“It’s Prongs, Moony and Padfoot,” James said.    

“I kind of like it,” Sirius said happy, “It’s Harry’s special name for me.”

 

Professor Dumbledore glanced over his shoulder at Black who stared back. If Black hadn’t been so angry he most likely would have started shouting ‘I told you so’ over and over again.

 

            “I should. He deserves it!” Sirius said annoyed.

 

It seemed so wrong that the only person who had believed Black was innocent was the very person everyone believed he so desperately wanted to kill.

 

            “Quite ironic, yes!” Remus said.

 

Dumbledore knew it was going to take an awful lot to fix things and it was going to start here.

 

“We have just heard a very interesting story, Peter,” Professor Dumbledore said firmly as he returned his gaze to the shaking man. “Care to explain why you betrayed your friends to Voldemort?”

            “Yes, please do Peter,” Remus said icily narrowing his eyes at Peter.

 

“I—I didn’t…I don’t know…” Pettigrew stuttered.

            “What do you mean ‘you don’t know’? How can you not know why you handed an innocent family to a psychotic murderer?” Lily spat and Peter just repeated his future self’s stuttering.

 

“Don’t even bother lying Peter,” Black hissed as he took a step forward, his hands in tight fists as he tried to keep his anger in check. “You were their Secret Keeper! You handed James and Lily over to Voldemort! You handed my godson over to Voldemort!”

 

Professor Lupin quickly put a hand on Black’s shoulder, stopping him from doing anything foolish. “How could you, Peter?” Lupin asked in disgust. “How could you betray us like that? How could you betray James and Lily after everything they did for you? How could you do this to Harry? He was just a baby.”

 

            “Yes! How could you?” James hissed through greeted teeth.

 

Professor Snape finally spoke up. “I must admit, Pettigrew,” he said coolly, “it doesn’t do you any credit quivering on the floor like a baby. It’s not like we’re going to kill you…yet.”

            “That’s the first time I am glad to hear Snivellus’ opinion,” Sirius growled at the shaking lump on the floor.

 

“Severus,” Professor Dumbledore warned but did not correct Snape’s comments. “We’re waiting for an explanation, Peter.”

 

Pettigrew cowered as he burst into tears. “What could I do?” he asked. “The Dark Lord forced me! I was scared! I’m not brave! I never meant for it to happen! He…he has weapons…you don’t understand…he was taking over…he would have killed me! I couldn’t refuse him!”

 

            James, Sirius and Remus lunged themselves at Peter. They had him pinned on the floor.

            “You backstabbing traitor!” James growled.

            “Please, James no. What would you have done? If Voldemort was threatening you you’d join him too,” Peter said in tears.

            “No I wouldn’t. I would have died for you Peter and this is how you repay my loyalty?”

            “I am not brave. All I want is to survive,” he begged.

            “There are some things not worth surviving Peter,” Remus sneered, “You’ll pay for th-“

            He was interrupted by a knock on the door. They barely had time to scramble off Peter before Mrs. Potter opened he door.

            “What’s going on? I heard fighting,” she said.

            “No fighting mum. We were just acting bits of the book.”

            “Oh, well. Peter your mother just flooed. She wants you back for dinner.”

            “Ok” and Peter got up and ran off before the others could stop him.

            “Mum! You let him go!”

            “Of course I did. What did you expect? For me to tie the poor boy up?”

            “Good idea,” Sirius mumbled.

            “What’s that Sirius?”

            “Nothing Mrs. Potter.”

            “Well, dinner will be served in about an hour. I’ll call you then. You are staying the night right Remus?” he nodded and she left.

            “She let him go,” James whined.

            “Well, what did you expect? It’s not like she knew he was going sell her son out!” Lily cried with a scowl, “You should have punched him faster!” James just stared at her surprised. She grabbed the pages and continued reading.

           

Tears filled Harry’s eyes as he stood there in disbelief. Once again the explanation hadn’t been what he had thought it would be. That was it? That was Pettigrew’s entire defense for destroying five lives? He betrayed his parents because he was weak? He didn’t hate them. They didn’t do anything for him to turn against them.

