Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe belongs to the proverbial Duchess of Magic, JK Rowling, Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros and some other high falutin' companies. No matter how much I whine about not owning anything related to the HP universe, other than a few fanfic plots, I do not profess to own - and would never dream of making any money off - JKR's wonderful world... Damn it!

A/N: Quite a few readers have given their view that this Harry is being a bit of a... well, let's face it... self-righteous prick. To put it bluntly: At the moment; yes, he is. He's been able to 'unbottle' the real Harry Potter for the first time ever. He wants and is demanding vindication. So, people are getting a piece of his mind whether they want it or not.

I also remind you it's only been about a week since the First Task. Try to at least give him a couple of weeks to get it out of his system. He will soon settle down, I promise. He's not perfect and, besides this one, has certain personality/character faults. They will become apparent later. And, fair warning, some might even make you cringe.

Chapter Ten - Three Professors and the Dursleys Face Justice

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―==(oIo)==―
ˇ

When the owls streamed in Hermione was as quick and eager to spot Hedwig as she was two days previously. However, the bird was practically already on the table before she spotted her.

"Hedwig!" she exclaimed.

As she reached for the bird, Hedwig gave a little hop to the side but still remained within reach, and turned her head away. At least she still held her leg out, though.

Harry just snorted in amusement.

This time, though, Hermione was immediately ready with three strips of bacon for the owl and was handing them over as soon as she had the letter untied from Hedwig's leg. She also made sure she was also holding all three pieces together, so the owl could take all three at once.

With a quiet "Prek!" Hedwig carefully took all three before flying off again.

As Hermione was opening the envelope, Harry said, "I think she's forgiven you now. Either that or your bribe was enough to buy you her forgiveness."

"Uh-huh!" she distractedly muttered in response.

Harry was pretty sure she hadn't even heard him as she was avidly reading her letter already. And he watched as her expression went from slightly worried to blooming into a wide grin.

Looking to him and almost bouncing in her seat in excitement she squealed, "Mum and Daddy are happy to have the aurors stay. And they agree that the servants' quarters would be perfect for them. The only time that gets used is when we have a large family gathering at home, anyway. And that only happens about once every few years, if that. And there's nothing like that planned for the foreseeable future."

While Hermione had practically said all that rapidly and in one breath, Harry had long since gotten used to her talking that way. So, he understood every word she'd said.

"Sounds good," he nodded. "They still only know we're going to be turning up there 'soon', though, right?"

"Yeah," she replied. "They understand why, though. But, it would be nice to give them some sort of idea of when that is likely to be."

"Well..." he began. "Both Professor Flitwick and Hagrid were allowed to return... but, Professor Flitwick did say, and we saw, that he fully co-operated with the aurors both in their interviews with him and during their court cases. On the other hand, though, we have no idea about whether or not Professors Sprout or McGonagall co-operated any, or will during their trials. And we know Professor Snape won't... nor, probably, will Dumbledore.

"But... we also have to consider that Professor McGonagall, as Deputy Headmistress, is far more responsible for what's been going on for the past few years than the other Professors. And Dumbledore even more than that.

"As for Severus Snape... well... he's just an out and out... sorry... prick! And, no, I won't apologise for referring to him like that. So, I cannot see him returning.

"In a nutshell, I think Professor Sprout will return, I think Professor McGonagall will return... but, like Professor Flitwick, she'll lose her position as Head of Gryffindor House and, added to that, I think she'll also lose the Deputy Headmistress position. I think Dumbledore's going to manage to escape a sentence in Azkaban, which I think he richly deserves, simply out of respect for his previous accomplishments. But I cannot see how he could possibly manage to hold onto any of his other positions."

Neville asked, "What about Madam Pomfrey?"

"I don't think she'll be returning," Hermione sadly and immediately replied. She was a bit hesitant to add more but eventually did while also blushing a little. "I had to go to the Infirmary to get some... ummm... potions I needed. And there was a new healer there, who had packed away all Madam Pomfrey's personal things and was setting up his own."

Harry frowned and asked, "Why did you need to go to the Infirmary? Nobody attacked you, did they?"

Blushing even more she quickly replied, "No! Harry. It... ummm... had to do with... women's issues."

"Oh," he softly said, also starting to blush a little. "Sorry I asked."

"No, you were worried about me," she said. "I understand that and am grateful you care enough to ask."

"Women's issues?" asked a confused Neville, before his eyes suddenly widened and he quickly looked away while blushing. He quickly muttered, "Sorry!"

"Anyways..." said Hermione, quickly trying to change the subject. "You were describing when you thought we could go visit my parents."

"Oh, yeah," said Harry, breathing a quick sigh of relief. "Without a Head of House for at least three of the Houses, possibly four, added with no Deputy Headmistress or Headmaster and also missing a DADA Professor, Potions Professor and CoMC Professor, I don't think classes are going to be starting back up as soon as the trials are finished.

"Therefore, I think that once the trials are done with, we should ask to be allowed to go to your folks' place, then. If we anticipate Professor Sprout's trial will take about as long as Professor Flitwick's and Severus Snape's trial is going to run about half as long again, I think those two will be cleared up before lunch tomorrow.

"Then the afternoon will be Professor McGonagall and the Dursleys. Hers will be shorter than Snape's but longer than Sprout's, because they'll be including what happened on the night my parents died and me being dumped at the Dursleys. She was there when that happened.

"They'll then either start Dumbledore's immediately after that or wait until the next morning, tomorrow morning. I have no idea how long that one will take, but it should last at least the whole day. However, it might run well into the next day, too.

