Meat Pies
DISCLAIMER: That part of this world and those characters you’ve seen before belong to their Creator: JKR. The rest is mine - although I cannot quit my day job as I make no $$$
A/N: I debated about posting this the same day as Ch. 38. After all, I hadn’t been sitting on this story for weeks which was my usual excuse for posting more than one chapter. But, this Chapter is the one I think many were waiting for…
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE: MEAT PIES
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 th , 1993 (Day 3).
“All rise!” Hermione called out. “The Manor Court of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter resumes session!”
“Good morning everyone,” Harry said. “Madam Advocate, are you ready to proceed?”
“Petitioner is ready.”
“Madam Bones?”
“We can proceed, Milord.”
“Right then. Madam Advocate, call you next witness.”
“The Manor calls Sirius Orion Black.” No one was really surprised at this by now. Aside from Harry and a few others, no one knew that there might have been two other witnesses, namely Harry’s parents. It was decided the night before, outside Harry’s presence that they would not need to be called. Harry wanted them to remain unknown just in case Dumbledore tried something and they would only have been called if it was necessary. Harry knew it was not. Then again, he did not need to be convinced.
“Please state your name for the record,” Daphne began.
“Sirius Orion Black. Lord Black I suppose. Head of the Ancient and Noble House of Black, Earls of Hangleton and Falthsome, Baron of Savoy and all that.”
“When were you born?”
“December 29th, ‘59.”
“When did you finish Hogwarts?”
“‘78.”
“And you were a Hit Wizard from that point until November 2nd, 1981.”
“Wasn’t informed I had been terminated,” Sirius said. “Seem to recall they owe me a written notice or they can’t stop my pay.” There was some laughter and a very nervous look on the face of the Minister. “But I was until October 1980. That was a year before this stuff. I was then an Auror Trainee at the Academy for about a year and had just finished and returned to service as a Basic Auror when they decided to cart me off. I had been with DMLE for a little over three years.”
“Basic Auror? You skipped over Auror Apprentice?”
“Time in Grade and with the Auror Office,” Sirius shrugged. “I had two very intensive years with Moody’s team before the Academy and apparently it counted.”
“You’re record lists you as still a Trainee.”
“They had only just put in the paperwork,” Sirius replied. “I guess it never made it to the file. I was receiving pay as a Basic Auror.”
“Who did you work for during that time?”
“I was part of Mad-eye’s team from the moment I was assigned after completing Hit Wizard training and was asked back to his team out of the Academy.”
“Mad-eye?”
“Master Auror Moody.”
“You called him Mad-eye?”
“Everyone did after he got that ridiculous magical eye. Just not to his face.” There were laughs. Even Madam Bones chuckled.
“Always had a lot of cheek, Blackie,” Mad-eye Moody growled. “Bloody good thing you were terminated. I’m sure I could find something unpleasant… Bugger. Forgot I’m retired as well.” There was another round of laughter.
“Okay,” Daphne continued. “While I’m not going to ask this, if asked would you testify under veritiserum?”
“So long as the questions steer clear of my love life, yes. There are probably some… well, not so young any more ladies who might take offense if I kissed and told.” There were more chuckles.
“Can you think of any reason why your love life - such as it might have been - is in anyway helpful in regards to your petition?”
“Nope.”
“Then I guess we can steer clear of it. Madam Bones? Would you prefer proceeding with Veritiserum?”
“You verify that interesting chair’s still working, and I’ll forgo it for now. While a person under that potion cannot lie, they’re not particularly responsive either. We prefer to avoid having to use it outside of an interrogation.”
“Right then. Mr. Black, I’d like you to lie in response to this next question. Are you married?”
“No.” He said. The chair and Sirius Black turned red for a moment and now there were gasps, even from Harry and Daphne.
“You old dog!” Harry exclaimed. “You never told us you were married!”
“Well none of you asked. And aside from myself and - well I suppose the not so lucky lady in question and the folks who hitched us in France, no one knows. Besides, I haven’t heard from her in a while like say almost a dozen years or so. It’s not like Azkaban is a place for one to keep up with their correspondence. Don’t know where she is, if she’s alive, if we’re still married or any of that. And before you ask, I was stone cold sober both when I asked her and when we got hitched.” He turned red again as did the chair.
“Bloody annoying chair! Okay, I did have a few in me when I asked. But I meant it at the time I asked and I was sober when I went through with it a few days later.” This time, nothing happened aside from some more chuckles from the crowd.
“Okay, and when did this happen?”
“Asked her at the Three Brooksticks,” Sirius said. “Just finished the Academy and we were celebrating. Had a leave coming up in a few days and… well she said yes and it was off to France to um… you get the picture? September of ‘81. Can’t remember what day, to be honest.”
“Not making any husband points by not remembering your wedding day…”
“I remember that, just not what day.”
“Your anniversary then…”
“Well, never made it to the first one to forget it and get reminded, did I?” There were chuckles and a few louder laughs.
“I suppose not. Is there a reason it was kept a secret?”
“I wasn’t very popular with the Death Eaters at the time and they liked taking it out on families. They couldn’t go after mine. My father and brother were already dead. My mother was one of their biggest supporters. The Head of House… well, it would’ve caused problems for them to go after the Head of House Black, wouldn’t it? After all, Great-great Granddad was the voice of their movement before You-Know-Who showed up. But I was clearly a Blood Traitor so I would’ve been fair game and my… well, she wouldn’t have been safe at all if it had been known and with my job I couldn’t be there to protect her all the time.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Not your fault. Those were messed up times for everyone. I wasn’t the only one whose life was wrecked one way or another. And here you said you’d steer clear of my love life,” Sirius added with a pout.
