raised by dementor

chapter 11

"All rise" Amelia Bones boomed, the courtroom was set up slightly different today with only half a dozen witches and wizards to play the role of the jury during this trial, among them were Cornelius Fudge, Dolores Umbridge and Lucius Malfoy all were looking expectant at the two people who were sat quite calmly in the centre of the room. Looking a mixture of horrified and repulsed Vernon and Petunia Dursley refused to stand
"Rise" Amelia Bones growled, from behind Lucius drew his wand a sight which terrified the couple into standing up, satisfied Amelia continued
"Today's Wizengamot is made up of only a fraction of the amount needed for this trial in the matters of security does the defence have any protest at this. Vernon suddenly piped up
"Yes I don't want to be tried by a bunch of freaks" he roared angrily,
"SILENCE" Fudge bellowed "there will be no racial or intolerant language in this courtroom regarding any one's magical ability do I make myself clear?". His eye paused on the Petunia and Vernon who nodded eventually.
"Good" he muttered sitting down at his desk, the courtroom was imposing as it should be and he took some delight in watching the abusers tremble knowing they were around so many magic users. Fudge picked up a paper
"The trial of Petunia and Vernon Dursley for the crimes of child abuse, neglect and failure to fulfil duty as guardian will begin, upon request the charges of Assault and Battery against Harry James Potter are to be put on this list and in light of the overwhelming evidence; a number of secondary witnesses may also be tried" he began dryly vaguely referring to Dumbledore
"This is not fair, all you freaks will look out for each other" Vernon spat angrily
"The court would like to request a gagging order be placed upon the mouth of a Mr Vernon Dursley until he gives evidence in order to ensure no offence is caused during the proceeds of this trial" Lucius Malfoy suddenly interrupted, he knew what these monsters put Harry through and was looking forward to seeing them punished immensely.
"Does the defence have any objection?" Amelia Bones questioned. Vernon laughed; a horrible sight as his chubby neck seemed to writhe as his mouth moved
"You can do what you like... nothing will stop me teaching you freaks your place" he spat, Fudge raised his wand and cast a powerful silencing charm, the fat man began desperately trying to speak but failed.
"The court agrees" Fudge remarked keeping a straight face "Please call the first witness".
"Dementor rank three, also known as Lucy" Amelia Bones announced as the black cloaked creature glided in, Fudge and Lucius smiled respectively at the person who had raised Harry and the defence shivered somewhat in fear
"Thank you, please tell us how you came to meet one Harry James Potter" Fudge queried, a translator was present and over the course of an hour Lucy explained in-depth the events of the forest and the first ever meeting between herself and the Dursleys, the few members of the Wizengamot looked angry as her words were translated and they cast accusing glares at the defendants. All of the people in the room knew of Harry's predicament, they were told specifically for this trial and all were disgusted with the way he was treated and in all honesty Fudge knew they would be found guilty; but they deserved it.
"Does the defence have anything to add to this testimony?" he asked once Lucy had been escorted out of the room
"Yes I do" Petunia spoke up "that monster over there threatened and hurt me and my son and in regards to my nephew well we gave that boy food, shelter and an education, we have done nothing wrong and all that is going on here is that you freaks don't normal people like us treating wizards how they should be". Vernon still couldn't speak but he was nodding in approval at his wife's words. Inside Fudge wondered if these two could make themselves look more guilty that they obviously were; they were doing a pretty good job as anyone in a court room should know you don't call the judge, jury or anyone a freak.
Later
"Next witness please" Fudge requested sounding very bored, he had been forced to endure three hours of both Petunia and Vernon Dursley explaining why they were innocent, all they did was make the fact they were guilty more and more clear and managed to insult the courtroom again and again. But this was the moment he was waiting for, Albus Dumbledore with his head held high walked into the courtroom, both defendants were giving him looks of pure hatred and Fudge wondered who the hell taught them manners;
"Albus Dumbledore thank you for being with us; do you understand that if the Wizengamot believe you have committed an offence then there is the risk of you being tried for neglect and financial manipulation?" Amelia Bones was asking, the old man nodded arrogantly obviously thinking there was no possible way that would happen and Fudge wanted to laugh then and there however he kept a straight face and continued.
"Albus Dumbledore why did you as the acting magical guardian of Harry James Potter consent to him being placed under their care?" Fudge asked quickly, Dumbledore glared at him angrily before
"It was the right thing to do, he would have been protected by the blood wards around the place and...".
