65
CHAPTER SIXTY FIVE:
Amelia looked up from the center of the courtroom in satisfaction. The full Wizengamot was gathered there as expected, some seeming irritated by the constant demand of their time and others filled with purpose. Behind the members of the Wizengamot was a section for the public, and it was this that satisfied Amelia – for it was nearly empty but for the reporters and photographers that reported on the trials each day.
"Good morning, members of the Wizengamot," she addressed the room, having already informed Madam Longbottom of the day's plans and been told drily that she could make the announcement herself. "Today we will depart slightly from the routine. Instead of a Death Eater trial, today's trial is that of Albus Dumbledore."
Immediate uproar was the hall's response, and she saw that even Harry looked blindsided. He pulled himself together quickly, however, and when he stood silence gradually fell over the gathering.
"I called for this trial," he said calmly, holding up a hand for silence when voices immediately rang out at his statement. "The reasons will soon become apparent, I promise," Harry looked at the members around him with conviction. "However, I had hoped that the Hogwarts professors, at the very least, could attend this trial. I understand your reasons for announcing this so suddenly, but I think the professors should have the option of sitting in on the trial of their long-time employer." His gaze was so earnest on Amelia that she knew she couldn't do anything but agree to his request.
"Alright," she said with a wry smile. "But only the professors."
"Only the professors," Harry agreed easily. Pulling out his wand, it was just a moment later that two luminescent stags ran off. Since he only had to think the messages they would be giving, nobody else knew that while one was headed for Hogwarts, the other one was galloping off in search of Rita Skeeter. He definitely wanted her here for this, and hopefully she would think to come in her beetle form.
OoOoO
"Minister Bones," Minerva greeted the younger woman when she arrived, seeming perfectly composed. "Would it be possible for a few Aurors to be posted at Hogwarts for the duration of this trial? I would feel better knowing that the school is under proper supervision while the professors are absent."
Behind her Professors Vector and Burbage exchanged guilty looks, clearly not having thought of the students. The other professors – and Harry wasn't really surprised to see that all but Trelawney and Binns had come – settled into the public booth with quiet murmurs.
"Certainly, Madam McGonagall," Amelia said, promptly sending off a Patronus of her own. "Rest assured that Hogwarts' safety will be placed in capable hands."
"Thank you, Minister," Minerva nodded and joined the other professors in the back.
Once everyone had settled down Madam Longbottom called the session to order. "Lord Potter-Black requested this trial, but rather than bringing up any charges he has asked to lead the questioning along with Mister Shacklebolt, who as the Head of the DMLE will handle the interrogation. I have agreed to this request. Lord Potter-Black, if you would join us in the court while Mister Shacklebolt brings in the accused."
"Thank you, Chief Warlock," Harry said as he made his way down from his seat. As he walked down the steps he caught a glimpse of green out of the corner of his eye, immediately understanding that Rita had just attached herself to him. I'll have to teach her the spell to extract photos from a pensieve memory, he thought when he realized that her photographer was unlikely to be in the public booth. Besides, she would get far better images from her close-up memory than from that distance.
Kingsley reentered the room just as Harry assumed his place between Amelia's and Kingsley's chairs, levitating Dumbledore's infirmary bed in while Poppy Pomfrey looked on disapprovingly. Harry briefly debated taking the spells off her before the trial, then decided that removing them once the room knew what he was doing, and why, would be more effective. The courtroom meanwhile buzzed with speculation, not least about Dumbledore's injury. They had of course all caught the mention of his impending death in the Daily Prophet some days before, but reading about it and seeing the former hero reduced to such a frail state were two different things.
Dumbledore was awake, and seemed aware of what was going on around him, if his forced unconcern was to be believed. Underneath that Harry knew that he must be fuming and trying frantically to think of a way out of this. Dumbledore would know just as well as Harry did that Veritaserum would work all too well on him, considering the state he was in. There was simply no way his Occlumency would be strong enough to give even vague answers or half-truths. Perfect, Harry thought vindictively.
