Chapter 1 Crime and Punishment
There was nothing about Number 4 Privet Drive that would suggest it to be anything more than an ordinary house. It was perhaps a bit neater and more orderly than average, but still definitely quite ordinary. No one could see that it was an enchanted house, where ancient and powerful spells protected the wizard that lived there. And no one would ever guess that the skinny teenager with the wild black hair, dressed in a tattered old T-shirt and worn out jeans that were several sizes too big, was the most powerful wizard of his age in all of Britain. Harry Potter certainly did not look like a wizard today as he toiled in the driveway shoveling sand into a wheel barrow.
It was the second week of summer vacation and Harry Potter had settled into a fairly comfortable routine. This was due in no small part to a group of wizards that threatened his Uncle Dursley at the train station. The Dursley's fear of wizards was enough to prevent them from heaping too much abuse on Harry. Each morning Harry would get up early and help his Aunt Petunia fix, serve and clean up after breakfast. Then Aunt Petunia would silently give Harry a written list of chores to do and no one talked much at all when he was in the room. Harry generally finished the chores by lunch time and was able to spend the afternoons working on Mrs. Figg's landscaping. Last week he had installed a flagstone footpath in her garden and she had paid him by buying him some new clothes that actually fit. Harry had hoped for a bit of cash, but Mrs. Figg was afraid that if she paid Harry with money, the Dursley's would want to take it all to cover their extra grocery expenses. When Uncle Vernon saw the new footpath in Mrs. Figg's garden he decided that Harry's time would be well spent installing one in his garden. So this morning a lorry from the landscaping store had delivered two tonnes of sand and three tonnes of flagstone. Harry had to move all of this material around the house to the garden before Uncle Vernon came home from work and wanted to park in the driveway.
A sudden noise startled Harry. He dropped his shovel and spun around while reaching for the pocket that contained his wand. He looked all around nervously but saw nothing unusual. The noise was probably just some rabbits darting under a bush. He looked up at a large raven sitting in a tree across the street. The raven seemed to be quite serene. This was a relief to Harry since that raven belonged to Sturgis Podmore, his bodyguard for the morning.
Harry liked Sturgis even though he had a tendency to be melancholy and depressed. Harry supposed that was a lingering effect of being surrounded by dementors in Azkaban for six months. It made Harry angry to think of the injustice that was done to Sturgis. He had been sent to Azkaban for trying to go through a door in the Ministry of Magic, and he had been under the imperious curse at the time. It didn't comfort Harry to think that he and his friends had gone through that very door and caused a lot of damage in the Department of Mysteries.
Dumbledore had assured him that their punishment would be minor, but Harry couldn't help but worry. He had very nearly been expelled last year for setting off a Patronus charm. If he and his friends got off with a slap on the wrist for entering the Department of Mysteries it would forever convince him that justice took a back seat to politics.
Harry had just moved his third load of sand to the garden when he heard the cawing of Sturgis' raven. Once again he spun around and quickly scanned the neighborhood, but since he was now in the garden behind the house, he also pulled out his wand. This time the cause of his alarm was a large owl rapidly descending towards him. He held out his left arm and put his wand away as the owl landed, clamping his talons into the flesh just below Harry's elbow. The regal looking owl had a letter for him of and it looked very official. Harry removed the letter from the owl's leg and the large bird immediately took off. The letter was from the Ministry of Magic.
Dear Harry,
The disciplinary hearing regarding your trespass into a restricted area of the Ministry of Magic has been rescheduled to 10:30 AM today. I will pick you up in a ministry car at 9:00 AM. Please dress appropriately as you will be meeting with the Minister of Magic.
Yours Truly,
Percival Weasley
Junior Assistant to the Minister of Magic
Harry's watch said 8:45. He dashed into the house for a quick clean up and a change. He pulled on the clothes that Mrs. Figg had given him the day before, black slacks, socks, and shoes and a blue-green polo shirt that matched the color of his eyes. She had neatly stenciled every item "Property of Harry Potter" so he wouldn't lose anything while at school. There was no time to comb his hair, but that was always a waste of effort. He ran down the stairs just as a black car drove up. Aunt Petunia demanded to know where he was going.
Harry dashed out the front door and shouted, "You should be happy. I'm in trouble."
Percy Weasley was driving the car, so Harry climbed into the back seat, which was much larger than it appeared it could be. Harry's friends: Ron and Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood were already in the car. As the friends exchanged greetings, Harry settled into an empty seat next to Hermione.
"Hey mate," said Ron, "where'd you get the new clothes?"
Harry explained his landscaping job for Mrs. Figg.