“I’m not under oath,” Dapne said in reply.
“Should’ve known. You were sorted into Slytherin…”
Daphne nodded. “Okay, I guess we can begin there,” she said. “Were you ever a Death Eater.”
“No.” Nothing happened.
“Did you ever support their ideas?”
“Don’t know how to answer that without this chair turning all red.”
“Can you explain?”
“Ever means ever, right? My mother was… well, she believed all that Pure-blood Supremacist rubbish and wanted her sons to believe it too. It was like she was a religious fanatic about that stuff and when I was really little… well, little kids tend to believe their parents, right? But I got older and it made less and less sense to me and when I got to Hogwarts I quickly saw it was utter rubbish. Mother would say I had been ruined by the heretical beliefs that ran rampant outside of Slytherin House and never forgave me for getting sorted into Gryffindor. By then I wanted nothing to do with her and if being sorted somewhere other than Slytherin meant I would not be like her, that was what I wanted. Didn’t stop her, though.”
“Oh?”
“Every Holiday she’d have her ‘proper Pure-blood’ friends pop by for dinner damn near every night and I was expected to attend and listen to their oh so brilliant beliefs. Probably lost weight every summer since once they started into it I’d lose my appetite. Father didn’t help. He never said much of anything and certainly would never contradict mother on anything. After I sat my OWLs and legally didn’t have to put up with their nonsense, I never went back.”
“Where’d you go since you stated you finished Hogwarts?”
“I spent the rest of my Holidays at the home of one of my best friends: James Potter. Truth is I soon saw that as my home. They certainly treated me like a sort of son or brother.”
“When did you become friends with James Potter?”
“Can’t say really. We were both little. He was a cousin of mine, my own age - the only one who was both a boy and not from a disowned Black line. His Mother was my Grandaunt on my mother’s side. Pretty sure the only reason she hadn’t disowned Grandaunt Dorea in her own mind at least was that even though mother thought the Potters were Blood Traitors, it was an Ancient and Noble House and she made exceptions for that. Bloody hypocrite if you asked me.”
“Okay, but how did you meet James Potter?”
“The Potters were still ‘society’, you know? They attended many of the same functions as my parents and James and I usually got dragged to them. Kicking and screaming, in my case. They were bloody dull for a kid. But James and I found ways to liven them up… ,” he added with an evil grin.
“Oh?”
“Our first prank we put invisible toads in the punch. They became visible if you touched them which usually was when someone took a sip. Caused quite the scene.”
“That’s some pretty advanced magic.”
“Don’t look at me. Might’ve been able to do that years later, but we were only seven at the time. James bought the toads at Dervish and Bangs in Diagon Alley with his allowance money. I was the one, however, who came up with the idea of what to do with them.”
“You were also friends with Remus Lupin, correct?”
“Yeah. James and I met him on the Hogwarts Express during our first trip to school. Saw him alone in a compartment looking all pathetic and we decided to cheer him up. It’s a long train ride to be alone and pathetic. By the time we got to where we were going, I’d say we were friends.”
“You’d only say?”
“Didn’t know what House we’d all be in. James was pretty certain he’d be in Gryffindor. Remus was thinking Ravenclaw, Merlin knows he had the brains for that House. I was convinced I was to be cast into the Pit. Blacks had been Slytherins for ages - ‘cept Great-granduncle Phineus’s lot, but he wasn’t Black at heart. But we were all sorted into the Tower. After that we were, as our Head of House McGonagall would say, 'thick as thieves’.”
“You were friends with Peter Pettigrew as well?”
“For my part. Seems that turned out to be a one way deal. But yeah. Didn’t meet him before we were sorted and he didn’t fall in with the three of us for sometime after that. Second Year, for certain.”
“And Lily Evans?”
“One could almost say everyone was friends with her, or at least liked her. Even the Snakes played nice when she was around despite the fact she was a Muggle Born. As for her friend, that took a while. She took issue with some of our less academic pursuits.”
“Meaning?”
“She thought pranks were juvenile. Thought that when we were eleven and still thought that when… well even up to when it all happened although by then she could appreciate a very well planned and very original one. In the end, you might say she out pranked all of us.”
“Oh? How so?”
“You know I can’t say. The results of her last prank are protected under a Fidelius Charm, which in itself is pretty brilliant even if that bit wasn’t part of her idea.”
“Remus Lupin testified earlier that you, James and Peter Pettigrew became Animagus while still at school.”
“We did.”
“Why?”
“It seemed like a good idea at the time. Took a couple years though. James and I managed it by the summer before Fifth Year. Peter took until later that fall.”
“And what were your forms?”
“James was a stag, Peter a rat and I’m a dog. A dog of unknown pedigree or breed, they say. Scion of a very Pure-blood family and my animagus form’s that of a large mutt. Always found that pleasantly ironic.” There were chuckles.
“And you didn’t register?”
“Didn’t have to at first. Lily looked that up. It seems the law’s silent ‘bout under age animagus. We were to register as soon as practicable after turning seventeen…”
“Would’ve been the Christmas Hols your seventh year, wouldn’t it?”
“‘Cept I couldn’t then. Got stuck at Hogwarts in detention over the Hols. Seems McGonagall didn’t find one of our pranks all that funny. Then again, I don’t suppose she’d admit to finding any of our pranks all that funny even if they were.”