 

“Well you should have died!” Black hissed. “You should have died for your friends like we would have for you!”

 

Professor Dumbledore looked over at the spectators and noticed Harry. “Severus, please find some way to restrain Peter,” he said calmly. “Minerva, if you would alert the Ministry, I believe there is a correction needed to be made that is long overdue.” Dumbledore turned to face Ron and Hermione as Professor McGonagall went over to the fireplace. “You two are free to leave but I must insist that you don’t speak of this to anyone. Until matters are sorted out, no one can know of Sirius’ presence and Peter’s return from the dead.”

 

“Er—no offense Professor but how are we supposed to do that?” Hermione asked. “Everyone saw Harry stun—er—Pettigrew in the Great Hall. What sort of explanation can we give them?”

 

            “And believe me, they’ll want one,” Remus said grimly.

 

“I’m not leaving,” Ron spat, never taking his eyes off of Pettigrew. “That…that thing spent three years with me. I want to see the Ministry take him away. If Harry’s staying, I’m staying too.”

            “Ron’s right,” Sirius said angry, “Peter betrayed his trust too. Apparently that’s something he likes to do.”

Professor Dumbledore nodded at the two then approached Harry, Professor Lupin and Black. “You do know there will be a lot of questions for you three,” he said softly. “We know the truth. The question is what do we want to tell the Ministry?” He looked directly at the shaken teenager for some sign that he was paying attention to the conversation. “Harry, are you all right?”

            “Of course he isn’t!” James cried, “After all that who would be?”

            “It’s like Harry said, it’s even harder because Peter didn’t give a reason to have betrayed us,” Remus said disgusted, “He didn’t hate us and we never did anything against him. He was just weak. If he had hated us at least there would be a reason. This way all those years of suffering just seem pointless.”

 

Professor Lupin and Black quickly looked at Harry to see tears falling down his face as he stared at Professor Snape binding Pettigrew to a chair. When Harry didn’t answer, Lupin pulled Harry into an embrace. “Its okay, Harry,” he said softly as he looked over at Black and smiled. “It’s over. It’s finally over. No more secrets.”

 

“I don’t care what we say to the Ministry, Dumbledore, but I want Harry and Remus left out of it,” said Black. “Harry’s been through enough this year without having to deal with Fudge accusing him of helping me. Harry never did anything of the sort. He told me flat out that he wouldn’t betray all of you like that.”

 

            “He also said he’d have Hagrid break every bone on your body if you were lying,” James said.

            “He did not say that,” Lily scolded.

            “He implied it,” he said back.

 

“As true as that may be Harry did keep valuable information from us and the Ministry, Sirius,” Dumbledore countered. “To anyone not familiar with Harry, it would appear that he had been helping you the moment he figured out you were an Animagus. I agree that Harry’s been through more than his fair share this year. I’ll do everything in my power to keep him out of this, you have my word.”

 

Black nodded then returned his attention to Harry and Professor Lupin. “Do you think you could ever forgive me for thinking you were the spy, Moony?” he asked softly.

            “You thought I was the spy? Why?” Remus asked.

            “Dunno, but hazarding a guess: Exclusion. You must have been the only choice left, because if I knew there was a spy I’d never think of Peter. He’s too much of a coward.  I should have noticed that that was what made him dangerous,” Sirius said sadly.

 

Lupin looked up at Black and smiled. “Only if you could forgive me for thinking the same, Padfoot,” he replied. “I should have known better than to believe what everyone else was saying.”

 

Professor McGonagall rejoined the group. “The Minister is on his way with a handful of Aurors,” she informed Dumbledore. “I didn’t tell them about Pettigrew. I doubt he would believe me anyways.”

 

Professor Dumbledore nodded. “You do have a point,” he said the looked at Professor Lupin. “Remus, I think it would be wise to hide Harry, Ron and Hermione in my guest quarters until we have explained a few things to Cornelius—” Harry and Ron moved to object, “—and only until then. I know both of you need closure so I won’t deny it. This is to protect Sirius as well as you. If Aurors see you here, Harry, they will assume that Sirius is using you as a hostage. We need them to listen to reason.”

