Close Or Far From The Law

Chapter 23 : 22. Saturday morning meetings

Scrimgeour and the Unspeakable.

To his great astonishment, the latter was like a mask. His hood blocked his face from being seen, leaving Harry with a deep feeling of unease. He glanced at his godfather to see if this was normal. This didn't seem to shock anyone but he would have liked an explanation for this from his side. By Merlin, if he had met them like that in the corridors of the Department of Mysteries, he would have taken off running, broken ankle or not.

-Good, I think everyone is there.

Scrimgeour seemed even angrier than last time, as if he took personally the fact that the elevator car might have been tampered with. Harry leaned back on the table, noticed he was shaking slightly, and crossed his arms. He hated feeling so fragile but he had to believe that the shock hadn't entirely passed if he was afraid to tell this story again... Although he knew why it was worse in itself: here, we were going to dissect every detail of his speech, made sure he didn't forget anything, made him repeat the same thing several times. Not far from being some kind of real interrogation. The presence of his lawyer made complete sense, even if he was indeed the victim. Moreover, Graves comes to stand behind him, ready to support him and block him if necessary. And Sirius was there. Harry found himself once again thinking that another person would have been good for this...

-Mr. Potter, we have already heard from Mr. Black and Mr. Graves about the incident. We now need your version.

-Yes, of course but…

Harry looked at his lawyer who leaned over him a little.

-The use of magic will not be held against me, will it?

-Not in this situation, Mr. Potter. It would be absurd, otherwise your godfather and I would certainly have died that day.

-I assure you that we have no interest in punishing you, Mr. Potter. The situation called for it and it seems we should instead commend you for your composure. But tell us, please.

Harry nodded and took a deep breath. An Auror stood ready to grade and Harry finished collecting his thoughts before setting off. He spoke of leaving the Wizengamot room, of getting into the elevator which had seemed very empty to him even though there always seemed to be activity in the ministry. Scrimgeour admitted to him that the cabin had been tampered with in advance so as not to take any other passengers. Harry tensed up and continued on the climb then the cage which was sinking towards the back of the ministry at full speed. Harry couldn't explain why the cabin had swerved a bit and bumped into the Department of Mysteries floor. He could tell that Sirius had shielded him with his body from the majority of the damage and that he had gotten out of there gritting his teeth because of his ankle. That he had called to see if there was an answer and then when the cage started making noises, he had acted.

-I really didn't want to break the law but I felt like I no longer had a choice. I used Mobilicorpus , we learned it between friends as a useful spell and when I took Mr. Graves out of the elevator, he finished diving. There, I was completely lost, they were unconscious, they were bleeding, I had to get help. I used Ferula to support my ankle and walked towards one of the doors...

-Which ?

The dry, formless voice of the Unspeakable made Harry jump. He looked towards the man and answered after searching through his memories.

-The fourth, I think. It took me to another hall and there, I chose at random again but I don't know which one, they had changed places.

-Try to give me a number anyway.

Harry concentrated harder and gave it to him but in a hesitant voice. The Unspeakable finally hummed and whispered.

-You knew how to avoid the worst in your misfortune.