“What about after you finished school and before you started hit wizard training?”
“The four of us reported in for training less than an hour after the train pulled into King’s Cross. I was up front with the Hit Wizards when they asked about ‘special abilities’ and they said to put it on the appropriate form and then told me to keep it quiet. James was told to go ahead and register his. Can’t say if he did or didn’t. Never asked.”
“You started training right out of school?”
“No, got all the healer stuff and paperwork done. We then got two weeks off before they started the training proper. That was when James and Lily were married.”
“You were at the wedding?”
“Best man! Although I will say I felt derelict in my duties as such. There wasn’t much of a bachelor party.” The chair and Sirius turned red.
“I don’t have to explain that, do I?” Sirius asked sheepishly.
“Does it have anything to do with the events from 31 October 1981 until recently?”
“No,” he said and did not turn red.
“Then I guess for now we can let that sleeping dog lie,” Daphne said in an amused tone. “Did Peter Pettigrew become a Hit Wizard?”
“Thought Remus covered that. No. He didn’t have the Defense marks for it.”
“What did he do after he finished?”
“Told us he got a job with Zonkos. Can’t tell you if that was true or not.”
“So you, James, Lily and Remus all became Hit Wizards…?”
“Auror track,” Sirius added. “We were sent to our teams in October of ‘78. Remus and I were assigned to Master Auror Moody’s Team and Lily and James were sent to work for Lead Auror Fabian Prewitt. That team was also part of Moody’s Section.”
“Just out of curiosity, did you ever use your animagus form as a Hit Wizard?”
“Once or twice to infiltrate a target area. More often I used it in the company of an Auror for surveillance. We typically posed as a Muggle walking his less than well behaved doggie.”
“Less than well behaved…?”
“If the subject was close, I took particular pleasure in lifting a leg if you take my meaning,” Sirius replied in a devious tone of voice.
“That’s a disturbing image. Okay, so how long did the lot of you work in Master Auror Moody’s section?”
“Started in the fall of ‘78, nearer to Christmas really and shifted over to the Auror Academy in the Fall of 1980. So I was a Hit Wizard for about two years.”
“And your other friends?”
“Remus also went through Auror training. Can’t remember when he started, but he finished a few months ahead of me. James started with me but never finished and Lily was supposed to start as well, but didn’t ‘cause Lils took her leave of absence.”
“Lils?”
“Lily Potter.”
“And when was that? When was it that she took her leave of absence?”
“Lils took a leave of absence beginning not long after the New Year in 1980.”
“And were you at the Academy in October ‘81?”
“Thought I said I was done with it and an Auror by then. Began as a Basic Auror in September of ‘81.”
“And who was your Supervisor at that time?”
“I was again on Moody’s team.”
“And neither James or Lily Potter become Aurors?”
“James started. Lily did not.”
“Why?”
“She was pregnant. That was why she took her leave of absence, you know. Voldemort wanted James and her dead by then and that didn’t seem to bother her all that much until she found out she was expecting.”
“Why’d he want them dead?”
“Didn’t like it much when someone didn’t die like they were supposed to, I’d guess. That’s what some of the Mutts we caught were saying, you know. James and Lils fought him personally three times by then and had lived. Guess he didn’t like there being evidence he wasn’t all powerful and invincible. His toadies might begin to question their supreme leader and all. I mean you’re not terribly invincible if there’re others out there you can’t seem to beat. He couldn’t seem to beat James and Lily, couldn’t seem to beat Frank and Alice Longbottom and I’m told doesn’t seem to be much of a match for Harry Potter either.” There were some chuckles at this.
“That’s not why they ultimately went into hiding, is it?”
“No. That was something later. Something different. Must’ve been ‘round December of '80 or so, maybe a little later. It was almost a year after Lils took her leave of absence. Harry was already born and there was snow on the ground and a Christmas tree was up when they told me they were going to go into hiding like Dumbledore suggested. James and I had finished our two years as Hit Wizards and had just started the Auror Academy. It was bad enough that his placement exams meant he’d need six more months than I would to finish, but this might be another delay. But they figured a way where he could stay in training.”
“Why did Dumbledore suggest they needed to go into hiding?”
“You heard Dumbledore headed an organization called the Order of the Phoenix earlier, right?”
“That’s in the record,” Daphne nodded.
“Well, we were too. Peter was as well. Anyway, Dumbledore told James and Lily that he had an operative who had managed to infiltrate the Death Eaters and get close to Voldemort. Personally, I think the old man should’ve arranged a little accident for the bastard - Voldemort, I mean - but he didn’t operate that way - Dumbledore, I mean. Anyway, this operative said that the stakes had gone up. Voldemort for some reason got it into his demented mind that Harry and another boy Neville Longbottom were bigger threats to him than the rest of the Wizarding World combined and wanted them dead. He wanted to kill them personally. Basically, it meant every Death Eater and everyone in league with them would be hunting the Potters - and the Longbottoms for that matter. All his other schemes had become secondary to killing two babies. I know. It makes no sense. But no one ever said the bastard was sane.”
“So Dumbledore suggested they go into hiding? What did he mean?”
“Some place that could be placed under a Fidelius Charm,” Sirius said. “They were living in one of the smaller Potter places. It was more of a vacation home and its wards were nothing like the ones on the main house…”
“Why didn’t they move to the main house?”