            “Yes, they tend to curse first ask questions later,” James said, “By the time anyone could get a word in Sirius would be toast.”

            “James, there’s no need to be so crude,” Lily scolded.

            “It’s ugly but it’s the truth,” Sirius said grimly.

 

Harry reluctantly nodded and followed Professor Lupin to Dumbledore’s guest quarters. As they left the room, Harry glanced back at Black who nodded for Harry to go. Sighing in defeat, Harry entered the guest quarters with Ron and Hermione, sitting down on the bed as Professor Lupin closed the door. Harry stared at the floor. He didn’t to see whatever looks his friends were giving him.

 

“How long have you known, Harry?” Ron asked suddenly and angrily. “How long have you known Scabbers was really a person without telling me?”

 

            “Uh, oh, he’s angry,” Sirius said.

            “Wouldn’t you be?” Lily asked.

            “Probably,” he sighed.

 

“I didn’t know, Ron,” Harry admitted, keeping his eyes on the floor. “All I had was Black’s confession which didn’t count for much considering. You took his—er—death so badly I wasn’t going to add to it. I’m sorry I kept it from you. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Midnight. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about meeting Black. I didn’t know what to think of everything so how was I even going to begin to explain it?”

 

Hermione sat down beside Harry on the bed. “We understand Harry, don’t we, Ron?” she stated more than asked and waited for him to nod. “I don’t know what I would do if I had been in your place but you didn’t have to go this alone. We’ve always been a team in everything. I guess I’m a little hurt. I know I haven’t been the greatest of friends to both of you this year with the overload of classes I took but I am your friend first and foremost. I would have helped you if you needed me.”

 

“Same here, Harry,” Ron added. “I probably wouldn’t have believed the whole Scabbers being Pettigrew but I would have helped you with Black.” He then smiled at Hermione. “I told you Black rescued him, Hermione. For once, I was right and you were wrong.”

            They all laughed.

            “He’s never going to let her forget that,” Remus chuckled.

 

Hermione rolled her eyes. “Honestly Ron,” she said in annoyance. “Is that all you can think about after everything that’s happened? Sirius Black is an innocent man! Do you know what that means?”

 

            “That I am innocent?” Sirius asked confused.

“Er—he’s innocent?” Ron said uncertainly.

 

“No,” Hermione shot back. “He’s Harry’s godfather!” She turned to Harry and smiled. “Don’t you see, Harry? You could have a legal guardian other than the Dursleys! The Ministry would have no say in the matter!”

            “YES! I forgot about that!” Sirius cried delighted.

            “Now, you can all live together. You, Moony and Harry,” James said ecstatic.

 

Harry let out a sigh and shook his head. He wasn’t going to start thinking about the summer or the future yet. “I think you’re getting a little ahead of yourself, Hermione,” he said. “Black isn’t even a free man yet and he’s been in Azkaban for twelve years. Do you really think the Ministry is going to grant him custody of a teenager?”

 

“Don’t worry Harry,” Ron said confidently. “Dumbledore will make it happen.”

            “Yeah and if he doesn’t we’ll use our Marauder ways,” Sirius said mischievously.

            “I don’t think your Marauder ways will work with the Ministry,” Lily said.

            “You’d be surprised with what we can get with our Marauder ways Lily,” Remus said innocently.

 

 

Silence filled the room. Wanting to change the subject, Harry turned to Hermione. “So now that we’re sharing our secrets,” he said with a grin. “Care to explain how you managed to get to all of your classes, especially the ones that meet at the same time?”

 

            “I for one want to know that too,” Lily said curiously.

 

Hermione bit back a smile as she reached into her robes, pulling out a very long and fine gold chain that was around her neck. There was a small and shiny hourglass hanging from it. “This is called a Time-Turner,” she said. “Professor McGonagall gave it to me back in September to get to all my lessons only if I never told anyone about it and didn’t use it for anything other than getting to classes. Basically, I go back in time to attend the classes I have at the same time. Professor McGonagall had to get special permission for the Ministry for me so I wasn’t about to betray her trust.”