"I don't think there's any other trials we need to worry about. So, I think we can plan to leave in two days, or maybe three. How does that work for you?"

"Yeah," she replied. "That'll put us towards the end of the working week. Mum and Daddy will be at work, but I think we're old enough to take care of ourselves until they get home; don't you?"

"Yeah, I think we can find something to do," he replied. "Maybe we can go shopping, so I can buy some decent muggle clothes."

"Oh, if we're going to do that then we're going to have to wait until Mum gets home, possibly even the weekend" she grinned. "That's something Mum would love to do with us."

"If you want," he shrugged. "Then maybe you can show me around the neighbourhood."

_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ

Right on time the same four aurors as the previous day turned up to escort the two of them to the Wizengamot chamber.

However, this time, they were joined by Neville, who asked to tag along.

Robards just shrugged his shoulders and said, "No skin off my nose. Three is no different than escorting two." Looking at him directly he said, "But, like these two, if one of us tell you to do something, including something like diving into mud, you will do it. Am I clear?" Then stared at the boy until he responded.

"Umm... yes Auror," Neville replied with a little head bob. "Understood."

Robards simply gave a nod back before he turned away again. "Time to leave," he quietly said.

_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ

As with the previous day the now three were sat on seats on the main floor of the chamber next to the door leading out of the room to where Harry now knew led to the Members' private area. From the door sat Harry, then Hermione, then Neville. Today, the two aurors standing guard over them were Robards and Hammer; for this session, at least.

When the Members' filed in Longbottom turned to look in Harry's direction as she sat down. And this time she saw Neville sitting there. She immediately beckoned one of the aurors over and quietly leaned over her desk to ask him something, gesturing towards Neville.

That auror then asked Robards a question and then returned to Longbottom, before saying something to her. Longbottom didn't look happy, but she didn't say anything after that.

Instead, she banged her gavel once and called, "Bring in the accused!"

Pomona Sprout was led in and, again not wearing manacles or chains, was led directly to the defendant's chair. Again the chains draped lazily over her.

Her case went in a very similar direction as Flitwick's. However, she made no comment about Veritaserum other than to give her assent to the use of such.

Her case ended up even shorter than Flitwick's as it did not also include the issue of bullying of a single student supposedly under her care.

When the vote was called she was found not guilty of all charges but, different to Flitwick's, she was not stripped of her Head of House position. Instead, she was warned that she was very lucky to have escaped punishment and further warned that, if there were any further incidences on her part in risks to the student body, she would be both summarily sacked and could expect a stay in Azkaban.

A very relieved Pomona Sprout was able to walk out of the court a free witch, okay to return to her duties at Hogwarts including as Head of House for Hufflepuff. At that moment it meant she was now the senior-most staff member of the school.

_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
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Next led in was Severus Snape. However, he was led in wearing full chains on both his wrists and linked to similar chains on his ankles. The ones on his ankles clearly allowed him only very short steps; so he entered with more of a shuffle than a walk. He was almost forced into the chair of the accused and this time the golden chains also tightly bound him in place.

His trial, as with the previous, immediately started with Madam Bones handing over a Dicta-quill taken statement made while Snape was under the effects of Veritaserum. However, Madam Bones also said Snape had to be forced to take it, with the use of auror grade charms to hold his mouth open and stick out his tongue.

She further claimed the interrogation was made under duress of the defendant and he fought them the entire way.

"Further, Chief Adjudicator," she went on to say, "Due to his status as a Master Occlumense and his determination not to co-operate with us in our questions and deliberations, I recommend four drops of Veritaserum if you wish to question him any further today."

Longbottom only appeared to be listening with half an ear as she scanned through the interrogation transcript. "Then, let it be four drops; so ordered. But, not yet."

After she scanned through the transcript herself, Longbottom made cause for copies of it to distribute to all Members, just as she did the previous day.

"I've got to learn that spell," muttered Hermione.

Neville, who'd heard, whispered back, "It's a feature built into the Chief's desk. I also think there's an 'echo' of it built into the Scribe's desk, so the Scribe can do the same thing. Gran told me about it."

Once the copies had been distributed Longbottom looked back at Snape for a moment before she said, "Madam Bones, the charges, if you would."

Once they were read out she then turned to Snape and asked, "Severus Tobias Snape, having heard the charges laid against you this day, how do you plead?"

"Not guilty!" he snarled back.

Thus began quite the long trial. Snape was charged with various crimes, less than half of which were related to his position and behaviour as both Professor and Potions Master at Hogwarts.

But the nail in Snape's coffin, as far as Harry was concerned, was when it became public he was the one that directed Riddle towards the Potters. For Neville, it was finding out he had also directed Riddle at the Longbottoms and would have gone after the Longbottoms next if he hadn't been stopped by what happened at Potter Cottage.

At that point, Augusta Longbottom called an immediate halt to the trial. She'd banged her gavel so hard Harry felt she was surely about to snap the handle of it.

While everyone could see her sit there in complete fury for a long few moments, she finally snapped out, "My... apologies. However, I feel that, given this... given Mister Snape's recent testimony of how he'd directed that sociopath at, not just the Potters, but also at my son, his wife and my grandson... I believe I have to recuse myself from being Chief Adjudicator for this trial from this point forward. I have too much of a vested interest.

As she rose from her seat, still staring in heightened anger at Snape, Lord Miles Ogden stood and said, "I'll do it. So far, it seems, I have no such vested interest."

Longbottom spun on her foot and stalked over to the Longbottom seat, before she sat with a thump. And Ogden moved down to sit at the Chief Adjudicator's seat.