"Augusta," Dumbledore said genially as his bed was lowered to the right of her pulpit, placing the Chief Warlock between the accused and the accuser. "How are you finding my old post?"
Madam Longbottom bristled slightly at the older man's wording. "So far I find my position to be a great honor and a great responsibility, one that I am glad to fulfill in this time of change," she replied stiffly before turning to her papers, shuffling them as though she was searching for a particular one. "You have been informed as to the reason of your appearance here?" she asked without looking up from her papers.
"Yes, though I can't help but feel that there has been a mistake somewhere; I can't think of any reasons why I would be tried before the full Wizengamot," Albus replied with a small, and perfectly believable frown. "Hopefully we can clear up the misunderstanding soon; I understand that there are still many Death Eaters left to try."
"While that is true," Augusta said, finally looking over – and down – at that day's accused, "the request for this trial was made by Lord Potter-Black, and so far the man has brought to light a great many things we did not know about previously. As such, I doubt that a mistake has been made, but we should find out shortly enough." With that she turned away from the dumbstruck man, facing the courtroom. "Today's date is March eighteenth, nineteen ninety six. The trial of the day is that of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, as requested by Lord Harry Potter-Black. Mister Shacklebolt, if you would administer the Veritaserum."
"Now, Augusta, is that truly necessary?" Dumbledore interjected, attempting to sound persuasive. "I'm sure we can resolve this without resorting to such methods."
"And yet it will be resolved, as you call it, far faster with the help of the truth serum," Augusta said immovably. "Please proceed, Shacklebolt."
Albus then turned to the man approaching him. "Kingsley, you're not truly going to dose me against my will?" he asked, disappointed sadness tinting his voice and giving the Order member pause.
"I am sure you have nothing to worry about, Albus," the man said in his bass voice as he stepped up to Dumbledore's bed. "This will take but a few minutes and then I'll personally escort you back to Hogwarts. If you would just open your mouth and tip back your head…"
"My boy-"
"You'll have to force him, Kingsley," Harry interrupted the old man impatiently. "He'll argue against it till he's blue in the face – a clear sign of a guilty conscience, Albus," he pointed out to his former headmaster. "Refusing to take Veritaserum just shows that you have something to hide."
"I am simply worried about our rights," Dumbledore replied evenly, managing to raise a hand to indicate the Wizengamot before him. "What does it say about the Ministry if they can force anyone to take Veritaserum?"
"It says that the Ministry is concerned with getting the truth and ensuring a fair trial for all," Harry responded promptly. "Just think of Sirius – had he been given Veritaserum, or even a trial at all, the Ministry never would have locked up an innocent man in Azkaban."
Startled exclamations filled the hall, and Harry blinked up at the Wizengamot. "Oh. I had forgotten that Sirius's innocence hasn't been proven yet."
"Order!" Madam Longbottom rapped her gavel sharply on the pulpit. "Sirius Black will have his own trial another day. Let us proceed with the current trial. Shacklebolt, the Veritaserum."
"Yes, ma'am," the Auror said promptly, obeying the order without further hesitation. Three drops in Dumbledore's mouth and Kingsley recorked the vial, stepping back and asking the usual test questions before nodding to Augusta. "He is dosed, Chief Warlock."
"Excellent. Lord Potter-Black, you are free to begin the questioning."
"Thank you, Madam Longbottom," Harry bowed slightly as Kingsley made his way over to stand on Harry's right. "Albus Dumbledore, what potions did you have the Hogwarts house elves dose the food with?"
"Fealty potions," the old wizard answered immediately, his expression and voice perfectly blank. He didn't even have the strength to put up a fight against the Veritaserum.
