THE LIGHTNING LORD

Chapter 12 : The trial

Severus Snape sat in the interrogation room and was infuriated. How dare that Potter brat lie and damage his reputation! As a result of this, he couldn't wait to go back to Hogwarts to deduct a thousand points from Ravenclaw and put Potter in detention for the rest of the seven years. Then he would fail Potter in Potions, so that he would have no choice but to repeat the year so he could torture the boy for eternity. However, he was shaken out of his day dreams when Amelia Bones entered the room.

"Interrogation of Severus Tobias Snape, Potions Master of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on the fourth of September 1991. Interrogator Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement." A dicta quill started writing as she spoke.

"Mr Snape", she began. "You have been accused of harassment of a minor, using Legilimency on the Lord of an Ancient and Noble House, and murder of the Late Lord and Lady Potter by providing valuable information to the Dark Lord Voldemort, which caused him to hunt down their family. How do you plead?"

Snape paled as he had trouble to think about how she could of possibly known. This was due to the fact that the only people who had known that he was the one to rely the prophecy were the Dark Lord, Albus Dumbledore and Peter Pettigrew. He knew without a doubt that both of them had not told her and Pettigrew was dead. What should he do?

"Not guilty of all charges" he replied.

"So noted" she said and nodded.

"Mr Snape, we have evidence for each of the three charges levelled against you. Do you have any evidence that you are not guilty of the charges?" she asked crisply.

Snape snarled "The boy obviously is a liar for he is a Potter, he would do anything he wants and no one would ask him. He already has a big head because he's a celebrity. Growing up like a price, arrogant just like his father" he ranted.

Amelia raised a questioning eyebrow. "Mr Snape, has it ever crossed your mind that you are imagining James Potter, instead of his son? Are you accusing a boy of being just like his father, when the said boy doesn't even remember him? Anyway, let's get down to business. As I told you, we have evidence and if the other party agrees to use Veritaserum and you don't, it would cast you in a bad light. Confess now, and the punishment would be reduced. You have one minute to decide."

Snape remained quiet as he deduced that there was no way they could pin anything on him. The only serious charge was the third one, but he knew that there was no way they had proof for that or the Legilimency attack. And the harassment charge would not harm him anyway. It was only a matter of time before Dumbledore would rescue him. After a minute, Amelia got up. "There will be a full Wizengamot session in three hours. Get ready to make your case" she said and walked out of the room.

********************TIME SKIP*********************

The members of the Wizengamot stepped into the room. Today was an emergency session so most of them knew what it was going to be about. They had read the paper after all. Cyrus Greengrass watched Augusta Longbottom take her seat after speaking to Amelia Bones. He had received a letter from Daphne last night telling what a horrible teacher Snape was. So even if he was convicted, it was no big deal. Besides, this gave him the opportunity to observe the relationship between Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore.

The said old wizard entered wearing pale blue robes and proceeded to the chair of the Chief Warlock. The Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, confused as to what this was about, sat on the seat to the left of Dumbledore and Amelia to the right. Once Dumbledore called the Wizengamot in session, Amelia immediately stood up. "Lords and Ladies, members of the Wizengamot, before we begin, I believe Chief Warlock Dumbledore is not the right person to preside for today's agenda due to conflict of interest. I vote for Madam Marchbanks to be the Interim Chief Witch for today's session" she said.

Augusta Longbottom stood up and replied "Seconded"

There was a murmur of agreement in the hall. Dumbledore cleared his throat. He had to pick his battles, and unfortunately this was not one of them. "Let's take a vote. All for appointing Madam Marchbanks as Interim Chief Witch for today's Wizengamot session?" he asked.

A little more than half of the members lit their wands. A second later, the votes were counted. "The motion passes. Madam Marchbanks, if you please" he said stepping down.

An ancient witch walked up to the chair and sat down. "What case are we about to preside over Madam Bones?" she asked, her voice booming.

"The case of Hadrian James Potter vs Severus Tobias Snape" she replied.

Marchbanks nodded. "Alright, bring them in" she said.

Snape was brought in by two Aurors and made to sit down on the chair. Harry entered the hall with Andromeda Tonks in tow. He was wearing expensive robes of deep red, with the Potter Crest on the side of his chest.

"Is that really the Boy Who Lived? He looked nothing like what I expected" exclaimed Marchbanks.

"This is Hadrian James Potter, Chief Witch. That has already been confirmed" said Amelia.

"Interrogation of Severus Tobias Snape, Potions Master of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on the fourth of September 1991. Interrogator Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement" she said again.

"Witness for the defence, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore" said a voice. Dumbledore came up and stood next to Snape.

"Noted" said Amelia.

"Mr Snape", she began. "You have been accused of harassment of a minor, using Legilimency on the Heir of a Most Ancient and Noble House, and murder of the Late Lord and Lady Potter by providing valuable information to the Dark Lord Voldemort, which caused him to hunt down their family. How do you plead?" she repeated.

Albus paled rapidly. How did she know about the prophecy? It would be disastrous if Harry or anyone else knew of its existence or contents. Before he could say anything, Snape said "Not guilty of all charges."

"So noted", said Madam Marchbanks.

Amelia began. "My first evidence against the accused is this memory which has been extracted by Head Unspeakable Croaker from Mr Potter. Mr Potter has also agreed to swear a magical oath about its veracity." People started murmuring as a minor swearing an oath was unheard of.

Harry got up and flicked his wand to his hand. "I, Hadrian James Potter, swear on my magic that the memories that have been extracted by Unspeakable Croaker which are to be presented for evidence are true and have not been tampered with. This I swear, so mote it be." A flash of light signified the oath. "Lumos" His wand tip glowed with a soft light, signifying he had his magic. "Nox"

The memory was poured inside the Pensieve, and the Unspeakable tapped a few runes on it. The image came out of it like a projector. It showed the meeting Harry had with Dumbledore where Snape began insulting his father. It later showed the memory of the Potions class where he started insulting him again and attempted Legilemency.

Unspeakable Croaker came up and said, "As a highly accomplished Legilimens, I can assure you that what you just saw was a Legilimency attack."

"Chief Witch, members of the Wizengamot, I think this situation had been grossly blown out of proportion. There is no proof of the attack other than Mr Potter's word for it. From what I have seen, Mr Potter attacked Professor Snape by pushing him to the other end of the room. It was probably a case of accidental magic, so no harm done. If he is willing to take back his case, then he won't receive any punishment for attacking a teacher" said Dumbledore smoothly.

Andromeda stepped up. "My client is willing to submit himself to Veritaserum questioning. As you know, questioning done under the serum is proof and it can't be taken back. Since Mr Potter has consented to it, the Wizengamot does not need to grant approval. Is your client willing to do the same Mr Dumbledore?" she asked.

Dumbledore stood silent. He really had not expected Harry to go this far. Before he could answer, Amelia spoke up. "There is also the matter of Mr Snape facilitating in the death of the Late Lord and Lady Potter. May we bring in our witness Chief Witch?"

"Proceed" said Marchbanks, frowning. This case was murkier than she thought.

Two Aurors brought in the frail form of an Azkaban prisoner. One other had a metal cage, where there was a rat unconscious. Dumbledore's eyes went wide when he saw who the prisoner was. This was not good! Not good at all!