That ended up being the only change and he ordered Bones to continue with the Interrogation.

When it was learned, by his own words, Snape had used the three Unforgivables on numerous and various occasions while serving as a Death Eater, there was really only one sentence he could be given. With an overwhelming majority vote, Severus Snape was sent to Azkaban for life in the maximum security wing. He'd be joining the likes of the LeStranges, Rookwood, Avery and the recently returned Crouch Junior.

When he was led out of the chamber, still in restricting manacles and chains, he walked out without a word and with his head held high.

_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ

While almost everyone who'd witnessed that had no real appetite for lunch, a break of one hour for the midday meal was still called. The trial had taken that long.

Rather than join them in the DMLE cafeteria, Neville went and had lunch with his grandmother in the Members' private dining room. However, he rejoined them just before the hour was up and the Members all returned. He was waiting for them as the two teens were brought back to the chamber.

As soon as they sat, Neville leaned across and, in a voice barely above a whisper, said, "Gran told me Professor McGonagall's up next. She's really not looking forward to this one."

Using the same volume, Harry firmly said back, "Whatever befalls her as a result of this trial, Neville, is entirely her own damned fault."

"But," tried Neville, "It's Professor McGonagall!"

"Yes," he agreed. "However, she's also Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall. And, in her role as Deputy Headmistress, she is partly responsible for ensuring the proper behaviour of, not just the students, but also the staff - including herself; and, sure as hell, that includes Severus Snape.

"The piss-poor behaviour over the last three years, plus the start of this one, that I caused to be brought to light of the staff of Hogwarts is partly her responsibility. It was partly her job to stop it; actually, it was partly her job to see to it not happening in the first place. In that, she clearly failed. She refused to do her job. Today, she has to answer for that."

When Neville paused for a few moments deep in thought and then gave an almost negligent little but firm nod and sat back, Harry knew the other boy understood.

When Minerva McGonagall was called in to sit as defendant, like Filius Flitwick and Pomona Sprout before her, she was not led in wearing chains. However, she appeared to be the most dejected of them all.

Without a word to anyone, not even looking about at anything but the floor before her, she was guided to the accused's chair. One of the escorting aurors even had to gently guide her into sitting upon it. When the chains draped over her and pulled a little tight, she barely flinched.

For McGonagall's trial Ogden remained in the chair as Chief Adjudicator. A look at Madam Longbottom's face showed why. Longbottom was looking at McGonagall with sadness.

As Harry had expected, McGonagall's trial went a fair bit longer than the trials of the other Professors except Snape's. It even went almost as long as Snape's. Partly, that was because they included what happened on the night of the first of November, 1981, when she was part of the party of three that dumped him, Harry, on the doorstep of the Dursleys.

A memory was then played. Harry knew the memory wasn't his and it was explained it was her memory. He was just surprised she had given it for viewing in the court pensieve, as it clearly painted her in a poor light.

However, he was not surprised by what it showed.

Once it played through and the memory faded away, Ogden then said out loud to everyone in the chamber, "If there is anyone who still believes... after witnessing that... that Harry Potter was ever sent by Dumbledore to live in a big castle with plenty of servants and lived a high life, then they're clearly an idiot."

Looking at McGonagall directly he asked, "Knowing the Potters as well as you did... and that you clearly had witnessed the poor behaviour of those muggle Dursleys... why, in Merlin's name, did you allow the boy to be left there?"

"Albus said it was the safest place for him and that he would be able to grow up without the fame that would surround him," she replied.

"Yes, we saw that part of that conversation in the memory," he said. "However, that does not explain, after you witnessed the behaviour of those muggles, why you seemed to agree with him and left the boy there, anyway."

"Because Albus said..." she tried again before Ogden firmly cut her off.

"Albus Dumbledore is not a God!" he snapped back. "So... what you're telling me is that you left the boy... an infant... in what was clearly shaping up to be an abusive home, because Albus said so with empty platitudes and some nonsense about a scar behind his left knee.

"The only thing you are telling us with that remark of yours is that you are quite willing to allow Hell to rain down upon a baby all because Albus said you were to do so!"

McGonagall didn't even raise her head to respond.

After a long few moments, Ogden said, "Well, Madam McGonagall, it is the belief of this court that you should witness a little taste of just what hell that boy went through at the hands of those muggles."

Harry immediately stood and grabbed Ogden's attention. "Excuse me, Chief Adjudicator."

"Mister Potter?" he asked.

"Lord Potter," Harry immediately shot back holding up the back of his right hand to flash his ring.

Ogden had the honour to immediately blush in embarrassment. "My apologies, Lord Potter. You wished to say something?"

"No, sir," Harry replied. "I ask permission to be allowed to leave for this and wait outside until you are done showing those memories. And, I further ask that anyone not of age or of stout constitution also be allowed to leave for the duration."

Ogden gave a couple of quick blinks back before he said, "I... think that would be wise. But, I'm going to go further."

Turning to look at the wider chamber he said, "What is included in these memories is not for the faint of heart or the young and are deeply personal for Mis... Lord Potter. All but those who do not have current and actual business in this chamber are to leave for the duration."

After the chamber cleared a fair bit, with many of those wishing to stay who wanted to see and weren't allowed grumbling about it the entire way, Ogden started the memories.

Harry was just thankful he was able to remove himself, Neville and Hermione from the room.

"You didn't need to do that, Harry," said Hermione. "I think we all could have stomached watching it."

"That had nothing to do with it, Hermione," he replied. "I just don't want to be looked at with pity from my schoolmates. And, as few people as see any of that the better, as far as I'm concerned."

