variety).
It was only when Mr. Remus Lupin, another of James Potter's friends, decided to call on the Weasley home to visit with his friend's son that Mr. Pettigrew's deception was revealed by Mr. Lupin.
"Peter Pettigrew was one of my best friends growing up, I saw him change into his animagus form perhaps a hundred times, and I'd know him anywhere, so when I saw him in such close proximity to Harry, I knew I had to do something about it," Mr. Lupin is quoted as saying when interviewed.
Upon Mr. Lupin's departure to summon the Aurors, Peter Pettigrew immediately reverted to his human form. He took the Weasley family hostage in an attempt to kidnap Harry Potter for reasons unknown.
What happened next is unknown, as this reporter has been unable to find anyone willing to discuss the events, but what is known is that when the Aurors arrived, they discovered that Mr. Pettigrew had been severely injured to the point where he had lost his right arm, though how is still a mystery; Mr. Pettigrew was immediately arrested and taken to St. Mungos for medical healing.
Several days later, Mr. Pettigrew was moved to a Ministry interrogation cell where he was force-fed Veritaserum, and the whole sordid story came out at last; Sirius Black was never the Potter's secret keeper, it was Peter Pettigrew all along, and it was Peter Pettigrew who betrayed his own friends to their deaths, not Sirius Black as has been believed all these years.
It was also Peter Pettigrew, not Sirius Black, who murdered those twelve muggles when Mr. Pettigrew blew up the street in his attempt to escape justice by slicing off his own finger (the only piece of Mr. Pettigrew found) and escaping into the sewers in his animagus form.
This revelation has left more questions than answers in its wake, such as why was the heir of a noble pureblood house denied a trial? And why was his case not given further investigation, rather than just dismissed and forgotten?
Amelia Bones, the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, has immediately demanded that Sirius Black receive the trial that he was so unjustly denied. The trial is scheduled to begin sometime next month. Still, with the mountain of evidence collected so far, it's safe to say that Mr. Black will no doubt be released, and the Ministry will have to defend its egregious actions as best as possible.
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Molly set the paper down on the table wearily; it had been nearly two weeks since Pettigrew's arrest, and she and her family had had to repeat the story of what had happened more times than she cared for to a legion of Ministry officials, even the Minister had called on the burrow and demanded answers as to how Peter Pettigrew was alive and how he had received his injuries.
Harry had received the worst of it as he had been forced to repeat the story interminably to Aurors, Ministry officials, and even the Minister himself, forcing the poor boy to relive the horror of what had happened. Unfortunately, the interviews came with a terrible price, as Molly had been forced to comfort a sobbing Harry on more than one occasion when he had awoken from a nightmare.
Jaya had suffered a severe concussion and had had to be taken to St. Mungo's for a week for observation; since coming back, Jaya had tried to return to her duties but had been placed on bed rest on Molly's orders, much to the little elf's annoyance.
"He'll have to be told," Arthur said wearily as he took the paper from Molly and read the article; like Molly, Arthur had been pushed almost to his breaking point as the Ministry scrambled to repair the damage done by Pettigrew's confession.
Molly said nothing, only stared sadly at her husband as she considered his words; Pettigrew's confession would no doubt lead to Sirius' release, and given the fact that the Potters had made him Harry's godfather, there was a very high chance that Harry would end up being taken from them and placed in Sirius' custody.
"We adopted him," Molly replied in a small voice, "He's our son legally; surely Sirius won't challenge that, will he?"
"I don't know," Arthur replied sadly, "But he has the right to do so once he is free, and Harry should be told what might happen."
A small gasp made both adults stiffen, and they quickly turned in shock to see Harry staring at them from around the corner, a look of shock and fear on his face;
"Harry, sweetie," Molly said softly as she rose from her seat and slowly approached the boy, "I thought you were outside playing with the other children,"
"I…..I wanted a glass of water," Harry said in a small voice, "What did you mean when you said that Sirius Black might take me away?"
Molly paled slightly, and she turned to look at Arthur in a silent plea before her husband slowly rose and approached the pair,
"Harry, do you know what a godfather is?" Arthur asked; Harry shook his head quickly, and Arthur continued softly,
"Well, a godfather is someone who is appointed by a child's parents to take over raising the child if something happens to the parents, and Sirius Black is your godfather."
Harry's eyes grew wide at the revelation, and a moment later, he suddenly threw himself into Molly's arms and buried his face into her chest,
"I don't want to leave," Harry cried softly, his hair turning dark blue, "I want to stay here with you; I want to be a Weasley!"