 

            “Cool,” James breathed.

 

“Wicked,” Ron said with a grin. “So that’s why you looked so stressed out. You had longer days than the rest of us.”

 

Hermione nodded as she tucked the Time-Turner back in her robes. “Just don’t say anything, okay?” she asked hopefully. “I still have to get through my exams which would be near impossible without it.”

 

“YOU CAN’T DO THIS!”

            “What? What’s happening? Who’s doing what?” Sirius yelled.

 

Harry quickly jumped to his feet. “That was Professor Lupin,” he said nervously. “He’s never mad.” Unless you count that time he was yelling at Professor Snape. Harry suddenly got a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Before Ron or Hermione could stop him he hurried out of the room and ran to Dumbledore’s office. Professor Dumbledore and Professor Lupin were standing there staring angrily at the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, while Professor McGonagall appeared to be in shock and Professor Snape looked…well…normal. Black and Pettigrew were gone. “What happened?” Harry asked quickly.

 

Fudge jumped at Harry’s sudden appearance but neither Dumbledore nor Lupin moved. “He doesn’t believe us, Harry,” Lupin spat. “They’re taking Sirius to the Dementors.”

 

            “NOOOOOOOOO!” four voices cried.

 

Harry paled. This could not be happening. “NO!” he shouted. “He’s innocent! What about Pettigrew?!? Didn’t you see him?!? Didn’t you talk to him?!? Pettigrew betrayed my parents! Pettigrew killed those people! Not Sirius!”

 

“We have no proof that man was Peter Pettigrew,” Fudge said stubbornly.

 

            “What do you mean no proof, you moron? He was right there! Use Veritaserum!” James yelled.

 

“So you’re going to basically execute Sirius Black without even looking into it, without even listening?” Harry asked in disbelief. “You can’t do that!” Before anyone could say anything, Harry marched up to Fudge and, with a flick of his wrist, had his wand in hand. “You are making probably the worst mistake of your career.” Without another word, Harry walked around Fudge to the door.

 

“Harry, where are you going?” Hermione called out.

 

Harry didn’t even look back as he opened the door. “I’m going to save my godfather,” he said and left, the door closing and locking behind him.

            “WHAT? No Harry, go back! Didn’t you hear? They are taking me to the Dementors! I am ordering you to go back this instant!”

 

 As quickly as possible, Harry ran down the stairs, nearly running into the entrance statue. The moment it was opened far enough for him to squeeze through, he hurried towards the Main Entrance. The halls were dark but Harry had memorized the way during his month long stay here in August.

            “I don’t think he heard you Padfoot,” Remus said shakily.

 

As soon as Harry reached the courtyard he closed his eyes and listened. He needed to calm down and utilize his training. It was the only thing that was going to help Black—Sirius—Midnight—whatever. The sound of scuffling footsteps to his far right filled Harry’s ears. He quickly opened his eyes and took off in the direction of the noise. He could vaguely hear muffled voices ahead and behind him but didn’t pay attention to it. It didn’t matter now.

 

He reached the end of the courtyard and saw three wizards forcing Black towards the lake. They weren’t far but they weren’t exactly close either. Breaking into a run, Harry pushed his body as fast as it could go, praying that he reached them before they reached the Dementors. He didn’t want to face them but he would if he had to. He wasn’t going to let Black lose his soul because Fudge was an idiot.

            “And I don’t want you to lose your soul Harry! Go back!” Sirius cried.

 

Black was putting up such a fight that no one noticed Harry coming from behind.

 

            “What did you expect? For him to go willingly to the Dementors?” James said angry.

 

Pointing his wand at the wizard walking behind Black, Harry whispered, “Stupefy,” and watched as the man collapsed to the ground, unconscious. One down, two to go. Harry continued running as the two remaining wizards quickly stopped and turned around to see their fallen comrade. Harry quickly dropped to the ground and remained still. He couldn’t give himself away yet.

 

“What’s going on?’ asked the one to the left.