"Oh," she quietly replied. "I... didn't think of that. Sorry."

It was more than fifteen minutes later the visitors, plus the three teens, were allowed to re-enter.

McGonagall was now openly sobbing in her seat.

When the trial finally finished Ogden called for the vote. She was found guilty of all charges.

However, the vote to incarcerate her, lost. There was no other vote, and Harry wondered why until Ogden returned his determination.

"Madam Minerva McGonagall," he began. "After the discovery you had been potioned with a mild obedience potion, it is the determination of this court that you not be incarcerated for your actions against Lord Potter and the students of the school. However, your stated wish you be allowed to quietly retire and return to your ancestral home is also not accepted.

"Instead, you are hereby and immediately fired from all your positions at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And that you be banned forevermore from holding a similar teaching position, or any other position that places you in a position of authority over children.

"You are free to leave. However, you may not even return to the school to visit or recover your personal effects. A house elf will be organised to return to you your personal effects from the school, once you have found a place to settle. Should you ever return to the grounds of the school, for any reason, you will be arrested for trespass; and we shall not be so lenient."

As Ogden banged his gavel to signal the end of the case, two aurors stepped forward and removed the chains that bound her. Then they had to pretty much drag her from the chamber. She was still quietly crying.

As she was led out, Harry could hear Hermione also quietly sobbing. She wasn't the only one in the chamber so moved.

After her decades of service to the school, McGonagall had become almost an integral part of the institution. For her to be dismissed so, was somewhat heartbreaking for many. Harry, though, was not so much.

"Well," sighed Harry. "That means the school is now down a Deputy Head, Heads of House for three of the four Houses and Professors for Transfiguration, Potions, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures. If all goes as I do not expect tomorrow, then we'll also be down a Headmaster.

"I cannot see those positions being filled enough in the near future for us not to be allowed to leave the school for a time."

_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ

The next trial was of the Dursleys. Harry was surprised to see Marjorie Dursley also led in. When they were brought forward to the now three defendant's chairs with their golden chains, Vernon was clearly trying to yell and bluster; as was Marjorie, his sister. However, there was no sound. The Dursleys were under a silencing charm.

Vernon and Petunia were charged with ten counts of child abuse physical, ten counts of child abuse psychological, ten counts of child neglect, ten counts of abuse of a child of a Noble and Most Ancient House and ten counts of neglect of a child of a Noble and Most Ancient House. Marjorie Dursley was charged with five counts of child abuse physical, two counts of child abuse psychological, three counts of failing to control an animal under her care, two counts of unlawfully directing an animal to attack and five counts of abuse of a child of a Noble and Most Ancient House.

After the charges were read out, Harry gestured for Auror Hammer to lean in close and asked, "Why ten?"

"Because ten is the number determined to mean that there is more than that, but they simply choose to stop at ten as proving any more is, by that time, pointless; the sentence is the same," she replied.

"Ah!" he nodded. "Thank you."

She gently smiled at him, gave a nod and moved back to her position.

When it came to the point Ogden was calling for memories to be displayed in the pensieve, Harry again stood and asked for that part of the trial be a closed session. Ogden was quick to agree.

Turning to the aurors Ogden said, "Aurors; clear the chamber of non-essential personnel. As per Lord Potter's desire, this part of the trial will be a closed session."

Again, there was much grumbling and kvetching from the visitors. However, they left just as quickly this time as the last.

This time they were out of the chamber for a little over half an hour. When they returned Ogden, who was looking quite pale and a little shaky - he wasn't the only one who appeared so of those who'd remained - said, "I apologise to our witnesses and visitors. I did not expect the time you would be locked out would be as long as it was. However, we who sit in judgement had to take a five minute recess to... recollect ourselves so we could continue. We have only just returned."

Hermione gave a direct look to Harry that simply displayed one big unasked question. However, Harry just gave a small shake of his head and refused to say anything.

Ogden then looked with a stony countenance on the Dursleys and said, "I am about to have our aurors lift the silencing charms placed on you, so you may speak to me. This is to give you opportunity to refute, rebut or clarify any of the evidence that has been presented this day.

"However, if you attempt to use the opportunity to hurl abuse at anyone... then you will be immediately re-silenced and it will be determined that by your actions you have chosen not to refute, rebut or clarify."

Staring at all three he gave that a moment to be understood by all three before he indicated one of the now stony-faced aurors that stood behind the accuseds' chairs, "We will start with Marjorie Dursley. Remove her silencing charm, but be ready to reapply it should she be abusive."

When the auror gave a nod, swished his wand at 'Marge the Barge's' back Ogden said, "Marjorie Dursley you may begin."

"Who the Hell do you freaks think you are?" she barked. "As soon as..."

That was as far as she got before the auror, almost at the same time Ogden gestured to him, reapplied the silencing charm. Marge continued to try and yell and bluster, but did it in silence.

"Miss Marjorie Dursley," said Ogden. "By your language and tone you have been determined to have neither refuted, rebutted or clarified any of the evidence presented against you. Your case rests."

He then turned to Vernon and said, "As you witnessed what happened with your sister, we said how we would act and did precisely that. She attempted to abuse the opportunity presented her, to her loss. As with her, as with you.

"Remove his silencing charm, but be ready to reapply it if he becomes abusive."

Harry had expected him to become just as abusive as his sister as soon as the charm was removed. However, it appeared Vernon was not as stupid as Harry thought him to be. The few moments he had between Marge's attempt and his own had affected him.

When the silencing charm was removed he sat for a few moment before he said, though still angrily, "My wife, my sister nor I are fr... are wizards or witches. As such, we are not of your world. As such, how do you dare to presume to try us for our actions?"