“Couldn’t. Jame’s father had only just passed away. Even if the Will had been probated, because James didn’t live there he could not access it before he turned twenty-one which wasn’t ‘til the end of the following March. They thought about other options, but Lils was looking after Harry and two other children during the day and didn’t want to give that up, so they needed a place that was hidden, but one where she could leave easily to look after the other two children. Likewise, he needed to be able to come and go so as to attend Auror training. That and the Potter properties were too well known. Fair bet there were some Death Eaters who knew about them from before. That would’ve made a Fidelius Charm very, very difficult which is what Dumbledore recommended and we agreed it was the best overall option. They set themselves up in a safe house in Godric’s Hollow and the Charm was cast.”
“Wouldn’t it have been safer had Lily stopped looking after those other children?”
“I honestly doubt the Death Eaters could’ve found her there.”
“Why not?”
“It was a Muggle home in a Muggle community. Wasn’t a witch or Wizard ‘round for miles. Death Eaters weren’t too bright about the Muggle World. Arguably, it was the best place to hide from them. As far as I know, Lily never had reason to think there was any witch or wizard who knew where she was during the day and, after more than a year in the Hit Wizards, she was observant enough to know if there was something magical going on anywhere in the area.”
“But if she used magic…?”
“She wasn’t that stupid. She knew it would be picked up by the Ministry and that might tip off a Death Eater.”
“And Harry was with her?”
“He was.”
“Wasn’t she worried about accidental magic?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because the toddler who lived at the home was a Muggle Born witch. Any accidental magic would be attributed to the girl and not another witch or wizard. The only concern was wand magic, which would trigger the wrong kind of attention.”
“Why was she looking after the girl too?”
“The girl’s parents worked. They needed a nanny or something during the day and Lils answered the advert not long after Harry was born.”
“Surly she didn’t need the money.”
“It wasn’t about the money. When Harry was born, James and Lils were notified that he shared compatible magic with the girl. They wanted Harry to… well… get to know the girl, grow up together, become friends and maybe… bond one day. Lils also liked the idea ‘cause it meant James could continue his training without worrying 'bout her and Harry too much.”
“But the Death Eaters went after Muggle Borns!”
“For some reason, they never went after the ones that didn’t know about magic. We figured that they figured it would be unnecessary. They assumed they’d win and once they did… Well, with that lot in charge, do you really think Muggle Borns would be told about our world?”
“So they moved to this safe house and otherwise went about their lives?”
“As best they could, yes.”
“And it was placed under a Fidelius?”
“It was. Dumbledore cast the charm.”
“Who was the Secret Keeper.”
“I was at first.”
“Why?”
“Seemed like a good idea at the time. I am, after all, Harry’s Godfather.” There were several gasps from the audience.
“You mean like the Muggle kind?”
“Magical kind, oath and all.”
“For the record, what’s that mean?”
“The oath is a kind of fealty oath. It doesn’t make me Harry’s Vassal or House Potter’s Vassal, but other aspects are similar. I can’t betray my Godson. I can’t do anything that would cause him serious harm or knowingly allow him to come to serious harm. Doesn’t mean that if I had to raise him I couldn’t discipline him nor does it mean I had to support him politically. It’s a familial kind of thing and is hard to clearly define. But, I could not cause him serious harm or allow it to happen, you know? Were I to try, I’d break the oath and drop dead. As Secret Keeper, I’d die before I could’ve revealed the secret to anyone if I even thought there was a remote chance it would harm Harry. It was a double protection of sorts. I was the one person who could not give up the secret voluntarily or under duress.”
“But that changed, didn’t it?”
“It did. I regret having any part in that change, but again it made sense at the time.”
“When did it change?”
“‘Bout a week or so before Voldemort attacked.”
“Why the change?”
“The Longbottoms also had a Secret Keeper for wherever they were at. Julius McKinnon. We changed not long after the Death Eaters wiped out Julius and his whole family. We had no reason to believe that they were attacked because he was the Secret Keeper, but we couldn’t rule that out seeing as by then we knew someone in the Order - which knew about Julius - was a spy for Voldemort. Some doubted that could be the case. They thought for certain that couldn’t happen, not with Dumbledore in charge of things. After the McKinnon’s were wiped out, James, Lils and I didn’t want to take any chances. We didn’t tell anyone in the Order what we were doing, not even Dumbledore. Then, I made the biggest mistake of my life.”
“And that was?”
“Well, we decided to change Secret Keepers. I doubt anyone didn’t know I was probably it. I had just completed Auror training and been assigned as an Auror with Moody’s team again and knew I’d be in the thick of it. Just got out of St. Mungos, to be honest. Wasn’t back on the job a week when I was in an op that went pear-shaped. And if I copped it, the Fidelius could collapse and anyone who knew the secret could spill it. So we needed a new Secret Keeper. The only one we thought we could trust was Peter Pettigrew. Lily cast the new charm and Peter became the Keeper.”
“So you weren’t the Potter’s Secret Keeper on October 31st, 1981?”
“No, the back stabbing, so called friend, traitorous rat was.”
“Peter Pettigrew?”
“Yeah,” Sirius said darkly.
“Okay then, let’s go to October 31st, 1981. By then Pettigrew was the Potters Secret Keeper. What are your recollections of that day?”
“Not good, I can tell you.” Sirius muttered.
“Well?”