            “What’s going on is you are doing something extremely stupid and Harry is trying to prevent that by risking his soul and if something happens to my baby or Sirius I’ll be coming back from the beyond to hex you into your next generation,” Lily hissed all in one breath.

 

“We’ll get him later,” said the one to the right. “Let’s go Black. You have a date with the Dementors for a kiss.”

            “That’s what I call extreme loyalty to their fellow Auror,” Remus spat disgusted.

            “They are so eager to see my soul being sucked out that they don’t care,” Sirius growled.

 

The men turned back around and continued towards the lake, roughly pulling Black with them. Harry slowly stood up and continued following. As he passed the unconscious wizard, Harry grabbed the man’s wand and pocketed it. Never leave your opponent armed.

 

            “NEVER!” James yelled.

Professor Lupin had repeated that rule over and over again along with countless others. Harry had every intention of following them now.

 

 

Picking up the pace, Harry tried to catch up with them. Know what you’re facing. He could hear them talking back and forth, badgering Black. They were actually enjoying this. Harry thought he was going to be sick. How could people be joking about something as horrible as the Dementor’s Kiss? What sort of people were working at the Ministry?

 

            “Apparently, horrible people,” Lily said disgusted.

 

Keep your focus on the matter at hand.

 

Snapping out of his thoughts, Harry realized they were nearly at the lake. Pushing his body even harder, Harry forced himself to catch up. He was not going to lose his godfather now that he knew the truth. Professor Lupin was not going to lose the last remaining good friend he had. Both of them had lost too much already.

 

His muscles were screaming as the trio of wizards came closer and closer. Once they were close enough, Harry attacked. He tackled the one on the left from behind, sending all of his weight into him. It wasn’t much but he did manage to push the wizard down, face first into the cool, damp grass. Rolling out of the way, Harry quickly faced the other man, pointed his wand to him and stunned him. The Auror, taken by surprise fell to the ground unconscious. Harry quickly rolled over again to face the remaining obstacle. The man hurried to his feet and Harry did the same, their wands pointing at each other.

            “Doesn’t say much about our Auror squad when three of them are overturned by a skinny teenager,” Sirius said pleased.

 

“You’re…you’re Harry Potter,” the wizard said in shock. “What are you doing here? Do you even know who this man is?”

            “YES! AND HE’S INNOCENT!” Remus yelled.

 

“Sirius Black,” Harry answered. “My godfather and innocent of the crimes he’s been charged with. How can you let this happen? We gave you Peter Pettigrew. We gave you the person who really betrayed my parents.”

 

“Harry, you need to get out of here,” Black said quickly. “The Dementors—”

 

            “Yes, get out of there,” Sirius begged.

 

Before Black could say anything else an intense cold swept over them. Harry’s breath caught in his throat as his vision started to cloud over. Turning around, Harry saw the source of the feelings. A swarm of Dementors were floating towards them, over them and around them.

 

            “NOOOOOOOOOOO!” they all cried.

 

Distant screaming filled his ears. Harry knew he had run out of time. Quickly, Harry handed over the wand he had picked up over to Black. “I’m not going anywhere,” Harry said firmly. “If they’re going to kiss you, they’re going to kiss me too.”

            “No, no, no, no one is going to be kissed!” James commanded as if that statement could change what was happening.

The Auror stared at Harry in shock. “You’re out of your mind, kid,” he said as he stepped in front of Harry. “Get out of here!”

 

Black pulled Harry close as if to try to shield him from the Dementors. “Listen Harry, I know you want to help me but you need to get out of here,” he said urgently. “Please Harry. Don’t do this to Remus.”

            “Yes, don’t do this to Moony. He needs you,” Sirius said in tears. James was holding Lily while she read, also in tears.

 

Closing his eyes, Harry tried to ignore the screaming and focus on something happy as the Dementors drew closer. He remembered his week with Midnight and his talks with Professor Lupin. “You could have a legal guardian,” Hermione had said. Turning around, Harry pulled out of Black’s arms and took a step towards the approaching Dementors.

 

“Expecto patronum!” the Auror shouted but only managed a silver mist. “Expecto patronum!”