"You had within your home an under-aged wizard," replied Ogden. "As such, your home, while muggle, was also considered a wizarding home. That means you come... or 'came' now... under our laws."

"The boy was forced on us!" snapped Vernon right back. "We were not willingly housing him. That fre... that mongrel... Fumbledork, or whatever the Hell his name is, forced us to take him.

"Time and time again we tried to get him out of our house. We demanded the old man remove him and he refused us. We even tried to dump the brat at a home for wayward children; but he was back that same afternoon. That's one of the times Fumbledork threatened us... THREATENED us!

"We told him, over and over again, we did not want the boy in our home; but, he ignored us every time. He even carried on as if it was our fault the boy had to stay with us!"

"Time and time again we even tried to get through to that pub that's supposed to be the gateway through to your shopping area; but couldn't! We tried to get in so that we could tell at least one of you what Fumbledork was doing, so that something could be done. We had no way to contact you to let you know. I think Fumbledork even made sure of that because, when Petunia's sister was a student at your school, she could see the pub and get in. And we were provided no other way to contact you.

"He just kept saying things like, 'You disappoint me, Dursley. The boy is your family. You need to learn to... forgive!'

"Forgive what?! My wife and I had plans to be a nice, respectable middle income, middle class family. It would be her and I and our two children. But he stole even that from us. Because he forced the boy on us he denied us the chance to have another child of our own!

"Your own police-folk... auras... told us it was because of those blood-thingies on our house that rendered my wife sterile. You and your... magic... made it so my wife could no longer have any children! Your freaky powers stole that from us!

"As for those memories you played in that projector-thingy, do you not know what we were doing? The only way for us to get Fumbledork to come and speak with us to try and get him to take the boy away, was for us to hurt the boy enough that he had to show up!

"And, yes, we knew he was taking our memories. We knew because, while he could take our memories, he had no idea we had recording equipment of our own in place that recorded everything! It's called a video camera! Just like that projector thing of yours could play, it records live image and sound. We recorded everything. Then, when the old man left again and one of us saw a little red light that showed us the video camera was recording, we knew we had been recording something and didn't remember it. Then, we'd simply connect the camera to our telly and watch it all! So much for your memory-stealing magic you use on us! It no longer works!

"Oh, and just so you know and can panic about it, our government is in the process of installing that same video recording technology right across the country in all public areas. That means, if even one of you think you can hide what you've done by stealing our memories, it's not going to work because it will have been recorded on equipment your magic does not work against!

"And they've been installing those cameras in public areas for years. So, there is no possible way our government doesn't have recordings of what you people have been doing to us folk."

"He lies!" screeched one of the witches Harry thought to be from a dark family. That had even more people up in arms.

Harry could see that Ogden appeared both confused and even a little frightened. So he stood and fired his own cannon blast charm.

That had people suddenly shut up and gawk at him. And in the silence he called, "Chief Adjudicator Ogden!"

That snapped the old wizard enough out of his shock he banged his gavel a couple of times getting complete silence.

Still looking to Harry he asked, "Lord Potter?"

Harry held his wand in his hand across his chest and said, "I, Lord Harrison James Potter, swear on my magic and my very life that what my uncle, Vernon Dursley, has told you about the government program of installing video recording equipment in muggle public areas throughout the country... is completely true.

"But, what he has not informed you is that similar video recording equipment has been installed in many private businesses and homes also throughout the country.

"As a matter of fact, this is also occurring throughout the world. The United Kingdom is only in the process of catching up with government and businesses in other parts of the world.

"Further, it is my understanding that within the next twenty years there will not be a public area within any built-up area of the United Kingdom that will not have these cameras installed.

"As I say, so I swear, so let me be judged!"

After he gave the recognisable flash of magic he held his wand out to the side and pointing up before he cast. "Lumos!" His wand tip lit. "Nox!" And the light was extinguished.

"Ask any young muggleborn or -raised in this room and they will tell you the same thing. So that the government cannot be accused of spying on its citizenry, it has been readily admitted by them and they even regularly update the citizenry of their progress.

"Gone are the days you can send the Obliviation Squads out into the muggle world to remove memory evidence of muggles witnessing magic. While that may work in some areas - because those areas do not yet have those cameras and other equipment installed - that is no longer the case in many other areas, if not most areas. And I know, for a fact, one of those areas where the cameras are installed is across muggle London."

Harry didn't notice her stand but Hermione stepped forward, "He's right, Sir," she said to Ogden. "I am Hermione Jean Granger and I am a muggleborn and -raised. My parents never denied me information when I was growing up in a muggle home. And I was even allowed to read the muggle world's newspapers. Plus, in the muggle school I attended from aged six through almost to my twelfth birthday, I had access to all the books in the school and local public library. And I was a very regular visitor to both.

"And, I can tell you and will swear my own oath to its truth if necessary, those cameras are going up everywhere. They're attached to the sides of buildings and aimed down whole streets, they're integrated into traffic lights, they're mounted on walls or on the ceiling within buildings, they're aimed down at intersections, they're even and often hidden in plain sight by making them look like part of what they've been attached to. So, if you spend the time to look about to see if you can spot one aimed towards you, you'll often miss seeing them.

"But, it won't matter if you find them and destroy them, anyway. First, as soon as one is destroyed, the government will know of it immediately and have someone out there to repair or replace it within the day. Secondly, the video image the camera takes is not even in the camera. The recording can be anywhere up to ten, fifteen, or further miles away from the camera. And it moves there at near the speed of light.