Sirius sighed. “Didn’t suspect a thing, you know? We knew there was a spy in the Order, but Pettigrew? His Mum was a Muggle Born and his dad’s parents were as well. Not exactly standard recruiting material for the Death Eaters. Far from it. He likely was just below his Mum on the types that lot liked to kill for fun. Anyway…
“I had a shift that day with the Aurors. I got off shift just before sunset and went to check on the rat. I had him stashed in another safe house nowhere near Godric’s Hollow or where Lily went during the day.”
“Did he know about that?”
“Not that I was aware and now I doubt it.”
“And you say that because…?”
“Pretty sure the Muggle place was not under a Fidelius. Can’t say that for certain, of course. For all I know it might’ve been. But if Pettigrew knew about it and it was not, my guess is that’s were Voldemort would’ve attacked. Would’ve been an easy target too. Probably no wards to speak of. But he didn’t.
“Anyway we had Pettigrew tucked away in a safe house and I checked on him before and after my shifts.”
“Why?”
“Needed to make sure he was set for food and the like, you know? We all agreed it was best if he stayed out of… well anywhere where a magical might run into him. First several days, he was there. Seemed nervous, but he always seemed nervous and those were pretty bad times. That evening I arrived and he was gone. There was no sign of any struggle. It was like he just up and left after promising all of us he wouldn’t do that. I was puzzled for a bit and then… then I thought the worst. Thought he might be the spy and if he was…
“Went to Godric’s Hollow as quick as I could. I couldn’t apparate in. The whole town was under a wide area anti-apparition ward. You couldn’t get to within two hundred yards without hitting the wards. So apparated to a safe place outside the wards and then I rode as fast as I could…”
“Rode? You mean a broom?”
“A Boney.”
“What’s a Boney?”
“A 1977 Triumph Bonneville motorcycle. It’s a Muggle thing. Two wheels with an engine. Wicked cool! Made several modifications - magical enhancements - over the years so it could fly silent, invisible and faster than any broom I knew of. I shrunk the bike, apparated to the edge of the wards near the town, resized the bike and got to the safe house in about five minutes. It was too late. The second floor wall was blown out where Harry’s room was and the front door was missing. Blown into the house apparently. But something was off.”
“I’d say seeing the house a shambles would’ve been off.”
“Well, that too. Clearly there’d been an attack. But there was no Dark Mark.”
“Excuse me?”
“Death Eater’s calling card. Some kinda Charm Voldemort and his bootlickers cast once they did the deed to let the rest of us know who had come calling. You’d have to be a Muggle or blind not so see it once it was cast. Any time they hit anyone they put that up, unless they were all taken out in the skirmish or forced to retreat. Didn’t know what to make of it.”
“I was about to go in when Hagrid came out. He had Harry with him. Apparently Dumbledore had given him a portkey that would activate if the defensive wards on the house triggered or something. Aside from a cut on his forehead, Harry looked okay and was alive. Hagrid said he needed to get Harry back to Hogwarts and it sounded like a good idea so I loaned him my Boney. Figured it be easier on Harry than a portkey.”
“So Harry went off with Hagrid?”
“Yeah. Didn’t even get a tingle from that oath. Wish I had now. Once Hagrid rode off I entered the House. The first floor parlour was a wreck. There’d been one heck of a fight there and James Potter’s body was on the floor. Least he gave it a good go before getting hit. Wasn’t anything I could do for him so I went upstairs. Harry’s room was a shambles too, although it didn’t look like a dueling chamber. Lily’s body was beside the crip and she didn’t really look dead. No injuries, nothing. Killing Curse, obviously. Her body and the crib were about the only things in that room that didn’t look blown to all hell. Near the door there were robes. Fancy ones. Custom ones. I’d only ever seen robes like that on Voldemort. I guessed they were his and what looked like a pile of ash within the robes was what was left of him. Not that it did James and Lils any good.”
The trial had been in recess for a half an hour following Sirius’s testimony about the night at Godric’s Hollow. Daphne was again standing at the lectern and Sirius was in the witness box.
“Let’s review before we move on, okay?” Daphne began.
“Is there going to be a quiz?” Sirius quipped. There were chuckles from the audience.
“Were you ever a Death Eater?” Daphne asked ignoring the question.
“No.”
“Were you ever in league with them?”
“No.”
“Were you their spy in the Auror Office?”
“No.”
“Were you their spy in the Order of the Phoenix?”
“No.”
“Were you the Potters' Secret Keeper on October 31st, 1981.”
“No. Peter Pettigrew was.”
“Did you betray James, Lily and Harry Potter to You-Know-Who?”
“No. Pettigrew did.”
“Okay,” Daphne continued. “We left you standing in what was left of Harry Potter’s bedroom in Godric’s Hollow. James and Lily Potter were dead. Harry had suffered apparently minor injuries and was on his way to Hogwarts with Hagrid and it appeared that Voldemort had been defeated…”
“What’s this?” the Minister exclaimed. “He was killed that night! Everyone knows this!”
“Minister,” Harry said from the bench, “need I remind you this is a Manor Court and not the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic? You, Sir, are out of Order and I will not tolerate such outbursts!”
“But everyone knows…”
“Everyone believes,” Daphne said. “One can argue that what is believed and what is known are two truly different things. We have eyewitness testimony from Lord Black and I’m sure were we to recall Hagrid to the box he would corroborate the particulars. All that was in the room when Lord Black arrived was the body of Lily Potter, a set of robes believed to have belonged to the self proclaimed Voldemort and some stuff that looked like ash. Lord Black? Was there another body in the room?”
“No, there was not.”