Hermione breathed a deep sigh of relief and said, "Harry, you look good. I was so afraid they would send you off to Ministry of Magic in tattered old hand-me-downs."
Harry looked at his friends and he thought they were all dressed nicer than he was. Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna were all wearing good school robes. Hermione was wearing a pretty white dress that showed a lot of leg and neck. Her hair was tied back with a red and gold ribbon and she wore a small Gryffindor charm around her neck.
"You look cute," he said to Hermione. "Who are you dressed up for?"
Hermione sighed and said, "For you, Harry".
Harry didn't know what to say.
Fortunately Ron saved him by snorting and saying, "That's not what she told us. She said that Cornelius Fudge had asked her to dress up."
"Fudge!" snarled Harry. "Since when do you dress up for him?"
"Please, Harry," Hermione said quietly, "Mr. Fudge is the Minister of Magic. He suggested that I should, look pretty in an innocent-school-girl way. It's for the trial."
"Trial?" said Harry choking. "I didn't know there would be a trial. I am so sorry," he sputtered. "I didn't mean to get you into this much trouble. Blame it all on me." He was ranting now. "Tell them you don't remember anything. Tell them it was like a nice dream. Tell them that you heard voices in your mind. I'll confess to using the Imperius curse on you. There's no reason for all of you to go to Azkaban. Just blame me."
"Harry!" interrupted Percy from the front seat, "Relax! None of you are going to Azkaban. In the first place, you should never discuss your legal strategy in the presence of an official of the court," he said pompously. "In the second place, the trial this afternoon isn't for your trespass. That will be handled as a routine juvenile offense. The trial is for two of the Death Eaters that were captured in the Department of Mysteries."
"Listen Harry," continued Percy, "Neville, Hermione and you will be witnesses for the prosecution in the trial of Antonin Dolohov and John Jurgson. They are accused of attempted murder. This is serious business because that is a capitol offense. You are not to discuss the matter between yourselves before the trial. Do you understand me?"
Harry took a deep breath and let it out slowly, relaxing a bit in relief.
"Yes I understand," he said.
Harry looked at Hermione.
He knew exactly whom Dolohov and Jurgson had tried to murder.
Hermione looked at Harry and said nothing, but she reached out and held his hand.
There was an awkward silence in the car for almost a whole minute, then Ron piped in cheerily, "So Harry, I got a letter from Charlie. I'm going to Wales to help him count the number of nesting green dragons. We'll be camping, and hiking, and checking the magical barriers that keep Muggles away from the dragon nesting areas."
"That sounds like fun," said Harry, "as long as you don't have to get too close to the dragons. What are you up to this summer, Ginny?"
"I'm staying in London with Fleur Delacour," she said. "We've got a lot of work to do to get ready for the wedding."
"Bill and Fleur are getting married?" said Hermione excitedly. "When's the wedding?"
"In late-September," answered Ginny, "to coincide with the first Hogsmeade weekend. It'll be at the Winsome Witch's Wedding Chapel in Hogsmeade."
"Oh that's so wonderful!" Hermione squealed. "Am I invited? Please say yes. I've never been to a wizard's wedding."
"Of course you'll be invited, and Harry too," said Ginny. "Do you think you could come to London for a week or two to help us with the preparations?"
At this Hermione fell silent.
After a long pause, she said quietly, "I doubt it."
"I would love to do it," she continued. "But the war… Dumbledore wants me to go to a safe place for the rest of the summer. Tonks will be out of vacation time soon. Dad's got his own ideas. Mom's upset. I don't know what they'll decide."
"In your letters you said you were helping your parents in their dental office, are you going to continue that?" asked Harry.
"I don't know," Hermione said shaking her head. "I'm really not much help around the office, just a go-for. I spend most of the time reading or writing letters. They've joined a big company that has multiple clinics. They move from office to office a lot, one day here, two days there, never more than three in a row at the same office. They drive rental cars and change them every week. They take a different route every day. Tonks and I just go with them to keep everyone together, there's safety in numbers."
Ron was staring at her.
"Is there a problem Hermione?" Harry asked in a worried tone.
"I saw Malfoy's owl in a neighbor's tree," she said quietly.
Everyone was staring at Hermione now, even Percy. It was a good thing the car could drive itself.
After another long awkward silence Harry spoke up, "So Hermione, where do you conceal your wand in that cute little dress?"
Hermione reached over her right shoulder and pulled her wand out from behind her back.
"Constant Vigilance," growled Ron, rolling his right eye in a very good imitation of Mad-Eye Moody.
Everyone laughed, but it was a bit forced.
"That's a neat place to keep it. Do you have some sort of holster?" asked Harry.
"I'm wearing a flat scabbard that fits in the small of my back," explained Hermione. "It was my grandmother's. She carried a dagger in it when she was a spy in France during the Second World War."