"If you're sending out witches and wizards into the muggle world to Obliviate people, all you're doing is often making matters worse for yourselves. I strongly urge you to stop doing it."

"Errrr... thank you, Miss Granger, Lord Potter," said Ogden. "Please return to your seats."

Hermione gave a nod, turned around and walked back to her seat. Harry, however, stayed for the moment and said, "As the person harmed by the Dursleys, which is the sole reason they are here today, I request the right to speak in evidence before their sentencing."

Ogden gave a nod and said, "Then I shall call upon you, once more, before we pass judgement."

"Thank you, Sir," he replied with a short bow before he returned to his own seat.

Ogden gave a big sigh before he turned back to Vernon.

"My... apologies for the interruption, Mister Dursley," he said. "Do you have anything further to add?"

Vernon, who appeared a little confused that Harry had come to his defence was a few moments before he continued. "All we want from you now is for you to leave us alone. Stay away from us! And just make sure the boy... nor anyone else!... can be forced on us again. Especially by that old Fumbledork fellow. We don't want anything to do with you."

He then gave a defeated sigh and said, "You're little more than bullies, you know that? We have no way to defend ourselves from you. And you just... run roughshod over us. That Fumbledork fellow, when we demanded he take the boy away, just stood there and practically laughed at us. He was smirking, damn it! Our opinion, our wants, our needs, meant nothing to him. It was if we meant nothing to him. Please, just leave us alone."

After Vernon was silent for a few moments and only sat there with his head hung down, Ogden asked, "Mister Vernon Dursley, does that conclude your statement?"

"Yes."

"Very well. Since you maintained a decent civil behaviour without the silencing charm in place, I will not have cause for it to be replaced," said Ogden. "However, that is conditional on you remaining civil."

Vernon just nodded without even looking up.

When Ogden turned to face Petunia, Harry also looked more directly at her and could see that she'd been crying.

"The same offer and warning applies to you, Missus Petunia Dursley," said Ogden. "Remove her silencing charm but be ready to reapply it if she becomes abusive."

Based on her husband's behaviour and words, Harry didn't expect her to be abusive and she wasn't. Instead, she quietly agreed with everything her Vernon had said and even said Harry - not the boy or the freak, but Harry - had told the truth about the cameras and the camera they had in their home that proved they knew Dumbledore had been removing their memories. However, she added that she only remembered less than a quarter of the memories that had played in the projector pensieve. And those ones were the latest ones.

Then she added her own statement that all she ever wanted was to be left alone and how she absolutely despised Dumbledore for putting up the blood wards that robbed her of her ability to have another child after Dudley. It had come very close to causing her marriage to fail.

During her own testimony she also added how many times she remembered trying to get into Diagon Alley - she remembered the name - and couldn't. And had taken Harry there to see if Harry could get her through whatever it was that blocked her.

That led Harry to remembering one of those times.

She also spoke of how the only idea she had that her sister had been killed was by a letter, signed by Dumbledore that had been left in Harry's baby basket on her doorstep.

"The old man didn't even have the common decency to tell us to our faces," she angrily snapped. "He just told us as in writing with a 'by the way, your sister is dead' in his letter. We didn't even know how she died until Harry told us once he returned from his first year at Hogwarts, almost eleven years later. And we had no way of finding out."

Besides the video camera, that was also something Harry didn't know.

By the end of Vernon and Petunia's statements Harry could tell the whole demeanour of the Member's, including Ogden, had changed. It had gone from a sense of them wanting to toss the three of them straight through the Veil as soon as the trial finished, to actually stopping and thinking about what to do with them.

After asking Petunia if her statement was completed, and her nodding back, Ogden turned to Harry and said, "As promised, Lord Potter, the final remarks before sentencing come from you."

Harry, who had been thinking hard about what to say, quietly stood and moved closer to the middle of the floor. However, he stayed well out of arm's reach of the Dursleys - all three of them. Old habits died hard.

"Thank you, Chief Adjudicator Ogden," he began. "I remind you all of the following facts. Firstly: to the best of my knowledge the only person my aunt and uncle, Vernon and Petunia, have physically harmed with everything they have done is me. However, I cannot say the same for Marjorie Dursley. I do not consider the woman a bigot because she simply hates, berates, verbally attacks and even sics that foul little beast of a dog of hers onto everyone, irrespective of their background unless they're named Dursley. So, please do not judge my aunt and uncle on the behaviour of Marjorie Dursley and vice versa.

"Secondly, what my uncle said about how the only way they could contact the magical world was by knowing Dumbledore - and I happen to like the name Fumbledork, by the way - would turn up if I was beaten to see me healed? That, too, makes a lot of sense. I mean, think about it. As they have testified, they could not go to Diagon Alley. I doubt, very much, they know how to find Saint Mungo's or the Ministry of Magic; as they've never had cause to be shown either. They cannot get to Hogsmeade or Hogwarts. They do not have access to a floo. They do not have access to portkeys. They cannot apparate and, even if they could, they do not know where to apparate to. They do not have an owl, nor can they purchase one because they couldn't get into the Alley. They do not own house elves, nor could they purchase one for the same reason. And they do not know where any other magical lives. So, they had no way to contact anyone in the magical world. All, that is, except Dumbledore; and, even then, only by triggering Dumbledore's little blood monitoring trinkets that were illegally attached to my health and well-being."

Holding his arms out to his side in a major shrug gesture he turned on the spot. "How... else... would they have contacted him or any other magical?"