 

 “No,” Black moaned suddenly. “Please…no….”

 

Harry looked over his shoulder to see Black fall to his knees. “Sirius transform!” he said quickly. “Transform into Midnight!” The coldness became too great to ignore forcing Harry to shiver. Closing his eyes again, Harry forced himself to concentrate on his family, to reach down and find the strength to protect what he so desperately wanted. Raising his wand, felt the screaming drift away as he found a powerful calmness deep inside his mind. There was no pain whatsoever, only peace.

 

“EXPECTO PATRONUM!” Harry bellowed as he opened his eyes. Blinding silver light erupted out of his wand, creating three distinct forms. One was a large silver stag, Prongs, the second was of a fierce silver wolf, Moony, and the third was a large silver shaggy dog, Midnight. The three animals took their places around the four wizards (three conscious, one not), shielding them from the Dementors. Silver light flowed around them as the Dementors were slowly pushed backwards. Harry tried to keep his focus but could feel himself weakening. He fell to his knees but still kept his wand pointed outward, pushing more and more of himself into the phoenix core. The screaming was gone but the coldness remained. He could almost swear he heard someone calling his name but for once it wasn’t his mother’s fearful voice.

 

            “He did it! He pushed them away,” Lily sobbed.

 

“Harry! Harry, look at me!”

            “Yes, please Harry look at whoever is calling,” James pleaded, “Be alright.”

 

His arm fell to his side as he slumped forward into something firm but not hard. Arms wrapped around him and held him tightly as muffled words were whispered into his ear. It took Harry a moment to figure out someone was holding him against their chest like Professor Lupin had done but the voice he was hearing wasn’t Professor Lupin’s. They were rocking back and forth as the voice started to clear.

 

“Come on, Harry. Please be all right. Please wake up.”

 

“What in Merlin’s name happened?!?” the voice of the Minister shouted. “What was that?”

            “That was my son correcting your stupidness!” James cried.

            “James ‘stupidness’ isn’t a word,” Remus tried to scold but he was too worried to put the right emphasis on the scolding.

            “Should be, there has to be a word to define Fudge!” James said angry.

 

“It was Potter, Minister,” said the only Auror still conscious as he revived his coworker. “That was his Patronus. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve never seen anyone having three forms. He pushed all of the Dementors away, saving all of us from the Kiss.”

            “Shouldn’t have saved you,” James muttered.

 

“By sacrificing himself in the process,” spat Professor Lupin as he hurried over to the teen. “How is he, Sirius?”

            “How do you think he is? He overcharged his spell once again,” Remus explained annoyed.

            “He must be one powerful kid to have three forms,” James said.

            “I am his form too,” Sirius said happy.

 

It was then that Harry realized he was in Black’s arms. It was Black’s voice he had been hearing. “I—I don’t know,” Black said nervously. “He—he’s not responding. Why isn’t he responding?”

 

Professor Lupin let out a sigh. “He probably overcharged the spell again,” he said reassuringly as he reached in his pocket, pulled out a bar of chocolate and removed the wrapper. “He’ll be fine in a bit. Open his mouth Sirius.” Black did as he was told and watched as Lupin broke off a piece of chocolate and put it in Harry’s mouth. Lupin looked over his shoulder at the onlookers and nodded, signaling that Harry would be fine.

 

“Cornelius, I’m afraid I must interfere,” Professor Dumbledore said firmly. “Sirius Black is now under my protection until you have a chance to properly question Peter Pettigrew and confirm Sirius’ allegations. I give you my word he won’t be going anywhere.”

 

Harry groaned as he opened he slowly opened his eyes and saw Professor Lupin and Black looking down at him. He could feel a headache coming and couldn’t seem to move his limbs without extreme effort. He could taste the chocolate still melting in his mouth as his muddled mind was slowly clearing. To say he was tired would certainly be an understatement but Harry knew he couldn’t sleep. This wasn’t over yet.

 

“Don’t start meddling with Ministry matters, Dumbledore,” Mr. Fudge said heatedly. “Black has caused enough trouble! He’s a murderer and a kidnapper! He’s finally going to get what he deserves!”