“Did you, as an Auror junior as you may have been, reach any conclusions regarding what had occurred?”
“Actually, I had more questions than answers.”
“Explain.”
“The only things I could conclude were that James and Lily had died by the Killing Curse. James had put up a fight and it did not appear that Lily had done the same. Harry had been injured, but the state of the room was such that it could not be determined when or how he had been injured.”
“He survived the Killing Curse!” the Minister Protested. “Everyone knows that!”
“I don’t,” Sirius said. “Arguably, I was the first Auror - the first Ministry employee on the scene. I had no reason to believe Harry had been hit with that curse. The evidence, to be honest, leads to the opposite conclusion. Had I submitted a report, it would have stated that he was injured most likely in the explosion. It was clear there had been one and it was further highly probable, given the state of her body, that Lily Potter was already dead when the explosion occurred. I could not determine the cause of the explosion nor explain the presence of those robes at the scene. But Lily’s was the only body in that room. Her wand was the only wand I saw - although I will admit I did not run a full on inspection of the scene. The lack of the Dark Mark over the scene suggests Voldemort was defeated. It’s possible the ash I saw were his remains, but not conclusive. Absent further clear evidence of demise, I would have concluded that somehow things had gone very pear-shaped for him and he scampered.”
“I would like to add,” Amelia said, “that the initial reports at the time were silent as to what is now commonly believed. The first reports in DMLE was that there was a confrontation between the Potters and You-Know-Who and it appeared that while the Potters were killed, You-Know-Who had been defeated. There was nothing in those reports linking the defeat to the infant who survived. It was the Daily Prophet that spun that tale and it was not supported by any clear evidence. Subsequent events, most notably the complete collapse of the Death Eater movement support the conclusion that You-Know-Who was soundly defeated somehow that night, but it does not follow that he was clearly killed. His organization was held together mostly through fear of his power. That myth was arguably destroyed when he failed to kill a mere, defenseless infant. That he was, in fact, killed is a possibility. But there’s no evidence that refutes the possibility that he was not killed. If need be, I can recall Master Auror Moody to provide testimony to this effect as he led the subsequent investigation.”
“As interesting as this discussion is,” Harry said, “this Court would like to remind everyone that this Proceeding is not about whether or not Voldemort died that night. Either way, it seems to this Court that this lively discussion has no bearing whatsoever on the Petition before us. Or, Madam Advocate, has this Court missed something?”
“You have not, Milord. The fate of Voldemort is in no way relevant to the merits of the Petition of Lord Black one way or another.”
“As was stated very early on in this Proceeding,” Harry continued, “there is a difference between what is objectively true and what is believed to be true. This Court is acutely aware of what is believed to be true in regards to the fate of the self proclaimed Voldemort. Neither that belief, nor the objective truth of that matter if different, has any bearing on what is before us. This Court is not charged with, nor can it rightfully claim authority under Article 21 to review that particular matter. As it is outside of this Court’s recognized jurisdiction, the Court recommends we proceed with what is within this Court’s jurisdiction: the merits of Lord Black’s Petition. Continue, Madam Advocate.”
Dumbledore was floored. He knew that Harry knew that Voldemort had survived that night. This was a golden opportunity to dispel the misguided belief that all was well in their world and Harry had let it go. Moreover, Harry’s reasons for doing so were perfectly sound. There was already talk amongst the other members of the Wizengamot of basically rubber stamping the actions of this Manor Court and that was something Dumbledore did not want at all. A free Sirius Black was not in his best interests. A small, immature mistake by the boy and he was certain that cooler heads would prevail and Black would be left to linger as was best for the Greater Good. Harry had just avoided a major mistake and in a way that would only garner him more support within the Wizengamot.
“My apologies to the Court, Milord, for the unnecessary digression,” Daphne said. “You stated earlier you did not perform a full investigation of the scene, Lord Black?”
“I figured I could leave that to a team from DMLE who’d be better equipped for that. There was a fugitive on the loose and a narrow window of opportunity to catch him. I’ll admit now I had personal reasons for going after Pettigrew, but as an Auror I dare say it was my duty to do so as well under the circumstance.”
“And what were those circumstances?”
“Pettigrew was most likely doing a runner. I knew one place he would go first and wanted to get there before he did. Once he left that place, finding him would become a herculean task. The world is, after all, a very big place.”
“Where was this place you thought he’d be? That safe house?”
“There was nothing there for him,” Sirius said. “Besides, he would’ve known it would be the first place anyone looked. No. Before he had become the Secret Keeper and moved to that location - with just a few changes of clothes - he had a flat in London: Camden Towne to be precise.”
“The sight of the confrontation? Where all those Muggles died?”
“Right outside the door leading to his flat, to be precise.”
“Why did you think he would head there?”
“If he was doing a runner, there were things there he would need: potions, clothes, money…”
“Money?”
Sirius nodded. “Quite a bit, I should suppose. He told me he’d won a fair bit gambling. Can’t tell you if that’s true. Showed me it sometime before he became Secret Keeper - a few months earlier I’m fairly certain. Don’t know how much, but it looked like a lot. He had a fair few Galleons, but also a lot of Muggle Money. It was in an expandable bag that you could easily stuff in a trouser pocket. Figured he’d need that so I hoped to get to his flat before he could.”
“Did you?”
“I got there maybe an hour after I had arrived at the Potter’s safe house. Had to use my wand to get through his magical protections. Told me he probably wasn’t there yet and certainly hadn’t scampered. Wouldn’t make sense to keep such protection up after he had left for good. So, I took a seat in his parlour and waited for him.”