Molly felt tears spring to her eyes at the words and had to bite back a sob as she embraced Harry in a tight hug; a moment later, Arthur wrapped his arms around the pair and joined in the hug.
"You will always be a Weasley, Harry," Arthur replied, "No matter what happens, I promise you that you will always be our son, understand?"
Harry slowly nodded, his face still buried in Molly's chest as she gently stroked his hair,
"But what happens if Sirius tries to take me away?" Harry asked quickly,
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, okay?" Molly replied, "You shouldn't worry about things that may never come to pass; all you need to worry about is continuing to be a good boy, okay?"
Harry slowly pulled away from Molly and nodded his head; a moment later, Molly gently wiped the tears from his face,
"Now, why don't you go back outside and play with the others, and I'll get started on dinner, sound good?"
Harry slowly nodded and gave Molly and Arthur one final hug before slowly walking out the door to rejoin the others, leaving Molly and Arthur alone.
"What do we do if Sirius does decide he wants Harry to live with him?" Molly asked as the pair walked towards the window and watched Ron throw a ball to Luna as Harry joined them,
"We'll have to try and convince Sirius that Harry is better placed here, happier here," Arthur replied quickly.
"And if that doesn't work?" Molly asked as she looked up at him,
"Then, as you said, we shall cross that bridge when we come to it," Arthur said softly, "For now, let's just worry about Sirius' trial; whatever happens after that, we shall face it as a family."
Molly nodded slowly, and a smile stretched across her face as she watched Ron say something that made the other children laugh before they all charged over the hill to play a new game.
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The trial of Sirius Black was shaping up to be the most significant event in recorded memory as hundreds of wizards and witches descended upon the Ministry, desperate for any news of the proceedings; the Weasleys had to fight through the crowd to enter the courtroom and then fight for a place to sit as almost every seat was taken by reporters or others who wished to see the "Trial of the century" as it was being called.
They were finally able to find a seat next to the Tonks family, Andromeda had come to see that justice was finally done for her favorite cousin, and Dora had obtained permission from Dumbledore to miss school and join her parents; she was sitting next to Harry, her hand clasped in his, and both were sporting matching pairs of dark purple hair.
Once the members of the Wizengamot had taken their places, Dumbledore loudly banged his gavel before yelling in a loud voice,
"Silence! This court is now called to order, and any interruptions will result in the ones responsible being removed from the court!"
Instantly, the noise in the courtroom stopped, save that of the clicks and flashes from the cameras of reporters;
"We are here today to ameliorate a gross miscarriage of justice that should have never occurred in the first place," Dumbledore continued in a loud voice, "I am, of course, speaking of the negligence of this court to provide Sirius Black with a trial.
Several of the Wizengamot, Dumbledore included, had the sense to look suitably ashamed; however, they were outnumbered by the ones who instead looked annoyed or angry at being called out in such a fashion.
"Aurors, please bring in the defendant!" Dumbledore called; a moment later, the courtroom doors opened, and a collective gasp was heard as four Aurors led a dirty and disheveled man into the courtroom.
"My god…." Andromeda breathed in shock as she took in her cousin; he looked nothing like he had in the past; gone were the healthy glow and happy grin that seemed perpetually glued to his face, and in its place was a scowl and a deathly pale visage; his hair was as dirty and unkempt as his clothes if clothes were what you could call the rags he was wearing.
The Aurors moved Sirius to a chair in the center of the room, and the moment he sat down, chains sprang from it and wrapped their way around him, lashing him tightly to the chair; Sirius glared angrily at the chains for a moment before redirecting his gaze at the assembled members of the Wizengamot before him.
"Are these chains really necessary?" Sirius grinned in a voice that sounded as though it hadn't been used in a long time, "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were afraid of little old me,"
A few members of the Wizengamot grinned at the joke; far more glared down at Sirius, who seemed amused at the court's impotent anger directed at him.
"Mr. Black, do you know why you are here today?" Dumbledore asked in a loud voice,
"I suspect it has something to do with the fact that you all forgot to give me a trial six years ago for a crime I didn't commit," Sirius replied with a wry grin, tilting his head slightly as though it were obvious; laughter rippled across the courtroom, making several members of the Wizengamot turn red with impotent rage before Dumbledore smacked his gavel down and again called for order.
Mr. Black, you are here because certain critical pieces of evidence have come to light which brings your culpability into question regarding the crimes for which you were sentenced," Dumbledore stated calmly. At the same time, the reporters wrote down every word.