"Albus Dumbledore you do realise that using, designing or participating in any kind of blood ward is an offence of the highest degree, blood wards are considered too dark and illegal due to a sacrifice being required?" Amelia Bones boomed her eyes awash with anger ,
"I did not design the ward..." he began quickly
"Then who did? we need the name of the witch or wizard who did so they can be arrested and charged for crimes against wizardkind and binding two muggles into a seventeen year contract if broken they will die horrible painful deaths" Fudge asked quickly having done some research into the topic, he smiled quickly when he saw the amazed look on Dumbledore's face
"The court requests that Albus Dumbledore be removed from the witness stand due to his obvious acts of consenting to a blood ward which is illegal and all evidence be disregarded due to inquires being made by the Goblin people about financial manipulation" Lucius Malfoy suddenly interjected , Fudge considered for a moment
"The court agrees"
Later
"You freaks can do nothing to us, we are good respectable people and we will not allow your kind to do anything to us! we gave that boy all we could and if he needed a slap every now and then, well that is completely ok, I see no reason you freaks have any reason to arrest us in this way and the idea you could charge us with anything is obscure" Vernon Dursley shouted in a rage, Fudge sighed. This was the closing statement of the defence and it seemed the man had signed his own death warrant... the evidence against them had apparently been fabricated by freaks and it was not real. Even Amelia Bones had given up on them after he had used the world freak for the hundredth time
"Is that all?" the woman in question asked
"Yes" Vernon spat menacingly
"Good, on charge one of child abuse all those in favour of conviction" she began impassively as the wizards in the room raised their hands
"On charge two of neglect". Once more every person in the room raised their hands,
"On charge three of assault and battery" Amelia Bones said finally. Once again the vote was unanimous
"This court finds you guilty of all charges, now if it were up to me you would be spending your sentence in Azkaban prison with the Dementors but due to muggles not being allowed I sentence you to thirty-five years with no chance of early release to High Security Muggle prisons that are available... your son will be sent to live with a woman called... Marjorie Dursley and you will not be allowed to have children after you are released" Fudge bellowed exhausted. The day had been long but seeing the Dursleys dragged out by the Dementors screaming abuse at least was a high point to the day, though the third defendant walked in, he had a look of contempt in his eyes as Fudge nodded to Amelia Bones.
"On charge one of Financial Manipulation all those in favour of conviction". This vote would be harder to win as a few would always support the old man, luckily it was a seven to six vote
"On Charge two of misusing position of Magical Guardian" Amelia Bones spoke again. It seems a lot of people believed his claims that he had no idea of what went on and he was found not guilty by an eight to four vote.
"And finally on charge three; knowing about an illegal ritual and saying nothing to the proper authorities" . This was a landslide victory for Fudge and only one person voted against conviction. However the crimes did not justify a long-term imprisonment
"Albus Dumbledore this court finds you guilty of all but one charge and for charge one a fine of twenty thousand Galleons will be imposed along with the repayments made to Harry James Potter, also we sentence you to twelve months suspended sentence in light of your long-standing contribution to wizard society, we also dissolve all marriage contracts made during your time as guardian for Harry Potter and a full-scale investigation will be launched against you to ensure you have committed no other crimes" Fudge bellowed bringing the gavel down. It was far less than he was hoping for but it was a start, he hoped the investigation would lead somewhere but he doubted Dumbledore would be stupid enough to leave evidence but there was always a chance. But a slight smirk flickered across his face as he realised he needed to tell the press, and there was only one reporter who could do this job.
Hogwarts: Night
"Ok let's do this" Draco decided brightly. Harry, Hermione, Cho, Draco along with Crabbe and Goyle were standing outside a door in the forbidden corridor, they had got in with no problems and had heard a loud rumbling noise from within.
"Everyone ready for a slow and painful death?" he joked as he tried to open the door
"Let me" Hermione offered drawing her wand,
"Alohomora". And sure enough the door unlocked
"Ladies first" Draco offered as Hermione walked in, the rest of the group followed and found themselves in a dark room with a very loud grumbling noise.
"Lumos" Crabbe and Goyle lit their wands, Harry did the same but the group immediately regretted it
"Is that a Cerberus?" Cho demanded seeing the beast in front of them, the light seemed to have awoken it and it was sleepily getting to its feet. All three heads were stretching out and slowly six pairs of eyes settled upon its victims.
"I think we should leave... now" Draco suggested slowly opening the door, the dog suddenly began to bark and the group piled out of the room
"Why the hell would you keep a Cerberus in a school!" Harry demanded slamming the door shut
"First a troll and now this what else is in this school... a giant spider? a fifty foot snake?" Draco exclaimed amazed by the very idea that the school would allow a Cerberus inside it.
"It's obviously guarding something didn't you look at its feet?" Hermione interjected
"No we were looking at the three giant heads" Crabbe pointed out as he and Goyle regained their breath, Hermione ignored them
"There was a trapdoor... you see it's a guard dog" she explained as if it was obvious
"So what's it guarding?" Cho countered