“You missed your shift the next day and were well overdue the day after…”
“I was still waiting for the rat. Pretty much cleaned out his cupboards and all of his pepper-up potion waiting. Found his money bag, too. Probably owe him for the meat pies I bought.”
“Oh? You left the place?”
“One of those food vendor carts the Muggles had was set up just outside the door leading to his flat. The chap sold meat pies. They were pretty good, to be honest.”
“What did you do with the money?”
“Aside from buying some meat pies, I put the pouch in my pocket. Still had it on me when I was brought in.”
“I’m going to show who what’s already been admitted into evidence. It’s the Prisoner Receipt form from Azkaban. Would you look at it and tell us if that money bag’s there?”
Sirius looked at the form. “Yeah, it’s here. ‘Bag or pouch - black leather - charmed to be expandible. Contents Cash.’ Lists a summary of amounts: 817 Galleons, 10 Sickles, 22 Knuts and various specie and denominations of Muggle currency - British Pounds, French Francs, Italian Lire, German Deutchmarks, American Dollars and some Canadian stuff as well. Estimated value £47,234 and change depending upon current exchange rates. That’s quite a stash. He said he’d won it gambling, but he was never that good or lucky. I wondered where he really got it. Then again, is seems he was a Death Eater. Ill gotten gains, most like.”
“Back to my earlier question, missing your shift. Weren’t you concerned with that?”
Sirius shrugged. “I was a bit put out, you know? Didn’t help that I was soon wired on Pepper-up. But I figured it might well even out in the end.”
“Oh?”
“If I brought in the rat. Figured I’d get an earful from Moody ‘bout what I did but knew it take some time had I gone straight in to the office to set up a proper stakeout and that would give the rat a chance to get there and get away clean. Lesser of two evils, I thought. Our job was to nab those guys and that’s what I was trying to do. Figured Moody’d give me an earful. He’d certainly want it known that I shouldn’t make that a habit. But I’d probably get some kind of commendation for… well, for thinking, as it were and might even get the tight wads in payroll to cough up some overtime…”
“So you weren’t all that worried?”
“In my mind, I was on the job even if my boss didn’t know that.”
“Okay. And Pettigrew did not show up that next day November 1st?”
“He didn’t. Can’t say why.”
“He did show up the next day.”
“He did. It was around lunch time and I headed down to buy some of those meat pies. He was at the cart with his back to me probably thinking about those meat pies himself, although I can’t say for sure. I said ‘Hello Peter’ loud enough to draw his attention as I drew my wand. He didn’t seem to respond or turn around right away. Turned after a few seconds, he looked… I guess he looked spooked or something. He also seemed to be in pain. Eyes all wide and all.”
“Had he drawn his wand?”
“I’ll admit I made a mistake at that moment. We were taught early on as Hit Wizards and it was a point brought up time and again by Moody and again at the Auror Academy never to stare at a target and certainly never at their face. The threat is the wand and wands are in hands, not on the face. The eyes can tell you something, but you need to keep an eye on the hands. It’s the hands that can ruin your day, not the face or eyes. I forgot that at that moment. Didn’t watch his hands at all. Maybe it was what happened to James and Lils. Maybe it was all the Pepper-up potion. I’m sure Moody would be all over me for losing my situational awareness…”
“Damn straight, I would’ve been,” Moody growled.
“Had he drawn his wand?” Daphne asked.
“I didn’t see it. In hindsight he must’ve. But I didn’t see it.”
“In evidence are the reports of Auror’s Dawlish and Stiltson who say they saw what happened that day. Did you see them there?”
“I noticed Dawlish across the road. Didn’t see Stiltson ‘til later.”
“Why didn’t you call out to them?”
“It happened so fast,” Sirius replied. “Peter turned and almost immediately started yelling at the top of his lungs about how I killed James and Lily Potter and how I betrayed them to the Dark Lord. Those are almost his exact words as I recall and I was stunned by them. Next thing I knew, it was as if the whole world blew up in front of me and I saw the bastard transform into his rat and scamper into a hole.”
“Why did what he say stun you?”
“James and Lily Potter,” Sirius said. “He said their full names which struck me as odd. Can’t say why, but it did. He knew that I knew who he meant. It was as if he was saying it for someone else. Then he said ‘Dark Lord;’ not Voldemort, not You-Know-Who, but Dark Lord.”
“Why does that stand out?”
“Only Voldemort’s Death Eaters and supporters called him that. Those of us from Old Families and Pure-bloods and such who did not want that usurper taking over would never stoop to dignifying the cretin with the term ‘Lord’ - ‘Wanker’ maybe, but not ‘Lord’ - and vast majority of the Wizarding World preferred You-Know-Who if they spoke of the bastard at all. Those who openly opposed the usurper called him Voldemort if they were in polite society and far less acceptable things if they were not. That Peter used the term Dark Lord… I already knew I had the traitor to James and Lils, but it now seemed I had the Order’s Mole and a probable Death Eater as well. I never saw that coming and I hesitated for just a moment.”
“So that’s when did you cast the Blasting Curse that blew up the street and killed all those Muggles?”
“I didn’t. That was Peter.”
“The Aurors report says you did.”
“I seem to recall it was ambiguous on that point. They were out of position to see what might’ve happened and who cast what. The meat pie cart was between us and them.”
