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"No!" Ron said loudly. He blushed bright red as his father raised his eyebrows at him. "Sirius was after the rat not me! Please, Dad, Harry will never forgive me and…" he shot Amelia a look and inched closer to his father, whispering in his ear.
Amelia caught the gist of it despite the attempt at low volume: Sirius was Harry's godfather and could get Harry away from the awful Dursleys.
Arthur considered his son seriously. He sighed and looked over at Amelia with a small shake of his head. "Since his intention wasn't to harm Ron, I'll decline, and besides, I think he's probably already suffered enough if he's spent twelve years in Azkaban as an innocent man. If that's all, Amelia?"
She nodded and Arthur nudged Ron into standing up. Amelia considered that it was going to be interesting to see Harry Potter's home and his relatives. She'd barely finished the muggle letter informing the Dursleys of her intended visit and arranged for her secretary to send it when the Grangers arrived.
Hermione Granger's testimony was the most comprehensive. She confirmed everything the others had said, and added a tremendous amount of detail that spoke to an eidetic memory. She also expressed hope of Sirius being cleared for Harry's sake.
It was late by the time they left. Alastor removed his disillusionment and took the seat opposite her again. Amelia sent for some tea. She poured Alastor's (black, no sugar) and sat back with her own (black with a squeeze of lemon).
"Your thoughts, Alastor?"
"Well, first things first: their story about Black and Pettigrew back in 'eight-one makes sense of the evidence." Alastor stated. "Black wasn't the Secret Keeper so he didn't betray the Potters and he handed over the baby because there was never any intent to harm the lad. He went after Peter knowing we'd be likely following him hence laying the trail for us. He never fired on Pettigrew so no spell registered on his wand. Pettigrew cut off his finger and escaped which is why we don't find a trace of the rest of his body." He sighed heavily. "Lupin's a good witness. I met him a couple of times back then and he was always the most serious of them. I feel I did Black a grave disservice in not following up on him after he was sent to Azkaban."
"You weren't one of the signatories on the order that sent him there, Alastor," Amelia reminded him, "Bagnold and Crouch are at fault. Dumbledore was Chief Warlock and also should have checked there was a trial. There's going to be plenty of blame to go around."
Alastor winced. "In everyone's defence, it was a chaotic time."
"I'm more concerned at the complete lack of adherence to procedure at Hogwarts a couple of weeks ago." Amelia admitted. "Cornelius doesn't surprise me but…"
"But why didn't Albus put Black under his personal protection? Albus has the authority as Chief Warlock to overrule the Minister on the matter." Alastor frowned heavily. "It makes you think, doesn't it? Albus was the one who gave evidence that Sirius was the Secret Keeper; he was in charge of the Wizengamot when it all went down. He has motive for keeping it quiet."
It was so like Alastor to be so paranoid even about one of his old friends. "Perhaps he had something to do with the escape." Amelia mused out loud.
"Maybe."
Amelia nodded. Something didn't add up about how Black had managed to get free but she wasn't too worried about that since if he hadn't all indications were that an innocent man would have been Kissed.
"I'm not sure I need Potter's testimony," Amelia admitted, "although it would be good for completeness."
"And you want to take a look at the boy's living arrangements." Alastor said bluntly. "I know I would since a muggleborn witch and the son of the biggest muggle advocate in the Ministry indicate that they'd prefer the Boy Who Lived to be removed from his muggle relatives and live with a man who is a complete stranger to him."
Amelia nodded. She was concerned; she couldn't deny it especially since Weasley's and Granger's comments followed after Lupin's about the Dursleys hating the wizarding world. "I'd like you to come with me day after tomorrow, Alastor. If there are issues, I'll need an independent witness."
Alastor nodded. "I'm available." He eyed her speculatively. "Are you going to declare Black innocent?"
"Ideally, I'd like his veritaserum testimony."
"Or Pettigrew's."
"Or Pettigrew's." Amelia sighed. "From a prosecution perspective, I can't charge Black with killing Pettigrew and the muggles: his wand clears him of casting any kind of explosive spell, there's the lack of Pettigrew's body, and while witness testimony places him at the scene and casting a spell, there's nothing that points at Black actually causing the explosion. On the other hand, the idea that Pettigrew caused the explosion and escaped somehow to blame Black would fit with the evidence we have – the positioning of the blast, the single finger, the way Pettigrew yelled his accusation in front of muggles breaking the Statute of Secrecy."
"Which leaves the betrayal of the Potters leading to their deaths." Alastor said.
"And that all comes down to hearsay testimony that Black was the Secret Keeper. The strongest statement is Dumbledore's," she tapped the file, "as he recounts James Potter told him Black would be the Secret Keeper and Dumbledore cast the initial Fidelius that made him so."
"But the Granger girl gave a very nice recounting of how Black switched with Pettigrew behind the scenes, and they all determined to tell everyone Black was the Keeper as a bluff to divert attention away from the real one…that brings in reasonable doubt." Alastor said sagely.
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