Harry didn't look at anyone else, but he could see both Madam Longbottom's and Amelia's reactions out of the corner of his eye, since they were between him and Dumbledore. Augusta's face seemed slightly pinched at the suggestion that her grandson had been dosed with any potion, while Amelia's gaze had sharpened on Dumbledore. She had known about Dumbledore using potions and spells, of course, but Harry hadn't mentioned that the man was dosing her niece as well.
"Which Houses did you dose with fealty potion, and who or what were these potions keyed to?"
Dumbledore stared straight ahead unseeingly as he replied, "All Houses are dosed with fealty potions towards their House; Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw also have fealty potions keyed to me."
"The house elves are no longer adding the potions to the food," Harry spoke to Madam Longbottom, "but the potions will need some time to wear off." Turning back to Dumbledore, he asked, "List the spells and potions you have Minerva McGonagall under the influence of."
"Compulsion charms, fealty potions."
"Specify what the compulsion charms and fealty potions were for."
"I cast a compulsion charm to keep Minerva from questioning me, one to ensure that she would place Gryffindors before the other students, another so that she would dislike all Slytherins," mutters and hisses interrupted the wizard briefly, "and fealty potions keyed to me, Gryffindor House, and the Order of the Phoenix."
Harry raised his eyebrows. "Wouldn't the fealty potion keyed to you and the compulsion charm keeping her from questioning you have been enough? Why go to the extra effort of maintaining more spells and brewing more potions?"
"I needed her to put the Gryffindors over all others."
"Why? As Deputy Headmistress, shouldn't she have been neutral and fair to all students equally?"
"No; the Gryffindors are more important than the other students."
Harry was tempted to sneer at the man, but kept his expression to a stony one. "What House were you in?"
"Slytherin."
Harry snorted even while several gasps rang out in the hall. "Figures. Why did you hide which House you were in, and why do you believe Gryffindor to be better than the other Houses?"
"I learned that power was a dangerous thing and something that I couldn't be trusted with."
"And yet you seemed to forget that lesson pretty quickly," Harry said drily. "What taught you that?"
"When Ariana died in a fight between Aberforth, Gellert and me," came the emotionless answer.
"Explain who Ariana, Aberforth and Gellert are."
"Ariana Dumbledore was my sister, Aberforth Dumbledore is my brother, and Gellert Grindlewald was my lover."
The hall erupted into chaos, voices yelling, a few members screaming and some sitting there in shock.
"Order!" Madam Longbottom called, but both her voice and the sound of the gavel were not as firm as they had been previously. "Let us hear this to the end."
"Thank you, Chief Warlock," Harry nodded to her and waited for silence to fall once more. Calm would be too much to ask for, and indeed not something he wanted.
"What happened between you and Gellert Grindelwald then?"
"We went our separate ways," Dumbledore replied. "I had realized that we wanted different things."
"But together you had been plotting to take control of the wizarding world and bring Muggles under your thumb, correct? I believe you both came up with the phrase 'for the greater good' to describe the subjugation of non-magicals."
"Wizards are clearly superior to Muggles; we would have treated them fairly," said Dumbledore, and it could almost have been considered a counterargument were he not thoroughly dosed with truth serum. Mutters filled the hall as people realized that their Light Lord truly believed that they were superior to Muggles – a belief he had always opposed – and still seemed to think that Grindelwald would have treated Muggles fairly.
"Why did you duel Grindelwald years later?"
"His quest had gotten out of hand, and too many people were suffering. I was the only one capable of stopping him, but hesitated because of what he was to me, and because I wanted to believe that he could still succeed at establishing a peaceful society."
Harry sounded conversational as he said, "I once read something interesting about Grindelwald. I quote, 'Like many sociopaths before and since, his idealism was genuine and he was capable of real human connection and feelings, but he was filled with intrinsic manipulative traits and the willingness to use them for his own purposes, as well as a malleable moral compass and a tendency to become dangerous when indulged with power'." In his mind he could see Hermione's blank look at him actually quoting something word-for-word, but that was the only text he knew perfectly by heart – because it had struck him as Dumbledore's character exactly.
