Harry Potter And The Betrayal

Delacour looked at the ceiling for a moment. "And some wonder why Magical Britain seems to produce the most Dark Lords. Fudge, prior to his destruction by Lord Potter, how many so called Dark creatures had joined the Deatheaters?"

Thinking he wanted a listing, Fudge told him, "The giants did. So did the Vampires. As well as the werewolves led by Fenir Greyback."

"Did every member of those races you listed join the Dark Lord, or was it only those who were tired of being treated like they were little more than animals in the eyes of wizards and witches?" Delacour wanted to know.

"How should I know?" Fudge didn't understand what he was getting at. "I don't know each individual werewolf or vampire. I would assume so, since it is a well known fact that dark creatures tend to gravitate to those who practise Dark magic."

"Not all werewolves joined Greyback at the Dark Lord's side." Delacour countered. "Lupin never did. He spent his life trying to serve the Light and wizardkind, but you in magical Britain wouldn't let him. Dumbledore also trusted him. You claimed that you accepted Snape's testimony as fact even though he was not conscious through all the events that happened simply because Dumbledore spoke so highly of him. Why wouldn't you extend Lupin the same courtesy? He had done the same many times for Lupin, why didn't you give him the same courtesy and at least delay giving Black the Kiss until you could speak with him, or since there was some question about his guilt, why didn't you interrogate him at Hogwarts. There was a Potions master on staff who was licensed by the Ministry to produce Veritaserum for the Ministry. It would have delayed things maybe thirty minutes, but you would've known for sure you were indeed executing a guilty man."

"And let's not forget, we still do not know how Black escaped." Dantes spoke up. "I would have thought the Ministry even then would've wanted to know how he'd done it. Or weren't you curious enough to delay a man's death long enough to find that out, so that you could prevent it from happening again? Not to mention the fact that Black at least according to reports I have heard, was in fact sane even after over ten years in Azkaban's Maximum Security wing and that is definitely not supposed to be possible. I would've thought you would've been curious about that as well so you could deal with it."

"The decree to have Black kissed was issued by the Wizengamot and there were no extenuating circumstances provided to delay it. He was to be Kissed as soon as a Dementor could be brought to him." Fudge countered. "I was not about to go against a legal decree."

Harry muttered, but not loud enough for anyone but Delacour to hear him. "Why not? You've done it before when it suited your purposes."

There was a longer discussion this time and from the gestures coming from the High Councillors behind the silencing ward, it was also getting quite heated.

Finally Dantes spoke again. "The opinion on this charge is divided. While we all agree that there should've been a delay in carrying out the Wizengamot's decree, some feel that as Minister you could not delay it. A stay should have been ordered by Albus Dumbledore as soon as there was some doubt about Black's guilt, given he is the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. Or if there had been more members of the Wizengamot present that night than just the two of you a vote could have been taken on whether or not to delay it, long enough to question Black under Veritaserum and learn the truth once and for all. You are declared innocent on that charge, solely because it was a decree from the Wizengamot."

After a moment's pause, Dantes added, "We have also decided that since the Chief Warlock does have the authority to delay the carrying out a sentence if there is a claim of new evidence, even without other members of the Wizengamot being present, he should have exercised that authority. Especially given that Dumbledore stated in his testimony before this High Court that he did believe there was enough reason to delay the Kiss. It is out judegement that Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore has failed in his duties as Chief Warlock by not ordering the immediate stay of execution for Sirius Orion Black and shall be removed from the Wizengamot permanently since it appears that he can not properly carry out those duties along with his duties as Headmaster and Supreme Mugwump of the IWC."

There was a loud "Yes!" and as everyone looked in the direction of the voice they recognized as Potter's they saw him pumping his first in the air as if in triumph. "One for you Sirius!"

"Lord Potter, a little decorum please." Lord Altren requested, just barely smothering the smile that was trying to make it's way on to his face.

Harry looked over at Dumbledore and the expression on his face made Harry wish he had a camera. Dumbledore looked like he'd been told that Moldyshorts was his love child and that he owed some witch decades of back child support. Or maybe that he'd just been told there were no more lemon drops in the world. A quick glance at Fudge showed that he was pleased by their decision. Probably, Harry reflected, because someone was finally sticking it to Dumbledork and Dumbles wasn't able to do a damn thing to stop it.

"My Lords surely there is no reason to go to this extreme." Dumbledore spoke up a few minutes later. "I have served the Wizarding world faithfully for many years. I will grant you there are a few decisions I could have made differently, but over all, I have done nothing but good for the wizarding world."

"Really," Dantes drawled. "It is the considered opinion of the High Council that you Albus Dumbledore took the easy way out instead of doing the right thing in the matter of Sirius Black. As the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, the final authority rests with you on whether or not an execution is stayed for any reason. You claim that you didn't do so, because you didn't want to cause a split within the Ministry, but you knew there were questions about Black's guilt and yet you failed to do the right thing. What would've happened if Black hadn't managed to escape? He would no be without his soul because you didn't want to… what is the American expression?" Dantes looked thoughtful for a moment, "Oh yes, you didn't want to make waves. That is not the kind of person who should be Chief Warlock. It should be someone who is capable of making the hard decisions and doing the right thing even if it makes waves."

Lord Perrivor felt compelled to speak up, "And Albus, don't even think of trying to get the members of the Wizengamot to try and overturn this ruling. The High Council's rulings supersede their's If you try and take a seat on the Wizengamot, you will be forcibly ejected from the Ministry by the spells on the chambers where the Wizengamot meet."

"Hey," Ron blurted out suddenly remembering, "Fudge didn't have orders to have Barty Crouch Jr Kissed. I mean no one on the Wizemgamot gave orders for his death given they thought he was dead, so Fudge wasn't acting on their orders then. You surely aren't going to wave the charge on that are you?"

The council members looked startled at being reminded abut Fudge's having had the Deatheater Crouch Kissed and Fudge just glared daggers at the youngest Weasley son. They hadn't added it to the list of charges facing him when Potter had brought it up before and he was hoping they had forgotten about it.

"We will take a brief break while we review the previous testimony." Lord Keiran announced.

....

Join my P*atreon for early access to 60+ chapters ahead of the public release. 

Link : pa*treon.com/thebookaddict (Remove the *)

Free members can get 2+ advanced chapters FOR FREE.