Harry Potter And The Betrayal

All the Lords except for Potter rose to their feet stunned. One to the heirs to the Founders had been found! It had been thought for the longest time that between Grindelwald and Voldemort all the remaining heirs to the Founders of Hogwarts had been killed. Somehow it was very appropriate that one of the Founder's lines was going to sit in judgement on Minister Fudge, since some of his crimes had been against the school.

After Perrivor had explained the purpose of the summons and Dantes had agreed to sit in judgement, the configuration of the room changed. A curved table with seven high backed chairs each bearing the badges of the Houses the Lords represented appeared at one end of the room. The table had parchment and quills and a number of other things necessary for one of the tribunal judges to make notes and keep a trial on course. Three slightly smaller tables also appeared a few feet in front of it. Two with a pair of chairs each were set at a slight angle so they would be able to see each other and the table the seven Lords would sit at. The third was situated halfway between the curved table and the two smaller tables. On it there were three piles of parchment and quills. Behind the smaller tables about two dozen chairs appeared. Harry guessed they were for the witnesses who were to be called.

The Councillors took their places at the curved table and Lord Altren requested, "Lord Ravenclaw, since you represent the Oldest House here, you are by Law the Head Councillor, so would you please say 'We are ready to begin'? That will summon the remaining participants."

"We are ready to begin." Dantes announced in a clear, calm voice.

Harry watched in amazement as the three quills rose and were each poised over of a piece of parchment.

"That's a recording table. The High Council, Defender, and Protector will each receive a copy of the hearing, in case there are questions during or after the trial." Perrivor told him seeing Potter's amazed expression. "It's the only one in magical Britain. When the High Council was also a lawgiving body, sometimes the debates over proposed laws would go so fast and furious that the scribes couldn't keep up and this table was created as a result of that. It also had the advantage of allowing secret debates to remain just that… secret."

"I can see where that would be a good thing in some instances." Dantes commented.

A door appeared in the rear wall and the first person through it was a tall, slender, distinguished-looking wizard and he was followed by a slightly younger wizard, who looked as if he was still trying to outgrow that all elbows and knees phase of his life.

"That is Alesandre Delacour." Lord Perrivor identified the man to the other members of the council. "I was very surprised when he showed up in my office a few days ago to accept the position as Protector for this hearing. I had expected the magic that governs these proceedings would select Madame Bones the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to be the Protector for the wizarding world. She has an excellent record of remaining impartial and is interested in getting to the truth."

"Delacour," Harry looked thoughtful. "Is he by any chance related to Fleur and Gabrielle Delacour?"

"He is their Uncle, I believe." Lord Altren replied.

"Greetings my Lords," Alesandre Delacour looked up at the table where the High Council members were seated and spotted a potential problem. He double-checked his list of witnesses just to be sure. "My Lords we seem to have a bit of a dilemma."

"What is it?" Dantes asked since he had been told he was to be the Head of the Council for this hearing.

"Lord Potter is going to have to excuse himself from his seat on the Council." Delacour told them. "He is on my list of primary witnesses for this hearing."

Harry raised a single eyebrow in surprise. "I'm sorry Mr. Delacour, but did you say I am a witness?"

"That is correct, Lord Potter." Delacour replied. "Did you not receive the notice we sent to all witnesses?"

"No, I'm afraid I did not." Harry sighed.

"I think I know why you didn't receive your witness notification, Lord Potter." Longrim spoke up. "Given you had already been summoned to render judgement that took precedence over being a witness, given that at least a two-thirds majority of councillors are needed to even begin a trial for high treason."

Harry looked back and forth between the older members of the council and Delacour. "If I must step aside, then how will we have enough to make the required number for the Council to sit in judgement? Or is it possible for me to choose not to be a witness and remain on the Council?"

"It is possible for you to decline, since you are also a member of the Council," Delacour responded after looking over a section of the procedures that governed these types of hearings that had been handed to him by his assistant, "but the case against Cornelius Fudge would be stronger if there were two main witnesses… you… and Albus Dumbledore."

The older members of the Council conferred for a few moments before Perrivor told him, "While it hasn't been done in some time, even on the Wizengamot, you can choose to appoint a proxy to cast the three votes you hold. As for who would be your Proxy, you simply choose one of the other members of the Council and they will cast your votes for this issue only."

Harry sat there in thoughtful silence for several minutes then said, "Very well, given I do not wish Fudge to be able to wriggle out of this, I yield my votes to Lord Weyland."

As soon as Harry said those words his robes returned to the state they had been in when he entered the room.

Getting up from the curved table, he took one of the chairs in the first row behind the Protector's table.

As soon as he was seated the door opened again and this time two people came in. Harry recognized them as Madame Bones and Fudge. He couldn't believe that Fudge had chosen to wear that horrid lime green robe. The man clearly had no sense of taste. As Fudge passed by him, Harry couldn't resist humming a funeral dirge out loud.

Fudge stopped intending to berate the person who would dare treat him like the condemned, but the words never left his mouth as he realised it was Harry Potter. Potter just smiled at him, but it wasn't a friendly smile, In fact Fudge felt like he'd just been put on someone's dinner menu. Fudge felt relieved when the boy's attention turned to Madame Bones.

"Nice to see you, Madame Bones." Harry greeted her pleasantly. "Were you assigned prisoner escort detail? If so I must say you seem to have come down in the world from the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement since last I saw you."

Amelia smiled enjoying the look of discomfort on Fudge's face as Lord Potter called him the prisoner . "No actually, I received notice I was to be his Defender at this hearing."

"Ouch, that's even worse than doing prisoner escort duty. No offence intended Madame Bones, but unless you have a really big surprise waiting to be sprung, then the defendant should get ready to lose everything… especially if I have anything to say about it." Harry told her.

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