"The thing that made me remember this quote is that it seemed to describe not only Grindelwald, but you yourself. If the definition of a sociopath is having genuine idealism, a capacity for 'real human connection and feelings' as well as manipulative traits and a 'tendency to become dangerous when indulged with power', then you are a sociopath, Albus Dumbledore."
"I did not seek power," Dumbledore replied numbly, either having perceived a question somewhere in Harry's statement or forcing himself to counter. "I was a mere Transfiguration teacher. Eventually the post of Hogwarts Headmaster fell to me, and I accepted it, as well as the posts of Chief Warlock and Supreme Mugwump, when I realized that the wizarding world needed me."
"And yet you abused that trust by manipulating the people around you, even students that had no means to defend themselves against your manipulations." There was no reply to that, so Harry continued, "Have you dosed anyone in the Wizengamot with either potions or spells?"
"Yes," came the condemning answer.
"Elaborate," Harry ordered simply.
"I had spells and potions on Harry Potter-Black," was Dumbledore's simple answer.
Harry hummed with a nod. "You did not influence anyone else on the Wizengamot?"
"No."
"What spells and potions did you have Lord Potter-Black under?" Kingsley chimed in, a shocked expression appearing on his face at Dumbledore's answer.
"Fealty potions keyed to Gryffindor House, Molly Weasley, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Minerva McGonagall, and me; compulsion charms to ensure he'd dislike Slytherins and Severus Snape; suppression charms to bury his Slytherin tendencies, keep him from seeking out additional friends outside Granger and Weasley, and prevent him standing up to his relatives. Also a self-invented spell to dull his sense of caution and self-preservation."
"He also dosed me with a love potion, but thankfully he hasn't used that on Harry yet," the time traveler added conversationally. "I removed the spells from Harry when I first made it back to this timeline, but the potions probably haven't worn off yet. I would have removed the spells from everyone Dumbledore bespelled, but it seemed wiser to keep them up as proof. Dumbledore, list the spells and potions you have affecting Kingsley Shacklebolt," he addressed the wizard lying in the middle of the room.
"A fealty potion and a compulsion spell to keep him loyal to me over the Ministry," the old man replied monotonously, and Kingsley immediately pulled his wand and cast a detecting charm over himself.
"It's coming up blank," he said, his bass voice sounding unnerved.
"You need a specialized charm," Harry replied with a wry smile. "I'm not sure whether he modified the spells and potions so that they wouldn't be detectable, but the only person I know who knows the charm is Poppy Pomfrey." Looking at Madam Longbottom, he suggested, "Maybe she could join us down here for a minute? She should be sitting with the other professors in the public booth."
Augusta Longbottom raised her head to look in the direction of the Hogwarts professors. "If Madam Pomfrey could join us in the court." A white-clad figure stood and made her way down, briskly casting at Kingsley as soon as she reached him. A bright light flashed and she pulled a parchment out of her pocket, pointing her wand at it and taking a thorough look at the results.
"It's as Albus said," she supplied with a pinched expression. "Traces of a fealty potion and an active compulsion spell."
"Thank you, Poppy," Harry said smoothly. "Please cast the spell on yourself as well."
The look she turned on him was decidedly unsettled. "Nobody would cast character-influencing spells on a mediwitch unless they wished for the witch to die," she said, but Harry saw her wand hand twitching slightly.
"Please cast the spell anyway," he insisted evenly, and despite her dubious expression she complied. Again, a bright light flashed, and when her wand had transferred the results to the parchment she paled.
"How could you," she whispered, looking up at Dumbledore with wide eyes. Only the steadying hand Kingsley lay on her arm kept her from sinking to the floor.
"I can remove the spells from you now, if you'd like," Harry said gently, and she shook herself slightly.