"So, in layman's terms, you all screwed up," Sirius said simply, a wolfish grin on his face,
"How dare you!" A wizard shouted in rage as he rose from his seat next to Dumbledore, "You should be grateful we've even decided to entertain this farce; if I had my way, you'd be thrown back in the hole you came from!"
"So glad to see that the Wizengamot is still full of hypocrites who pretend to uphold justice, then," Sirius replied with the same wolfish grin; the wizard turned crimson with rage, along with a few of his fellow members, as the wizard opened his mouth to retort, Dumbledore quickly cut him off,
"Enough! We are here to correct a mistake that this court made six years ago; take your seat, or be removed!"
The wizard glared at Dumbledore for a moment before slowly lowering himself back into his seat and looking down at Sirius with hatred, which seemed to amuse the prisoner further as Sirius flashed a grin at the wizard, followed up with a wink.
Mr. Black, before we begin, I must ask do you consent to the use of Veritaserum?" Dumbledore asked calmly,
"I do," Sirius replied quickly,
"Very well, then," Dumbledore said before motioning toward an awaiting Auror, who quickly stepped forward and poured three drops into Sirius' mouth.
"What is Veritaserum?" Harry whispered to Dora,
"It's a potion that forces those who take it, to tell the truth," Dora answered back, making Harry's eyes widen in shock before he turned back to the trial.
"Please state your name for the court," Dumbledore asked,
"Sirius Orion Black,"
"Are you now, or have you ever been a death eater?" Dumbledore asked,
"No, I would never have followed that mad bastard," Sirius growled angrily.
Instantly, the courtroom began to buzz with whispers, and Dumbledore banged his gavel down three times to restore order;
"Did you betray the Potters to Lord Voldemort?" Dumbledore asked, ignoring the collective flinch that erupted from the onlookers,
"No, James was my brother in all but blood," Sirius replied in a broken voice, "And I loved Lily like a sister; I would have died before I betrayed them."
"But you were their secret keeper, were you not?" Dumbledore asked,
"No," Sirius replied, "James, Lily, and I decided to make someone else the secret keeper at the last moment; we thought that because I was James' best friend, I would be the obvious choice and that Voldemort would be sure to come after me, and when he did, it would be a waste of time."
"And who was the Potter's secret keeper?" Amelia Bones asked,
"Peter Pettigrew," Sirius snarled, as though the name were poison,
"Please explain the events of that night for the court," Ameilia Bones said calmly, "If you can remember them, that is."
"I'll never forget that night," Sirius said sadly, "I went to pay a visit to Peter to make sure he was okay; but when I got there, I immediately knew that something was wrong; Peter was missing yet his home looked untouched, there was no sign of a struggle. So fearing the worst, I jumped on my motorcycle and flew as fast as I could to James and Lily's, but by the time I got there, it was too late; they were both gone."
Tears slid down Sirius' cheeks as he told the story, and it took him a moment to compose himself enough to continue,
"I came just in time to see Hagrid pulling Harry from the rubble, I asked him to give Harry to me, as I was his godfather, but Hagrid refused, said he had orders from Dumbledore to deliver Harry somewhere safe. I knew there was no arguing with Hagrid, so I gave him my motorcycle to make sure Harry got wherever he was going safely, then I went hunting for Pettigrew.
I tracked him down a few hours later; he was shouting some nonsense about me being the one who betrayed Lily and James, I went for my wand, and the rat hit me with a tickling charm before he blew up the street; that's why I was laughing like a lunatic when the Aurors arrested me, by the time the charm wore off, I was in Azkaban, and no one believed me when I said I was innocent!"
The courtroom was dead silent when Sirius finished, save for the clicks and flashes of cameras,
"Perhaps if you had listened to me then, you all wouldn't be so embarrassed now, would you?" Sirius asked with a grin that made many members of the Wizengamot turn red with shame and anger in equal measure.
"Let the record show that the defendant, Sirius Black, under Veritaserum, has told he had no part in the Potter's deaths, nor is he now nor has ever been a death eater," Ameilia Bones stated in a firm voice that echoed in the silent chamber.
"Does anyone else have any other questions?" Dumbledore asked; when no one stood or raised a hand that they did, Dumbledore continued, "Then it is time to bring in the next defendant, Aurors; please bring in Peter Pettigrew."
Sirius' eyes widened in shock at the words, and for a moment, he was rendered speechless,
"What?!" Sirius snarled, "He's alive?! That bastard is alive?!"