Turning back to the Members he asked, "And, how was this possible? How was Dumbledore able to do this? It's quite simple." Jabbing his index finger at various Members he said, "Because you let him! And, you! And, you! And all of you who sat on those seats back in November of 1981. The law was on your books as to what was and is supposed to happen regarding the dispensation and handling of an orphaned wizarding child. It's even more specific when that child is the heir of a Noble House, let alone a Noble and Most Ancient House. And, yet, you all decided... just because Dumbledore said so... 'You know those laws we're supposed to obey? Fuck 'em! Let Dumbledore deal with the little brat; because it means we won't have to!'

"So, that all means that, while you're in the process of deciding the fate of my aunt and uncle - I really couldn't care any less than I do right now what you do with 'Marge the Barge' - remember this: You, too, should be sitting down there being sat on in judgement of your own actions regarding my being sent to the Dursleys.

"As the victim here, I'm telling you I do not want to see them gaoled. I do, however, want to see whatever these blood wards that are on their property, plus any others, be immediately removed if they haven't already. And I want them to be granted their wish that they not be bothered with any witch or wizard in the future. To that end, I want a Wizard Notice-Me-Not placed on their property and for it to be monitored by the DMLE and, any witch or wizard who manages to get past that Notice-Me-Not ward, find themselves immediately transported into a DMLE cell so the aurors can deal with them; and that includes me.

"Thank you, Chief Adjudicator, for the opportunity to speak." Then he spun on his foot and stalked back to his chair and quietly sat down again.

No, Harry did not want the Wizengamot to decide the fate of his relatives. Harry wanted to decide their fate, himself; but not until he'd taken plenty of time to look back on his 'incarceration' at Privet Drive without being swayed by his temper and anger. He'd deal with them, in his own way, once he'd completed his schooling.

It took about five to ten seconds before Ogden seemed to shake himself out of his shock and say, "Errr... Thank you, Mister... I mean Lord Potter."

The end result was Vernon and Petunia, plus Dudley as he still lived there, got exactly what Harry wanted. But Marge the Barge was taken back home, had her memories of the magical world Obliviated, but also had all her bulldogs euthanised, so she could never again sic them on anyone - and that included her prize hound, Ripper.

Aside from the chamber, Madam Bones also later informed him that Marge's attitude was readjusted so that she would never again have any desire to raise or breed any animals.

While Harry was somewhat ambivalent about the Dursleys not being fully punished for still beating him, even though he now understood why, he never mentioned the psychological abuse they heaped on him. He just wanted them out of his life and he out of theirs.

No, the reason he spoke up for them and not-so-subtly laid the blame for their treatment of him on Dumbledore, was because he knew Dumbledore to be the greater threat. The more he could get it into the minds of the Wizengamot 'it's Dumbledore's fault' the better, as far as he was concerned.

_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ

As expected the combined Dursleys' trial was long enough that it was then too late in the day to move on to another. Therefore, the closing of the Dursley trial meant the three teens, after first being escorted to see Madam Bones for an informal chat, had the three walking up the path from the Hogwarts gate to the castle as dinner approached.

From the time he had spoken seemingly in defence of his relatives he could see that Hermione wanted to talk to him about it. She finally could hold on no longer and asked just after they walked in through the gates.

"Harry," she tentatively began. "Why?"

"Why what?" he asked back.

"Why did you say you did not want the Dursleys punished," she pressed. "After what they did to you... and you even made it known during the first task... why?"

"Because, as both Vernon and Petunia said, most of their behaviour towards me was as a direct result of Dumbledore forcing me on them. Yes, they didn't have to treat me that way. But, I also recognise they would not have had any chance to treat me that way if it wasn't for Dumbledore forcing me on them.

"I've now read my parents' Wills. In it is included a list of those to whom I should have been handed to for them to raise me and the Dursleys were not on that list. And the only reason I wasn't handed off to one of them is because Dumbledore directly and deliberately interfered, by blocking their Wills from being... ummm... probated, I think is the term."

"It is," she nodded.

"Right. So it was because Dumbledore interfered I went to the Dursleys, even against their own wishes, and was then... not treated all that well."

"From the looks on the Wizengamot Members' faces when we re-entered the courtroom I think you're downplaying a lot of that by saying you 'weren't treated all that well', Harry," she said.

"And that's my choice," he returned.

While walking she gave him another of those direct looks, but didn't push it.

Neville finally spoke up and asked, "So, your strategy then was to have most of what the Dursleys did to you blamed on Dumbledore?"

"Not just Dumbledore; but, yes," he nodded. "Don't forget; I also blamed the Wizengamot Members for letting Dumbledore do it in the first place. They ignored the law that was in place, for a reason, and just decided to let Dumbledore deal with me.

"If they had refused Dumbledore simply by citing the law, then Dumbledore would have had no choice but to hand me over to the people who should have rightfully raised me. I just never mentioned that might not have been the right idea, either."

"Who was first on the list, Harry?" asked Hermione. "That is, if you're willing to share."

She'd learned from him cutting her down about asking questions she shouldn't a few days earlier.

Harry thought about it for a few moments before he softly replied, "Neville's parents."

That had Neville almost trip over his own feet, so great was his surprise.

"Really?!" he squeaked.

"Yeah, Nev; really," he quietly replied. "Don't forget; your parents and you weren't attacked until five days after what happened to my parents. I should have been with you, by then."

"I..." the boy stuttered. "Wow."

Hermione had gone quiet and, when Harry looked at her, he could see she was furious but keeping it to herself. He knew she was processing what she'd learned.

Neville didn't appear as angry, but Harry could see the boy was still quite perturbed by what he'd heard.

"You and I should have grown up as brothers," he eventually said.