"Second World War!" exclaimed Ron. "Do you mean to tell me that Muggles had two World Wars?"
The car entered a garage. They were at the Ministry of Magic.
Percy ushered them into a waiting room and left them there while he entered an office.
They waited there silently for a while and then Neville tried to start a conversation with Luna and Ginny, but Harry didn't pay any attention to what they were saying.
Without any warning Dumbledore came striding in from the corridor.
"The deal has been all worked out," Dumbledore told them. "Just sign the confessions and accept the punishment. It'll all be over soon."
And then he left the room so quickly they had no chance to ask him any questions.
They seemed to have a while to wait. Luna began talking to Ron about the trip she was going to take to Sweden with her father. She promised him that if she saw any dragons, she would get a picture for him. Their goal of course was to find the elusive crumpled horn snorkack.
Harry pulled Hermione aside and asked her in whispers, "Why is Malfoy's owl watching your house?"
Hermione quietly answered him, "Dumbledore is afraid that the Death Eaters may try to use me to get to you. Everyone who read those awful lies that Rita Skeeter wrote in the Daily Prophet last year knows that I'm your girlfriend, even if it isn't true." She breathed a deep and meaningful sigh.
At that moment the office door opened and Percy announced that they should come in. Ron led the way into the office. Harry and Hermione were at the back of the group. Hermione suddenly gave Harry a quick kiss just before they went through the door. Harry was stunned and came to a stop, but Hermione continued through the door so he followed her in.
Harry was surprised to notice that there was no one else in the office. He had been expecting to see Madam Bones. Percy moved around to the other side of the desk and sat down. Harry saw Percy's name on a plaque on the desk and realized that this sunny and spacious office was Percy's.
"This is a nice office that you have here, Percy," quipped Harry.
"Thank you, Harry," acknowledged Percy. "You should have seen all of the stupid kitty cat pictures that were on the wall when I moved in. Madam Bones and the Minister of Magic are much too busy to be involved with the routine paperwork of a juvenile infraction," Percy stated airily. "I will be dealing with your disciplinary action myself."
He handed each of them an official looking piece of paper.
"As you can see from the form I have given you, you are all charged with trespassing into a forbidden area of the Ministry of Magic and damaging numerous irreplaceable prophecies," explained Percy. "If you agree to plead guilty to these charges, the Division of Juvenile Justice will officially accept the explanation of extenuating circumstances that appears at the bottom of the form. Specifically, the Juvenile Justice Authority will:
1) recognize that you were tricked into entering the Ministry of Magic and the restricted area by a powerful evil wizard,
2) credit you with stating the nature of your entry into the ministry as a "rescue mission",
3) note that the security guard was not at his post and that someone else had unlocked the doors into the Hall of Prophecies and
4) accept that the property damages were a result of your actions to defend yourselves from mortal peril.
To plead guilty to the charges, just place an 'x' in the box next to the word 'guilty', and sign at the bottom of the form. Do you have any questions? Yes, Hermione?"
"Percy, if we plead guilty to these charges, what will be our penalty?" she asked politely.
"I'm afraid you will all be given an official reprimand," said Percy.
"What, no torture!" exclaimed Ginny.
They all signed their forms and Percy read them the official reprimand. Harry was so relieved that they would not be sent to Azkaban that he didn't pay much attention to what Percy was saying. All it really amounted to was "rules are for your safety" and "when you are in trouble, get adult help". Harry didn't bother to point out that no official from the Ministry of Magic would have helped them to rescue Sirius Black, since he was an escaped criminal in their minds.
When Percy was done reading the official reprimand, he had to add his own two cents worth. "Now kids, you may think you've gotten off easy, but I warn you that having a notation of an official reprimand in your permanent record could seriously damage your prospects of employment at the Ministry of Magic."
It seemed to Harry that Percy was saying that he would never get a job as an auror as long as Cornelius Fudge was the Minister of Magic.
Percy also told Harry quite bluntly that what he had done was very stupid. The whole thing had obviously been a deadly trap, weather Sirius Black had been captured by Lord Voldemort or not. Harry could have gotten them all killed. Percy even choked up a bit when he pointed out that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley would have been very hurt if Ginny and Ron had been killed.
Harry had been thinking the same thing for more than two weeks now.
After the reprimand was delivered, Percy led them to another waiting room where there was an ornate door labeled "Minister of Magic".
"Harry, Hermione and Neville, you stay here. The Minister of Magic wants to talk to each of you individually," said Percy. "Ron, Ginny and Luna, please come with me and I'll take you home now. We can't dawdle about as I must be back well before the trial begins."