"No need," she said curtly, raising her wand and dealing with the spells herself. Immediately after she turned to Kingsley and repeated the process on him.
"Merlin, that felt odd," Kingsley blinked. "Thank you, Madam Pomfrey."
The woman simply nodded, then turned to Dumbledore. "Did you bespell all Hogwarts staff?"
"No," the old man replied.
"As far as I know they're all under fealty potions, but only the Heads of Houses have spells on them," Harry told her. "Severus removed the spells and potions affecting him some time ago, so you don't have to concern yourself with him."
The look she gave him was more reading than he'd been subjected to in a while, but she thanked him before heading back up to the public box.
"I'm sure Severus would prefer not to be singled out from the other Hogwarts staff," Harry said in an undertone to the beetle he knew must be somewhere nearby, "but perhaps it could be hinted at that his terrible teaching style is the result of compulsion charms Dumbledore had on him…" His suggestion made, Harry looked back over at Dumbledore, ignoring the searching look Amelia had turned on him at his muttered words.
"Did you have former Minister Fudge under any potions or spells?" he asked, because it did have to be asked – he didn't like Fudge, nor did he want anyone excusing his incompetence and gross mistakes as brought about by Dumbledore, but this was supposed to be a fair trial.
"No," Dumbledore replied, to Harry's hidden satisfaction.
"Do you have any potions in the tea or lemon drops you offer visitors?" Harry had long wondered about that, but not thought to ask it the last time he interrogated the aging wizard.
"Yes, calming draught."
"Why?"
"It calms upset visitors and lends a feeling of security, leading them to trust me subconsciously."
"Lovely," Harry said drily. Turning to Augusta, he said, "I think that's about it on the influencing angle. I have several personal charges to bring up against him, but first I would like to accuse him of gross neglect concerning his responsibilities as Hogwarts Headmaster."
"Your reasoning being?" the woman asked, and Harry mused that she truly was a woman of few words.
"Since the year I started Hogwarts, 1991, the students have faced mortal peril each year, in a manner that Dumbledore could have done something to prevent it in each instance."
"Please elaborate," Madam Longbottom asked, her gaze intent on the time traveler now. Her own grandson attended that school and yet she'd never had the impression that he was in any danger.
"I doubt this is public knowledge, since Dumbledore kept it as quiet as he could, but in my first year the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, Quirinus Quirrell, was possessed by Voldemort." Shocked interjections rang through the hall at both the name of the dead Dark Lord and due to the accusation. Harry remained silent, holding Augusta's eye until quiet settled once more.
"The man was, as far as I could tell, only at Hogwarts because Dumbledore thought keeping the Philosopher's Stone there would make for a wonderful trap. However," he raised his voice to be heard over the audience's exclamations, "the obstacles he laid to protect the stone were easily overcome by three first year students, and definitely stood no chance of keeping a Dark Lord from reaching the stone."
"What happened to Quirrell?" Augusta asked sharply, and Harry took only a split-second to consider what to say. He didn't want anyone to be able to say that his younger self had killed a man in his first year; he couldn't care less what they thought of him, but his younger self was more vulnerable, especially considering all the crap he'd been through in the past.
"Quirrell died when Voldemort," again those stupid gasps, "fled his body and escaped. I don't know what Dumbledore might have done with the professor's remains, but fact is that Quirrell died. Now, this situation didn't put anyone in mortal peril but me, since Voldemort tried to kill me when I tried to protect the stone, but what did put the rest of the student body in mortal peril was when Quirrell loosed a mountain troll in the school on Halloween and it nearly killed a student. Hermione Granger only survived because Ron and I went to her rescue, killing the troll in the process."
All of the court was staring at him now. "How did you manage to kill a mountain troll in your first year?" Amelia managed to ask the question everyone seemed to be thinking.