"Silence!" Dumbledore thundered, "If you cannot control yourself, Mr. Black, I will be forced to do so for you!"
Sirius glared angrily at Dumbledore as a second chair suddenly appeared next to the one Sirius was sitting in; a moment later, two Aurors entered the courtroom dragging a one-armed man between them, they roughly placed the man in the chair, and the chains sprang to life, strapping the man to the chair, just as they did for Sirius.
"You…." Sirius breathed in shock,
"Hello, Padfoot," Peter said with an insane smile, "You don't look so good. Are they not feeding you well in Azkaban?"
"You!" Sirius snarled as he thrashed against his bonds, "You were our friend! How could you?!"
"Silencio!" Dumbledore thundered, pointing his wand at Sirius, who instantly went quiet, though his mouth still moved with unheard obscenities and threats at Peter.
"Aurors, administer the Veritaserum," Dumbledore thundered, his eyes flashing angrily at Peter, who attempted to act unafraid, yet the sweat coming off him showed otherwise; immediately, two Aurors walked forward, one grabbing Peter's head and forcing Peter's mouth open, while the other poured the potion down Peter's throat.
"State your name for the court," Amelia Bones said contemptuously,
"Peter Pettigrew,"
"Are you a death eater?"
"Yes," Peter replied with an insane smile,
"Did you betray the Potters?"
"Yes."
The courtroom erupted in noise as members of the Wizengamot shouted to be heard while the audience talked to each other about what they had just heard,
"SILENCE!" Dumbledore shouted, immediately silencing the noise, "Another outburst, and I will clear the courtroom!"
Dumbledore quickly nodded at Ameilia, who returned the nod and turned back to Peter,
"Why did you betray the Potters? They were your friends, were they not?"
"They were," Peter replied, "But they only ever saw me as the leftover, the fat one; Lord Voldemort offered me power and respect. He saw the darkness in me and didn't shun me for it, but rather helped me see that it was not something to be afraid of, but something to be used to make others fear me!"
Peter was grinning like a maniac by the end of his speech, and the silence in the courtroom stretched for a moment before Ameilia finally spoke again,
"What all have you done in service to He-who-must-not-be-named?"
For a moment, Peter simply grinned at Ameilia before he began to speak; for almost twenty minutes, he told of the horrible things he had done, of the perverse and monstrous things he had done to muggles and magic folk alike, and how he had enjoyed every moment of it.
As he spoke, the audience grew pale with horror and disgust until, at last, Dumbledore stopped him with a silencing charm, and the courtroom grew as quiet as a graveyard,
"I believe we have heard enough of your filth, Mr. Pettigrew," Dumbledore said in a cold voice, "And we have heard your confession in regards to the Potter's murder and that of the twelve muggles; as such, I now call for a vote for those who feel as I do, that Mr. Black's sentence be overturned, and he be released immediately, all in favor?"
Almost every wand raised as one, with only a handful abstaining; after a careful count and a second count to verify, Dumbledore nodded his head and said quickly,
"The majority has spoken; Mr. Sirius Black is hereby found innocent of his former crimes and shall be remanded to St. Mungos immediately to begin treatment to heal the injuries he has sustained while a prisoner of Azkaban, both mental and physical."
Sirius sagged in his chair at the words, and tears of joy began to fall down his cheeks as the Aurors released him from the chair and began to carefully help him out of the courtroom; before he exited, Sirius locked eyes with Harry and smiled at the boy, a moment later he was gone, and Harry stared after him, his hair slowly turning to its original Black.
"Peter Pettigrew," Ameilia Bones thundered, bringing the crowd's attention back to the prisoner who was still strapped to the chair, "For your disgusting and heinous crimes against both muggles and magical alike, I now call for a vote that you receive the Dementor's kiss as I feel that is the only punishment fitting for filth such as yourself, all in favor?"
Peter Pettigrew's eyes grew wide in horror as every single member of the Wizengamot (absent Dumbledore) raised their wand in approval of Amelia's suggestion;
"No!" Peter cried in horror, "No, please! You can't do this! Please!"
"Aurors, take him to Azkaban and let the Dementors enjoy their meal," Ameilia said coldly as Peter struggled against his bonds; Peter was still begging and crying as he was dragged out of the courtroom,
"Mummy, what's a dementor's kiss?" Harry asked softly, bringing a dark look to Molly's face,
"I'll tell you when you're older, sweetie," Molly replied after sharing a look with Andromeda, "It's not something a child needs to know about."
"This session of the Wizengamot is now closed," Dumbledore said loudly, "Court is adjourned."