Harry Potter And Bellatrix Lestrange

"Actually," Harry interjected with an amused smirk at the dressing-down his former headmaster was receiving, "he is kind of important. He's the leader of the light, or somesuch nonsense."

Mockridge stared at Dumbledore with newfound disgust. "If he's the leader, then we need a new one." He suddenly remembered one of the memos he'd received. "Sorry about the comment about sending him to Azkaban. Force of habit, I forgot it's not within our jurisdiction anymore."

Harry waved it off. "Don't worry about it. I'd be happy to offer him a room in Chateau Azkaban. On a more important note, while I don't really care whether or not I'm still a wanted man, I'd appreciate it if you could arrange for a re-trial, this time with Veritaserum. I'm afraid it's the only thing I can offer to prove my innocence, since Lucius Malfoy is unfortunately deceased."

"Of course. I'll contact you with the details, but I'll put the arrest warrant for you on hold for the moment until we can sort this mess out. And Dumbledore," Mockridge glared at the man, "I wouldn't go very far if I were you."

"Now, if you're quite done," Harry continued with a smirk, "I'm going to take my leave. I do have a war to plan, after all. I'll be in contact with the details, Bert, but for now kindly put the Aurors on guard and let them know to expect reinforcements.

Oh, you might also want to mention that those reinforcements come with their own commanding officers and my express orders. They won't follow any orders given to the by any Auror who thinks he can boss them around."

"Consider it done. I'll start up the media, and I'll get word to the public. Considering what kind of dent you made in the dark lord's image with your counterattack, I'll imagine it'll have quite an impact. Are you sure you want to go through with your idea and try to lure Voldemort here?"

Harry nodded. "I'll let you know once we figure out where we can attack Voldemort, and it may help if we could get a number of Ministry troops to help sweep multiple locations. It's about time we took this war to Voldemort."

"I'll start pulling Aurors from the Ministry then," Mockridge conceded. "And you're right, of course. It's about time we started acting instead of reacting. I just hope for all our sakes that you can defeat him."

"So do I," Harry agreed as he turned to leave. "So do I."

...

Dumbledore slumped into a chair in the living room of Number 12, Grimmauld Place. After Harry had left the Minister's office, it hadn't been long before Mockridge had lost his patience with him and practically thrown the ancient wizard out.

Dumbledore suddenly felt every one of his hundred-sixty-plus years as he thought back at how quickly things had changed and how quickly his well-laid plans had been shattered. He ignored the chatter of people around him as the members of the Order arrived to the meeting he had called for the previous day, after rumours of Harry's innocence had once more begun to circulate in the wizarding world, courtesy of Voldemort's foiled attack.

It was only when two people arrived and the rest of the room quieted that Dumbledore looked up to see Severus Snape and Mad-Eye Moody stepping into the room. Every eye was riveted on the two who'd so loudly proclaimed Potter's innocence, and Dumbledore had a feeling that a number of people were bound to be feeling rather vindicated right now.

However, there were no snide remarks, no sneers - not beyond usual for Severus, anyway - and no muttered "I told you so's." Instead, the two quietly took their place at the large table and peered at Dumbledore intently.

The ancient wizard cleared his throat and looked around the room at the variety of expressions on the faces of the members of the Order of the Phoenix. There was some fear, mixed with disbelief. Relief shone on some faces, while others showed reservation, some were angry, and some unreadable.

But the most prevalent emotion that permeated the room was hope. Hope that now that their savior had returned and begun fighting back, that this bloody war would end soon, and Dumbledore couldn't help but sigh.

He had helped take this hope away from the people, but the larger part of his guilt stemmed from the thought that he was the one who'd helped place this hope on the shoulders of an eleven-year old boy years ago, that he'd burdened a child with something a man would be hard-pressed to carry.

Shaking these morose thoughts from his head, Dumbledore stood as the last members of the Order finally trickled in. Silence surrounded him for a few moments before he began to speak.

"I am sure that most of you by now have heard of Voldemort's failed raid on Southhallerton," he began, and murmurs began to fill the room. He clapped his hands loudly, silencing the people. "I am here to tell you now that it is true. Voldemort has indeed been stopped. And it was by Harry Potter."

He had everyone's attention with that statement. Dumbledore cleared his throat again, and continued his announcement. "I have just come from a meeting with him and the Minister of Magic. The Minister has reviewed the evidence used to convict Mr. Potter, and has decided that, due to lack of sufficient evidence, and especially in light of recent events, the warrant for Mr. Potter's arrest is withdrawn. The Minister is convinced now that Mr. Potter is on our side in this war, and so am I."

He wasn't quite prepared for the outburst that followed, but when Molly Weasley's voice rang through the din of the excited chatter that had cropped up, everyone once again fell silent.

"He's messed with the new Minister's mind, hasn't he?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "He has, in fact, not met the Minister before today." The headmaster wisely chose to withhold the fact that Harry and Mockridge had had previous dealings with each other. He would have enough trouble convincing Harry's die-hard enemies of the boy's intentions without having rumours spring up about him manipulating the wizarding world's politics.

"Bollocks!" Ron Weasley shouted from the back of the room. "I bet you Potter's only fighting Voldemort so he can take his place! He's already got an army to follow him - I say we let them kill each other, then wipe out whoever is left!"

"Are you out of your mind, Weasley?" Snape spat as he turned around to glare at Harry's former best friend. "If you had bothered to pay attention to anything besides your over-inflated ego these last few days, then you would have realized that this war is going badly for us, and that the victory of Potter's forces over the Dark Lord yesterday was the first major victory we've had in months . Even if the boy was turning dark - which he is not - we couldn't win this war without his support at this point."

Molly opened her mouth to shoot an acidic reply towards the potions master, but Dumbledore drew their attention once more. "This is not a time to argue," he told them clearly. "Severus is right. At this point, Harry is the best hope we have for winning this war, and he has made it clear that while we may need him, he doesn't necessarily need us ."

"Headmaster!" Molly screeched, scandalized. "You can't possibly think of-"

"Molly," Dumbledore replied softly, "I have realized that I - no, that we all may have been too hasty to condemn young Harry when we found out what happened. The Minister brought up a number of valid points about the evidence, and there is, of course, the fact that we never gave Harry the legally required Veritaserum when questioning him."

"We didn't need the serum," the Weasley matriarch replied haughtily. "He was guilty, everyone could see it. I mean, who wouldn't turn dark with a childhood like his? He's been abandoned, left to live with muggles who despise him, and then there's the fact that every year he's escalated in trying to get my children killed! Of course he's not sane."

"And whose fault is that?" Snape snapped, glaring alternately at Dumbledore and Molly.

"Well, it certainly isn't mine," Molly snapped back. "Why, I should have known after what Ron told me after his first year that that boy wasn't normal!"

"If you'd actually bothered to help the boy out and given him a home-"

"A home? A dragon will have a place in my home before that monster does!" Molly exploded angrily.

Moody replied before Snape could continue the yelling match, the old Auror's voice quiet but firm. "If you knew that he was living with people who despised him so much, why didn't you take him in?" Moody turned to glare at Dumbledore then. "If you'd known, why send him back every year? If you'd known, why not try to give him a normal childhood? Eh?"

Dumbledore could only hang his head in shame, but Molly was adamant. "That wouldn't have changed anything, I tell you! That boy's the next dark lord, and if you trust him then we're all doomed. We're-"

"Mother, shut up."

...

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