Harry grimaced and gestured at Dumbledore. "You heard the list of spells he had on me. Had I been in my right mind I might have told a teacher where Hermione was and insisted they go make sure she's alright, but instead I ran headlong towards danger, not stopping to think that I had absolutely no means of defending myself against a troll. I survived by dumb luck – and because Ron managed to levitate the troll's club and keep it from killing me."
Silence fell until Harry sighed. "Anyway, that was my first year. In my second year a Basilisk ran rampant through the school, petrifying students." The horrified look Amelia was giving him made him pause. "Don't tell me you didn't even know what was doing it!" he exclaimed in exasperation. The slow shake of her head gave him all the answer he needed. "Alright, well, it was a Basilisk. Surprise? So that definitely put the entire school at risk. I killed it at the end of the year, when it took Ginny Weasley down into the Chamber of Secrets. Yes, I killed a Basilisk, and I nearly died doing it," he gestured impatiently. "My point is that Dumbledore probably knew that it was a Basilisk doing it, and even knew where the Chamber of Secrets was – since exactly the same thing happened when he was still a Transfiguration Professor at Hogwarts. That time a student named Myrtle died, and had he asked her she could have told him quite easily that the Basilisk had come from the sink in the bathroom she haunts. So instead of sending a second-year to deal with the problem, he really could have closed the school for a day, called in some specialists, and had them deal with the monster."
He paused for a minute to let them digest that information, then spoke on. "In my third year Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban, and Minister Fudge placed Dementors around the school. They were out of control and nearly killed students more than once – and that could have been prevented by Dumbledore arranging for a trial for Sirius. You see, he knew the entire time that the man was innocent – and must have known that Sirius would jump at the chance to have a fair trial and prove his innocence. Instead he kept quiet and let the world believe they were in danger, even endangering his charges with his actions. That was my third year."
Seeing that everyone was too shocked to say anything, he shrugged and continued. "In my fourth year Dumbledore brought the Triwizard Tournament to Hogwarts, a dangerous competition that went very wrong. I was entered into the competition by Barty Crouch Jr., who was using Polyjuice Potion to look like Alastor Moody. I can't believe that Dumbledore wouldn't realize that his long-time friend was a polyjuiced Death Eater, especially when the man taught his classes about the Unforgivables by casting the Imperius curse on each student individually." That statement did get shocked reactions from audience members, most notably Augusta, who seemed both numb and livid at the revelation that her grandson had been at the mercy of the man who had tortured his parents into insanity.
"Looking back, I find it amazing that Cedric Diggory was the only student to die that year, though I don't want to make light of that loss." He looked up and caught Amos Diggory's eye. "Cedric was an amazing guy, and he would not have died had Dumbledore exposed Crouch for who he was, that way preventing the man from turning the Triwizard Cup into a portkey and taking us directly to Voldemort." Harry was pleased when nobody reacted to the mention of the dead wizard's assumed name – they were probably too shocked by his revelations to react to it anymore. "Only once I had come back with Cedric's dead body and news of Voldemort's return did Dumbledore expose Crouch for who he was – only for Minister Fudge to bring in a Dementor to administer the Kiss instead of arresting the man for trial." Amelia looked furious at that revelation, and Harry shrugged wryly. "Story of my life."
"In my fifth year," he went on, "Minister Fudge decided to place Umbridge at Hogwarts. We've already been over this, so everyone here knows how she endangered the student body. In this case I again think it unlikely that Dumbledore knew nothing, and if he did know about her actions he should have brought her before the Wizengamot, as I did. He did not, and students suffered under her rule. That brings us to this present, and I think that's everything I have to say about his actions as Hogwarts Headmaster. I also have personal charges to bring up against him, but we might want to deal with these accusations first." A look at Dumbledore had his eyebrows shooting up. "I guess the Veritaserum wore off."
The old wizard was unconscious in the white hospital bed, his glasses nearly slipping off the crooked nose and his blackened hand hanging unusably off the side of the bed. Kingsley strode forward to wake the man and dose him once more; they all wanted answers.
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