            “How can someone be so THICK?” Lily asked exasperated.

 

“No,” Harry croaked out as he tried to sit up properly. He couldn’t let this happen. Closing his eyes, Harry tried to shake the confusion out of his head and focus on the Minister. Professor Lupin and Black helped Harry sit up by basically holding him in place. “You can’t do this. Stop trying to cover up your mistakes by making more.”

 

Fudge took a step towards Harry, his eyes narrowing. “Do not mess with matters you couldn’t possibly understand, Potter,” he spat. “You already interfered with Ministry affairs once. You should consider yourself lucky you are not arrested and expelled. ”

            “He can’t do that! Harry just saved everyone,” James said outraged.

 

Harry glared at Fudge as he gathered all of his strength and slowly stood up. Cornelius Fudge had no idea how much Harry actually knew about wizarding law. He had spent hours researching it in the library to find out what he could do to stay away from the Dursleys. “I, Harry Potter, godson and heir to Sirius Black, charge the Ministry of Magic with the wrongful imprisonment and conspiracy against one Sirius Black,” Harry stated firmly, his gaze and voice never wavering despite how much he felt like collapsing. “I also charge the Ministry of Magic with indirectly contributing to the pain and suffering I, Harry Potter, had to endure for twelve years at the abuse delivered to me by my Uncle, Vernon Dursley, by denying me placement with my godfather, Sirius Black, my rightful guardian.”

            “Brilliant!” James said.

            “What’s that going to help with?” Lily asked.

            “He just made an accusation in front of Ministry officials. Now Sirius can’t be given the Dementor’s kiss until investigations and trials are over,” James explained.

            “Do you think he could charge the Minister with ‘stupidness’?” Sirius asked.

            “Unfortunately that isn’t a crime,” Remus answered.

 

Fudge stared at Harry, his eyes wide then quickly regained his composure. “You have no proof for any of your accusations,” he hissed.

 

Harry stood his ground, regardless of the dizziness that was starting to invade his head and his vision. “And you had no proof that Sirius had anything to do with the death of my parents but that didn’t stop you from throwing him in Azkaban without a trial that would have proven him innocent!” he shouted. “I will formally file my charges if necessary for the truth to be known! It will be in every wizarding paper of how the Ministry carelessly helped a Death Eater and murderer roam free for twelve years!”

 

Fudge paled at the mention of the papers and quickly turned to Dumbledore for help. “Albus, he is your student!” he said angrily. “Control him!”

 

Professor Dumbledore glanced at Harry with an amused look on his face before returning his attention to the Minister. “Yes, Harry is my student,” he said pleasantly, “who I am extremely proud of. Harry does have a point, Cornelius. He could charge the Ministry and sue them for retribution. I would hate to see what a jury would award the-boy-who-lived after hearing Sirius’ testimony under Vertiserium and the truth of Harry’s home life. It could run into the thousands of Galleons.”

            “They’d be ruined,” Remus said pleased.

 

It was then that Harry glanced around and saw that all three Aurors were conscious and were standing beside Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape. One of the Aurors stepped forward and whispered something in Fudge’s ear. Fudge’s face instantly turned red in anger as he stared at the Auror. Harry knew why. Since Harry had made a charge in front of Ministry witnesses, claiming that he was going to file a formal complaint, all of those involved with that charge couldn’t be harmed in anyway. In short, Harry had just given Sirius Black a temporary stay of execution.

 

Unable to do anything about it, Fudge left Hogwarts with three Aurors who were desperately trying to hide their smiles. They obviously found it amusing that the Minister of Magic had been outsmarted by a thirteen-year-old.

 

            “Not that hard to do,” Lily huffed.

 

Sirius was to remain at Hogwarts, far away from the student body. Harry watched the Ministry employees leave, still trying to hide any sign of weakness. The moment they were out of sight, Harry was instantly pulled into a hug by Black and Lupin. That was the last thing Harry remembered before darkness took him.

 

            “Only one chapter left,” Lily said.

            “Then read my good lady,” James said in a mock bow.