"Yes."

"Dumbledore's a bastard," the boy finally said.

"Yes."

Hermione never said a word to tell him off for his language.

_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ

That evening's meal had Professor Flitwick again stand and given an announcement at what the determinations had been as a result of the trials.

"That means the following," he said. "Professor Pomona Sprout will be returning to teach classes and also managed to retain her position as Head of House Hufflepuff. Both Severus Snape and Minerva McGonagall will not be returning. Severus Snape has been sentenced to Life in Azkaban, while Minerva McGonagall was sacked and allowed to immediately retire to her home in the Scottish Highlands. She has been forbidden from ever holding a teaching position, again.

"That means we are down the following: We do not have a Deputy Headmistress, or Head of three Houses. We are also down Professors to teach Transfiguration, Potions, Care of Magical Creatures and, of course, Defence Against the Dark Arts.

"Professor Sprout, the only current Head of a Hogwarts House - and, therefore, the current most senior member of staff - is, at this moment, in talks with the School Board as to how we proceed from here. Both her and I believe we do not have the capacity to recommence classes in the near future. And that is what she will be telling them.

"After speaking with Madam Bones and Madam Marchbanks of the Wizarding Examinations Authority about the situation as it stands, those who wish to take up the School Board's offer to be allowed to go back home in the interim we recommend you give your names to any of the current teaching staff. That staff will then hand those names in to Professor Sprout, who will liaise with the School Board to organise two-directional single use portkeys between the school and your home.

"For those who do not know, Albus Dumbledore's trial will be tomorrow. His will be the last of the staff who have faced trial.

"If, by some chance, he manages to hold on to his position as Headmaster - which many of us seriously doubt, based on the information that has come to light - that will be yet another position that will require being filled before we can consider ourselves, once again, a school. The School Board and the Wizarding Examinations Authority will be working on the problem of finding enough qualified staff to fill the vacant positions; but it is going to take them time."

A senior Hufflepuff raised their hand.

"Misterrrrr... Blenkinsop?" asked Flitwick, seeing the hand.

"Yes, Sir," said the student. "For those of us with plans to head home, I think many of us need to tell our families when we are likely to start arriving. Can you give us some idea?"

"A fair question," replied Flitwick. "At this time, it is likely we will begin sending folks home as tomorrow or the next day. When each of you will be able to head home is unknown at this time. The main reason for that is we need to know how many of you will be wanting to head home, as it will determine how many portkeys will need to be made."

"Wouldn't the number be reduced if some of us can organise with our parents to come and pick us up from here?" the student added. "I mean, that will then reduce the number of portkeys, would it not?"

Harry gave a snort of amusement at both the question and the expression of shocked embarrassment on Flitwick's face.

Flitwick looked at the student in surprise for a long moment before he said, "If I was able to award points, Mister Blenkinsop, I'd be awarding you twenty right now. I'll pass that suggestion on to those who are currently making the decisions.

"For those wishing to head home and will be submitting their names, please also include if you'll be needing a portkey or not."

From where he was sitting on the end of the Gryffindor table with Hermione and Neville, Harry gave a sigh of disappointment and turned to his best friend. "They're really that daft, aren't they?" he asked.

"Hunh?" she asked. "Why do you think they are now?"

"When we get back to the common room I'll pull out parchment, ink and quill and write down a list," he replied. "Then, you'll see what I mean."

_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ

After dinner and they returned to the common room, Harry did precisely that. While he was writing down his list, Hermione was drafting yet another letter to her parents.

Once he was done he handed it to her.

~ # ~

How to get Students Home

As portkeys can only be made to go through the wards of Hogwarts by the Headmaster or Headmistress of the day, all portkeys made will need to be made to operate from outside the Hogwarts wards. That means they cannot be activated until the student is outside the Hogwarts gates. Therefore, other means should be employed.

1. Students whose homes have an active floo connection can floo straight home from a professor's office.
2. Students whose families have a house elf can be picked up by their family's house elf.
3. Students who live nearby each other can share a portkey. (The Weasleys, Luna Lovegood and Cedric Diggory are examples of that for Ottery St Catchpole; however, all three homes would also have an active floo connection.)
4. Students can also take the Knight Bus if they're prepared to pay for the trip (and suffer the hair-raising ride). This includes muggleborns and the muggle-raised.
5. Almost all students over the age of 17 have their apparation licences and can apparate home from outside the wards.
6. Have the students all floo to a central location outside of Hogwarts and floo, apparate, be portkeyed or be side-along apparated direct from there. (Leaky Cauldron or the Ministry atrium, perhaps?)

~ # ~

Hermione read through the list, groaned and appeared as if she wanted to bang her head on the desk before her.

She quietly handed the list to Neville, who had joined them at the table.

When he read through it he gave a snort of amusement and handed it back to Harry. "If I didn't already have plenty of examples from you before, that list demonstrates, quite clearly, why you think witches and wizards are daft."

"What are you going to do with it, Harry?" asked Hermione.

"As he said Professor Sprout was busy, I'm going to give it to Professor Flitwick," he replied, starting to rise from his seat.

"Can you give me a few minutes to finish writing to my parents so I can join you?" she asked.

"You're intending to let them know we'll be there likely within about two to four or so days, right?" he asked.

"Riiiiiight," she carefully replied.

"Well, that time scale might be radically shortened if Professor Flitwick passes on my recommendations to the School Board et al," he replied. "Therefore, don't you think you should wait to finish it until after we've talked to him?"

Hermione slumped her shoulders, sighed and began packing away her materials again. "You're right," she quietly admitted.

_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