“They said your wand cast the spell…”
“They said the last spell from my wand was a blasting curse and the explosion was consistent with a blasting curse, ergo it was my wand. But it was Peter that cast that spell and killed all the Muggles. Made a mess of the meat pie chap and his cart as well.”
“You testified earlier that you used your wand to get through the wards or whatever Pettigrew had set up…”
“I did.”
“So, if you didn’t cast the Blasting Hex in the street, when did you cast it?”
“The day before. I was looking for Pettigrew’s money bag. Wanted to make sure he didn’t have it. If he did, I’d’ve known he was long gone and if he didn’t I’d know he’d be ‘round. There was a cupboard in the kitchen magically sealed up like no one’s business. Didn’t want to spend goodness knows how much time trying to take down the protections. Cast a silencing charm and then blasted the thing a couple of times. Blew it apart and there was the bag.”
“You said you had your wand drawn at the time Peter Pettigrew turned and began yelling?”
“I did.”
“Were you aiming at him at that time?”
“No.”
“Do you recall where your wand was pointing?”
“Probably at the ground. Certainly not at him or anything in particular.”
“Why was your wand drawn?”
“I had Peter Pettigrew in front of me. He had betrayed James and Lily Potter who were dead from his betrayal. I was certain he was at the very least in league with Voldemort. Giving him the benefit of what little doubt there was, it is possible he might’ve been under the Imperius, but there had been no sign of a forced entry at his safe house or any indication anyone had been there aside from Peter which strongly suggested he had left of his own free will. This meant he was with them and dangerous and since things had gone pear shaped for Voldemort, I was almost certain Peter was doing a runner. This made him unlikely to ‘come quietly’ as it were and possibly dangerous. It made sense to have my wand at the ready.”
“Did you want to kill Peter Pettigrew?”
“I won’t say the thought never crossed my mind up to that time. I was willing to if that’s what it took.”
“Explain that.”
“I wanted him to suffer for what he did to us. I won’t deny it. Death may have been necessary, but it was far too merciful for him. I wanted to bring him in and let the system do its worst. But I would’ve killed him to keep him from getting away, or so I thought.”
“Or so you thought?”
“Told you I hesitated. I never truly had the drop on him and then the world exploded and he was gone. I guess there was a part of me that still remember Peter the friend and I couldn’t bring myself to… I hestitated.”
“Have you ever killed anyone?”
“Yes. Of course.”
“Who?”
“I know some. They all were identified. I’m sure they’re listed in my Personnel record.”
“How many people have you killed?”
“Um… Never really kept track, you know. That seemed wrong after the first few. Twenty-eight? Maybe more? Had a few partials as well, I recall.”
“Partials?”
Sirius nodded. “Two of us hit a bad guy with a potentially lethal spell but if could not be determined which one offed the guy. That’s a partial. Fairly common occurrence in a real wild melee.”
“Did you ever hesitate to use force prior to that day?”
“Might’ve my first few times out. Not much, but most of us do. But not generally. Certainly not by then.”
“Do you usually banter with your opponent?”
“No. It’s not… You need to focus on the task which is taking the bastard down. You do anything else and you’re asking to be taken down.”
“You ever let your opponent yell at you like that?”
“Depends.”
“On what?”
“Well, on the situation really. On who the mutt is, what they’re doing at the time, whether they’re an immediate threat, whether the situation is one where less than lethal force will work and we can take him in, whether he’s actively resisting; stuff like that. I can tell you, once we have their wands some of them lay it on pretty thick. We have them dead to rights and they come up with the most amazing excuses or theories as to how they really didn’t do it.”
“But, that day, when you confronted Pettigrew, you’re saying you did not fire. Your wand was at your side. Your opponent began yelling and you did nothing…?”
“I… I can’t explain it. I’ve had close to twelve years to live those few seconds over and over again and still can’t explain it. And before you suggest it, I don’t think magic was in play of any kind. I was not in a clear state of mind. I hadn’t slept in days. I was wired on pepper-up and probably not thinking clearly. But I’d been in scrapes before as a Hit Wizard and such under similar circumstances and didn’t hesitate. The only thing I could think of was this time the guy on the wrong side of the dueling line was a friend. He had just betrayed my two best friends to their deaths. But there may have been a part of me that couldn’t truly get past ten years of friendship that came before. I knew he was probably a Death Eater and certainly playing for that side and yet I still didn’t want to believe it.”
“You were laughing when the two Aurors came up…?”
“I don’t really recall that. I’m not saying I wasn’t. It was either laugh or cry or scream and I’m pretty sure I did all three for quite some time. I had him! I had the bastard who betrayed James and Lils! I played a hunch and it played out. I all but had the drop on him and that split second of hesitation… He was gone. I knew he’d be hard to find if not impossible and… and what had happened. It was horrible. All those people dead. All that suffering. For what? They all died so that rat could get away? It was horrible. Such a waste. I could’ve stopped it. I should’ve. But I didn’t. I still can’t forgive myself for that. It’s my fault, you know. If I had done what I was supposed to do, if I hadn’t hesitated for that split second, if I hadn’t trusted Peter in the first place, they all would be alive… James, Lils, all those Muggles… that girl…”
“What girl?”
“She wasn’t far from us when it happened, I should think. She may have been six or seven. Of all those bodies, she one of the only two I remember. Her face is burned into my memory. The meat pie chap was the other. She never knew what had happened. Never knew about the world that did that to her. She had a life, and magic comes along and she’s dead, starring up at a sky that doesn’t care. She didn’t deserve that. None of them did.”